70 Years of Orioles Magic Moments...10 Years at a Time: 1974-1983
Two days after the St. Louis Browns finished the 1953 season in last place, American League owners approved the sale and transfer of the franchise to Baltimore, putting the city back in the big leagues for the first time since 1902.
The newly renamed Baltimore Orioles moved into Memorial Stadium, thus beginning a 70-year love affair with Charm City. Good times were lean in the early years; it would take seven years for the team to post its first winning season.
The Orioles eventually would produce three World Series titles, numerous memorable players including a manager and five players whose Hall of Fame careers led to their numbers being retired, and countless magic and improbable moments, including the 2023 AL East Division title.
Now, with a new 30-year lease for Oriole Park at Camden Yards that will take the club through its 100th season in Baltimore, the Orioles are poised to create even more memories in the years ahead.
But first, let’s take a look at the highlights of the first 70 years – memorable moments from seven decades of Orioles Baseball. We’ll look at the players and events that shaped “Orioles Magic” 10 years at a time.
We’ll also include some moments we didn’t know were going to be so memorable at the time.
In recent weeks, we’ve looked at the first two decades. This time, it’s decade three:
1974-1983
5/7/1974: Every Oriole has at least 2 hits to tie an American League record and the O’s record 21 hits for the 4th time in club history in a 9-3 win at Oakland. Paul Blair has 4 hits and Enos Cabell has 3 as 6 different players record RBIs.
10/5/1974: The Orioles get home runs from Paul Blair, Bobby Grich and Brooks Robinson off Jim “Catfish” Hunter en route to a 6-3 win at Oakland in the first game of the ALCS. The Orioles have now won all 10 of the ALCS games played, but the A’s will take the next 3 games to win the series.
8/15/1975: Earl Weaver is ejected from both games of a doubleheader against Texas at Memorial Stadium. Weaver is ejected by first base umpire Ron Luciano during the first game after arguing a call at first base. The Rangers go on to a 10-6 win in which every starter for both teams get at least one hit. Before the second game starts, Weaver is again ejected by Luciano during the lineup exchange. The Orioles go on to a 10-1 win behind Mike Cuellar as 10 different Birds get a hit.
11/3/1975: Hank Peters is named Vice President and General Manager of the Orioles, replacing Frank Cashen, who returned to the Carling National Brewery at club and brewery owner Jerry Hoffberger’s request after 11 years with the ballclub. As a young assistant in the St. Louis Browns minor league department, Peters had turned down a chance to move with the Browns to Baltimore after the 1953 season. Peters will spend 12 years as Orioles GM, the longest tenure in club history.
4/2/1976: In Hank Peters’ first major trade as general manager, the Orioles acquire OF Reggie Jackson, LHP Ken Holtzman and RHP Bill Van Bommell from the A’s in exchange for OF Don Baylor and RHPs Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell a week before opening day. Jackson threatens to sit out the season and does not report until three weeks into the season. He leads the club with 27 homers, finishes second in average and RBI, then signs with the Yankees after the season as part of the first free agent class.
4/9/1976: Future Hall of Famers Jim Palmer and Ferguson Jenkins stage a classic pitchers’ duel on Opening Day at Memorial Stadium. Palmer goes 8 innings and prevails as the Orioles score an unearned run in the 4th inning on a single and two Boston errors to win, 1-0.
6/15/1976: The Orioles complete a 5-for-5 swap with the Yankees, sending LHP Ken Holtzman, RHP Doyle Alexander, LHP Grant Jackson, C Elrod Hendricks and LHP Jimmy Freeman to New York in exchange for LHP Scott McGregor, LHP Tippy Martinez, C Rick Dempsey, LHP Rudy May and RHP Dave Pagan. McGregor, Martinez and Dempsey will become mainstays of the club for more than a decade and Orioles Hall of Famers.
4/19/1977: After Cleveland scores two runs in the 10th inning to take a 5-3 lead, Brooks Robinson comes off the bench with two on and one out in the bottom of the inning. After fouling off several pitches from the Indians’ Dave LaRoche, Robinson hits a three-run, pinch-hit homer to give the Orioles a 6-5 win. Brooks is mobbed by teammates as he crosses the plate on what is his 268th – and last – career home run.
7/4/1977: Detroit’s Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year whose eccentric ways captured baseball fans nationwide, draws 45,339 fans in his first appearance at Memorial Stadium. Fidrych pitches 5 shutout innings and gets the first 2 outs in the 6th before giving up 6 runs on 6 hits and a walk, and the Orioles win, 6-4.
7/11/1977: On All-America City night, a crowd of 42,605 sees Pat Kelly and Eddie Murray drive in runs to tie the Yankees, 3-3, in the 7th inning at Memorial Stadium. After Al Bumbry triples in the 9th, Murray hits a one-out single to win, 4-3. The Orioles take 3 of 4 games from the Yankees in the series, which draws 154,835 fans, a record for a 4-game series.
