Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 3-9
Streak: L3
Record: 54-107
Rank: 7th
GB: 34.5
The Orioles's 1988 season came to an end on an overcast and drizzly afternoon in windswept Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Curt Schilling made his fourth start of the season of his career and didn't last very long.
The Orioles played sloppy baseball in the first inning. Tony Fernandez led off the game with a double and Nelson Liriano laid down a bunt in an attempt to sacrifice him to third. Orioles catcher Carl Nichols decided to try to throw Fernandez out at third but his throw went down the left field line, allowing Fernandez to score and Liriano to reach second. Rance Mulliniks lifted a fly ball to center field that Brady Anderson dropped, allowing Liriano to move to third and Mulliniks to pull into second. A George Bell sacrifice fly brought Liriano with the second run of the inning. With Ernie Whitt at the plate Schilling uncorked a wild pitch which moved Mulliniks up to third where he was able to score minutes later on Whitts' sacrifice fly. A fly ball by Fred McGriff ended the inning but the Jays had scored 3 runs on one hit and two Oriole errors.
Toronto piled on further in the second. With one out Rob Ducey singled and Alexis Infante drew a walk. Fernandez brought both of them in to score by hitting a triple and then he scored when Liriano followed with another triple. A sacrifice fly by Mullinks brought Liriano in with the fourth run of the inning and seventh run of the game. Bell flew out to end the inning and Schilling's day. Mark Williamson came in to pitch in the third inning. Schilling had given up seven runs (although only five were earned) on four hits and a walk in two innings. Every single baserunner he allowed on had scored.
Bell hit a two run home run off of Williamson in the fourth inning to make the score 9-0. The Birds finally got on the board in the sixth inning on a two run home run by Larry Sheets, his tenth home run of the season. They added another in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Craig Worthington to make the score 9-3.
This was the final Orioles game for several players. Tom Niedenfuer pitched the fifth inning and Don Aase pitched the sixth and seventh innings. Niedenfuer was granted free agency on November 4th but Aase was given his outright release on October 3rd. Pete Stanicek went 0-4 in the game. He suffered through two more injury plagued years in the Orioles minor league organization in 1989 and 1990 before retiring at age 27.
The big name making his Orioles farewell was Eddie Murray. Murray went 0-2 in the game before being lifted for a pinch hitter (Rick Schu) in the sixth inning. He was traded just over two months later to the Dodgers for Juan Bell, Brian Holton and Ken Howell. He would return to the Orioles for the 1996 season.
It's a small sample size but the Orioles had a bad month in October - going 0-2 while being outscored 16 to 6.
Today's loss clinched the worst record in all of baseball for the Orioles. The Atlanta Braves ended the season with a 54-106 record for a .338 winning percentage, three percentage points better than the Orioles .335. The Braves were arguably just as bad as the Orioles that year but didn't have a sexy 21 game losing streak to start the season - theirs was only 10 games.
Showing posts with label Monthly Stats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monthly Stats. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Friday September 30 at the Blue Jays
Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 0-4
Streak: L2
Record: 54-105
Rank: 7th
GB: 34.5
The Orioles suffered any number of indignities during the 1988 season but one thing they managed to avoid was getting no-hit. Tonight was the closest all season they came to succumbing to that fate - Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays held them hitless until two outs in the ninth inning when pinch hitter Jim Traber lined a single. It was the second straight start that Stieb had lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth (he had done it against Cleveland on September 24th) and his third consecutive complete game shutout. Stieb would end up losing three no-hitters in the ninth inning in his career which is the record. He did eventually throw a no-hitter in 1990 - it was the first and so far only no-hitter in Toronto Blue Jays history.
With the Orioles not hitting (and they only drew one walk) the game went very quickly, clocking in at one hour and 52 minutes, the second shortest game by time for the Birds all season (behind the September 3rd game against the Mariners).
Toronto got a run in the bottom of the first when Tony Fernandez led off with a triple and Kelly Gruder followed with a single. Those two knocked in three more runs in the fifth inning when Fernandez singled with two on to knock in one run and Gruber tripled to knock in the other two.
From May through August the Orioles had pretty much just been mediocre. They'd held steady from May through July and actually were almost a .500 team in August. September though was a disaster. With today's loss the Orioles had gone 8-19 this month, allowing 118 runs while only scoring 75.
Outcome: L
Score: 0-4
Streak: L2
Record: 54-105
Rank: 7th
GB: 34.5
The Orioles suffered any number of indignities during the 1988 season but one thing they managed to avoid was getting no-hit. Tonight was the closest all season they came to succumbing to that fate - Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays held them hitless until two outs in the ninth inning when pinch hitter Jim Traber lined a single. It was the second straight start that Stieb had lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth (he had done it against Cleveland on September 24th) and his third consecutive complete game shutout. Stieb would end up losing three no-hitters in the ninth inning in his career which is the record. He did eventually throw a no-hitter in 1990 - it was the first and so far only no-hitter in Toronto Blue Jays history.
With the Orioles not hitting (and they only drew one walk) the game went very quickly, clocking in at one hour and 52 minutes, the second shortest game by time for the Birds all season (behind the September 3rd game against the Mariners).
Toronto got a run in the bottom of the first when Tony Fernandez led off with a triple and Kelly Gruder followed with a single. Those two knocked in three more runs in the fifth inning when Fernandez singled with two on to knock in one run and Gruber tripled to knock in the other two.
From May through August the Orioles had pretty much just been mediocre. They'd held steady from May through July and actually were almost a .500 team in August. September though was a disaster. With today's loss the Orioles had gone 8-19 this month, allowing 118 runs while only scoring 75.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Wednesday August 31 at the Angels
Opponent: California Angels
Outcome: L
Score: 5-7
Streak: L1
Record: 46-86
Rank: 7th
GB: 29
The Orioles made a trade before the game today, sending veteran outfielder Fred Lynn to the Tigers in exchange for three players to be named later. Lynn had joined the Orioles as a free agent prior to the 1985 season after 10 years playing with the Red Sox and Angels. He played OK for the Birds but he was frequently injured during his almost four seasons with the team. The most games he ever played in a season for Baltimore was 124 in 1985. He had been one of my favorite players when he was with the Red Sox - the first year I followed baseball was 1975, the season in which he became the first player to ever win the Rookie Of The Year and MVP awards in the same season (Ichiro Suzuki is the only other player to do it) - and I was sad to see him leave the Orioles but I understood the move. He would spend the 1989 season in Detroit before returning to southern California in 1990 with the Padres for the final season of his career.
"Later" in the case of the three players the Orioles received for Lynn turned out to be September 9th when it was announced that they had received catcher Chris Hoiles and pitchers Cesar Mejia and Robinson Garces from Detroit. Neither Mejia or Garces ever played in the majors - in fact each of them only spent one season in the Orioles' organization (1989) and both were out of baseball (at least as active players) after 1990. Hoiles on the other hand became the regular catcher for the Birds during most of the 90's and was elected to the Orioles Hall Of Fame in 2006.
Tonight's game was exceptionally frustrating. The Orioles would get 16 batters on base tonight behind 14 hits and two walks but would only score five runs. They managed to only have six guys left on base however. How did they achieve this feat? They grounded into four double plays and had a runner picked off.
The Orioles came out of the gate swinging this evening. Joe Orsulak led off the game with a double and Brady Anderson followed with a bunt single. A Cal Ripken sacrifice fly brought Orsulak in with the first run of the game. After Eddie Murray popped out, Anderson stole second which allowed him to score on Larry Sheets' single. Jim Traber then connected for a two run home run to make it 4-0. Terry Kennedy followed with a single before Rene Gonzales grounded out to end the inning.
