1981 Baltimore Orioles season

1981 Baltimore Orioles
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
East Division (since 1969)
Location
Memorial Stadium (since 1954)
Baltimore, Maryland (since 1954)
Results
Record	59–46 (.562)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Edward Bennett Williams
General manager(s)	Hank Peters
Manager(s)	Earl Weaver
Local television	WMAR-TV
Local radio	WFBR (Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell, Brooks Robinson, Tom Marr)
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The 1981 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing 2nd in the American League East with a record of 59 wins and 46 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike.

Offseason

December 15, 1980: Paul Hartzell was released by the Orioles.^[1]
January 22, 1981: Joe Kerrigan and John Buffamoyer (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the Cincinnati Reds for Mike Grace and John Hale.^[2]

Regular season

August 10, 1981: Cal Ripken, Jr. made his major league debut in a game against the Kansas City Royals.^[3]

Notable transactions

April 1, 1981: Kiko Garcia was traded by the Orioles to the Houston Astros for Chris Bourjos and cash.^[4]
June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
- Jeff Schaefer was drafted by the Orioles in the 12th round.^[5]
- Cecil Fielder was drafted by the Orioles in the 31st round, but did not sign.^[6]

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Brewers	62	47	0.569	—	28–21	34–26
Baltimore Orioles	59	46	0.562	1	33–22	26–24
New York Yankees	59	48	0.551	2	32–19	27–29
Detroit Tigers	60	49	0.550	2	32–23	28–26
Boston Red Sox	59	49	0.546	2½	30–23	29–26
Cleveland Indians	52	51	0.505	7	25–29	27–22
Toronto Blue Jays	37	69	0.349	23½	17–36	20–33

AL East First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
New York Yankees	34	22	.607
Baltimore Orioles	31	23	.574
Milwaukee Brewers	31	25	.554
Detroit Tigers	31	26	.544
Boston Red Sox	30	26	.536
Cleveland Indians	26	24	.520
Toronto Blue Jays	16	42	.276

AL East Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Milwaukee Brewers	31	22	.585
Boston Red Sox	29	23	.558
Detroit Tigers	29	23	.558
Baltimore Orioles	28	23	.549
Cleveland Indians	26	27	.491
New York Yankees	25	26	.490
Toronto Blue Jays	21	27	.438

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Roster

1981 Baltimore Orioles roster

Roster

Pitchers

52 Mike Boddicker

46 Mike Flanagan

21 Dave Ford

36 Steve Luebber

30 Dennis Martínez

23 Tippy Martinez

16 Scott McGregor

22 Jim Palmer

57 Jeff Schneider

53 Sammy Stewart

49 Tim Stoddard

32 Steve Stone

Catchers

24 Rick Dempsey

37,41 Dan Graham

59 Willie Royster

Infielders

7 Mark Belanger

2 Bobby Bonner

25 Rich Dauer

11 Doug DeCinces

6 Wayne Krenchicki

33 Eddie Murray

8 Cal Ripken, Jr.

12 Lenn Sakata

Outfielders

1 Al Bumbry

15 Mark Corey

28 Jim Dwyer

38 John Lowenstein

35 Gary Roenicke

37 John Shelby

29 Ken Singleton

39 Dallas Williams

Other batters

27 Benny Ayala

10 Terry Crowley

34 José Morales

Manager

4 Earl Weaver

Coaches

44 Elrod Hendricks

31 Ray Miller

47 Cal Ripken, Sr.

54 Ralph Rowe

40 Jimmy Williams

Player stats

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	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Rick Dempsey	92	251	54	.215	6	15
1B	Eddie Murray	99	378	111	.294	22	78
2B	Rich Dauer	96	369	97	.263	4	38
3B	Doug DeCinces	100	346	91	.263	13	55
SS	Mark Belanger	64	139	23	.165	1	10
LF	John Lowenstein	83	189	47	.249	6	20
CF	Al Bumbry	101	392	107	.273	1	27
RF	Ken Singleton	103	363	101	.278	13	49
DH	Terry Crowley	68	134	33	.246	4	25

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Morales, JoséJosé Morales	38	86	21	.244	2	14
Krenchicki, WayneWayne Krenchicki	33	56	12	.214	0	6
Ripken, CalCal Ripken	23	39	5	.128	0	0
Bonner, BobbyBobby Bonner	10	27	8	.296	0	2
Williams, DallasDallas Williams	2	2	1	.500	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Martínez, DennisDennis Martínez	25	179	14	5	3.32	88
Flanagan, MikeMike Flanagan	20	116	9	6	4.19	72

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Luebber, SteveSteve Luebber	7	0	0	0	7.56	12
Boddicker, MikeMike Boddicker	2	0	0	0	4.76	2

Awards and honors

Dennis Martínez, American League Leader Victories (14)

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Doc Edwards
AA	Charlotte O's	Southern League	Mark Wiley
A	Hagerstown Suns	Carolina League	Grady Little
A	Miami Orioles	Florida State League	Minnie Mendoza
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Lance Nichols

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Hagerstown

Notes

References

Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
1981 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
1981 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com

1981 MLB season by team
AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas
NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco
1981 MLB draft 1981 All-Star Game 1981 strike 1981 World Series

Baltimore Orioles

Formerly the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Browns
Based in Baltimore, Maryland

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring training: Majestic Park; West End Park; Coffee Pot Park; Wright Field; Tech Field; Perris Hill Park; City Island Ball Park; Miami Stadium; Ed Smith Stadium; Al Lang Stadium; Fort Lauderdale Stadium; Ed Smith Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Washington Nationals
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox

Key personnel

Owner: Peter Angelos
Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations: Dan Duquette
Manager: Buck Showalter

World Series
Championships (3)

American League
Championships (7)

American League East
Championships (9)

American League Wild Card
(3)

Minor league
affiliates

Broadcasting

TV: Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
Radio: Orioles Radio Network
Announcers: Gary Thorne; Jim Hunter; Jim Palmer; Rick Dempsey; Mike Bordick

Seasons (117)
1900s	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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