1988 Baltimore Orioles season

1988 Baltimore Orioles
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
East Division (since 1969)
Location
Memorial Stadium (since 1954)
Baltimore, Maryland (since 1954)
Results
Record	54–107 (.335)
Divisional place	7th
Other information
Owner(s)	Edward Bennett Williams
General manager(s)	Roland Hemond
Manager(s)	Cal Ripken, Sr., Frank Robinson
Local television	WMAR-TV (Jim Simpson, Brooks Robinson) Home Team Sports (Jim Palmer, Mel Proctor, John Lowenstein)
Local radio	WBAL (AM) (Jon Miller, Joe Angel)
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The 1988 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing 7th in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 107 losses. The season is remembered for the 0-21 start that lasted from April 4 to 28 to start the Orioles season.^[1] Manager Cal Ripken, Sr. was fired after an 0-6 start and replaced by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. The Orioles won their first game of the year against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on April 29.^[2] The most runs allowed during the season was 15 in a game on June 19 while the most runs scored was 12 in a game on May 31.^[1] Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams died in August of that year.

Offseason

• October 8, 1987: Mike Kinnunen was released by the Orioles.^[3]
• October 8, 1987: Mike Hart was released by the Orioles.^[4]
• November 6, 1987: Rico Rossy and Terry Crowley Jr. (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Joe Orsulak.^[5]
• February 27, 1988: Ray Knight was traded by the Orioles to the Detroit Tigers for Mark Thurmond.^[6]
• March 21, 1988: Mike Young and a player to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rick Schu, Keith Hughes and Jeff Stone. The Orioles completed the deal by sending Frank Bellino (minors) to the Phillies on June 14.^[7]

Regular season

• April 4, 1988: The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Orioles 12-0, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in a shutout win on Opening Day.^[8]
• September 7, 1988: Curt Schilling made his major league debut. He pitched against the Boston Red Sox and pitched in 7 innings. Schilling gave up 6 hits and 3 earned runs. He had 2 strikeouts and 5 bases on balls.^[9]

The Losing Streak

• Game 13: The Orioles tied the 1904 Washington Senators and the 1920 Detroit Tigers for most losses to start the season with 13 losses after being beaten by the Brewers, 9-5, in Milwaukee.^[10]
• Game 14: On a cold, wet night, 7,284 witnessed baseball history at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Baltimore became the first team in the history of major league baseball to start the season 0-14 as the Brewers won, 8-6.^[10]
• Game 21: The Orioles lost 4-2 to the Minnesota Twins in Minnesota, extending their streak of season-starting losses to half again their original record, marking their seventh straight series being swept,^[11] and ending the day 16 games out of first place on April 28.^[12]

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	89	73	0.549	—	53–28	36–45
Detroit Tigers	88	74	0.543	1	50–31	38–43
Milwaukee Brewers	87	75	0.537	2	47–34	40–41
Toronto Blue Jays	87	75	0.537	2	45–36	42–39
New York Yankees	85	76	0.528	3½	46–34	39–42
Cleveland Indians	78	84	0.481	11	44–37	34–47
Baltimore Orioles	54	107	0.335	34½	34–46	20–61

Record vs. opponents

1988 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	5–7	4–7	4–9	5–8	0–12	4–9	3–9	3–10	4–8	7–5	6–6	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–7	6–6	10–3	7–5	9–4	3–9	6–6	8–4	2–11
California	7–5	4–8	—	9–4	8–4	5–7	5–8	3–9	4–9	6–6	4–9	6–7	8–5	6–6
Chicago	7–4	5–7	4–9	—	3–9	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–9	3–9	5–8	9–4	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	9–4	5–8	4–8	9–3	—	4–9	6–6	9–4	5–7	6–7	4–8	5–7	6–6	6–7
Detroit	8–5	7–6	7–5	9–3	9–4	—	8–4	5–8	1–11	8–5	4–8	9–3	8–4	5–8
Kansas City	12–0	6–6	8–5	6–7	6–6	4–8	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	8–5	7–5	7–6	4–8
Milwaukee	9–4	3–10	9–3	6–6	4–9	8–5	9–3	—	7–5	6–7	3–9	8–4	8–4	7–6
Minnesota	9–3	5–7	9–4	9–4	7–5	11–1	6–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–8	8–5	7–6	7–5
New York	10–3	4–9	6–6	9–3	7–6	5–8	6–6	7–6	9–3	—	6–6	5–7	5–6	6–7
Oakland	8–4	9–3	9–4	8–5	8–4	8–4	5–8	9–3	8–5	6–6	—	9–4	8–5	9–3
Seattle	5–7	6–6	7–6	4–9	7–5	3–9	5–7	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	6–6	4–8	6–7	4–8	6–7	6–5	5–8	7–6	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	11–2	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–5	8–4	6–7	5–7	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–6	—

