| 1988 Baltimore Orioles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Memorial Stadium | |||
| City | Baltimore, Maryland | |||
| Record | 54–107 (.335) | |||
| Divisional place | 7th | |||
| Owners | Edward Bennett Williams | |||
| General managers | Roland Hemond | |||
| Managers | Cal Ripken Sr.,Frank Robinson | |||
| Television | WMAR-TV (Jim Simpson,Brooks Robinson) Home Team Sports (Jim Palmer,Mel Proctor,John Lowenstein) | |||
| Radio | WBAL (AM) (Jon Miller,Joe Angel) | |||
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The1988 Baltimore Orioles season was the 88th season inBaltimore Orioles franchise history, the 35th inBaltimore, and the 35th atMemorial Stadium. The Orioles had the worst start to a season in modern Americanbaseball history. The Orioles finished seventh in theAmerican League East, reduced to a record of 54 wins and 107 losses just five seasons afterwinning the World Series. The season is most notable for the0–21 start that lasted from April 4 to April 28.[1] ManagerCal Ripken Sr. was fired after an 0–6 start and replaced by Hall of FamerFrank Robinson. The Orioles won their first game of the year against theChicago White Sox atComiskey 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 ownerEdward Bennett Williams died in August of that year.
This was only the second time that the Orioles had lost at least 100 games since their move to Baltimore (the other1954); in addition, the 107 losses would not be surpassed until30 years later. It was the team's fifth-worst overall franchise record, behind only1939 (43–111),2018 (47–115),2021 (52–110) and2019 (54–108). 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.
The Orioles’ 21-game losing streak would not be matched as the American League's longest losing streak until2024, when the Chicago White Sox matched it.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 89 | 73 | .549 | — | 53–28 | 36–45 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 1 | 50–31 | 38–43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 47–34 | 40–41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 45–36 | 42–39 |
| New York Yankees | 85 | 76 | .528 | 3½ | 46–34 | 39–42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 84 | .481 | 11 | 44–37 | 34–47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 107 | .335 | 34½ | 34–46 | 20–61 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — |
| 1988 Baltimore Orioles roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches
| ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Mickey Tettleton | 86 | 283 | 74 | 11 | 37 | .261 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 161 | 603 | 171 | 28 | 84 | .284 |
| 2B | Billy Ripken | 150 | 512 | 103 | 2 | 34 | .207 |
| 3B | Rick Schu | 89 | 270 | 69 | 4 | 20 | .256 |
| SS | Cal Ripken Jr. | 161 | 575 | 152 | 23 | 81 | .264 |
| LF | Pete Stanicek | 83 | 261 | 60 | 4 | 17 | .230 |
| CF | Fred Lynn | 87 | 301 | 76 | 18 | 37 | .252 |
| RF | Joe Orsulak | 125 | 379 | 109 | 8 | 27 | .288 |
| DH | Larry Sheets | 136 | 452 | 104 | 10 | 47 | .230 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average
| Player | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Traber | 103 | 352 | 78 | 10 | 45 | .222 |
| Terry Kennedy | 85 | 265 | 60 | 3 | 16 | .226 |
| Ken Gerhart | 103 | 262 | 51 | 9 | 23 | .195 |
| Rene Gonzales | 92 | 237 | 51 | 2 | 15 | .215 |
| Brady Anderson | 53 | 177 | 35 | 1 | 9 | .198 |
| Keith Hughes | 41 | 108 | 21 | 2 | 14 | .194 |
| Craig Worthington | 26 | 81 | 15 | 2 | 4 | .185 |
| Jeff Stone | 26 | 61 | 10 | 0 | 1 | .164 |
| Jim Dwyer | 35 | 53 | 12 | 0 | 3 | .226 |
| Carl Nichols | 18 | 47 | 9 | 0 | 1 | .191 |
| Wade Rowdon | 20 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .100 |
| Butch Davis | 13 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .240 |
| Tito Landrum | 13 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .125 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| José Bautista | 33 | 171.2 | 6 | 15 | 4.30 | 76 |
| Jay Tibbs | 30 | 158.2 | 4 | 15 | 5.39 | 82 |
| Jeff Ballard | 25 | 153.1 | 8 | 12 | 4.40 | 41 |
| Mike Boddicker | 21 | 147.0 | 6 | 12 | 3.86 | 100 |
| Oswaldo Peraza | 19 | 86.0 | 5 | 7 | 5.55 | 61 |
| Bob Milacki | 3 | 25.0 | 2 | 0 | 0.72 | 18 |
| Scott McGregor | 4 | 17.1 | 0 | 3 | 8.83 | 10 |
| Curt Schilling | 4 | 14.2 | 0 | 3 | 9.82 | 4 |
| Pete Harnisch | 2 | 13.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.54 | 10 |
| Dickie Noles | 2 | 3.1 | 0 | 2 | 24.30 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Schmidt | 41 | 129.2 | 8 | 5 | 3.40 | 67 |
| Mark Williamson | 37 | 117.2 | 5 | 8 | 4.90 | 69 |
| Mike Morgan | 22 | 71.1 | 1 | 6 | 5.43 | 29 |
| Gordon Dillard | 2 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Niedenfuer | 52 | 59.0 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 3.51 | 40 |
| Doug Sisk | 52 | 94.1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3.72 | 26 |
| Mark Thurmond | 43 | 74.2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 4.58 | 29 |
| Don Aase | 35 | 46.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 28 |
| John Habyan | 7 | 14.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.30 | 4 |
| Gregg Olson | 10 | 11.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.27 | 9 |
| Bill Scherrer | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13.50 | 3 |
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| World Series championships (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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