Round number anniversaries are typically considered milestones, and so it is that the coming baseball season will mark the 40th anniversary of the Baltimore Orioles’ victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1983 World Series.
The team is remembered as much for its cast of characters as for its considerable talent. There were three future members of the Hall of Fame: Cal Ripken Jr., who won the first of his two American League Most Valuable Player awards that season; Eddie Murray, the team’s home run and RBI leader, whose two homers sealed the Game 5 Series finale; and Jim Palmer, who, approaching the end of his storied career, came into the pivotal Series Game 3 in relief, and, that night, became the only pitcher ever to win a World Series game in three different decades.
Those stars had a number of less-heralded teammates who helped fuel that 98-win team, and who had crucial moments in the ‘83 World Series that are entirely worthy of an anniversary acknowledgment:
- Rookie Mike Boddicker pitched a three-hitter to win Game 2 after the team’s opening night loss.
- Scott McGregor allowed two runs in 17 innings, including a five-hit shutout to clinch the Series.
- Tippy Martinez and Sammy Stewart pitched eight innings in relief, allowing just one combined run
- John Lowenstein had five Series hits, including a single, double and home run in Game 2.
- Rich Dauer had four Series hits, including three critical RBIs to propel the 5-4 win in Game 4.
- “Disco” Dan Ford took a pitch to his helmet in Game 2, stayed in the game and later delivered a single that helped set up a run. He followed that by homering in the 3-2 Game 3 win.
- Benny Ayala provided a pinch-hit single that tied Game 3.
- John Shelby had four hits, scored a run and knocked in another.
- Rick Dempsey, fondly known for his rain-delay antics, had five hits, consisting of a home run and four doubles, to earn Series MVP honors.
But this happy remembrance is tinged with some understandable sadness among Orioles fans. Ripken’s catch of a soft liner for the last out of Game 5 represents another 40-year anniversary — the last time the team has appeared in a World Series game. I have tried to assuage my own despairing over the Orioles’ long absence from the fall classic by concocting the notion that it has not really been a full four decades, because the World Series was not played in 1994 due to a players’ strike. Nevertheless, despite my machinations, I cannot dispel the reality that it has been 40 calendar years since a World Series was played in Baltimore.=
But there is hope on this opening day, and it is more than the traditional sentiment of new beginnings that accompanies the start of each year. Last year’s Orioles, to the bewilderment of pundits, brought winning baseball back after six straight losing years that included three hundred-loss seasons. Featuring baseball’s lowest payroll, made possible by a youthful roster, they sputtered out of the gate until rookie catcher Adley Rutschman arrived in May, at which point the team’s demeanor began to noticeably change. They thereafter went 67-55, finishing with 83 wins and flirting with a wild-card spot until the season’s last days.
With the coming of this anniversary year, the presence of several emerging young stars and a talent-laden farm system is enough to prompt memories of baseball exquisitely played by an ensemble of stars and supporting cast members who came together to bring home a championship. One of that team’s pitchers, Palmer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was a part of each of the Orioles’ World Series teams, and, in a final Series appearance, he managed to put a unique bookend on his storied career.
The ‘83 World Series against the Phillies began splendidly for the Orioles, when, with one out in the first inning, right fielder Jim Dwyer homered off Phillies ace John Denny to stake the hometown team to a lead. Thereafter, however, Denny looked very much like the pitcher who had won 19 games that season and would be the National League Cy Young Award winner. That one run would be all the Orioles could muster all evening. While Orioles starter Scott McGregor allowed only four hits over eight innings, two of them were home runs, and the Phillies won the series opener, 2-1. The next night, Orioles rookie sensation Mike Boddicker turned the tables, allowing only three hits and a run in a 4-1 complete-game win to tie the series at a game apiece. But the Phillies had accomplished what most teams that open the series on the road hope for — at least a split that creates in essence a best-of-five series with the next three games being played at their home park.
It was in pivotal Game 3 in Philadelphia that Palmer added to his extensive list of accomplishments. Entering the game to start the fifth inning with the Orioles trailing 2-0, he pitched two scoreless innings against a formidable Phillies lineup and benefited from three Orioles runs, securing him another World Series win and making him the only pitcher ever to win a World Series game in three decades. The Orioles used that springboard to finish off the Phillies, beating Denny in Game 4 while McGregor tossed a five-hit shutout in the Game 5 finale, obviating the need for another game in Baltimore.
In the 26 years from 1960 to 1985, the Orioles had a winning record 24 times, and held the best record in baseball, winning 90 or more games 17 times, including five 100-win seasons. Those teams produced six Hall of Fame members, four league Most Valuable Players and six Cy Young Award winners. They were an undeniable source of pride in this community, and their persistent adherence to the work ethic required to produce consistent excellence in fundamentals was an inspiration to people in all fields of endeavor. It is hard to fathom that a team once characterized by such an enviable record of success, has not returned to the World Series in all the years since 1983.
In that time, 26 of the 30 major league teams have reached the World Series. The Orioles have experienced some success during that time. The 1996, 1997 and 2014 teams reached the League Championship Series, the 2012 team went to the Division Series, and the 2016 team made it to a wild-card game. But during the intervening years since their last World Series, they have managed 25 losing seasons, one .500 season and just 13 winning seasons. That includes 14 straight losing seasons from 1998 to 2011, producing a generation that went from kindergarten to adulthood without ever witnessing winning baseball in Baltimore.
Raymond Daniel Burke is a shareholder in a downtown law firm. His email is [email protected].
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