Opening Day starters

• Mike Boddicker
• Terry Kennedy
• Fred Lynn
• Eddie Murray
• Joe Orsulak
• Billy Ripken
• Cal Ripken, Jr.
• Rick Schu
• Larry Sheets
• Jeff Stone^[13]

Notable transactions

• April 2, 1988: Dickie Noles was signed as a free agent with the Orioles.^[14]
• April 5, 1988: Mickey Tettleton was signed as a Free Agent by the Orioles.^[15]
• June 1, 1988: Pete Rose, Jr. was drafted by the Orioles in the 12th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft. Player signed September 1, 1988.^[16]
• July 29, 1988: Mike Boddicker was traded by the Orioles to the Boston Red Sox for Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling.^[17]

Roster

1988 Baltimore Orioles roster
Roster
Pitchers 41 Don Aase 29,34 Jeff Ballard 48 José Bautista 52 Mike Boddicker 43 Gordon Dillard 27 John Habyan 42 Pete Harnisch 16 Scott McGregor 52 Bob Milacki 12 Mike Morgan 49 Tom Niedenfuer 37 Dickie Noles 30 Gregg Olson 23 Oswaldo Peraza 37 Bill Scherrer 43 Curt Schilling 24 Dave Schmidt 39 Doug Sisk 21 Mark Thurmond 53 Jay Tibbs 32 Mark Williamson		Catchers 15 Terry Kennedy 26 Carl Nichols 14 Mickey Tettleton Infielders 88 Rene Gonzales 33 Eddie Murray 3,7 Billy Ripken  8 Cal Ripken, Jr. 11 Wade Rowdon 13,25 Rick Schu 28 Jim Traber  3 Craig Worthington		Outfielders 16 Brady Anderson 25 Butch Davis  9 Jim Dwyer 38 Ken Gerhart 35 Keith Hughes 30 Tito Landrum 19 Fred Lynn  6 Joe Orsulak 18,19 Larry Sheets 17 Pete Stanicek  1 Jeff Stone		Manager  7 Cal Ripken, Sr. 20 Frank Robinson Coaches  2 Don Buford (Bench) 10 Terry Crowley (Hitting) 47 John Hart (Third Base) 44 Elrod Hendricks (Bullpen) 40 Minnie Mendoza (First Base) 31 Herm Starrette (Pitching)

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	HR	RBI	Avg.
C	Tettleton, MickeyMickey Tettleton	86	283	74	11	37	.261
1B	Murray, EddieEddie Murray	161	603	171	28	84	.284
2B	Ripken, BillyBilly Ripken	150	512	103	2	34	.207
3B	Schu, RickRick Schu	89	270	69	4	20	.256
SS	Ripken, CalCal Ripken	161	575	152	23	81	.264
LF	Stanicek, PetePete Stanicek	83	261	60	4	17	.230
CF	Lynn, FredFred Lynn	87	301	76	18	37	.252
RF	Orsulak, JoeJoe Orsulak	125	379	109	8	27	.288
DH	Sheets, LarryLarry Sheets	136	452	104	10	47	.230

^[18]