9/18/1977: On “Thanks Brooks Day,” a then-record 51,798 fans flock to Memorial Stadium to honor the Orioles third baseman, who had retired in August. During the pre-game ceremony, his replacement, Doug DeCinces, pulls third base from the ground and presents it to Brooks.
5/28/1978: Jim Palmer becomes the only 200-game winner in Orioles history, shutting out the Indians 3-0 at Memorial Stadium. It’s his second of three consecutive shutouts in a 9-day span and the 48th (of 53 shutouts) in his career.
8/13/1978: The Yankees score five runs in the top of the 7th inning to take a 5-3 lead, but a heavy rain soaks Memorial Stadium and the game is called following a 36-minute rain delay. Following MLB rules at the time, the score reverts to the previous inning and the Orioles win, 3-0, giving Scott McGregor his first lifetime victory over the team that signed him. The rule later is changed and such games are now “suspended” and resumed from the point of the delay.
9/23/1978: In the nightcap of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium, Jim Palmer beats the Tigers, 6-1, to become the first American League pitcher since Lefty Grove in 1935 to win 20 games in a season 8 times. Palmer is tied with Grove behind Walter Johnson (13 times) in AL history.
4/6/1979: The Oriole Bird is hatched out of a giant egg at Memorial Stadium and becomes the team’s new mascot on Opening Day. Jim Palmer pitches the Orioles to a 5-3 win over the White Sox, as Earl Weaver becomes the 32nd manager to win 1,000 games in the majors. Weaver will finish his 17-year career – all with the Orioles – with a 1,480-1,069 record.
6/18/1979: While arguing an interference call in the bottom of the 8th inning at Cleveland, Earl Weaver is ejected by umpire Larry Barnett. Weaver returns carrying the rule book, which he promptly tears into shreds in front of Barnett, to no avail. The Indians tie the game, but Gary Roenicke’s sacrifice fly in the 9th gives the Orioles an 8-7 win.
6/22/1979: Third baseman Doug DeCinces hits a dramatic two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the 9th in front of more than 35,000 fans at Memorial Stadium, giving birth to “Orioles Magic.” The Orioles trail 5-3 entering the 9th, but Ken Singleton homers and Eddie Murray singles before DeCinces’ two-out blow off Dave Tobik.
6/23/1979: One day after Doug DeCinces creates “Orioles Magic” with a game-winning two-run homer, the Birds add to their lore, sweeping a doubleheader from Detroit in their final at-bats. Trailing 6-5 in the 9th inning of the opener, Eddie Murray hits a three-run homer off Tiger relief ace John Hiller to give the O’s an 8-6 win. In the nightcap, Ken Singleton’s two-run game-tying single in the 7th sets the stage for Terry Crowley’s game-winning single in the 8th as the O’s win 6-5. Sammy Stewart pitches the final 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief in the second game after Tippy Martinez had gone the final 4 innings without allowing a hit in Game 1. Recently hired Tigers manager Sparky Anderson is rendered speechless following the sweep.
8/15/1979: With Doug DeCinces on first and Eddie Murray on third with two outs in the 12th, DeCinces breaks for second against White Sox rookie pitcher Guy Hoffman, and Murray steals home standing up to give the Orioles their second consecutive 12-inning win over the Chicago at Memorial Stadium, 2-1. Mike Flanagan goes the distance, striking out 12 and allowing five hits for his 16th win.
10/3/1979: Game 1 of the AL Championship Series goes to the bottom of the 10th inning before pinch-hitter John Lowenstein hammers a dramatic 3-run, opposite field homer to left off Angels’ reliever John Montague to give the Orioles a 6-3 win at Memorial Stadium. Manager Earl Weaver had to summon a PR staffer to retrieve the batter-pitcher match-up card for Montague, who had been traded to the Angels in late August, and found Lowenstein had two homers off him. Starting pitchers Jim Palmer and Nolan Ryan each allowed three runs before turning the game over to the bullpen.
10/4/1979: The Orioles jump out to a 9-1 lead over the Angels after 3 innings in Game 2 of the ALCS before hanging on for a 9-8 win. Don Stanhouse, in relief of Mike Flanagan, allows 2 runs before getting Brian Downing to hit into a game-ending force-out with the bases loaded in the 9th to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.
10/6/1979: Scott McGregor clinches the American League pennant for the Orioles, pitching an 8-0 shutout at Anaheim to beat the Angels in Game 4 of the ALCS. Pat Kelly hits a 3-run homer for the O’s, who advance to the World Series for the first time in 8 seasons.
