70 greatest Orioles vote: Who were the best Orioles from 1974 to 1983?
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Baltimore Orioles franchise, the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum is creating an exhibit on the 70 greatest players, managers or coaches in Orioles history. Baltimore Sun readers can help the museum choose who to feature through a series of online votes. Scroll down to vote for your favorite Orioles from 1974 to 1983. This poll closes 11:59 p.m. Jan. 30. The next poll, for 1984 to 1993, opens Jan. 31.
Meet the 1974-1983 nominees
Mike Boddicker
Right-hander Mike Boddicker was Most Valuable Player of the 1983 American League Championship Series and won Game 2 of that year’s World Series, which the Orioles won in five games. The next year he was an All-Star and led the American League with 20 wins and a 2.79 ERA. He remains the Orioles’ most recent 20-game winner. Boddicker joined the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2001.
Al Bumbry
More than a quarter century after the team moved to Baltimore, outfielder Al Bumbry became the first Oriole with 200 hits in a season. That 1980 campaign was also an All-Star year for Bumbry, who was nicknamed “The Bee.” The 1973 American League Rookie of the Year played 13 years in Baltimore, batting .283 with 392 RBIs, 772 runs and 252 stolen bases. The center fielder for the Orioles’ most recent two World Series appearances, Bumbry was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1987.
Terry Crowley
Terry Crowley had stints with the Orioles from 1969 to 1973 and from 1976 to 1982. An outfielder early in his career, Crowley was an effective left-handed pinch hitter and became the first designated hitter in Orioles history when the American League adopted the rule in 1973. Later an Orioles hitting coach, Crowley played in two World Series with Baltimore, in 1970 and 1979.
Rich Dauer
Second baseman Rich Dauer holds a pair of American League fielding records. In 1978, he went 86 consecutive games and 425 consecutive chances without an error. With the Orioles from 1976 to 1985, Dauer played in the 1979 and 1983 World Series and was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2012.
Doug DeCinces
Doug DeCinces succeeded the legendary Brooks Robinson as the Orioles’ full-time third baseman upon Robinson’s retirement in 1977. With the Orioles from 1973 to 1981, DeCinces was a power hitter whose walk-off home run on June 22, 1979, is credited with starting the Oriole Magic. He also homered in his first at-bat in the 1979 World Series. DeCinces was inducted into the Orioles Hall Of Fame in 2006.
Rick Dempsey
An Oriole from 1976 to 1986, Rick Dempsey was one of the best defensive catchers in the league. His offensive surge in the 1983 World Series, which set a record for extra-base hits in a five-game series, helped him earn Series MVP honors. Known for his sense of humor, Dempsey would entertain fans during rain delays, pantomiming baseball sequences. Dempsey, who briefly returned to the Orioles in 1992, was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1997.
Mike Flanagan
Left-hander Mike Flanagan pitched for the Orioles from 1975 to 1987 as a starter and from 1991 to 1992 as a reliever. An All-Star in 1978, he won the American League Cy Young Award the following season, when he won 23 games. Overall, Flanagan was 141-116 with the Orioles. Later an Orioles broadcaster and executive, Flanagan was a key contributor on the 1983 championship team, and in 1991 struck out the two batters he faced as the last Oriole to pitch at Memorial Stadium. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1994.
Bobby Grich
Part of the Orioles’ lockdown infields of the era, second baseman Bobby Grich won four Gold Glove Awards and made three All-Star teams with the Orioles from 1970 to 1976. In 1973, his .995 fielding percentage set a major league record. Grich was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1998.
Ross Grimsley
Left-hander Ross Grimsley started 124 of the 154 games he pitched in five seasons with the Orioles, compiling 51 wins and a 3.78 ERA. With the Orioles from 1974 to 1977 and returning in 1982, Grimsley went 18-13 and threw 17 complete games in his first year in Baltimore to help the Orioles win the AL East.
Pat Kelly
An Orioles outfielder from 1977 to 1980, Pat Kelly had his best batting average in the World Series year of 1979, when he hit .288 in 68 games. Kelly was used mostly as a pinch hitter against right-handed pitchers.
Tito Landrum
Tito Landrum helped send the Orioles to the 1983 World Series with his home run in the 10th inning of a scoreless Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. Also playing for the Orioles in 1988, Landrum was an excellent defensive outfielder and committed very few errors.
John Lowenstein
Outfielder John Lowenstein was a clutch hitter with his share of postseason heroics. His walk-off 10th-inning home run won Game 1 of the 1979 American League Championship Series. He also contributed to the Orioles’ 1983 world championship, catching a would-be home run and homering himself in Game 2 of the World Series. Lowenstein, who played for the Orioles from 1979 to 1985, was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2015.