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	HR	RBI	Avg.
Traber, JimJim Traber	103	352	78	10	45	.222
Kennedy, TerryTerry Kennedy	85	265	60	3	16	.226
Gerhart, KenKen Gerhart	103	262	51	9	23	.195
Gonzales, ReneRene Gonzales	92	237	51	2	15	.215
Anderson, BradyBrady Anderson	53	177	35	1	9	.198
Hughes, KeithKeith Hughes	41	108	21	2	14	.194
Worthington, CraigCraig Worthington	26	81	15	2	4	.185
Stone, JeffJeff Stone	26	61	10	0	1	.164
Dwyer, JimJim Dwyer	35	53	12	0	3	.226
Nichols, CarlCarl Nichols	18	47	9	0	1	.191
Rowdon, WadeWade Rowdon	20	30	3	0	0	.100
Davis, ButchButch Davis	13	25	6	0	0	.240
Landrum, TitoTito Landrum	13	24	3	0	2	.125

^[18]

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bautista, JoséJosé Bautista	33	171.7	6	15	4.30	76
Tibbs, JayJay Tibbs	30	158.7	4	15	5.39	82
Ballard, JeffJeff Ballard	25	153.3	8	12	4.40	41
Boddicker, MikeMike Boddicker	21	147.0	6	12	3.86	100
Peraza, OswaldoOswaldo Peraza	19	86.0	5	7	5.55	61
McGregor, ScottScott McGregor	4	17.3	0	3	8.83	10
Schilling, CurtCurt Schilling	4	14.7	0	3	9.82	4
Milacki, BobBob Milacki	3	25.0	2	0	0.72	18
Harnisch, PetePete Harnisch	2	13.0	0	2	5.54	10
Noles, DickieDickie Noles	2	3.3	0	2	24.30	1

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Schmidt, DaveDave Schmidt	41	129.7	8	5	3.40	67
Williamson, MarkMark Williamson	37	117.7	5	8	4.90	69
Morgan, MikeMike Morgan	22	71.3	1	6	5.43	29
Dillard, GordonGordon Dillard	2	3.0	0	0	6.00	2

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Niedenfuer, TomTom Niedenfuer	52	59.0	3	4	18	3.51	40
Sisk, DougDoug Sisk	52	94.3	3	3	0	3.72	26
Thurmond, MarkMark Thurmond	43	74.7	1	8	3	4.58	29
Aase, DonDon Aase	35	46.7	0	0	0	4.05	28
Habyan, JohnJohn Habyan	7	14.7	1	0	0	4.30	4
Olson, GreggGregg Olson	10	11.0	1	1	0	3.27	9
Scherrer, BillBill Scherrer	4	4.0	0	1	0	13.50	3

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Johnny Oates
AA	Charlotte Knights	Southern League	Greg Biagini
A	Hagerstown Suns	Carolina League	Mike Hart
A-Short Season	Erie Orioles	New York–Penn League	Bobby Tolan
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Glenn Gulliver

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester

References

1. 1988 Baltimore Orioles Schedule, Box Scores and Splits - Baseball-Reference.com
2. Box Score of Game played on Friday, April 29, 1988 at Comiskey Park I
3. Mike Kinnunen page at Baseball Reference
4. Mike Hart page at Baseball Reference
5. Rico Rossy page at Baseball Reference
6. Ray Knight page at Baseball Reference
7. Rick Schu page at Baseball Reference
8. SI.com - Statitudes - Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers - Sunday March 30, 2003 01:50 AM
9. Curt Schilling page at Baseball Reference
10. Washingtonpost.com: The 1988 Orioles: And the Losing Goes On
11. "1988 Baltimore Orioles Schedule". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
12. Jim Caple (October 10, 2014). "ALCS: Someone's misery will end". ESPN. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
13. 1988 Baltimore Orioles Roster by Baseball Almanac
14. Dickie Noles page at Baseball Reference
15. Mickey Tettleton page at Baseball Reference
16. Pete Rose Jr. page at Baseball Reference
17. Mike Boddicker page at Baseball Reference
18. 1988 Baltimore Orioles Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com

• 1988 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
• 1988 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com