BALTIMORE -- In a week’s time, they’ll begin filtering back into Baltimore to celebrate what was, for some, the season of a lifetime. For months, the members of the 1989 Orioles have reminisced about that wild summer, 30 years old this year. Now they'll get the chance to do so together, and in front of the fans who watched then, for the anniversary of that faithful season.
“The people that lived through it will remember it pretty well,” said Cal Ripken Jr., who earned his seventh All-Star selection and placed third in the American League Most Valuable Player Award voting that season. “I’m looking forward to seeing the guys. Maybe that means I’m getting older.”
More than a dozen members of the ’89 squad have confirmed their attendance for next Friday's reunion, which will include an afternoon luncheon and on-field ceremony prior to that night’s game against the Astros. Including Ripken Jr., key contributors like Jeff Ballard, Phil Bradley, Mike Deveraux, Bob Milacki, Billy Ripken and others will attend. They will be embraced by a fan base that made “Why Not?” a catchphrase that year, enthralled by what the team accomplished on the field.
“That whole thing was just crazy,” said reliever-turned team broadcaster Dave Johnson.
That summer, the Orioles found themselves upending the pundits, predictions and perhaps even themselves, on their way to pulling off one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Major League History. Picked to finish last by almost everyone after going 54-107 the previous year, the Orioles spent 116 days in first place before being eliminated by Toronto on the last weekend of the season. In the end, they went from worst-to-almost-first, capturing the imagination of a city clamoring for a winner.
Despite their second-place finish, a parade awaited the Orioles when they returned to Baltimore. There may be other examples of runner-up teams earning a parade in professional sports, but no member of the ’89 squad can think of one.
“For us as a team, it was about hoping when hope was lost,” Ripken Jr. said. “Hope is a wonderful thing, and sometimes we need something to help you believe there is hope.”
Ripken Jr. has been back for reunions before, most recently for the 2017 reunion of the 1992 Orioles, gathered to celebrate the 25th birthday of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Both he and Gregg Olson, the breakout rookie closer in ’89 and now one of the club’s radio analysts, cited the influence late manager Frank Robinson had on a team full of young and unproven players. The reunion lands two days after the six month anniversary of Robinson’s death, which came on Feb. 7 at age 83.
“As a manager, he just let us play,” Ripken Jr. said. “The best thing Frank did was recognizing we had young talent and let them go. And he did.”
“You look back and think, yeah we went through adversity and went through hard times together, but it was also kind of like we grew up together,” Olson said. “Short of Cal and a couple of the other guys who’d been around the league for a while, the rest of us kinda grew up that season and got thrown into a pennant race when we were supposed to be the worst team in the AL East.”
The Orioles will punctuate the evening by giving away specially designed “Why Not?” t-shirts to the first 20,000 fans age 15 or older. A four-day flash sale for fans wishing to attend is currently under way, offering discounted tickets that are meant to reflect rates from the ’89 season. The offer is valid exclusively at Orioles.com/WhyNot through August 4.
“I’m glad they’re doing it, because it is fun, it is part of Orioles history,” Johnson said. “And to have been part of that, even though we didn’t win, the city was electric over it.”