# 1980 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1980 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's 27th season in Baltimore. It involved the Orioles finishing 2nd in the American League East with a record of 100 wins and 62 losses. This was the last season the Orioles would win 100+ games until 2023.

## Offseason

* December 6, 1979: John Flinn was traded by the Orioles to the Milwaukee Brewers for Lenn Sakata.

### Spring training

The Orioles played two spring training exhibition games at the Louisiana Superdome against the New York Yankees over the weekend of March 15 and 16, 1980. 45,152 spectators watched the Yankees beat the Orioles 9 to 3 on March 15, 1980. The following day, 43,339 fans saw Floyd Rayford lead the Orioles to a 7 to 1 win over the Yankees.

## Regular season

During the season, Steve Stone became the last pitcher to win at least 25 games for the Orioles in the 20th century.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 100 | 62 | .617 | 3 | 50‍–‍31 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 40‍–‍42 | 46‍–‍34 |
| Boston Red Sox | 83 | 77 | .519 | 19 | 36‍–‍45 | 47‍–‍32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 78 | .519 | 19 | 43‍–‍38 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 81 | .494 | 23 | 44‍–‍35 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 35‍–‍46 | 32‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1980 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 9–3 | 6–4 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| California | 2–10 | 3–9 | — | 3–10 | 4–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 2–10 | 3–10 | 11–2 | 11–2 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 4–6 | 10–3 | — | 5–7 | 2–10 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–7–2 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 6–4 | 7–5 | — | 3–10 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 3–10 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 10–3 | — | 2–10 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 10–2–1 | 4–8 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 6–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 5–8 |
| Minnesota | 2–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 5–7 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 |
| New York | 6–7 | 10–3 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–11 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 2–10–1 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 7–5 | 2–11 | 7–6–2 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 9–4 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 3, 1980: Billy Smith was released by the Orioles.
* April 5, 1980: Steve Luebber was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.
* April 21, 1980: Paul Hartzell was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.
* May 13, 1980: Dave Skaggs was purchased from the Orioles by the California Angels.
* June 3, 1980: 1980 Major League Baseball Draft
** Carl Nichols was drafted by the Orioles in the 4th round.
** Mark Brown was drafted by the Orioles in the 6th round.
** Ricky Jones was drafted by the Orioles in the 15th round.

### 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 | 119 | 362 | 95 | .262 | 9 | 40 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 158 | 621 | 186 | .300 | 32 | 116 |
| 2B | Rich Dauer | 152 | 557 | 158 | .284 | 2 | 63 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 113 | 268 | 61 | .228 | 0 | 22 |
| 3B | Doug DeCinces | 145 | 489 | 122 | .249 | 16 | 64 |
| LF | Gary Roenicke | 118 | 297 | 71 | .239 | 10 | 28 |
| CF | Al Bumbry | 160 | 645 | 205 | .318 | 9 | 53 |
| RF | Ken Singleton | 156 | 583 | 177 | .304 | 24 | 104 |
| DH | Terry Crowley | 92 | 233 | 67 | .288 | 12 | 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 |
| Kiko Garcia | 111 | 311 | 62 | .199 | 1 | 27 |
| Dan Graham | 86 | 266 | 74 | .278 | 15 | 54 |
| Lee May | 78 | 222 | 54 | .243 | 7 | 31 |
| Pat Kelly | 89 | 200 | 52 | .260 | 3 | 26 |
| John Lowenstein | 104 | 196 | 61 | .311 | 4 | 27 |
| Benny Ayala | 76 | 170 | 45 | .265 | 10 | 33 |
| Lenn Sakata | 43 | 83 | 16 | .193 | 1 | 9 |
| Mark Corey | 36 | 36 | 10 | .278 | 1 | 2 |
| Floyd Rayford | 8 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Wayne Krenchicki | 9 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Drungo Hazewood | 6 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Skaggs | 2 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Bonner | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 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 | SO |
| Scott McGregor | 36 | 252.0 | 20 | 8 | 3.32 | 119 |
| Mike Flanagan | 37 | 251.1 | 16 | 13 | 4.12 | 128 |
| Steve Stone | 37 | 250.2 | 25 | 7 | 3.23 | 149 |
| Jim Palmer | 34 | 224.0 | 16 | 10 | 3.98 | 109 |
| Mike Boddicker | 1 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 6.14 | 4 |

#### 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 | 25 | 99.2 | 6 | 4 | 3.97 | 42 |

#### 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 |
| Tim Stoddard | 64 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 2.51 | 64 |
| Tippy Martinez | 53 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 3.01 | 68 |
| Sammy Stewart | 33 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3.56 | 78 |
| Dave Ford | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4.26 | 22 |
| Paul Hartzell | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.62 | 5 |
| Joe Kerrigan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Doc Edwards |
| AA | Charlotte O's | Southern League | Jimmy Williams |
| A | Miami Orioles | Florida State League | Lance Nichols |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Grady Little |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte