The Orioles have been creating postseason recollections for greater than half a century. With the staff poised to make extra in 2023, right here’s a glance again on the most magical moments in franchise historical past.
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1966: Moe Drabowsky followers 11 in Dodgers aid
Summoned within the third inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Orioles reliever Moe Drabowsky does the unbelievable: He holds the Los Angeles Dodgers to 1 hit for the final 6 2/3 innings in a 5-2 victory within the 1966 World Series opener. En route, the journeyman right-hander, whom the Orioles drafted on a budget within the offseason, strikes out 11 Dodgers, together with six in a row, retiring all six of them swinging.
Drabowsky’s effort units the tempo for the Orioles’ four-game sweep: Los Angeles doesn’t rating once more within the Series.
1966: Jim Palmer comes of age towards Sandy Koufax
Jim Palmer is 20 years previous when he bests Dodgers ace and Cy Young Award winner Sandy Koufax, 6-0, in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series. Koufax had received 27 video games that season; Palmer, 15. But the latter’s excessive fastball holds Los Angeles, the defending world champion, to 4 hits within the first of three straight shutouts by Orioles pitchers.
Koufax retires thereafter and enters the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Palmer pitches a further 17 years and is enshrined in 1990.
1966: Brooks Robinson elevates as O’s attain uncommon air
Dave McNally’s four-hitter and Frank Robinson’s house run give the Orioles a 1-0 victory as they sweep the Dodgers, 4 straight, within the 1966 World Series. When middle fielder Paul Blair curls his glove round a fly ball for the ultimate out, third baseman Brooks Robinson leaps towards heaven. His look in that iconic photograph is euphoric; his leap, Jordanesque.
“My kids still think it was trick photography,” Robinson stated later. “They inform me, ‘Dad, you never jumped that high in your life.’“
It’s the primary championship for Baltimore, which performs errorless ball and holds Los Angeles scoreless for the final 33 innings, a World Series document.
1969: Paul Blair’s walk-off bunt wins first-ever ALCS sport
After Boog Powell ties the first-ever American League Championship Series sport with a ninth-inning house run, Paul Blair lays down a two-out squeeze bunt to attain a charging Mark Belanger from third base within the twelfth because the Orioles defeat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3, at Memorial Stadium. Baltimore sweeps the best-of-five collection in 1969 earlier than dropping to the New York Mets within the World Series, 4 video games to 1.
1970: Pitcher Mike Cuellar muscle tissues up on the plate
Pitcher Mike Cuellar, an .089 hitter throughout the common season, lofts a wind-aided grand slam in Minnesota off Twins ace Jim Perry to steer the Orioles to a 10-6 victory in Game 1 of the 1970 ALCS. Baltimore sweeps the collection, then defeats Cincinnati, 4 video games to 1, within the World Series.
1970: Brooks Robinson places on a clinic at third base
Moments after the Orioles defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-3, in Game 5 to win the 1970 World Series, the Baseball Hall of Fame asks for third baseman Brooks Robinson’s glove. Small marvel. His backhand stabs, diving catches and off-balance pegs foil the Reds and earn Robinson MVP honors. Fittingly, within the last sport, he throws out the final batter.
“I never saw a man dominate a single event like Robinson in [that Series],” baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn says later.
1971: Orioles hit 4 homers in Game 2 vs. A’s
Though held to seven hits by Oakland’s Catfish Hunter, the Orioles slug 4 house runs in a 5-1 win over the A’s in Game 2 of the 1971 ALCS. Boog Powell homers twice whereas Brooks Robinson and Elrod Hendricks additionally join. The Orioles sweep the best-of-five collection.
1971: Frank Robinson’s mad sprint forces Game 7
Daring base working by Frank Robinson keys a 3-2 walk-off victory over Pittsburgh in Game 6 of the 1971 World Series. In the Tenth inning, Robinson attracts a stroll and, on a single by Merv Rettenmund, races to 3rd, barely beating the throw. When Brooks Robinson hits a brief fly to middle subject, Frank Robinson tags up after the catch and sprints house, just below the tag of the Pirates’ catcher. Pittsburgh captures the Series the subsequent day.
1973: Andy Etchebarren’s homer keys comeback vs. A’s
Blanked for six innings by Vida Blue, Oakland’s 20-game winner, the Orioles rally from a 4-0 deficit within the seventh inning in Game 4 of the 1973 ALCS. Light-hitting Andy Etchebarren’s three-run house run ties the sport and, an inning later, Bobby Grich homers for a 5-4 win. The A’s go on to win the collection in 5 video games and the world championship.
1979: John Lowenstein’s pinch homer beats Angels
John Lowenstein’s pinch-hit, three-run house run within the Tenth inning offers the Orioles a 6-3 walk-off victory over the California Angels in Game 1 of the 1979 ALCS. With two outs, Lowenstein hits an 0-2 pitch into the left subject stands. Overjoyed, supervisor Earl Weaver races onto the sector, meets Lowenstein between second and third base and hugs the sport’s hero. The Orioles go on to win the collection, 3 video games to 1.