10/10/1979: After rain postpones the start of the World Series by a day, the Orioles score five runs in the 1st inning, capped by Doug DeCinces’ two-run homer, and hold off the Pirates 5-4 in Game 1 at Memorial Stadium. Mike Flanagan goes the distance, scattering 11 hits and allowing two earned runs and gets future Hall of Famer Willie Stargell to fly out to shallow left with the tie run on 3rd base to end the game.
10/12/1979: Following a 67-minute rain delay, the Orioles score five runs in the 4th inning and go on to beat the Pirates, 8-4, in Game 3 of the World Series at Pittsburgh. Kiko Garcia’s bases-loaded triple keys the inning, and Scott McGregor goes the distance to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead in the series. Garcia finishes the game with four hits and four RBI.
10/17/1979: Eight years to the day after the Pirates captured the World Series in 7 games, Pittsburgh hands the Orioles another 7th game defeat at Memorial Stadium, coming back from a three-game deficit to beat the Orioles in the deciding game, 4-1. Series MVP Willie Stargell hits a two-run homer off Scott McGregor in the 6th to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead, and Dave Parker flags down Eddie Murray’s bases-loaded drive to drive to deep right to end the 8th inning and end the Orioles threat.
10/18/1979: The day after losing the 7th game of World Series to the Pirates, the Orioles are honored at a noon parade in downtown Baltimore. More than 100,000 people fill the streets to honor the American League champs.
6/19/1980: John Lowenstein’s pinch-hit single in the 7th inning ties the game, and when A’s first baseman Jeff Newman’s errant throw hits “Brother Lo” in the back of the neck as he slides into second, the ball bounds away and Al Bumbry scores the go-ahead run from third base. Lowenstein, seemingly unconscious, is carried motionless from the field on a stretcher. Just as the stretcher reaches the Orioles dugout, Lowenstein bolts upright with both fists raised, as the Memorial Stadium crowd of 15,491 goes crazy. The Orioles win, 4-3, behind Scott McGregor’s complete game effort.
8/17/1980: In front of 50,073 fans at Memorial Stadium and a national TV audience, Scott McGregor tosses a 6-hit shutout to beat Louis Tiant and the Yankees, 1-0. Rich Dauer doubles to lead off the 6th and two outs later, Terry Crowley doubles him home for the game’s only run.
8/10/1981: Cal Ripken makes his major league debut, pinch-running for Ken Singleton in the 12th inning of a game at Memorial Stadium. Ripken scores from second base on John Lowenstein’s game-winning single as the Orioles beat Kansas City, 3-2.
1/28/1982: The Orioles trade third baseman Doug DeCinces and reliever Jeff Schneider to the Angels for outfielder Dan Ford. Team officials note the need for a power-hitting outfielder and the need to find room for young third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. Ford waives his no-trade clause rights to join the Orioles and spends four seasons in Baltimore, much of it on the disabled list. Ripken is moved to shortstop during his rookie season and the Orioles spend the next decade looking for a third baseman.
4/5/1982: The Orioles homer for the cycle, paced by Eddie Murray’s grand slam, in a 13-5 win over the Royals in their season opener at Memorial Stadium. Dan Ford hits a 3-run homer, Cal Ripken has a 2-run homer and Gary Roenicke hits a solo homer as the Orioles pound 16 hits before 51,958 fans. Roenicke has 4 hits and Ripken and Ford get 3 each.
5/30/1982: Though it is unknown at the time, third baseman Cal Ripken begins his amazing consecutive game streak in a home game loss to the Blue Jays. It will be more than 16 seasons before Ripken does not start a game for the Orioles, after 2,632 consecutive games.
7/1/1982: Orioles Manager Earl Weaver stuns the baseball establishment, moving third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. to shortstop to start a game vs. Cleveland. Ripken, whose legendary consecutive-game streak began 28 games earlier on May 30, would start the next 2,216 games at shortstop before moving back to third base as a starter.
8/1/1982: Frank Robinson becomes the first player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Orioles’ logo on his plaque.
9/19/1982: A crowd of 41,127 fans help honor retiring manager Earl Weaver on “Thanks Earl Day” at Memorial Stadium. After an hour-long pre-game ceremony to celebrate the future Hall of Fame manager, Rich Dauer ends the day with a dramatic 2-out home run in the 10th inning to give the Orioles a 4-2 win over the Indians.
10/1-3/1982: Trailing the Brewers in the AL East by three games with four to play, the Orioles begin a final weekend homestand with a doubleheader sweep of the Brewers, 8-3 and 7-1, and follow it by winning the next night, 11-3, to pull into a tie to set up a winner-take-all season finale for division title. In the final game, the Orioles fall, 10-2. in Earl Weaver’s first farewell as manager. A Memorial Stadium crowd of 51,642 refuses to leave, staying more than an hour to salute both the retiring manager and the team’s valiant comeback from a seven-game deficit with 36 games to play in the season.
