# 1985 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1985 Baltimore Orioles season was the 85th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 32nd in Baltimore, and the 32nd at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 78 losses. The Orioles led Major League Baseball in home runs (214) and slugging percentage (.430).

## Offseason

* October 2, 1984: Tom Underwood was released by the Baltimore Orioles.
* December 13, 1984: Don Aase was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.
* December 17, 1984: Ron Jackson was released by the Orioles.
* January 3, 1985: Mike Blowers was drafted by the Orioles in the 4th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase), but did not sign.
* February 7, 1985: Vic Rodriguez was traded by the Orioles to the San Diego Padres for Fritzie Connally.
* March 27, 1985: Mark Brown was traded by the Orioles to the Minnesota Twins for Brad Havens.
* March 29, 1985: Todd Cruz was released by the Orioles.

## Regular season

* Jim Palmer P Retired 1985

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 99 | 62 | .615 | — | 54‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2 | 58‍–‍22 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 77 | .522 | 15 | 44‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍40 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 83 | 78 | .516 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 81 | 81 | .500 | 18½ | 43‍–‍37 | 38‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 71 | 90 | .441 | 28 | 40‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Cleveland Indians | 60 | 102 | .370 | 39½ | 38‍–‍43 | 22‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1985 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 4–8 |
| Boston | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 4–8–1 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 5–8 | — | 10–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 3–9 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 4–9 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 8–3 | 4–9 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 3–9 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| New York | 12–1 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 2–10 |
| Texas | 2–10 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–6 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Rich Dauer
* Storm Davis
* Rick Dempsey
* Wayne Gross
* John Lowenstein
* Fred Lynn
* Eddie Murray
* Cal Ripken Jr.
* Larry Sheets
* Mike Young

### Notable transactions

* June 3, 1985: Rico Rossy was drafted by the Orioles in the 33rd round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 6, 1985.

## 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 | 132 | 362 | 92 | .254 | 12 | 52 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 156 | 583 | 173 | .297 | 31 | 124 |
| 2B | Alan Wiggins | 76 | 298 | 85 | .285 | 0 | 21 |
| 3B | Floyd Rayford | 105 | 359 | 110 | .306 | 18 | 48 |
| SS | Cal Ripken Jr. | 161 | 642 | 181 | .282 | 26 | 110 |
| LF | Mike Young | 139 | 450 | 123 | .273 | 28 | 81 |
| CF | Fred Lynn | 124 | 448 | 118 | .263 | 23 | 68 |
| RF | Lee Lacy | 121 | 492 | 144 | .293 | 9 | 48 |
| DH | Larry Sheets | 113 | 328 | 86 | .262 | 17 | 50 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Dwyer | 101 | 233 | 58 | .249 | 7 | 36 |
| Gary Roenicke | 114 | 225 | 49 | .218 | 15 | 43 |
| Wayne Gross | 103 | 217 | 51 | .235 | 11 | 18 |
| Rich Dauer | 85 | 208 | 42 | .202 | 2 | 14 |
| John Shelby | 69 | 205 | 58 | .283 | 7 | 27 |
| Fritzie Connally | 50 | 112 | 26 | .232 | 3 | 15 |
| Lenn Sakata | 55 | 97 | 22 | .227 | 3 | 6 |
| Dan Ford | 28 | 75 | 14 | .187 | 1 | 1 |
| Al Pardo | 34 | 75 | 10 | .133 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Nolan | 31 | 38 | 5 | .132 | 0 | 6 |
| John Lowenstein | 12 | 26 | 2 | .077 | 0 | 2 |
| Leo Hernández | 12 | 21 | 1 | .048 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom O'Malley | 8 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 1 | 2 |
| Kelly Paris | 5 | 9 | 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 |
| Scott McGregor | 35 | 204.0 | 14 | 14 | 4.81 | 86 |
| Mike Boddicker | 32 | 203.1 | 12 | 17 | 4.07 | 135 |
| Dennis Martínez | 33 | 180.0 | 13 | 11 | 5.15 | 68 |
| Storm Davis | 31 | 175.0 | 10 | 8 | 4.53 | 93 |
| Mike Flanagan | 15 | 86.0 | 4 | 5 | 5.13 | 42 |

#### 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 |
| Ken Dixon | 34 | 162.0 | 8 | 4 | 3.67 | 108 |
| Brad Havens | 8 | 14.1 | 0 | 1 | 8.79 | 19 |
| Phil Huffman | 2 | 4.2 | 0 | 0 | 15.43 | 2 |

#### 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 | 54 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 3.78 | 67 |
| Sammy Stewart | 56 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3.61 | 77 |
| Tippy Martinez | 49 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5.40 | 47 |
| Nate Snell | 43 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2.69 | 41 |
| Eric Bell | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 4 |
| John Habyan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Bill Swaggerty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Frank Verdi and Mark Wiley |
| AA | Charlotte O's | Southern League | John Hart |
| A | Hagerstown Suns | Carolina League | Greg Biagini |
| A | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Jim Hutto |
| A-Short Season | Newark Orioles | New York–Penn League | Art Mazmanian |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Mike Verdi |
Daytona Beach affiliation shared with Texas Rangers