# 1983 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1983 Baltimore Orioles won the Major League Baseball World Series after finishing first in the American League East with a record of 98 wins and 64 losses, The Orioles won the championship by beating the Philadelphia Philles, 4–1, in the 1983 World Series. The season was the Orioles' first in nearly 15 years without manager Earl Weaver, who retired after the Orioles missed the playoffs in the final game of the 1982 season. The Orioles replaced the future Hall of Famer Weaver with Joe Altobelli. The World Series victory was the Orioles' first championship since 1970 and their most recent to date.
After many years the Orioles made the jump to cable television, with a separate broadcast team on their then first cable broadcaster, Super TV. They would move to Home Team Sports the following year.

## Offseason

* October 19, 1982: RHP, Don Stanhouse was released by the Orioles.
* November 13, 1982 Named Manager, Joe Altobelli
* November 29, 1982 signed, LHP, Dan Morogiello as a free agent.
* January 15, 1983: Catcher, Joe Nolan was re-signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* February 3, 1983: Third Baseman, Aurelio Rodriguez was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* February 23, 1983: Outfielder, John Lowenstein was re-signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
* April 4, 1983 Pinch Hitter/Outfielder Terry Crowley was released by the Orioles

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 92 | 70 | .568 | 6 | 48‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍37 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 71 | .562 | 7 | 51‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 48‍–‍33 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 11 | 52‍–‍29 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Boston Red Sox | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 38‍–‍43 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Cleveland Indians | 70 | 92 | .432 | 28 | 36‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 3–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 5–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–5–1 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 2–11 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 4–9 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| New York | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 2–11 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 1–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8–1 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 4–8 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Rich Dauer
* Rick Dempsey
* Dan Ford
* Leo Hernández
* Dennis Martínez
* Eddie Murray
* Cal Ripken Jr.
* Gary Roenicke
* John Shelby
* Ken Singleton

### Notable transactions

* June 13, 1983: Traded catcher/third baseman Floyd Rayford (playing for the Rochester Red Wings at the time of the trade) to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later
* June 30, 1983: Todd Cruz was purchased by the Orioles from the Seattle Mariners.
* August 13, 1983: Aurelio Rodriguez was released by the Baltimore Orioles.
* August 31, 1983: Acquired outfielder Tito Landrum from the St. Louis Cardinals completing the Floyd Rayford trade.

### Roster
## An Overview of the Team

On April 3, 1983 the Baltimore Orioles left spring training with much the same team that fell just a game short of the playoffs the year before. Of the Orioles starting in the 1982 Opening Day lineup only Lenn Sakata and Al Bumbry would lose their opening day spots in 1983. Terry Crowley was the last player cut during spring training, and on his way out of the clubhouse he predicted an Orioles championship, "The shame of it is," he told a ''Sun reporter, "the Orioles are going to win in it all this year, and Joe is going to do a tremendous job" Still, the team was an up-and-coming squad, in fact, no Oriole would be voted on to the All Star team's starting lineup. However, the team featured three future Hall of Famers:
* Cal Ripken who had won Rookie of the Year honors the year before completed his transition from third base to shortstop playing his first full season at his new position
* Perennial All-Star Eddie Murray won a Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove Award at first base
* The aging Jim Palmer started only 11 games but would come out of the bullpen for his final career victory in the World Series
* During an August 24, 1983 game, Orioles pitcher Tippy Martinez picked off three Toronto Blue Jays baserunners in one inning. The baserunners were Barry Bonnell, Dave Collins and Willie Upshaw.
While the Orioles fielded a team similar to the team fielded in 1982 Altobelli put his own mark on the squad by breaking camp with a four-man rotation which occasionally increased to five pitchers rather than the three man rotation preferred by Weaver.

## Starting pitching

One significant difference between the 1982 Baltimore Orioles and the 1983 Baltimore Orioles was Altobelli's willingness to use different starting pitchers. Ten different, Orioles pitchers would take the mound to start a game in 1983 whereas in 1982 only six players got the starting nod.

## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB= Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Rick Dempsey | 128 | 347 | 33 | 80 | .231 | 4 | 32 | 1 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 156 | 582 | 115 | 178 | .306 | 33 | 111 | 5 |
| 2B | Rich Dauer | 140 | 459 | 49 | 108 | .235 | 5 | 41 | 1 |
| 3B | Todd Cruz | 81 | 221 | 16 | 46 | .208 | 3 | 27 | 3 |
| SS | Cal Ripken | 162 | 663 | 121 | 211 | .318 | 27 | 102 | 0 |
| LF | John Lowenstein | 122 | 310 | 52 | 87 | .281 | 15 | 60 | 2 |
| CF | Al Bumbry | 124 | 378 | 63 | 104 | .275 | 3 | 31 | 12 |
| RF | Dan Ford | 103 | 407 | 63 | 114 | .280 | 9 | 55 | 9 |
| DH | Ken Singleton | 151 | 507 | 52 | 140 | .276 | 18 | 84 | 0 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB= Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| John Shelby | 126 | 325 | 52 | 84 | .258 | 5 | 27 | 15 |
| Gary Roenicke | 115 | 323 | 45 | 84 | .260 | 19 | 64 | 2 |
| Leo Hernández | 64 | 203 | 21 | 50 | .246 | 6 | 26 | 1 |
| Jim Dwyer | 100 | 196 | 37 | 56 | .286 | 8 | 38 | 1 |
| Joe Nolan | 73 | 184 | 25 | 51 | .277 | 5 | 24 | 0 |
| Lenn Sakata | 66 | 134 | 23 | 34 | .254 | 3 | 12 | 8 |
| Benny Ayala | 47 | 104 | 12 | 23 | .221 | 4 | 13 | 0 |
| Aurelio Rodríguez | 45 | 67 | 0 | 8 | .119 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Glenn Gulliver | 23 | 47 | 5 | 10 | .213 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Tito Landrum | 26 | 42 | 8 | 13 | .310 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Mike Young | 25 | 36 | 5 | 6 | .167 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| John Stefero | 9 | 11 | 2 | 5 | .455 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Bobby Bonner | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Huppert | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
| Scott McGregor | 36 | 260.0 | 18 | 7 | 3.18 | 45 | 86 |
| Storm Davis | 34 | 200.1 | 13 | 7 | 3.59 | 64 | 125 |
| Mike Boddicker | 27 | 179.0 | 16 | 8 | 2.77 | 52 | 120 |
| Dennis Martínez | 32 | 153.0 | 7 | 16 | 5.53 | 45 | 71 |
| Mike Flanagan | 20 | 125.1 | 12 | 4 | 3.30 | 31 | 50 |
| Jim Palmer | 14 | 76.2 | 5 | 4 | 4.23 | 19 | 34 |
| Allan Ramirez | 11 | 57.0 | 4 | 4 | 3.47 | 30 | 20 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
| Bill Swaggerty | 7 | 21.2 | 1 | 1 | 2.91 | 6 | 7 |
| Paul Mirabella | 3 | 9.2 | 0 | 0 | 5.59 | 4 | 7 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | BB | SO |
| Tippy Martinez | 65 | 103.1 | 9 | 3 | 21 | 2.35 | 37 | 81 |
| Sammy Stewart | 58 | 144.1 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 3.62 | 67 | 95 |
| Tim Stoddard | 47 | 57.2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 6.09 | 29 | 50 |
| Dan Morogiello | 22 | 37.2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.39 | 10 | 15 |
| Don Welchel | 11 | 26.2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.40 | 10 | 16 |

## Postseason
### ALCS
#### Summary

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Chicago – 2, Baltimore – 1 | October 5 | Memorial Stadium | 51,289 |
| 2 | Chicago – 0, Baltimore – 4 | October 6 | Memorial Stadium | 52,347 |
| 3 | Baltimore – 11, Chicago – 1 | October 7 | Comiskey Park | 46,635 |
| 4 | Baltimore – 3, Chicago – 0 | October 8 | Comiskey Park | 45,477 |

### World Series

AL Baltimore Orioles (4) vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies (1) :
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
| 1 | Phillies – 2, Orioles – 1 | October 11 | Memorial Stadium (Baltimore) | 52,204 | 2:22 |
| 2 | Phillies – 1, Orioles – 4 | October 12 | Memorial Stadium (Baltimore) | 52,132 | 2:27 |
| 3 | Orioles – 3, Phillies – 2 | October 14 | Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia) | 65,792 | 2:35 |
| 4 | Orioles – 5, Phillies – 4 | October 15 | Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia) | 66,947 | 2:50 |
| 5 | Orioles – 5, Phillies – 0 | October 16 | Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia) | 67,064 | 2:21 |

## Awards and honors

* Mike Boddicker, ALCS Most Valuable Player
* Rick Dempsey, Babe Ruth Award
* Rick Dempsey – World Series Most Valuable Player
* Eddie Murray, Silver Slugger Award
* Cal Ripken Jr., American League Most Valuable Player
All-Star Game

### League leaders

* Cal Ripken Jr. – American League Leader in At-Bats (663)
* Cal Ripken Jr. – American League Leader in Hits (211)
* Cal Ripken Jr. – American League Leader Runs Scored (121)
* Cal Ripken Jr. – American League Leader Doubles (47)

## Farm system

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