Orioles starter Jay Tibbs pitched very well over the first six innings of the game. He walked one batter and gave up two hits but ended up only facing one batter over the minimum through six innings due to Jim Eppard of the Angels grounding into two double plays. Unfortunately as I mentioned before the Orioles were having similar offensive issues of their own. A Cal Ripken lead off single in the third was immediately erased when Eddie Murray ground into a double play. In the fourth the Birds got two on with one out when Kennedy and Gonzales had back-to-back singles but Bill Ripken hit into an inning ending double play. The fifth inning was exceptionally egregious. Orsulak led off the inning with a single but was picked off of first immediately by Angels starter Wille Fraser. Anderson then walked but Cal Ripken followed with a ground ball to shortstop that the Angels converted into their third double play in three innings. The Orioles had gotten a single and a walk in the inning and yet still managed to finish the inning with having only sent three men to the plate.
Things fell apart for the Orioles in the bottom of the seventh. Johnny Ray broke up Tibbs' shutout by leading off the inning with a home run. Wally Joyner followed with a single and after Brian Downing popped out Chili Davis his a single as well to chase Tibbs from the mound.
Sometimes when a team makes a defensive replacement you'll sometimes hear announcers talking about how the ball will find the new guy. I'm not sure I've heard it with pitchers before but the ball found new Orioles reliever Doug Sisk - the first batter he faced (Tony Armas) hit a ground ball that Sisk fielded and made a bad throw to first on. Armas was safe and the bases were now loaded. Eppard made up for hitting into two double plays by lining a two RBI single. Orioles manager Frank Robinson pulled Sisk from the game and replaced him with Mark Thurmond who hit Jack Howell with a pitch to load the bases back up. Out went Thurmond and in came Mark Williamson. Dick Schofield greeted the new pitcher with a two RBI single to put the Angels up 5-4. Williamson managed to get Mark McLemore to line out and Ray to fly out to end the inning. The Angels sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs on five hits, an error and a hit by pitch.
The Orioles came back in the eighth. George Hendrick had come in to play left field this inning and the ball immediately found him - Cal Ripken lined a shot into the gap between left and center field that Hendrick somehow misplayed. Cal ended up at third and was given credit for a double and Hendrick was charged with an error that allowed Cal the extra base. After Murray had a shallow fly out Pete Stanicek (who had replaced Sheets in left the previous inning) singled to score Cal with the game tying run. But Jim Traber grounded into the Birds' fourth double play of the evening to end the threat.
Joyner led off the Angel's half of the eighth with a double and moved to third on Downing's ground out. Williamson issued an intentional walk to Davis to set up a double play but Armas foiled that plan by lining a double to put the Angels back on top. After Darrell Miller (who had run for Eppard in the previous inning) struck out for the second out Williamson issued his second intentional walk of the inning - this time to Jack Howell. This loaded the bases for Schofield who was able to work a walk to force in a run and extend the Angels' lead to two. Finally Williamson got McLemore to fly out to end the inning.
The Orioles would manage to get a couple runners on base in the ninth but they failed to score. On the plus side though they at least failed with out the benefit of yet another double play.
The loss brought what had been the Orioles best month by far of the season to an end on a sour note. The Birds almost managed to break even in August, going 14-15 on the month. They actually outscored their opponents 120-117 this month. Unfortunately they would not sustain this improvement over the final month of the season.
My friend Steve had moved from Delaware to Boston without having introduced me to Sabra, the woman that he thought I should meet. But he gave me her phone number and told me that he told her that I would be calling. I'm a fairly shy person and the thought of cold calling someone like this terrified me but I called her this evening and she turned out to be very nice. We ended up talking on the phone for almost two hours and set up a date to go out to dinner on Friday up in Delaware.
Outcome: L
Score: 5-7
Streak: L1
Record: 46-86
Rank: 7th
GB: 29
The Orioles made a trade before the game today, sending veteran outfielder Fred Lynn to the Tigers in exchange for three players to be named later. Lynn had joined the Orioles as a free agent prior to the 1985 season after 10 years playing with the Red Sox and Angels. He played OK for the Birds but he was frequently injured during his almost four seasons with the team. The most games he ever played in a season for Baltimore was 124 in 1985. He had been one of my favorite players when he was with the Red Sox - the first year I followed baseball was 1975, the season in which he became the first player to ever win the Rookie Of The Year and MVP awards in the same season (Ichiro Suzuki is the only other player to do it) - and I was sad to see him leave the Orioles but I understood the move. He would spend the 1989 season in Detroit before returning to southern California in 1990 with the Padres for the final season of his career.
