# 1999 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1999 Baltimore Orioles season was the 98th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 46th in Baltimore, and the 8th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses.

## Offseason

* December 1, 1998: Charles Johnson was traded by the New York Mets to the Baltimore Orioles for Armando Benítez.
* December 1, 1998: Albert Belle signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* December 7, 1998: Will Clark signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* December 7, 1998: B. J. Surhoff was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* December 11, 1998: Rich Becker was released by the Baltimore Orioles.
* December 17, 1998: Doug Linton was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* December 21, 1998: Rich Amaral was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* January 15, 1999: Heathcliff Slocumb was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

## Cuban exhibition series

In a rare event on March 28, 1999, the Orioles staged an exhibition series against the Cuban national team in Havana. The Orioles won the game 3–2 in 11 innings. They were the first Major League team to play in Cuba since 1959, when the Los Angeles Dodgers faced the Orioles in an exhibition. The Cuban team visited Baltimore in May 1999. Cuba won the second game 10–6.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 48‍–‍33 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Boston Red Sox | 94 | 68 | .580 | 4 | 49‍–‍32 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 84 | 78 | .519 | 14 | 40‍–‍41 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 41‍–‍40 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 69 | 93 | .426 | 29 | 33‍–‍48 | 36‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1999 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 3–9 | 1–9 | 5–5 | 1–9 | 5–5 | 7–5 | 6–4 | 6–4 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 6–12 |
| Baltimore | 9–3 | — | 5–7 | 7–3 | 1–9 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 8–1 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 1–11 | 11–7 |
| Boston | 9–1 | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–2 | 6–4 | 8–4 | 4–6 | 7–3 | 4–9 | 4–5 | 9–3 | 6–12 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | 3–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–3–1 | 5–7 | 3–7 | 4–8 | 6–4 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 9–9 |
| Cleveland | 9–1 | 9–1 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 10–2 | 7–3 | 5–4 | 3–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| Detroit | 5–5 | 5–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 7–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–6 | 3–7 | 4–5 | 5–5 | 2–10 | 8–10 |
| Kansas City | 5–7 | 4–6 | 2–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–7 | — | 5–8 | 5–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 2–8 | 4–6 | 3–7 | 6–12 |
| Minnesota | 4–6 | 1–8 | 4–6 | 3–8–1 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 4–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–5 | 0–12 | 4–6 | 10–7 |
| New York | 4–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 6–4 | — | 6–4 | 9–1 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 9–9 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 2–10 | 6–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–6 | — | 6–6 | 9–1 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 12–6 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 5–5 | 3–7 | 8–4 | 3–7 | 7–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 1–9 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–2 | 7–11 |
| Tampa Bay | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 4–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–2 | 5–5 | 4–8 | 1–9 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–14 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 12–0 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–4 | — | 6–4 | 10–8 |
| Toronto | 9–3 | 11–1 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–3 | 6–4 | 2–10 | 2–8 | 2–7 | 8–5 | 4–6 | — | 9–9 |

### Notable transactions

* April 30, 1999: Heathcliff Slocumb was released by the Baltimore Orioles.
* June 2, 1999: Brian Roberts was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1st round (50th pick) of the 1999 amateur draft. Player signed July 14, 1999.
* June 2, 1999: Érik Bédard was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 6th round of the 1999 amateur draft. Player signed June 8, 1999.

### Roster
## 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 | Charles Johnson | 135 | 426 | 107 | .251 | 16 | 54 |
| 1B | Jeff Conine | 139 | 444 | 129 | .291 | 13 | 75 |
| 2B | Delino DeShields | 96 | 330 | 87 | .264 | 6 | 34 |
| SS | Mike Bordick | 160 | 631 | 175 | .277 | 10 | 77 |
| 3B | Cal Ripken Jr. | 86 | 332 | 113 | .340 | 18 | 57 |
| LF | B.J. Surhoff | 162 | 673 | 207 | .308 | 28 | 107 |
| CF | Brady Anderson | 150 | 564 | 159 | .282 | 24 | 81 |
| RF | Albert Belle | 161 | 610 | 181 | .297 | 37 | 117 |
| DH | Harold Baines | 107 | 345 | 111 | .322 | 24 | 81 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Will Clark | 77 | 251 | 76 | .303 | 10 | 29 |
| Jerry Hairston Jr. | 50 | 175 | 47 | .269 | 4 | 17 |
| Jeff Reboulet | 99 | 154 | 25 | .162 | 0 | 4 |
| Rich Amaral | 91 | 137 | 38 | .277 | 0 | 11 |
| Ryan Minor | 46 | 124 | 24 | .194 | 3 | 10 |
| Mike Figga | 41 | 86 | 19 | .221 | 1 | 5 |
| Gene Kingsale | 28 | 85 | 21 | .247 | 0 | 7 |
| Willis Otañez | 29 | 80 | 17 | .213 | 2 | 11 |
| Derrick May | 26 | 49 | 13 | .265 | 4 | 12 |
| Calvin Pickering | 23 | 40 | 5 | .125 | 1 | 5 |
| Lenny Webster | 16 | 36 | 6 | .167 | 0 | 3 |
| Jesse Garcia | 17 | 29 | 6 | .207 | 2 | 2 |
| Tommy Davis | 5 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Scott Erickson | 34 | 230.1 | 15 | 12 | 4.81 | 106 |
| Sidney Ponson | 32 | 210.0 | 12 | 12 | 4.71 | 112 |
| Mike Mussina | 31 | 203.1 | 18 | 7 | 3.50 | 172 |
| Juan Guzmán | 21 | 122.2 | 5 | 9 | 4.18 | 95 |
| Jason Johnson | 22 | 115.1 | 8 | 7 | 5.46 | 71 |
| Matt Riley | 3 | 11.0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 6 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Doug Johns | 32 | 86.2 | 6 | 4 | 4.47 | 50 |
| Doug Linton | 14 | 59.0 | 1 | 4 | 5.95 | 31 |
| Rocky Coppinger | 11 | 21.2 | 0 | 1 | 8.31 | 17 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Mike Timlin | 62 | 3 | 9 | 27 | 3.57 | 50 |
| Jesse Orosco | 65 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5.34 | 35 |
| Scott Kamieniecki | 43 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4.95 | 39 |
| Arthur Rhodes | 43 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5.43 | 59 |
| Ricky Bones | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5.98 | 26 |
| Mike Fetters | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.81 | 22 |
| Al Reyes | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.85 | 28 |
| Gabe Molina | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.65 | 14 |
| B.J. Ryan | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.95 | 28 |
| Jim Corsi | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.70 | 8 |
| Heathcliff Slocumb | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.46 | 12 |
| Brian Falkenborg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Dave Machemer |
| AA | Bowie Baysox | Eastern League | Joe Ferguson |
| A | Frederick Keys | Carolina League | Andy Etchebarren |
| A | Delmarva Shorebirds | South Atlantic League | Butch Davis |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Duffy Dyer |
| Rookie | GCL Orioles | Gulf Coast League | Jesus Alfaro |