1988_Baltimore_Orioles_season

1988 Baltimore Orioles season

1988 Baltimore Orioles season

Major League Baseball team season


The 1988 Baltimore Orioles had the worst start to a season in modern American baseball history. The Orioles finished seventh in the American League East, reduced to a record of 54 wins and 107 losses just five seasons after winning the World Series. The season is most notable for the 0–21 start that lasted from April 4th to April 28th.[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.

This was only the second time that the Orioles had lost at least 100 games (the other being their inaugural season of 1954); in addition, the 107 losses would not be surpassed until 30 years later. It was the team's fifth-worst overall franchise record, behind only 1939 (43–111), 2018 (47–115), 2021 (52-110) and 2019 (54–108). This would be the final season to feature the cartoon bird logo on the caps. The next year the Orioles switched back to the full bodied bird logo (which had been previously featured on the caps for the team's first 12 years from 1954 to 1965), the cartoon bird logo wouldn't return to the caps until 2012.

Offseason

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 when they lost to 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 MLB history to start the season 0–14 as the Brewers won, 8–6.[10] No MLB team would lose this many games in a row to open a season until the 1997 Chicago Cubs did so.
  • 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

More information W, L ...

Record vs. opponents

More information Team, BAL ...

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1988 Baltimore Orioles roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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

More information Pos, Player ...

[18]

Other batters

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

More information Player, G ...

[18]

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

More information Player, G ...

Other pitchers

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

More information Player, G ...

Relief pitchers

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

More information Player, G ...

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester


References

  1. "1988 Baltimore Orioles Schedule". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  2. Jim Caple (October 10, 2014). "ALCS: Someone's misery will end". ESPN. Retrieved October 10, 2014.

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