The 1988

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

had the worst start to a season in modern American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

history. The Orioles finished 7th in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

East, reduced to a record of 54 wins and 107 losses just five seasons after winning the World Series. The season is most notable for the 0–21 start that lasted from April 4th to April 28th.1988 Baltimore Orioles Schedule, Box Scores and Splits - Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> Manager Cal Ripken, Sr. was fired after an 0–6 start and replaced by Hall of Famer

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both ...

. The Orioles won their first game of the year against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on April 29. The most runs allowed during the season was 15 in a game on June 19 while the most runs scored was 12 in a game on May 31. Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams died in August of that year. This was only the second time that the Orioles had lost at least 100 games (the other being their inaugural season of

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

); in addition, the 107 losses would not be surpassed until 30 years later. It was the team's fifth-worst overall franchise record, behind only

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

(43–111),

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

(47–115),

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

(52-110) and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

(54–108).

Offseason

* October 8, 1987:

Mike Kinnunen Michael John Kinnunen is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in parts of three seasons between and . He holds the major league record for most pitching appearances without a decision of any kind (win, loss or save) with 48. Care ...

was released by the Orioles. * October 8, 1987: Mike Hart was released by the Orioles. * November 6, 1987: Rico Rossy and Terry Crowley Jr. (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

for Joe Orsulak. * February 27, 1988:

Ray Knight Charles Ray Knight (born December 28, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder best remembered for his time with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets. Originally drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the 1970 Major League ...

was traded by the Orioles to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

for Mark Thurmond. * March 21, 1988: Mike Young and a player to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

for Rick Schu, Keith Hughes and Jeff Stone. The Orioles completed the deal by sending Frank Bellino (minors) to the Phillies on June 14.

Regular season

* April 4, 1988: The

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

defeated the Orioles 12–0, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in a shutout win on Opening Day. * September 7, 1988:

Curt Schilling Curtis Montague Schilling (born November 14, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who is a commentator for conservative media outlet BlazeTV. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series appearance ...

made his major league debut. He pitched against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and pitched in 7 innings. Schilling gave up 6 hits and 3 earned runs. He had 2 strikeouts and 5 bases on balls.

The losing streak

* Game 13: The Orioles tied the 1904 Washington Senators and the 1920 Detroit Tigers for most losses to start the season with 13 losses when they lost to the Brewers 9–5 in Milwaukee.Washingtonpost.com: The 1988 Orioles: And the Losing Goes On
/ref> * Game 14: On a cold, wet night, 7,284 witnessed baseball history at Milwaukee's

County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packers fo ...

. Baltimore became the first team in MLB history to start the season 0–14 as the Brewers won, 8–6. No MLB team would lose this many games in a row to open a season until the 1997 Chicago Cubs did so. * Game 21: The Orioles lost 4–2 to the Minnesota Twins in Minnesota, extending their streak of season-starting losses to half again their original record, marking their seventh straight series being swept, and ending the day 16 games out of first place on April 28.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

Mike Boddicker Michael James Boddicker (born August 23, 1957) is an American right-handed former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles (1980–1988), Boston Red Sox (1988–1990), Kansas City Royals (1991–1992), and Milwaukee Brewers (199 ...

* Terry Kennedy * Fred Lynn * Eddie Murray * Joe Orsulak *

Billy Ripken William Oliver Ripken (born December 16, 1964), nicknamed Billy the Kid, is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from – for the Baltimore Orioles (1987–92, '96), Texas Rangers (199 ...

* Cal Ripken Jr. * Rick Schu *

Larry Sheets Larry Kent Sheets (born December 6, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter who played for the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Seattle Mariners from 1984 to 1990 and 1993. He also played one ...

* Jeff Stone

Notable transactions

* April 2, 1988: Dickie Noles was signed as a free agent with the Orioles. * April 5, 1988: Mickey Tettleton was signed as a free agent by the Orioles. * June 1, 1988:

Pete Rose Jr. Peter Edward "PJ" Rose Jr. (born November 16, 1969) is a former professional baseball player and manager. The son of Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader Pete Rose Sr., Rose Jr. played in the minor leagues for most of his career except ...

was drafted by the Orioles in the 12th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft. Player signed September 1, 1988. * July 29, 1988:

was traded by the Orioles to the

for

Brady Anderson Brady Kevin Anderson (born January 18, 1964) is an American former baseball outfielder and executive who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2002) for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians. He spent the majori ...

and

.Mike Boddicker page at Baseball Reference
/ref>

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average'' 1988 Baltimore Orioles Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com
/ref>

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester

References

1988 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference1988 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 Baltimore Orioles Season Baltimore Orioles seasons Baltimore Orioles season