# 1975 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1975 Baltimore Orioles season concluded with the ball club finishing 4+1⁄2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in second place in the American League East with a 90–69 record. The team stayed in playoff contention until a doubleheader sweep by the New York Yankees at Shea Stadium on the penultimate day of the regular season on September 27. Both the Orioles and Red Sox played less than a full 162-game schedule (159 and 160 respectively) primarily due to heavy rainfall across the Eastern United States in the wake of Hurricane Eloise. The regular season would have been extended two days had the divisional title race not been decided by September 28, with the Orioles hosting the Chicago White Sox in a single night game and the Detroit Tigers in a twi-night doubleheader and the Red Sox twice playing the Yankees at Shea simultaneously. Further lack of resolution would have necessitated a one-game playoff at Memorial Stadium on October 1.
The Orioles sustained a net operating loss of $3,192.

## Offseason

* December 3, 1974: Enos Cabell and Rob Andrews were traded by the Orioles to the Houston Astros for Lee May and Jay Schlueter.
* December 4, 1974: Dave McNally, Rich Coggins, and Bill Kirkpatrick (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the Montreal Expos for Mike Torrez and Ken Singleton.
* December 18, 1974: Bryn Smith was signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles.
* February 25, 1975: Boog Powell and Don Hood were traded by the Orioles to the Cleveland Indians for Dave Duncan and Al McGrew (minors).

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 95 | 65 | .594 | — | 47‍–‍34 | 48‍–‍31 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 69 | .566 | 4½ | 44‍–‍33 | 46‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 77 | .519 | 12 | 43‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 80 | .497 | 15½ | 41‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 94 | .420 | 28 | 36‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Detroit Tigers | 57 | 102 | .358 | 37½ | 31‍–‍49 | 26‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1975 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–4 | 10–8 | 12–4 | 7–5 | 14–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–2 | 11–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 3–9 | 6–5 | 4–14 | 7–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 4–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 5–13 |
| Cleveland | 8–10 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 3–6 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 5–7 |
| Detroit | 4–12 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 1–11 |
| Kansas City | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 14–4 |
| Milwaukee | 4–14 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | — | 2–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–3 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 10–2 | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 8–10 |
| New York | 10–8 | 5–11 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 |
| Texas | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 3, 1975: 1975 Major League Baseball Draft
** Steve Lake was drafted by the Orioles in the 3rd round.
** Darryl Cias was drafted by the Orioles in the 6th round.
* June 15, 1975: Jesse Jefferson was traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Tony Muser.

### 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 | Dave Duncan | 96 | 307 | 63 | .205 | 12 | 41 |
| 1B | Lee May | 146 | 580 | 152 | .262 | 20 | 99 |
| 2B | Bobby Grich | 150 | 524 | 136 | .260 | 13 | 57 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 144 | 482 | 97 | .201 | 6 | 53 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 152 | 442 | 100 | .226 | 3 | 27 |
| LF | Don Baylor | 145 | 524 | 148 | .282 | 25 | 76 |
| CF | Paul Blair | 140 | 440 | 96 | .218 | 5 | 31 |
| RF | Ken Singleton | 155 | 586 | .176 | .300 | 15 | 55 |
| DH | Tommy Davis | 116 | 460 | 130 | .283 | 6 | 57 |

#### 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 | 114 | 349 | 94 | .269 | 2 | 32 |
| Elrod Hendricks | 85 | 223 | 48 | .215 | 8 | 38 |
| Jim Northrup | 84 | 194 | 53 | .273 | 5 | 29 |
| Doug DeCinces | 61 | 169 | 42 | .251 | 4 | 23 |
| Tony Muser | 80 | 82 | 26 | .317 | 0 | 11 |
| Tim Nordbrook | 40 | 34 | 4 | .118 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Shopay | 40 | 31 | 5 | .161 | 0 | 2 |
| Andy Etchebarren | 8 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 0 | 3 |
| Royle Stillman | 13 | 14 | 6 | .429 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Bailor | 5 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Hutto | 4 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Harlow | 4 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 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 |
| Jim Palmer | 39 | 323.0 | 23 | 11 | 2.09 | 193 |
| Mike Torrez | 36 | 270.2 | 20 | 9 | 3.06 | 119 |
| Mike Cuellar | 36 | 256.0 | 14 | 12 | 3.66 | 105 |
| Ross Grimsley | 35 | 197.0 | 10 | 13 | 4.07 | 89 |

#### 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 |
| Doyle Alexander | 32 | 133.1 | 8 | 8 | 3.04 | 46 |
| Paul Mitchell | 11 | 57.0 | 3 | 0 | 3.63 | 31 |
| Mike Flanagan | 2 | 9.2 | 0 | 1 | 2.79 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Dyar Miller | 30 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 2.72 | 33 |
| Grant Jackson | 41 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 3.35 | 39 |
| Wayne Garland | 29 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3.71 | 46 |
| Bob Reynolds | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
| Dave Johnson | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.15 | 4 |
| Jesse Jefferson | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.35 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Joe Altobelli |
| AA | Asheville Orioles | Southern League | Jimmie Schaffer |
| A | Lodi Orioles | California League | Bobby Malkmus |
| A | Miami Orioles | Florida State League | George Farson |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Paul Flesner |