Dennis Martinez
Pitching for the Orioles from 1976 to 1986, right-hander Dennis Martinez was the first Nicaraguan to play in the majors and held the record for most career wins by a Latin American pitcher for two decades. For the Orioles, Martinez was 108-93 with a 4.16 ERA. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2002.
Tippy Martinez
Left-hander Tippy Martinez pitched for the Orioles from 1976 to 1986, mainly in relief. Going 10-3 in 1979, he helped the Orioles to an American League title that year. On Aug. 24, 1983, he picked off two base runners and caught another stealing in the 10th inning of an Orioles win over the Blue Jays. A 1983 All-Star, Martinez was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2000.
Lee May
Befitting a power hitter nicknamed “The Big Bopper,” first baseman and outfielder Lee May hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat with the Orioles on opening day in 1975. In Baltimore for five seasons in the second half of an 18-year career, May’s best year was 1976, when he hit 25 home runs and drove in 109 runs. He helped the Orioles reach the 1979 World Series and was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1998.
Scott McGregor
Left-handed pitcher Scott McGregor played his entire major league career in Baltimore, winning 138 games from 1976 to 1988. McGregor won 20 games in 1980 and was an All-Star in 1981. In the postseason, he pitched an 8-0 shutout in Game 4 of the 1979 American League Championship Series and threw a five-hit shutout in the clinching Game 5 of the 1983 World Series. McGregor was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1990.
Eddie Murray
Nicknamed “Steady Eddie,” Eddie Murray played first base for the Orioles from 1977, when he was American League Rookie of the Year, to 1988, and was a designated hitter in 1996. Murray represented the Orioles in the All-Star Game seven times and led the league in home runs and RBIs in 1981. His two home runs and three RBIs helped pace the Orioles in the 1983 World Series. Murray logged 2,080 of his 3,255 career hits while with Baltimore and 343 of his 504 career home runs, including his 500th on Sept. 6, 1996. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1999 and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Jim Palmer
A face of the Orioles for decades, right-handed pitcher Jim Palmer spent his entire 19-year playing career with Baltimore before his long stay in the broadcast booth. Joining the Orioles as a 19-year-old in 1965 and missing all of 1968 with an arm injury, he retired after the 1984 season. In that span, he won at least 20 games eight times, was an All-Star six times, and won four Gold Glove Awards and three Cy Young Awards. Palmer pitched in the World Series in three different decades. In the 1966 Fall Classic, he outperformed Sandy Koufax to become the youngest pitcher to throw a World Series shutout. Palmer was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1986 and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990.
Gary Roenicke
Outfielder Gary Roenicke hit 106 home runs with the Orioles from 1978 to 1985. Nicknamed “Rhino,” he helped the Orioles get to the World Series in 1979 and was a key member of the 1983 championship team. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2015.
Lenn Sakata
Joining the Orioles in 1980, infielder Lenn Sakata preceded Cal Ripken Jr. as the Orioles’ shortstop and stayed with the team as a second baseman through 1985. An emergency catcher, Sakata was behind the plate when pitcher Tippy Martinez caught three runners leaning off first base in 1983, then hit a walk-off home run.
Ken Singleton
An outfielder and designated hitter, Ken Singleton recorded 1,455 hits with the Orioles from 1975 to 1984. The switch-hitter was a major contributor to the American League title-winning Orioles in 1979, one of three All-Star years for Singleton, when he hit 35 home runs and drove in 111 runs. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1986.
Don Stanhouse
Right-hander Don Stanhouse saved 45 games for the Orioles in 1978 and 1979, an All-Star season for him. Known for antics such as keeping a stuffed gorilla atop his locker and uncorking a harrowing scream before each game, Stanhouse also pitched briefly for the Orioles in 1982.
Sammy Stewart
With the Orioles from 1978 to 1985, right-handed pitcher Sammy Stewart went 51-45 with 42 saves during his time with Baltimore. Stewart struck out seven consecutive batters in his first appearance at Memorial Stadium, setting a major league rookie record. He was the American League ERA leader in 1981 and never surrendered a postseason run, a 12-inning scoreless streak that included in the 1979 and 1983 World Series.
Tim Stoddard
A 6-foot-7 right-handed pitcher, Tim Stoddard helped his cause in the 1979 World Series by singling in a run in his first major league at-bat. He had his best year with the Orioles the following season, when he saved 26 games. One of two athletes to play in the World Series and NCAA basketball Final Four, Stoddard was nicknamed “Bigfoot” for his size 16 shoes.
Steve Stone
Right-hander Steve Stone pitched the last three seasons of his 11-year career with the Orioles, including his brilliant 1980 campaign, when he won an Orioles-record 25 games, was an All-Star and captured the American League Cy Young Award. A shoulder injury the following year severely hampered him, however, sending him to the injured list, and, ultimately, retirement.
