70 greatest Orioles vote: Who were the best Orioles from 1994 to 2003?
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 1994 to 2003. This poll closes 11:59 p.m. Feb. 13. The next poll, for 2004 to 2013, opens Feb. 14.
Meet the 1994-2003 nominees
Nominees were chosen by the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in consultation with Sun staff. Each nominee was limited to appearing in one poll. The museum sought to place a nominee in the poll for the decade of his greatest impact on the Orioles.
Roberto Alomar
With Baltimore from 1996 to 1998, switch-hitting second baseman Roberto Alomar was a key member of the 1996 and 1997 American League Championship Series teams, the only Orioles squads to make the postseason after 1983 and before 2012. An All-Star each of his three seasons, Alomar also won two Gold Glove awards and a Silver Slugger award while with the Orioles. In 1996, he scored 132 times during the regular season, the third-most runs in the American League, and hit a game-winning home run in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Alomar joined the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2013.
Brady Anderson
Longtime leadoff hitter Brady Anderson played center field and left field for the Orioles from 1988 to 2001. The left-handed batter and thrower was an All-Star in 1992, 1996 and 1997. He exhibited speed and power, stealing more than 300 bases and slugging more than 200 homers while with Baltimore, including a then-club record 50 in 1996. Anderson was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2004.
Harold Baines
Designated hitter Harold Baines batted over .300 and hit more than 100 home runs across seven seasons with the Orioles. The Eastern Shore native had stints with the Orioles from 1993 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2000, a span that included time with two other clubs. He was a contributor on the Orioles’ Division Series-winning 1997 team and was an All-Star in 1999. Baines joined the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2009.
Armando Benítez
Joining the Orioles in 1994 at 21 years old, hard-throwing reliever Armando Benítez effectively set up major league saves leader Randy Myers during the Orioles’ wire-to-wire season of 1997 and saved 22 games in 26 chances the next year. Early that season, Benítez drew controversy after hitting the New York Yankees’ Tino Martinez with a pitch following a grand slam, which led to a benches-clearing brawl. That offseason the Orioles traded Benítez to the New York Mets for Gold Glove catcher Charles Johnson.
Bobby Bonilla
A trade-deadline acquisition for the Orioles in 1995, switch-hitting right fielder Bobby Bonilla stayed with Baltimore through their return to the playoffs in 1996, when he homered 28 times and drove in 116 runs during the regular season.
Mike Bordick
Taking over shortstop for Cal Ripken Jr., who shifted to third base, Mike Bordick played for the Orioles from 1997 to 2002, sustaining the franchise’s tradition of strong defense at the infield’s most demanding position. The trade that brought Melvin Mora to Baltimore sent Bordick to the New York Mets for the second half of his All-Star 2000 season, but Bordick signed back with the Orioles that winter. In his final year with Baltimore, Bordick set major league records for consecutive errorless games (110) and chances (543) by a shortstop. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2011.
Jeff Conine
First baseman and outfielder Jeff Conine played for the Orioles from 1998 to 2003 and in 2006. He led the team in batting average in back-to-back years starting in his Orioles MVP season of 2001, when he batted .311 with 14 homers and 97 RBIs.
Eric Davis
Outfielder Eric Davis spent a memorable two seasons with the Orioles in 1997 and 1998. Just back from cancer treatment, he homered in Game 5 of the 1997 American League Championship Series and won Major League Baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award that offseason. The next year he hit 28 home runs, had 89 RBIs and batted .327, fourth best in the American League. His 30-game hitting streak that season remains an Orioles record.
Scott Erickson
Right-handed starter Scott Erickson pitched for the Orioles from 1995 to 2000 and in 2002. His best season with Baltimore was 1997, when he went 16-7 and led the American League in innings pitched (251 1/3) and complete games (11). In 2002 he was the Orioles’ opening day starter and later that April pitched a shutout without recording a strikeout. Injuries led Erickson to miss the entire 2001 and 2003 seasons.
Jay Gibbons
Jay Gibbons was a right fielder and designated hitter for the Orioles from 2001 to 2007. He had 121 home runs and 405 RBIs in seven seasons with Baltimore, averaging just under 400 at-bats a year. He was named Most Valuable Oriole in 2003, when he had 23 home runs and 100 RBIs. Injuries hampered Gibbons in 2004, but he bounced back in 2005 with a career-best .833 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Leo Gomez
With the Orioles from 1990 to 1995, third baseman Leo Gomez had his best full year with Baltimore in 1992, when he homered 27 times and drove in 64 runs. On a hot streak when a players’ strike cut the 1994 season short, he finished with 15 home runs, 20 doubles and a .366 on-base percentage in 84 games.
Buddy Groom
Left-handed reliever Buddy Groom got into 330 games for the Orioles from 2000 to 2004, posting a 3.91 ERA. In each of his first three years with Baltimore, he pitched in exactly 70 games, the most seasons any Orioles pitcher made at least that many appearances. His 11 saves in 2001 were enough to lead the Orioles, and the following year he led American League relievers with a 1.60 ERA.
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. rose from the Orioles’ farm system to play seven years with Baltimore, from 1998 to 2004, and 16 years in the major leagues. A spark plug whose playing style provided energy during some lean years for the club, Hairston batted .261 and stole 94 bases in 530 games for the Orioles. A hot start as a leadoff batter in 2003, including 14 stolen bases and 16 RBIs over 42 games, was abruptly stopped by a broken foot, which limited him to just 16 more games that season. The next season, when a broken finger and ankle sidelined him for stretches, he batted .303 with 13 stolen bases in 86 games.
Jeffrey Hammonds
The fourth overall selection in the 1992 amateur draft, outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds was limited by injuries during his six years with the Orioles, posting a .767 on-base plus slugging percentage in just under 1,500 plate appearances from 1993 to 1998. In his best season, 1997, he had 21 home runs and 55 RBIs in 118 games and had two RBIs in the Division Series that postseason.
Alan Mills
A future coach for the Orioles and their farm system, reliever Alan Mills pitched for Baltimore from 1992 to 1998 and from 2000 to 2001. His first year was his best. Mills finished 1992 with 10 wins, four losses, four saves and a 2.61 ERA over a career-high 103 1/3 innings.
Mike Mussina
Right-handed starting pitcher Mike Mussina spent much of his Hall of Fame career with Baltimore and posted his best numbers with the Orioles. Baltimore’s first-round pick in the 1990 amateur draft, Mussina pitched for the Orioles from 1991 to 2000 with 15 shutouts, 45 complete games, five All-Star selections and four Gold Glove awards. “Moose” joined the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2012 and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Randy Myers
Left-hander Randy Myers was a key part of the Orioles’ late 1990s playoff runs as the team’s closer in 1996 and 1997. He saved 31 games his first year and 45 his second to lead the majors. An All-Star in 1997, he finished with a 1.51 ERA and recorded his 300th career save that July at Camden Yards.
Jesse Orosco
Left-handed reliever Jesse Orosco spent five of his 24 major league seasons with the Orioles, pitching in 336 games for Baltimore from 1995 to 1999 with a 3.35 ERA. In his first year with the Orioles, his 65 appearances led the American League. In his final year with Baltimore, he broke the major league career record for games by a pitcher.
Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro finished his 20-year career with the Orioles, where he played for seven seasons. His connection to baseball’s performance-enhancing drugs scandal, including a positive steroid test his final year, has kept him out of Cooperstown, despite Hall of Fame-caliber numbers. Over two stints with Baltimore, from 1994 to 1998 and from 2004 to 2005, the sweet-swinging Palmeiro had three Gold Glove awards and one All-Star selection. Palmeiro was with the Orioles for 40% of his 544 career home runs and more than a third of his 3,020 career hits, including his 3,000th.
Sidney Ponson
Starter Sidney Ponson went 73-85 with a 4.86 ERA while pitching for the Orioles from 1998 to 2005. His best season was 2003 when in 21 starts for the Orioles he was 14-6 with four complete games and a 3.77 ERA. The Orioles dealt Ponson at that year’s trade deadline but re-signed him in the offseason. He played just two seasons of that three-year deal, however, with the Orioles voiding his contract over off-field issues.
Jeff Reboulet
Utility man Jeff Reboulet played second base, shortstop, third base and right field over 277 games for the Orioles from 1997 to 1999. On the roster for his dependable glove and versatility, Reboulet batted .217 over his Orioles tenure with five homers. He nevertheless had one of the more legendary home runs in recent Orioles postseason memory with his solo shot off future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in the 1997 Division Series, which led Baltimore to victory over the Seattle Mariners in the clinching Game 4.
Cal Ripken Jr.
Playing his entire Hall of Fame career with his hometown Orioles, Cal Ripken Jr. redefined the shortstop position and exemplified the work ethic of the “Oriole Way” taught by his father, Cal Sr., winning the 1982 Rookie of the Year, 1983 World Series, 1983 and 1991 American League MVP awards and two Gold Glove awards along the way. The Harford County native’s record 2,632 consecutive games played transcended baseball and boosted the sport following the 1994-95 players’ strike. Despite beginning and ending his career at third base, the 6-foot-4 Ripken hit 345 of his 431 career home runs and had more than 70% of his 3,184 hits as a shortstop, a position historically played by shorter players not counted on for offense. Retiring after the 2001 season, the 19-time All-Star joined the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2003 and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.
Arthur Rhodes
Pitching for the Orioles for the first nine of his 20 major league seasons, Arthur Rhodes broke in as a starter in 1991 before being converted to a reliever in 1995. All told with Baltimore he was 43-36 with a 4.86 ERA, but Rhodes was 26-12 with a 3.82 ERA in his four full seasons in the bullpen. In the Orioles’ wire-to-wire year of 1997, Rhodes’ best in Baltimore, he was 10-3 with a 3.02 ERA and 102 strikeouts.
B.J. Ryan
After making his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1999, reliever B.J. Ryan was dealt midseason to the Orioles, whom he’d stay with through 2005, when he was an All-Star and saved 36 games as Baltimore’s closer. A left-hander with a lively fastball and biting slider, Ryan was called into games often, getting into at least 60 each of his last four years with Baltimore and playing in 76 each of his final two, tying an Orioles record. On May 1, 2003, Ryan was credited with a win without throwing a pitch when he picked off a runner.
David Wells
With the Orioles for the 1996 season, starter David Wells went 11-14 that year with a 5.14 ERA in 224 1/3 innings. In the postseason, he won Game 1 of the Division Series against Cleveland and Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees, who won the series, 4-1.