"Later" in the case of the three players the Orioles received for Lynn turned out to be September 9th when it was announced that they had received catcher Chris Hoiles and pitchers Cesar Mejia and Robinson Garces from Detroit. Neither Mejia or Garces ever played in the majors - in fact each of them only spent one season in the Orioles' organization (1989) and both were out of baseball (at least as active players) after 1990. Hoiles on the other hand became the regular catcher for the Birds during most of the 90's and was elected to the Orioles Hall Of Fame in 2006.
Tonight's game was exceptionally frustrating. The Orioles would get 16 batters on base tonight behind 14 hits and two walks but would only score five runs. They managed to only have six guys left on base however. How did they achieve this feat? They grounded into four double plays and had a runner picked off.
The Orioles came out of the gate swinging this evening. Joe Orsulak led off the game with a double and Brady Anderson followed with a bunt single. A Cal Ripken sacrifice fly brought Orsulak in with the first run of the game. After Eddie Murray popped out, Anderson stole second which allowed him to score on Larry Sheets' single. Jim Traber then connected for a two run home run to make it 4-0. Terry Kennedy followed with a single before Rene Gonzales grounded out to end the inning.
Orioles starter Jay Tibbs pitched very well over the first six innings of the game. He walked one batter and gave up two hits but ended up only facing one batter over the minimum through six innings due to Jim Eppard of the Angels grounding into two double plays. Unfortunately as I mentioned before the Orioles were having similar offensive issues of their own. A Cal Ripken lead off single in the third was immediately erased when Eddie Murray ground into a double play. In the fourth the Birds got two on with one out when Kennedy and Gonzales had back-to-back singles but Bill Ripken hit into an inning ending double play. The fifth inning was exceptionally egregious. Orsulak led off the inning with a single but was picked off of first immediately by Angels starter Wille Fraser. Anderson then walked but Cal Ripken followed with a ground ball to shortstop that the Angels converted into their third double play in three innings. The Orioles had gotten a single and a walk in the inning and yet still managed to finish the inning with having only sent three men to the plate.
Things fell apart for the Orioles in the bottom of the seventh. Johnny Ray broke up Tibbs' shutout by leading off the inning with a home run. Wally Joyner followed with a single and after Brian Downing popped out Chili Davis his a single as well to chase Tibbs from the mound.
Sometimes when a team makes a defensive replacement you'll sometimes hear announcers talking about how the ball will find the new guy. I'm not sure I've heard it with pitchers before but the ball found new Orioles reliever Doug Sisk - the first batter he faced (Tony Armas) hit a ground ball that Sisk fielded and made a bad throw to first on. Armas was safe and the bases were now loaded. Eppard made up for hitting into two double plays by lining a two RBI single. Orioles manager Frank Robinson pulled Sisk from the game and replaced him with Mark Thurmond who hit Jack Howell with a pitch to load the bases back up. Out went Thurmond and in came Mark Williamson. Dick Schofield greeted the new pitcher with a two RBI single to put the Angels up 5-4. Williamson managed to get Mark McLemore to line out and Ray to fly out to end the inning. The Angels sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs on five hits, an error and a hit by pitch.
The Orioles came back in the eighth. George Hendrick had come in to play left field this inning and the ball immediately found him - Cal Ripken lined a shot into the gap between left and center field that Hendrick somehow misplayed. Cal ended up at third and was given credit for a double and Hendrick was charged with an error that allowed Cal the extra base. After Murray had a shallow fly out Pete Stanicek (who had replaced Sheets in left the previous inning) singled to score Cal with the game tying run. But Jim Traber grounded into the Birds' fourth double play of the evening to end the threat.
Joyner led off the Angel's half of the eighth with a double and moved to third on Downing's ground out. Williamson issued an intentional walk to Davis to set up a double play but Armas foiled that plan by lining a double to put the Angels back on top. After Darrell Miller (who had run for Eppard in the previous inning) struck out for the second out Williamson issued his second intentional walk of the inning - this time to Jack Howell. This loaded the bases for Schofield who was able to work a walk to force in a run and extend the Angels' lead to two. Finally Williamson got McLemore to fly out to end the inning.
