# 1984 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1984 Baltimore Orioles season was the 84th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 31st in Baltimore, and the 31st at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 85 wins and 77 losses.

## Offseason

* February 7, 1984: Tom Underwood was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

## Regular season

* May 6, 1984: Cal Ripken Jr. hit for the cycle in a game against the Texas Rangers.
* Cal Ripken Jr. set an American League record for most assists by a shortstop with 583.
* During the season, Mike Boddicker became the last pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Orioles in the 20th century.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 104 | 58 | .642 | — | 53‍–‍29 | 51‍–‍29 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 89 | 73 | .549 | 15 | 49‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍41 |
| New York Yankees | 87 | 75 | .537 | 17 | 51‍–‍30 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 18 | 41‍–‍40 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 85 | 77 | .525 | 19 | 44‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 87 | .463 | 29 | 41‍–‍39 | 34‍–‍48 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 67 | 94 | .416 | 36½ | 38‍–‍43 | 29‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1984 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 4–9 |
| Boston | 7–6 | — | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 |
| California | 4–8 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7–1 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 11–2 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 |
| Kansas City | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 2–11 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 1–11 |
| New York | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–5 |
| Oakland | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | — | 8–5 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 3–9 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 10–3 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 3–10 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 9–4 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–6–1 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 11–1 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Rich Dauer
* Rick Dempsey
* Dan Ford
* Wayne Gross
* John Lowenstein
* Scott McGregor
* Eddie Murray
* Cal Ripken Jr.
* John Shelby
* Ken Singleton

### Notable transactions

* August 14, 1984: Ron Jackson was signed as a free agent by the 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 | R | H | Avg. | HR |
| C | Rick Dempsey | 109 | 330 | 76 | .230 | 11 | 34 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 162 | 588 | 180 | .306 | 29 | 110 |
| 2B | Rich Dauer | 127 | 397 | 101 | .254 | 2 | 24 |
| SS | Cal Ripken Jr. | 162 | 641 | 195 | .304 | 27 | 86 |
| 3B | Wayne Gross | 127 | 342 | 74 | .216 | 22 | 64 |
| LF | Gary Roenicke | 121 | 326 | 73 | .224 | 10 | 44 |
| CF | John Shelby | 128 | 383 | 80 | .209 | 6 | 30 |
| RF | Mike Young | 123 | 401 | 101 | .252 | 17 | 52 |
| DH | Ken Singleton | 111 | 363 | 78 | .215 | 6 | 36 |

#### 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 |
| Al Bumbry | 119 | 344 | 93 | .270 | 3 | 24 |
| John Lowenstein | 105 | 270 | 64 | .237 | 8 | 28 |
| Floyd Rayford | 86 | 250 | 64 | .256 | 4 | 27 |
| Jim Dwyer | 76 | 161 | 41 | .255 | 2 | 21 |
| Lenn Sakata | 81 | 157 | 30 | .191 | 3 | 11 |
| Todd Cruz | 95 | 142 | 31 | .218 | 3 | 9 |
| Benny Ayala | 60 | 118 | 25 | .212 | 4 | 24 |
| Dan Ford | 25 | 91 | 21 | .231 | 1 | 5 |
| Joe Nolan | 35 | 62 | 18 | .290 | 1 | 9 |
| Ron Jackson | 12 | 28 | 8 | .286 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Traber | 10 | 21 | 5 | .238 | 0 | 2 |
| Vic Rodriguez | 11 | 17 | 7 | .412 | 0 | 2 |
| Larry Sheets | 8 | 16 | 7 | .438 | 1 | 2 |
| Orlando Sánchez | 4 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 | BB |
| Mike Boddicker | 34 | 261.1 | 20 | 11 | 2.79 | 128 |
| Mike Flanagan | 34 | 226.2 | 13 | 13 | 3.53 | 115 |
| Storm Davis | 35 | 225.0 | 14 | 9 | 3.12 | 105 |
| Scott McGregor | 30 | 196.1 | 15 | 12 | 3.94 | 67 |
| Ken Dixon | 2 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.15 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Dennis Martínez | 34 | 141.2 | 6 | 9 | 5.02 | 77 |
| Bill Swaggerty | 23 | 57.0 | 3 | 2 | 5.21 | 18 |
| Jim Palmer | 5 | 17.2 | 0 | 3 | 9.17 | 4 |
| John Pacella | 6 | 14.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Tippy Martinez | 55 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 3.91 | 72 |
| Sammy Stewart | 60 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 3.29 | 56 |
| Tom Underwood | 37 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.52 | 39 |
| Mark Brown | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.91 | 10 |
| Nate Snell | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.35 | 7 |
| Todd Cruz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Frank Verdi |
| AA | Charlotte O's | Southern League | Grady Little and John Hart |
| A | Hagerstown Suns | Carolina League | John Hart, Grady Little and Len Johnston |
| A-Short Season | Newark Orioles | New York–Penn League | Jim Hutto |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Greg Biagini |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte

## Japan tour

The Orioles made its second Yomiuri Shimbun-sponsored tour of Japan since 1971. The newspaper received approval from MLB on December 29, 1982 to invite the winner of the 1983 World Series to play 15 games against Nippon Professional Baseball competition, primarily the 1984 Japan Series champion. Yomiuri owner Tōru Shōriki originally wanted to invite the 1984 World Series winner, but eventually agreed to MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's suggestion of the previous year's World Series champion. The exhibition matches were intended to be part of the golden jubilee celebration for the Yomiuri Giants which was owned by the tour's sponsor and another attempt by Shōriki for his team to make a legitimate claim at being world champions of the sport.
The Orioles accepted the invitation on January 2, 1984, 2+1⁄2 months after winning the 1983 World Series. The Yomiuri was eventually left disappointed when both the Orioles and its Giants failed to qualify for the postseason with fifth- and third-place finishes respectively. Instead of the Giants for which the event's organizers had hoped, the opponent in the first five matches was the 1984 Japan Series champion Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
Eight of the games featured both players who surpassed Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak. Cal Ripken Jr. and Sachio Kinugasa batted .219 and .143 respectively.
The fifteenth and final exhibition contest originally scheduled for November 15 in Baltimore's sister city Kawasaki was cancelled due to rain. Upon the Orioles' arrival in Tokyo on October 25, manager Joe Altobelli said he wanted his team to win at least 10 games. The Orioles finished the tour with an 8–5–1 record, including 4–1 each in head-to-head competition against the Giants and Carp.
| Game | Month | Date | Day | Place | Opponent | W/L/D | Score | Orioles Pitcher of Record | Notes |
| 1 | OCT | 27 | SA | Tokyo | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | L | 0–1 | Mike Boddicker | Winning pitcher Kazuhisa Kawaguchi singles in the game's only run in the second. |
| 2 | OCT | 28 | SU | Tokyo | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | W | 5–3 | Nate Snell | |
| 3 | OCT | 30 | TU | Tokorozawa | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | W | 5–3 | Bill Swaggerty | |
| 4 | OCT | 31 | W | Yokohama | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | W | 7–5 | Nate Snell | Four-run rally erases 5–3 deficit with two outs in the ninth. |
| 5 | NOV | 1 | TH | Osaka | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | W | 5–2 | Mike Flanagan | |
| 6 | NOV | 3 | SA | Tokyo | Yomiuri Giants | W | 7–4 | Storm Davis | |
| 7 | NOV | 4 | SU | Nishinomiya | Japan All-Stars | L | 4–5 | Mike Boddicker | |
| 8 | NOV | 6 | TU | Okayama | Japan All-Stars | L | 7–8 | Sammy Stewart | 5–2 lead disappears after giving up six runs in the eighth. |
| 9 | NOV | 7 | W | Hiroshima | Yomiuri Giants/Hiroshima Toyo Carp | D | 5–5 | – | |
| 10 | NOV | 9 | F | Kumamoto | Yomiuri Giants | W | 11–6 | Nate Snell | |
| 11 | NOV | 10 | SA | Kitakyushu | Yomiuri Giants | W | 9–8 | Tom Underwood | |
| 12 | NOV | 11 | SU | Fukuoka | Yomiuri Giants | W | 13–9 | Nate Snell | |
| 13 | NOV | 13 | TU | Nagoya | Yomiuri Giants/Chunichi Dragons | L | 4–8 | Dennis Martínez | All four runs score on homers by John Lowenstein, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. |
| 14 | NOV | 14 | W | Shizuoka | Yomiuri Giants | L | 5–10 | Mike Flanagan | |
Source: Baltimore Orioles 1985 Media Guide (scroll down to pages 43 through 46).