# 1986 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1987 Baltimore Orioles season was the 86th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 33rd in Baltimore, and the 33rd at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished seventh in the American League East with a record of 73 wins and 89 losses. On August 5, the Orioles were in second place with a record of 59–47, just 2.5 games out of first place, but the Orioles would lose 42 of their final 56 games to finish in last place in the AL East.

## Offseason

* October 9, 1985: Joe Nolan was released by the Orioles.
* December 12, 1985: Gary Roenicke and a player to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Rex Hudler and Rich Bordi. The Orioles completed the deal by sending Leo Hernández to the Yankees on December 16.
* January 14, 1986: Rafael Bournigal was drafted by the Orioles in the 10th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
* January 23, 1986: Dan Ford was released by the Orioles.
* February 20, 1986: Luis DeLeón was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.
* March 23, 1986: Mike Kinnunen was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.
* March 31, 1986: Ben Bianchi (minors), Steve Padia (minors), and a player to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the Minnesota Twins for Mike Hart. The Orioles completed the deal by sending Jeff Hubbard (minors) to the Twins on April 23.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 95 | 66 | .590 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 44‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 90 | 72 | .556 | 5½ | 41‍–‍39 | 49‍–‍33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 8½ | 49‍–‍32 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 86 | 76 | .531 | 9½ | 42‍–‍39 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Cleveland Indians | 84 | 78 | .519 | 11½ | 45‍–‍35 | 39‍–‍43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 77 | 84 | .478 | 18 | 41‍–‍39 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 73 | 89 | .451 | 22½ | 37‍–‍42 | 36‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1986 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 1–12 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| California | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 6–6 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–9 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 10–2 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 3–10–1 |
| Detroit | 12–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | — | 5–7 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 2–10 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| New York | 8–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 10–3 | 3–10 | 8–4 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 3–10 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 10–3 | 9–4 | — | 5–7 |
| Toronto | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–3–1 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Rick Dempsey
* Mike Flanagan
* Jackie Gutiérrez
* Lee Lacy
* Fred Lynn
* Eddie Murray
* Cal Ripken
* John Shelby
* Alan Wiggins
* Mike Young

### Notable transactions

* June 2, 1986: Gordon Dillard was drafted by the Orioles in the 14th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 16, 1986: Dennis Martínez and a player to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later. The Orioles completed the deal by sending John Stefero to the Expos on December 8. The Expos completed the deal by sending Rene Gonzales to the Orioles on December 16.

### 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 | Rick Dempsey | 122 | 327 | 68 | .208 | 13 | 29 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 137 | 495 | 151 | .305 | 17 | 84 |
| 2B | Alan Wiggins | 71 | 239 | 60 | .251 | 0 | 11 |
| SS | Cal Ripken Jr. | 162 | 627 | 177 | .282 | 25 | 81 |
| 3B | Floyd Rayford | 81 | 210 | 37 | .176 | 8 | 19 |
| LF | Mike Young | 117 | 369 | 93 | .252 | 9 | 42 |
| CF | Fred Lynn | 112 | 397 | 114 | .287 | 23 | 67 |
| RF | Lee Lacy | 130 | 491 | 141 | .287 | 11 | 47 |
| DH | Larry Sheets | 112 | 338 | 92 | .272 | 18 | 60 |

#### 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 |
| John Shelby | 135 | 404 | 92 | .228 | 11 | 49 |
| Juan Beníquez | 113 | 343 | 103 | .300 | 6 | 36 |
| Juan Bonilla | 102 | 284 | 69 | .243 | 1 | 18 |
| Jim Traber | 65 | 212 | 54 | .255 | 13 | 44 |
| Tom O'Malley | 56 | 181 | 46 | .254 | 1 | 18 |
| Jim Dwyer | 94 | 160 | 39 | .244 | 8 | 31 |
| Jackie Gutiérrez | 61 | 145 | 27 | .186 | 0 | 4 |
| John Stefero | 52 | 120 | 28 | .233 | 2 | 13 |
| Ken Gerhart | 20 | 69 | 16 | .232 | 1 | 7 |
| Al Pardo | 16 | 51 | 7 | .137 | 1 | 3 |
| Ricky Jones | 16 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 0 | 4 |
| Tom Dodd | 8 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 1 | 2 |
| Kelly Paris | 5 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Nichols | 5 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Rex Hudler | 14 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Mike Boddicker | 33 | 218.1 | 14 | 12 | 4.70 | 175 |
| Scott McGregor | 34 | 203.0 | 11 | 15 | 4.52 | 95 |
| Ken Dixon | 35 | 202.1 | 11 | 13 | 4.58 | 170 |
| Mike Flanagan | 29 | 172.0 | 7 | 11 | 4.24 | 96 |
| Storm Davis | 25 | 154.0 | 9 | 12 | 3.62 | 96 |
| John Habyan | 6 | 26.1 | 1 | 3 | 4.44 | 14 |
| Eric Bell | 4 | 23.1 | 1 | 2 | 5.01 | 18 |

#### 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 |
| Don Aase | 66 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 2.98 | 67 |
| Rich Bordi | 52 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4.46 | 83 |
| Brad Havens | 46 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4.56 | 57 |
| Nate Snell | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.86 | 29 |
| Odell Jones | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.83 | 32 |
| Tippy Martinez | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5.63 | 11 |
| Tony Arnold | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.55 | 7 |
| Mike Kinnunen | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 1 |
| Dennis Martínez | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 |
| Bill Swaggerty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | John Hart |
| AA | Charlotte O's | Southern League | Greg Biagini |
| A | Hagerstown Suns | Carolina League | Bob Molinaro |
| A-Short Season | Newark Orioles | New York–Penn League | Art Mazmanian |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Glenn Gulliver |