The Orioles would manage to get a couple runners on base in the ninth but they failed to score. On the plus side though they at least failed with out the benefit of yet another double play.
The loss brought what had been the Orioles best month by far of the season to an end on a sour note. The Birds almost managed to break even in August, going 14-15 on the month. They actually outscored their opponents 120-117 this month. Unfortunately they would not sustain this improvement over the final month of the season.
My friend Steve had moved from Delaware to Boston without having introduced me to Sabra, the woman that he thought I should meet. But he gave me her phone number and told me that he told her that I would be calling. I'm a fairly shy person and the thought of cold calling someone like this terrified me but I called her this evening and she turned out to be very nice. We ended up talking on the phone for almost two hours and set up a date to go out to dinner on Friday up in Delaware.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Sunday July 31 vs the Royals
Opponent: Kansas City Royals
Outcome: L
Score: 1-4
Streak: L3
Record: 32-71
Rank: 7th
GB: 29.5
After a game when the Orioles kept getting men on base but could not bring them in, today the Orioles went back to not getting anyone on. Charlie Leibrandt threw a complete game for the Royals, giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out 11. He almost had a shutout but Cal Ripken had a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth (the fourth consecutive game that he had homered). Meanwhile the Royals scored three in the fourth on a three run home run from Bo Jackson and picked up another run in the seventh on a Kurt Stillwell RBI double.
The Orioles record for July ended up being 10-16 which was roughly what it was in May (10-17) and June (11-16). They were outscored by their opponents 127 to 94. Their record for the month doesn't indicate the kind of schizophrenic month they had though. Their record for the pre-All Star break portion of the month (July 1-10) was 6-4 while their post-break record (July 14-31) was 4-12.
Outcome: L
Score: 1-4
Streak: L3
Record: 32-71
Rank: 7th
GB: 29.5
After a game when the Orioles kept getting men on base but could not bring them in, today the Orioles went back to not getting anyone on. Charlie Leibrandt threw a complete game for the Royals, giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out 11. He almost had a shutout but Cal Ripken had a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth (the fourth consecutive game that he had homered). Meanwhile the Royals scored three in the fourth on a three run home run from Bo Jackson and picked up another run in the seventh on a Kurt Stillwell RBI double.
The Orioles record for July ended up being 10-16 which was roughly what it was in May (10-17) and June (11-16). They were outscored by their opponents 127 to 94. Their record for the month doesn't indicate the kind of schizophrenic month they had though. Their record for the pre-All Star break portion of the month (July 1-10) was 6-4 while their post-break record (July 14-31) was 4-12.
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Thursday June 30 - Off Day
The Orioles had June 30th off, their first off day in three weeks. They would head on the road for a two city six game road trip to Texas and Chicago.
The Orioles ended up going 11-16 for the month of June, a one game improvement over May. They were outscored by their opponents 141 to 103.
The Orioles ended up going 11-16 for the month of June, a one game improvement over May. They were outscored by their opponents 141 to 103.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Tuesday May 31 at the Mariners
Opponent: Seattle Mariners
Outcome: W
Score: 12-5
Streak: W1
Record: 11-39
Rank: 7th
GB: 22.5
Outcome: W
Score: 12-5
Streak: W1
Record: 11-39
Rank: 7th
GB: 22.5
The Orioles had only scored seven runs in their previous six games (going 1-5 over that stretch) so this evening's game must have been very cathartic. The twelve runs they scored would be the most they scored in any game all season.
The Orioles got on the board quickly tonight against Mariners starter Ed Nunez. Joe Orsulak led off the game with a single and scored on Eddie Murray's RBI single three batters later. They wasted a couple offensive opportunities with inning ending double plays in the top of the second and third innings but cashed in on them in the fourth inning. Larry Sheets led off the inning with a double and Jim Dwyer followed with a walk. Mickey Tettleton then singled to bring Sheets in with the second run of the game and that was it for Nunez. Seattle manager Dick Williams brought in Dennis Powell who struck out Wade Rowdon for the first out of the inning. But Rene Gonzales walked to load the bases and Powell then hit Orsulak to bring in another run. Powell struck out Fred Lynn for the second out but then walked Cal Ripken to force in the third run of the inning. Powell finally got the third out on a fly ball from Murray. Murray was the sixth batter that Powell had faced in the inning but the first one to put the ball into play. The Orioles had had another one of those weird innings where they had scored three runs on two hits, three walks and a hit batter.