1979: Six-run eighth inning rallies Orioles vs. Pirates
Trailing 6-3 within the eighth inning, the Orioles explode for six runs to beat Pittsburgh, 9-6, in Game 4 of the 1979 World Series. In the comeback, two pinch hitters, John Lowenstein and Terry Crowley, ship two-run doubles and pitcher Tim Stoddard knocks in a run with a single, his first base hit as a professional. The Pirates win the subsequent three video games to take the Series.
1983: Mike Boddicker strikes out 14 White Sox
Rookie right-hander Mike Boddicker stymies Chicago together with his off-speed pitches, hanging out a playoff-record-tying 14 batters because the Orioles even the 1983 ALCS with the White Sox at one sport apiece. Boddicker’s five-hit masterpiece earns him the collection’ MVP award.
1983: Tito Landrum’s homer breaks scoreless tie in Tenth
Tito Landrum slams a Tenth-inning house run into the higher deck at Chicago’s Comiskey Park to interrupt a scoreless sport because the Orioles defeat the White Sox, 3-0, within the clinching Game 4 of the 1983 ALCS.
“Pinch me before I get out of here and make me believe it really happened,” stated Landrum, a longtime minor league outfielder whom the soon-to-be world champs acquired Aug. 31.
1983: Scott McGregor closes out the Phillies in Series finale
“All I wanted to do was to keep us close,” says Scott McGregor, the Orioles’ star left-hander after finishing a five-hit, 5-0 shutout of Philadelphia within the decisive Game 5 of the 1983 World Series.
The Orioles get two prodigious Eddie Murray house runs — certainly one of which caroms off the Phillies’ scoreboard — and one by Series MVP Rick Dempsey. Shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. catches the ultimate out. With that, McGregor pumps his fist and is buried in orange.
1996: Embattled Roberto Alomar ties, wins sport
Roberto Alomar turns from spitter to hitter, drilling a fastball over the proper subject wall in Cleveland within the twelfth inning to present the Orioles a 4-3 win over the Indians within the clinching Game 4 of the 1996 ALDS. Alomar, who — eight days earlier — had drawn public ire when he spat within the face of umpire John Hirschbeck, additionally hit a two-out, two-strike, game-tying RBI single within the ninth inning. The Orioles drop the ALCS to the New York Yankees, 4 video games to 1.
1997: Mike Mussina and Jeff Reboulet greatest Randy Johnson
In a duel between two future Hall of Famers, the Orioles’ Mike Mussina beats Seattle’s Randy Johnson for the second time in 4 days as Baltimore defeats the Mariners, 3-1, in Game 4 of the best-of-five collection to win the 1997 AL Division Series. All advised, Mussina permits three runs and strikes out 16 batters in 14 innings towards Seattle, the highest-scoring staff in baseball. The Orioles’ first run comes on a house run from light-hitting utility participant Jeff Reboulet off Johnson, who went 20-4 within the common season.
1997: Brady Anderson shines with glove, bat
Brady Anderson sparkles in Game 1 of the 1997 ALCS. In the primary inning, he scales the middle subject wall at Oriole Park to rob Cleveland’s Manny Ramirez of a house run. Then, on the subsequent pitch, Anderson — the Orioles’ leadoff hitter — slams a house run as Baltimore defeats the Indians, 3-0. But Cleveland takes the collection, 4 video games to 2.
2012: Joe Saunders shuts down Rangers in wild-card win
Unheralded pitcher Joe Saunders, signed to a minor league deal in August, holds high-scoring Texas to 1 run in 5 2/3 innings in a 5-1 wild-card win over the Rangers in 2012. It’s the primary playoff sport in 15 years for the Orioles and the primary victory for Saunders in seven profession selections in Texas, the two-time defending AL champion. But the Orioles lose within the ALDS to the New York Yankees, 3 video games to 2.
2014: Delmon Young’s three-run double rallies Orioles
Delmon Young hits a pinch-hit, three-run double within the eighth inning to present the Orioles a 7-6 comeback win over the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the 2014 ALDS. The sellout crowd at Camden Yards offers a standing ovation to Young, a clutch pinch hitter all 12 months whom Baltimore signed as a free agent in January.
2014: Nelson Cruz retains it honest, helps put away Tigers
Orioles followers erupt within the sixth inning as a fly ball by Nelson Cruz hugs the proper subject foul pole and lands within the first row of the stands in Detroit for a two-run house run. That’s all Baltimore must defeat the Tigers, 2-1, in Game 3 of the 2014 ALDS for its first postseason sweep since 1971. The Orioles are swept in 4 video games by the Kansas City Royals within the ALCS.
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