# 1976 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1976 Baltimore Orioles season was the 78th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 23rd in Baltimore, and the 23rd at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished second in the American League East with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. The Orioles stayed in contention for the division title until a 1–0 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Memorial Stadium on September 25.
The Orioles sustained a net operating loss of $102,531. Reggie Jackson, Bobby Grich and Wayne Garland left the team following the campaign in what was the advent of Major League Baseball (MLB) free agency.

## Offseason

* January 7, 1976: Wayne Krenchicki was selected by the Orioles in the first round (7th pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft Secondary Phase.
* April 2, 1976: Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell were traded to the Oakland Athletics for Reggie Jackson, Ken Holtzman, and Bill VanBommell (minors).

## Regular season

This was the first season since 1957 that an Oriole other than Brooks Robinson got the most starts at third base, with Doug DeCinces taking over the position for the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer.
Following the early April trade, Reggie Jackson did not immediately report; his first plate appearance was on May 2.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 62 | .610 | — | 45‍–‍35 | 52‍–‍27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10½ | 42‍–‍39 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Boston Red Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 15½ | 46‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 78 | .509 | 16 | 44‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 24 | 36‍–‍44 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 66 | 95 | .410 | 32 | 36‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 3–9 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 3–9 |
| California | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 1–11 | 8–9 | 7–11 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 6–6 | 11–6 | 9–3 | 4–12 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Detroit | 6–12 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 9–3 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 |
| Milwaukee | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–11 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 10–2 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 8–4 | — | 2–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 12–4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 11–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 8, 1976: Bobby Brown was released by the Orioles.
* June 8, 1976: Dallas Williams was selected in the first round (20th pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 15, 1976: Doyle Alexander, Jimmy Freeman, Elrod Hendricks, Ken Holtzman, and Grant Jackson were traded to the New York Yankees for Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan, Scott McGregor, and Rick Dempsey.
* October 1, 1976: Dave Johnson was purchased by the expansion Seattle Mariners.

### 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 | 93 | 284 | 58 | .204 | 4 | 17 |
| 1B | Lee May | 148 | 530 | 137 | .258 | 25 | 109 |
| 2B | Bobby Grich | 144 | 518 | 138 | .266 | 13 | 54 |
| 3B | Doug DeCinces | 129 | 440 | 103 | .234 | 11 | 42 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 153 | 522 | 141 | .270 | 1 | 40 |
| LF | Ken Singleton | 154 | 544 | 151 | .278 | 13 | 70 |
| CF | Paul Blair | 145 | 375 | 74 | .197 | 3 | 16 |
| RF | Reggie Jackson | 134 | 498 | 138 | .277 | 27 | 91 |
| DH | Andrés Mora | 73 | 220 | 48 | .218 | 6 | 25 |

#### 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 | 133 | 450 | 113 | .251 | 9 | 36 |
| Tony Muser | 136 | 326 | 74 | .227 | 1 | 30 |
| Brooks Robinson | 71 | 218 | 46 | .211 | 3 | 11 |
| Rick Dempsey | 59 | 174 | 37 | .213 | 0 | 10 |
| Elrod Hendricks | 28 | 79 | 11 | .139 | 1 | 4 |
| Tommy Harper | 46 | 77 | 18 | .234 | 1 | 7 |
| Terry Crowley | 33 | 61 | 15 | .246 | 0 | 5 |
| Rich Dauer | 11 | 39 | 4 | .103 | 0 | 3 |
| Kiko Garcia | 11 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 1 | 4 |
| Tim Nordbrook | 27 | 22 | 5 | .227 | 0 | 0 |
| Royle Stillman | 20 | 22 | 2 | .091 | 0 | 1 |
| Tom Shopay | 14 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Bailor | 9 | 6 | 2 | .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 | 40 | 315.0 | 22 | 13 | 2.51 | 159 |
| Rudy May | 24 | 152.1 | 11 | 7 | 3.78 | 71 |
| Ross Grimsley | 28 | 136.2 | 8 | 7 | 3.95 | 41 |
| Mike Cuellar | 26 | 107.0 | 4 | 13 | 4.96 | 32 |
| Ken Holtzman | 13 | 97.2 | 5 | 4 | 2.86 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Wayne Garland | 38 | 232.1 | 20 | 7 | 2.67 | 113 |
| Mike Flanagan | 20 | 85.0 | 3 | 5 | 4.13 | 56 |
| Doyle Alexander | 11 | 64.1 | 3 | 4 | 3.50 | 17 |
| Dave Pagan | 20 | 46.2 | 1 | 4 | 5.98 | 34 |
| Dennis Martínez | 4 | 27.2 | 1 | 2 | 2.60 | 18 |
| Scott McGregor | 3 | 14.2 | 0 | 1 | 3.68 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Tippy Martinez | 28 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 2.59 | 31 |
| Dyar Miller | 49 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2.94 | 37 |
| Fred Holdsworth | 16 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2.04 | 24 |
| Grant Jackson | 13 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5.12 | 14 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Joe Altobelli |
| AA | Charlotte O's | Southern League | Jimmie Schaffer |
| A | Miami Orioles | Florida State League | Len Johnston |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Ben Hines |