8/5/1983: With 39,544 on hand on a rainy night to welcome Brooks Robinson back from his Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown, the Orioles trail the White Sox, 4-2, with two outs and none on in the 9th. The Orioles get five straight hits, the last by Rich Dauer, driving in the winning run as the Birds score a 5-4 victory.
8/13/1983: Bill Swaggerty, filling in for an injured Jim Palmer, pitches six innings and leaves with the score tied 2-2, and the Orioles go on to beat the White Sox, 5-2, in Chicago to end a 7-game losing streak. Swaggerty doesn’t get the W, but the victory propels the Orioles to a 34-10 mark over the next six weeks before clinching the AL East title.
8/24/1983: With outfielders John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke forced to play the infield and utility infielder Lenn Sakata catching after the Orioles tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Toronto retakes the lead in the top of the 10th before reliever Tippy Martinez enters and picks off three runners at first base to end the inning. Martinez comes in with Barry Bonnell on first and picks him off. After walking Jesse Barfield, pinch-runner Dave Collins is picked off, followed by Willie Upshaw, who had singled. In the bottom of the 10th, Cal Ripken homers to tie the game, and Sakata hits a game-winning three-run homer for a 7-4 win.
9/19/1983: It’s déjà vu all over again as, for the second game in a row, the Orioles come back to beat the Brewers in a walk-off single by catcher John Stefero. Stefero, whose 9th inning single the day before had beaten the Brewers, 10-9, this time singles in the 11th to score Gary Roenicke for an 8-7 win. It was Stefero’s first two games since a September recall.
9/25/1983: Storm Davis and Tippy Martinez combine to beat the Brewers at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, 5-1, clinching the AL East title. The Brewers had beaten out the Orioles for the title at Memorial Stadium on the season’s final day in 1982. The win eliminates the Tigers with a week to play.
10/6/1983: Rookie hurler Mike Boddicker strikes out 14 White Sox in a 4-0 shutout win at Memorial Stadium to even the American League Championship Series at a game apiece.
10/7/1983: Eddie Murray’s three-run homer in the first inning at Comiskey Park off Chicago’s Richard Dotson gets the Orioles started on an 11-1 rout in Game 3 of their best-of-5 ALCS. Mike Flanagan hits the White Sox’s Ron Kittle with a pitch in the 4th inning, and when Dotson hits Cal Ripken and throws inside to Murray in the 5th, both benches empty. When play resumes, Murray walks and John Lowenstein hits a two-run double to pad the Orioles lead.
10/8/1983: Tito Landrum’s 10th inning home run to into a gale-force wind to the upper deck in left at Comiskey Park breaks a scoreless tie, and the Orioles go on to score two more runs for a 3-0 victory to clinch the American League pennant at Chicago. Storm Davis pitches six shutout innings and Tippy Martinez shuts out the White Sox over the final four innings as the Orioles win the ALCS, 3-game-to-1, to advance to the World Series.
10/12/1983: Mike Boddicker throws a three-hit complete game to beat the Phillies, 4-1, at Memorial Stadium, to even the World Series at one game each. John Lowenstein has three hits, including a home run, to lead the Orioles offense.
10/14/1983: The Orioles rally to beat the Phillies, 3-2, to take a 2-games-to-1 lead in the World Series. Trailing 2-0, Dan Ford homers in the 6th to cut the lead to one and Benny Ayala’s pinch-hit single scores Rick Dempsey to tie the score in the 7th. After John Shelby’s single, Ayala raced home on Ford’s hard-hit smash that was bobbled by Phillies shortstop Ivan DeJesus. Jim Palmer pitches two scoreless innings in relief for the win, making him the only pitcher to win World Series games in three different decades.
10/15/1983: Rich Dauer breaks out of a 1-for-26 post-season slump with three hits and three RBI to lead the Orioles to a 5-4 win and a 3-games-to-1 lead over the Phillies in the World Series. Manager Joe Altobelli uses a series-record four pinch-hitters in the 6th inning as the Orioles score twice to take a 4-3 lead.
10/16/1983: Scott McGregor tosses a five-hit shutout and Eddie Murray homers twice to lead the Orioles to a 5-0 win over the Phillies to clinch their third World Championship. World Series MVP Rick Dempsey has a homer, double and scores twice as the Orioles win the series, 4-games-to-1.
10/17/1983: A crowd estimated at more than 200,000 toast the World Champion Orioles in a parade through the streets of downtown Baltimore, the celebration ending at City Hall with the unveiling of the World Series trophy, which Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams presents to Mayor Kurt Schmoke.