# 1981 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1981 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's 28th season based in Baltimore and 81st overall season as a member of the American League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Orioles competed as members of the American League East, finishing second in the first half of the season and fourth in the second half of the season; their overall record was 59 wins and 46 losses. The Orioles hit five grand slams, the most in MLB in 1981.

## Offseason

* December 15, 1980: Paul Hartzell was released by the Orioles.
* January 22, 1981: Joe Kerrigan and John Buffamoyer (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the Cincinnati Reds for Mike Grace and John Hale.

## Regular season

* August 10, 1981: Cal Ripken Jr. made his major league debut in a game against the Kansas City Royals.

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1981: Kiko Garcia was traded by the Orioles to the Houston Astros for Chris Bourjos and cash.
* June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
** Jeff Schaefer was drafted by the Orioles in the 12th round.
** Cecil Fielder was drafted by the Orioles in the 31st round, but did not sign.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 62 | 47 | .569 | — | 28‍–‍21 | 34‍–‍26 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 59 | 46 | .562 | 1 | 33‍–‍22 | 26‍–‍24 |
| New York Yankees | 59 | 48 | .551 | 2 | 32‍–‍19 | 27‍–‍29 |
| Detroit Tigers | 60 | 49 | .550 | 2 | 32‍–‍23 | 28‍–‍26 |
| Boston Red Sox | 59 | 49 | .546 | 2½ | 30‍–‍23 | 29‍–‍26 |
| Cleveland Indians | 52 | 51 | .505 | 7 | 25‍–‍29 | 27‍–‍22 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 37 | 69 | .349 | 23½ | 17‍–‍36 | 20‍–‍33 |
| AL East First Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| New York Yankees | 34 | 22 | .607 | — |
| Baltimore Orioles | 31 | 23 | .574 | 2 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 25 | .554 | 3 |
| Detroit Tigers | 31 | 26 | .544 | 3+1⁄2 |
| Boston Red Sox | 30 | 26 | .536 | 4 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 24 | .520 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 16 | 42 | .276 | 19 |
| AL East Second Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 22 | .585 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Detroit Tigers | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 28 | 23 | .549 | 2 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 27 | .491 | 5 |
| New York Yankees | 25 | 26 | .490 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 27 | .438 | 7+1⁄2 |

### Record vs. opponents

1981 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 2–2 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–7 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
| Boston | 2–2 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–6 | 4–0 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–2 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 6–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | — | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–2 | — | 1–5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 2–1 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 6–4 |
| Kansas City | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–5 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 3–4 | 5–3 |
| Milwaukee | 4–2 | 7–6 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 6–3 | 8–5 | 5–4 | — | 9–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 6–4 |
| Minnesota | 0–6 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 3–3 | 2–8 | 3–6–1 | 5–8 | 5–1 |
| New York | 6–7 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 10–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–2 | 3–4 | — | 6–1 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 1–5 | 7–6 | 2–2 | 6–3–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | — | 5–8 | 3–3 |
| Texas | 1–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–9 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–2 |
| Toronto | 2–5 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–5 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 2–6 | — |

## 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 | 92 | 251 | 54 | .215 | 6 | 15 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 99 | 378 | 111 | .294 | 22 | 78 |
| 2B | Rich Dauer | 96 | 369 | 97 | .263 | 4 | 38 |
| 3B | Doug DeCinces | 100 | 346 | 91 | .263 | 13 | 55 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 64 | 139 | 23 | .165 | 1 | 10 |
| LF | John Lowenstein | 83 | 189 | 47 | .249 | 6 | 20 |
| CF | Al Bumbry | 101 | 392 | 107 | .273 | 1 | 27 |
| RF | Ken Singleton | 103 | 363 | 101 | .278 | 13 | 49 |
| DH | Terry Crowley | 68 | 134 | 33 | .246 | 4 | 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 |
| Gary Roenicke | 85 | 219 | 59 | .269 | 3 | 20 |
| Lenn Sakata | 61 | 150 | 34 | .227 | 5 | 15 |
| Dan Graham | 55 | 142 | 25 | .176 | 2 | 11 |
| Jim Dwyer | 68 | 134 | 30 | .224 | 3 | 10 |
| Benny Ayala | 44 | 86 | 24 | .279 | 3 | 13 |
| José Morales | 38 | 86 | 21 | .244 | 2 | 14 |
| Wayne Krenchicki | 33 | 56 | 12 | .214 | 0 | 6 |
| Cal Ripken Jr. | 23 | 39 | 5 | .128 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Bonner | 10 | 27 | 8 | .296 | 0 | 2 |
| Mark Corey | 10 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Royster | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dallas Williams | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| John Shelby | 7 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Dennis Martínez | 25 | 179.0 | 14 | 5 | 3.32 | 88 |
| Scott McGregor | 24 | 160.0 | 13 | 5 | 3.26 | 82 |
| Jim Palmer | 22 | 127.1 | 7 | 8 | 3.75 | 35 |
| Mike Flanagan | 20 | 116.0 | 9 | 6 | 4.19 | 72 |
| Steve Stone | 15 | 62.2 | 4 | 7 | 4.60 | 30 |

#### 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 |
| Sammy Stewart | 29 | 112.1 | 4 | 8 | 2.32 | 57 |
| Dave Ford | 15 | 40.0 | 1 | 2 | 6.53 | 12 |

#### 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 | 37 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 2.90 | 50 |
| Tim Stoddard | 31 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3.86 | 32 |
| Jeff Schneider | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.88 | 17 |
| Steve Luebber | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.56 | 12 |
| Mike Boddicker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Dennis Martínez, American League Leader Victories (14)
All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Doc Edwards |
| AA | Charlotte O's | Southern League | Mark Wiley |
| A | Hagerstown Suns | Carolina League | Grady Little |
| A | Miami Orioles | Florida State League | Minnie Mendoza |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Lance Nichols |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Hagerstown