# 1968 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1968 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 91 wins and 71 losses, 12 games behind the AL and World Series champion Detroit Tigers. The team was managed for the first 80 games by Hank Bauer (who won 43 of them) and he was replaced right after the All-Star break by Earl Weaver. The Orioles' home games were played at Memorial Stadium.
Following the season, it was announced that the American League, along with the National League, would be split into two divisions for the 1969 season in order to accommodate the admittance of two new franchises to each league. The Orioles were assigned to the new American League East division.

## Offseason

* November 28, 1967: Elrod Hendricks was drafted by the Orioles from the California Angels in the 1967 rule 5 draft.
* November 28, 1967: Eddie Fisher was traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Bob Scott (minors) and John Scruggs (minors) to the Cleveland Indians for Gordy Lund and John O'Donoghue.
* November 29, 1967: Luis Aparicio, Russ Snyder and John Matias were traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Don Buford, Roger Nelson and Bruce Howard.
* January 27, 1968: Tom Walker was drafted by the Orioles in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1968 Major League Baseball Draft.

## Regular season

On April 27, 1968, Tom Phoebus would throw a no-hitter versus the Boston Red Sox. Frank Robinson would contribute with three RBIs in the win.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | .562 | 12 | 47‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 75 | .534 | 16½ | 43‍–‍37 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 46‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍41 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 39‍–‍42 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Oakland Athletics | 82 | 80 | .506 | 21 | 44‍–‍38 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 24 | 41‍–‍40 | 38‍–‍43 |
| California Angels | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 32‍–‍49 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 36‍–‍45 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 65 | 96 | .404 | 37½ | 34‍–‍47 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1968 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 14–4 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| California | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 7–11 | 4–14 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 10–8 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 14–4 | 10–8–1 | 6–12 | 7–10 |
| Detroit | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 10–8–1 | 13–5–1 | 10–8 |
| Minnesota | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 8–10–1 | 8–10–1 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 14–4 |
| Oakland | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 5–13–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 |
| Washington | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–7 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 11–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 15, 1968: Bruce Howard was traded by the Orioles to the Washington Senators for Fred Valentine.

### 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 | Andy Etchebarren | 74 | 189 | 44 | .233 | 5 | 20 |
| 1B | Boog Powell | 154 | 550 | 137 | .249 | 22 | 85 |
| 2B | Davey Johnson | 145 | 504 | 122 | .242 | 9 | 56 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 162 | 608 | 154 | .253 | 17 | 75 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 145 | 472 | 98 | .208 | 2 | 21 |
| LF | Curt Motton | 83 | 217 | 43 | .198 | 8 | 25 |
| CF | Paul Blair | 141 | 421 | 89 | .211 | 7 | 38 |
| RF | Frank Robinson | 130 | 421 | 113 | .268 | 15 | 52 |

#### 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 |
| Curt Blefary | 137 | 451 | 90 | .200 | 15 | 39 |
| Don Buford | 130 | 426 | 120 | .282 | 15 | 46 |
| Elrod Hendricks | 79 | 183 | 37 | .202 | 7 | 23 |
| Dave May | 84 | 152 | 29 | .191 | 0 | 7 |
| Fred Valentine | 47 | 91 | 17 | .187 | 2 | 5 |
| Larry Haney | 38 | 89 | 21 | .236 | 1 | 5 |
| Merv Rettenmund | 31 | 64 | 19 | .297 | 2 | 7 |
| Chico Fernández | 24 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Fiore | 6 | 17 | 1 | .059 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Floyd | 5 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 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 |
| Dave McNally | 35 | 273.0 | 22 | 10 | 1.95 | 202 |
| Jim Hardin | 35 | 244.0 | 18 | 13 | 2.51 | 160 |
| Tom Phoebus | 36 | 240.2 | 15 | 15 | 2.62 | 193 |
| Mike Adamson | 2 | 7.2 | 0 | 2 | 9.39 | 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 |
| Dave Leonhard | 28 | 126.1 | 7 | 7 | 3.13 | 61 |
| Gene Brabender | 37 | 124.2 | 6 | 7 | 3.32 | 92 |
| Wally Bunker | 18 | 71.0 | 2 | 0 | 2.41 | 44 |
| Roger Nelson | 19 | 71.0 | 4 | 3 | 2.41 | 70 |
| Bruce Howard | 10 | 31.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.77 | 19 |

#### 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 |
| Eddie Watt | 59 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 2.27 | 72 |
| Moe Drabowsky | 45 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1.91 | 46 |
| Pete Richert | 36 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3.47 | 47 |
| John Morris | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.56 | 22 |
| John O'Donoghue | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.14 | 11 |
| Fred Beene | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Billy DeMars |
| AA | Elmira Pioneers | Eastern League | Cal Ripken Sr. |
| A | Stockton Ports | California League | Joe Altobelli |
| A | Miami Marlins | Florida State League | Harry Malmberg |
| A-Short Season | Aberdeen Pheasants | Northern League | Bill Werle |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Ken Rowe |