1976 Baltimore Orioles season

1976 Baltimore Orioles
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
East Division (since 1969)
Location
Memorial Stadium (since 1954)
Baltimore, Maryland (since 1954)
Results
Record	88–74 (.543)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Jerold Hoffberger
General manager(s)	Hank Peters
Manager(s)	Earl Weaver
Local television	WJZ-TV
Local radio	WBAL (AM) (Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell)
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The 1976 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing second in the American League East with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses.

Offseason

• January 7, 1976: Wayne Krenchicki was drafted by the Orioles in the 1st round (7th pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft Secondary Phase.^[1]
• April 2, 1976: Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell were traded by the Orioles to the Oakland Athletics for Reggie Jackson, Ken Holtzman and Bill VanBommell (minors).^[2]

Regular season

1976 marked the first time since 1957 that an Oriole other than Brooks Robinson got the most starts at third base, with Doug DeCinces taking over the position for the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	62	0.610	—	45–35	52–27
Baltimore Orioles	88	74	0.543	10½	42–39	46–35
Boston Red Sox	83	79	0.512	15½	46–35	37–44
Cleveland Indians	81	78	0.509	16	44–35	37–43
Detroit Tigers	74	87	0.460	24	36–44	38–43
Milwaukee Brewers	66	95	0.410	32	36–45	30–50

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	8–4	8–4	7–11	12–6	6–6	11–7	4–8	13–5	4–8	8–4
Boston	11–7	—	7–5	6–6	9–9	14–4	3–9	12–6	7–5	7–11	4–8	3–9
California	4–8	5–7	—	11–7	7–5	6–6	8–10	4–8	8–10	5–7	6–12	12–6
Chicago	4–8	6–6	7–11	—	3–9	6–6	8–10	7–5	7–11	1–11	8–9	7–11
Cleveland	11–7	9–9	5–7	9–3	—	6–12	6–6	11–6	9–3	4–12	4–8	7–5
Detroit	6–12	4–14	6–6	6–6	12–6	—	4–8	12–6	4–8	9–8	6–6	5–7
Kansas City	6–6	9–3	10–8	10–8	6–6	8–4	—	8–4	10–8	7–5	9–9	7–11
Milwaukee	7–11	6–12	8–4	5–7	6–11	6–12	4–8	—	4–8	5–13	5–7	10–2
Minnesota	8–4	5–7	10–8	11–7	3–9	8–4	8–10	8–4	—	2–10	11–7	11–7
New York	5–13	11–7	7–5	11–1	12–4	8–9	5–7	13–5	10–2	—	6–6	9–3
Oakland	8–4	8–4	12–6	9–8	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–5	7–11	6–6	—	7–11
Texas	4–8	9–3	6–12	11–7	5–7	7–5	11–7	2–10	7–11	3–9	11–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 8, 1976: Bobby Brown was released by the Orioles.^[3]
• June 8, 1976: Dallas Williams was drafted by the Orioles in the 1st round (20th pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft.^[4]
• June 15, 1976: Doyle Alexander, Jimmy Freeman, Elrod Hendricks, Ken Holtzman, and Grant Jackson were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan, Scott McGregor, and Rick Dempsey.^[5]
• October 1, 1976: Dave Johnson was purchased from the Orioles by the Seattle Mariners.^[6]

Roster

1976 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 13 Doyle Alexander 35 Mike Cuellar 46 Mike Flanagan 17 Wayne Garland 39,48 Ross Grimsley 38 Fred Holdsworth 30 Ken Holtzman 23 Grant Jackson 61 Dennis Martínez 23,36 Tippy Martinez 43 Rudy May 39 Scott McGregor 37 Dyar Miller 30 Dave Pagan 22 Jim Palmer		Catchers 24 Rick Dempsey 25 Dave Duncan 10 Elrod Hendricks Infielders 21 Bob Bailor  7 Mark Belanger 10,38 Terry Crowley 44 Rich Dauer 11 Doug DeCinces 40 Kiko Garcia  3 Bobby Grich 12 Tommy Harper 14 Lee May 16 Tony Muser  8 Tim Nordbrook  5 Brooks Robinson 15 Royle Stillman		Outfielders  6 Paul Blair  1 Al Bumbry  9 Reggie Jackson 27,52 Andrés Mora 28 Tom Shopay 29 Ken Singleton		Manager  4 Earl Weaver Coaches 31 George Bamberger 41 Jim Frey 55 Billy Hunter 47 Cal Ripken

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Duncan, DaveDave Duncan	93	284	58	.204	4	17
1B	May, LeeLee May	148	530	137	.258	25	109
2B	Grich, BobbyBobby Grich	144	518	138	.266	13	54
3B	DeCinces, DougDoug DeCinces	129	440	103	.234	11	42
SS	Belanger, MarkMark Belanger	153	522	141	.270	1	40
LF	Singleton, KenKen Singleton	154	544	151	.278	13	70
CF	Blair, PaulPaul Blair	145	375	74	.197	3	16
RF	Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson	134	498	138	.277	27	91
DH	Mora, AndrésAndrés Mora	73	220	48	.218	6	25

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Bumbry, AlAl Bumbry	133	450	113	.251	9	36
Muser, TonyTony Muser	136	326	74	.227	1	30
Robinson, BrooksBrooks Robinson	71	218	46	.211	3	11
Dempsey, RickRick Dempsey	59	174	37	.213	0	10
Hendricks, ElrodElrod Hendricks	28	79	11	.139	1	4
Harper, TommyTommy Harper	46	77	18	.234	1	7
Crowley, TerryTerry Crowley	33	61	15	.246	0	5
Dauer, RichRich Dauer	11	39	4	.103	0	3
Garcia, KikoKiko Garcia	11	32	7	.219	1	4
Nordbrook, TimTim Nordbrook	27	22	5	.227	0	0
Stillman, RoyleRoyle Stillman	20	22	2	.091	0	1
Shopay, TomTom Shopay	14	20	4	.200	0	1
Bailor, BobBob Bailor	9	6	2	.333	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Palmer, JimJim Palmer	40	315	22	13	2.51	159
May, RudyRudy May	24	152.1	11	7	3.78	71
Grimsley, RossRoss Grimsley	28	136.2	8	7	3.95	41
Cuellar, MikeMike Cuellar	26	107	4	13	4.96	32
Holtzman, KenKen Holtzman	13	97.2	5	4	2.86	35

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Garland, WayneWayne Garland	38	232.1	20	7	2.67	113
Flanagan, MikeMike Flanagan	20	85	3	5	4.13	56
Alexander, DoyleDoyle Alexander	11	64.1	3	4	3.50	17
Pagan, DaveDave Pagan	20	46.2	1	4	5.98	34
Martínez, DennisDennis Martínez	4	27.2	1	2	2.60	18
McGregor, ScottScott McGregor	3	14.2	0	1	3.68	6

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Miller, DyarDyar Miller	49	2	4	7	2.94	37
Martinez, TippyTippy Martinez	28	3	1	8	2.59	31
Holdsworth, FredFred Holdsworth	16	4	1	2	2.04	24
Jackson, GrantGrant Jackson	13	1	1	3	5.12	14

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Joe Altobelli
AA	Charlotte O's	Southern League	Jimmie Schaffer
A	Miami Orioles	Florida State League	Len Johnston
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Ben Hines

Notes

1. Wayne Krenchicki page at Baseball Reference
2. Reggie Jackson page at Baseball Reference
3. Bobby Brown page at Baseball Reference
4. Dallas Williams page at Baseball Reference
5. Doyle Alexander page at Baseball Reference
6. Dave Johnson page at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1976 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
• 1976 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com