# 2003 Baltimore Orioles season

The 2003 Baltimore Orioles season was the 103rd season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 50th in Baltimore, and the 12th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They improved on their 67–95 (.414) record from the previous year with a 71-91-1 record, but missed the postseason for the 6th straight season.

## Offseason

* December 2, 2002: Bill Pulsipher was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* January 3, 2003: Omar Daal was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* March 7, 2003: B. J. Surhoff was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

### Steve Bechler

On February 16, 2003, towards the beginning of Orioles' spring training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Steve Bechler collapsed while participating in conditioning drills. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, and died the next day. His body temperature had reached 108 °F (42 °C). An autopsy performed by Dr. Joshua Perper, a toxicologist, concluded that his death was caused by "'abnormal liver function and mild hypertension', his weight problem (he weighed 230 pounds and was exercising hard, the fact that he was not used to south Florida's warm weather and the toxicity of ephedra. He was using the supplement ephedra, against the advice of his trainer, and probably had not eaten in two days in an effort to lose weight.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 101 | 61 | .623 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 51‍–‍29 |
| Boston Red Sox | 95 | 67 | .586 | 6 | 53‍–‍28 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 86 | 76 | .531 | 15 | 41‍–‍40 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 71 | 91 | .438 | 30 | 40‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍51 |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 63 | 99 | .389 | 38 | 36‍–‍45 | 27‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

2003 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 1–8 | 3–6 | 3–4 | 6–3 | 6–1 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 8–12 | 8–11 | 6–3 | 9–10 | 2–7 | 11–7 |
| Baltimore | 8–1 | — | 9–10 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 6–13–1 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 8–11 | 7–2 | 8–11 | 5–13 |
| Boston | 6–3 | 10–9 | — | 5–4 | 4–2 | 8–1 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 9–10 | 3–4 | 5–2 | 12–7 | 5–4 | 10–9 | 11–7 |
| Chicago | 4–3 | 4–2 | 4–5 | — | 11–8 | 11–8 | 11–8 | 9–10 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 6–3 | 10–8 |
| Cleveland | 3–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–11 | — | 12–7 | 6–13 | 9–10 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 5–2 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 6–12 |
| Detroit | 1–6 | 3–3 | 1–8 | 8–11 | 7–12 | — | 5–14 | 4–15 | 1–5 | 3–6 | 1–8 | 2–4 | 1–6 | 2–7 | 4–14 |
| Kansas City | 3–6 | 4–3 | 1–5 | 8–11 | 13–6 | 14–5 | — | 11–8 | 2–4 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 7–2 | 1–5 | 9–9 |
| Minnesota | 4–5 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 10–9 | 10–9 | 15–4 | 8–11 | — | 0–7 | 8–1 | 3–6 | 6–0 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 10–8 |
| New York | 6–3 | 13–6–1 | 10–9 | 2–4 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 7–0 | — | 3–6 | 5–4 | 14–5 | 4–5 | 10–9 | 13–5 |
| Oakland | 12–8 | 7–2 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 1–8 | 6–3 | — | 7–12 | 6–3 | 15–4 | 5–2 | 9–9 |
| Seattle | 11–8 | 5–4 | 2–5 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 12–7 | — | 4–5 | 10–10 | 3–4 | 10–8 |
| Tampa Bay | 3–6 | 11–8 | 7–12 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 0–6 | 5–14 | 3–6 | 5–4 | — | 3–6 | 11–8 | 3–15 |
| Texas | 10–9 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 6–1 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–15 | 10–10 | 6–3 | — | 5–4 | 4–14 |
| Toronto | 7–2 | 11–8 | 9–10 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 7–2 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 9–10 | 2–5 | 4–3 | 8–11 | 4–5 | — | 10–8 |

### Transactions

* June 3, 2003: Nick Markakis was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1st round (7th pick) of the 2003 amateur draft. Player signed June 11, 2003.
* July 25, 2003: Sean Spencer was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

### 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 | Brook Fordyce | 108 | 348 | 95 | .273 | 6 | 31 |
| 1B | Jeff Conine | 124 | 493 | 143 | .290 | 15 | 80 |
| 2B | Brian Roberts | 112 | 460 | 124 | .270 | 5 | 41 |
| SS | Deivi Cruz | 152 | 548 | 137 | .250 | 14 | 65 |
| 3B | Tony Batista | 161 | 631 | 148 | .235 | 26 | 99 |
| LF | Larry Bigbie | 83 | 287 | 87 | .303 | 9 | 31 |
| CF | Luis Matos | 109 | 439 | 133 | .303 | 13 | 45 |
| RF | Jay Gibbons | 160 | 625 | 173 | .277 | 23 | 100 |
| DH | David Segui | 67 | 224 | 59 | .263 | 5 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| Melvin Mora | 96 | 344 | 109 | .317 | 15 | 48 |
| B.J. Surhoff | 93 | 319 | 94 | .295 | 5 | 41 |
| Jerry Hairston Jr. | 58 | 218 | 59 | .271 | 2 | 21 |
| Gerónimo Gil | 54 | 169 | 40 | .237 | 3 | 16 |
| Gary Matthews Jr. | 41 | 162 | 33 | .204 | 2 | 20 |
| Jack Cust | 27 | 73 | 19 | .260 | 4 | 11 |
| José Morban | 61 | 71 | 10 | .141 | 2 | 5 |
| José León | 21 | 54 | 13 | .241 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Machado | 18 | 49 | 13 | .265 | 1 | 3 |
| Carlos Méndez | 26 | 45 | 10 | .222 | 0 | 5 |
| Tim Raines Jr. | 20 | 43 | 6 | .140 | 0 | 2 |
| Marty Cordova | 9 | 30 | 7 | .233 | 1 | 4 |
| Pedro Swann | 8 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 1 | 2 |

### 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 |
| Jason Johnson | 32 | 189.2 | 10 | 10 | 4.18 | 118 |
| Pat Hentgen | 28 | 160.2 | 7 | 8 | 4.09 | 100 |
| Sidney Ponson | 21 | 148.0 | 14 | 6 | 3.77 | 100 |
| Rodrigo López | 26 | 147.0 | 7 | 10 | 5.82 | 103 |
| Rick Helling | 24 | 138.2 | 7 | 8 | 5.71 | 86 |
| Omar Daal | 19 | 93.2 | 4 | 11 | 6.34 | 53 |
| Damian Moss | 10 | 50.2 | 1 | 5 | 6.22 | 22 |
| Matt Riley | 2 | 10.0 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Eric DuBose | 17 | 73.2 | 3 | 6 | 3.79 | 44 |

##### 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 |
| Jorge Julio | 64 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 4.38 | 52 |
| B.J. Ryan | 76 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3.40 | 63 |
| Kerry Ligtenberg | 68 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3.34 | 47 |
| Buddy Groom | 60 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5.36 | 34 |
| Héctor Carrasco | 40 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4.93 | 27 |
| Rick Bauer | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.55 | 43 |
| Willis Roberts | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5.72 | 26 |
| Travis Driskill | 20 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 6.00 | 33 |
| John Parrish | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.90 | 8 |
| Sean Douglass | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 3 |
| Kurt Ainsworth | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11.57 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Ottawa Lynx | International League | Gary Allenson |
| AA | Bowie Baysox | Eastern League | Dave Trembley |
| A | Frederick Keys | Carolina League | Tom Lawless |
| A | Delmarva Shorebirds | South Atlantic League | Stan Hough |
| A-Short Season | Aberdeen IronBirds | New York–Penn League | Joe Almaraz |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Don Buford |
| Rookie | GCL Orioles | Gulf Coast League | Jesus Alfaro |