The 1989

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 ...

season was a season in 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 ...

. It involved the Orioles finishing 2nd 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 with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses. The team was known as the Comeback Kids as they rebounded from the 54 wins and 107 losses of the 1988 season. The season also took on the "Why Not?!" promotional slogan as the team's pursuit of the pennant went down to the final series of the regular season. The Orioles went into the three-game season finale against the first place

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

down by one game in the

AL East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

standings and needing either a sweep to win the AL East championship, or two wins to force a one-game playoff. The Blue Jays won the first two games of the series, clinching first place on the penultimate game of the season.

Offseason

* October 3, 1988:

Don Aase Donald William Aase ( ;"The Week (July 24–30)," ''Sp ...

was released by the Orioles. * November 9, 1988: Pete Blohm (minors) was 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 Randy Milligan. * November 17, 1988:

Dickie Noles Dickie Ray Noles (born November 19, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles between 1979 and 1990. He bat ...

was released by the Orioles. * December 4, 1988:

Eddie Murray Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956), nicknamed "Steady Eddie," is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth ...

was traded by the Orioles to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

for Ken Howell,

Brian Holton Brian John Holton (born November 29, 1959) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues primarily in relief from 1985 to 1990. He was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 World Series winners, notching a save i ...

, and Juan Bell. * December 8, 1988: Ken Howell and

Gordon Dillard Gordon Lee Dillard (born May 20, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1988) and Philadelphia Phillies (1989). His 1988 season was split between the Charlott ...

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

Phil Bradley Philip Poole Bradley (born March 11, 1959), is an American former professional baseball outfielder / designated hitter who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the American League (AL) Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago White S ...

. * March 1, 1989:

Mark Huismann Mark Lawrence Huismann (born May 11, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Early years Huismann was born in Littleton, Colorado, and attended Colorado State University upon graduation from Thomas B. Doherty High Schoo ...

was signed as a free agent by the Orioles. * March 31, 1989:

Carl Nichols Carl Edward Nichols (born October 14, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher. He played parts of six seasons in the major leagues, from 1986 until 1991, for the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros, appearing in a total of 96 gam ...

was traded by the Orioles to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

for Dave Johnson and Victor Hithe (minors).

Regular season

*Bill Ripken's 1989

Fleer The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubble gum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until 1989. Fleer originally developed a bubble gum formulation called '' Blibber-Blu ...

Baseball Card (#616) made national news when it included a hidden obscenity (the words "fuck face"). The obscenity was printed in black marker on the knob of his bat. Once the discovery was made public, subsequent printings of the card were issued with the words obscured. The first obscuring involved a blob of white out, another was scribbled with a black pen while the last was covered with a black square. *In the finale of the 1989 season,

Ben McDonald Larry Benard McDonald (born November 24, 1967) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. The first overall pick in the 1989 MLB Draft, McDonald played for the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers from 1989 through 1997. Baseball career Col ...

tossed one scoreless inning of relief, logging his first career win. Of note, he would become the sixth player to make the majors in the same season that he was selected as the number one overall pick in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Opening Day starters

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 ...

* Steve Finley * Rene Gonzales * Cal Ripken Jr. * Dave Schmidt *

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 ...

Mickey Tettleton Mickey Lee Tettleton (born September 16, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. Although Tettleton played most ...

* Jim Traber *

Craig Worthington Craig Richard Worthington (born April 17, 1965) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1988 and 1996, for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and ...

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* May 19, 1989: Rick Schu was purchased from the Orioles by 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 ...

. * June 1, 1989: John Posey (minors) was traded by the Orioles to the

for

Shane Turner Shane Lee Turner (born January 8, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in parts of three seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB) for three different teams. Career Turner attended Garey High School in Pomona CA ...

. * June 5, 1989:

1989 Major League Baseball Draft First-round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1989 Major League Baseball draft on June 5. Supplemental first round selections Other notable players * Brian Hunter, 2nd round, 35th overall by the Houston Astros * Ti ...

was drafted by the Orioles in the 1st round (1st pick). Player signed August 19, 1989. **

Mike Oquist Michael Lee Oquist (born May 30, 1968) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played from -. He played for the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, and Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Oquist played coll ...

was drafted by the Orioles in the 13th round. Player signed June 14, 1989. **

Gregg Zaun Gregory Owen Zaun (; born April 14, 1971) is an American baseball analyst, public speaker and a former professional baseball catcher. He played for nine teams over 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1995 until 2010, winning a World Series ...

was drafted by the Orioles in the 17th round. Player signed August 25, 1989. * July 20, 1989:

John Habyan John Gabriel Habyan (born January 29, 1964) is a former professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, Habyan played all or parts of 11 seasons in Major League Baseball. Baseball career Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 3rd round ...

was traded by the Orioles to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

for

Stan Jefferson Stanley Jefferson (born December 4, 1962) is a former center and left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds from to .< ...

. * July 28, 1989: Brian Dubois was traded by the Orioles to the

for

Keith Moreland Bobby Keith Moreland (born May 2, 1954), nicknamed "Zonk", is a former outfielder, catcher and infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres. In 1989, the final year of his career, ...

. * August 5, 1989:

Jamie Quirk James Patrick Quirk (; born October 22, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1975 to 1992. Quirk was a member of the world champion 1985 Kansas City Royals team. ...

was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.

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''

Other batters

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

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''

Awards and honors

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 ...

, Associated Press Manager of the Year * Frank Robinson, American League Manager of the Year *

Gregg Olson Greggory William Olson (born October 11, 1966) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, scout and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most prominently as ...

, American League Rookie of the Year MLB All-Star Game * Cal Ripken Jr.

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

1989 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference1989 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1989 Baltimore Orioles Season Baltimore Orioles seasons Baltimore Orioles season