The Mariners would mount a comeback in the bottom of the fourth. Three consecutive singles by Henry Cotto, Scott Bradley and Alvin Davis brought their first run of the game in. Ken Phelps then walked to load the bases. Orioles starter got Mickey Brantley to ground into a run scoring double play but then he walked Mike Kingery and gave up an RBI single to Rick Renteria. Orioles manager Frank Robinson went to the bullpen and brought in Dave Schmidt who got Rey Quinones to ground out to end the inning.
The Orioles would get another run in the top of the fifth when Sheets doubled to lead off the inning, Dwyer singled to move him to third and Tettleton scored him on a sacrifice fly. But Rowdon hit into a rally-killing double play for the second time in the game to prevent any further scoring that inning.
They scored three more runs in the top of the sixth. Gonzales and Orsulak singled to open the inning and Powell was lifted after striking out Lynn for the first out. New pitcher Julio Solano got Cal Ripken to ground out for the second out (moving the runners up) but he then walked Murray to load the bases for Sheets. Sheets then singled to bring in Gonzales and Orsulak and Jim Dwyer followed with another single that brought Murray in. Sheets however was thrown out trying to advance to third to end the inning.
The Mariners got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run off the bat of Phelps but the Orioles got that back and then some in the top of the seventh. With two outs Gonzales hit a solo home run and then after a single by Orsulak, Lynn and Ripken had back-to-back home runs, making the score 12-4. The M's would get one more run on an RBI double by Cotto in the bottom of the seventh but they would fall short by seven runs.
The Orioles went 10-17 over the month of May for a winning percentage of .370. They were outscored by their opponents 137 to 98 during the month.
Monday, April 30, 2018
April 30 at the White Sox
Opponent: Chicago White Sox
Outcome: L
Score: 1-4
Streak: L1
Record: 1-22
Rank: 7th
GB: 15.5
For the fifth consecutive game the Orioles scored first although unlike the previous four games they didn't do it until the second inning. Tito Landrum hit a one out triple and then scored on Carl Nichols' sacrifice fly. The lead didn't last long - Ivan Calderon led off the bottom of the second with a home run to tie the game up and a double by Greg Walker and a single by Carlton Fisk but the White Sox up 2-1. The White Sox scored their third run two innings later when Ken Williams tripled and Dan Pasqua reached on an error by second baseman Pete Stanicek which brought Williams in with an unearned run. Chicago scored their fourth and final run in the bottom of the eighth when Gary Redus hit a triple (the third one of the game between the two teams) and Ozzie Guillen brought him in with a sacrifice fly.
The Orioles wrapped up the month of April with a 1-22 record. They were outscored by their opponents 133 to 54.
Outcome: L
Score: 1-4
Streak: L1
Record: 1-22
Rank: 7th
GB: 15.5
For the fifth consecutive game the Orioles scored first although unlike the previous four games they didn't do it until the second inning. Tito Landrum hit a one out triple and then scored on Carl Nichols' sacrifice fly. The lead didn't last long - Ivan Calderon led off the bottom of the second with a home run to tie the game up and a double by Greg Walker and a single by Carlton Fisk but the White Sox up 2-1. The White Sox scored their third run two innings later when Ken Williams tripled and Dan Pasqua reached on an error by second baseman Pete Stanicek which brought Williams in with an unearned run. Chicago scored their fourth and final run in the bottom of the eighth when Gary Redus hit a triple (the third one of the game between the two teams) and Ozzie Guillen brought him in with a sacrifice fly.
The Orioles wrapped up the month of April with a 1-22 record. They were outscored by their opponents 133 to 54.
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