1977 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1977 Baltimore Orioles season finished with the ballclub tied for second place in the American League East with a record of 97 wins and 64 losses. The Orioles stayed in contention for the division title until an 11–10 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on September 30.[1] They in turn eliminated the Red Sox 8–7 the following day on October 1.[2]

1977 Baltimore Orioles
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkMemorial Stadium
CityBaltimore, Maryland
Record97–64 (.602)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersJerold Hoffberger
General managersHank Peters
ManagersEarl Weaver
TelevisionWJZ-TV
RadioWBAL (AM)
(Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell)
Seasons

The Orioles entered the campaign with diminished expectations because of the departures of Reggie Jackson, Bobby Grich and Wayne Garland via free agency.[3] The team's biggest boost came from Eddie Murray who hit .283 with 27 home runs and 88 runs batted in (RBI) and was named the American League Rookie of the Year on November 21. He also batted .364 with nine homers and 26 RBI during the last 31 games of the season.[4]

The Orioles lost a five-inning 4–0 decision to the Toronto Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium on September 15 via forfeit because of third‐base umpire Marty Springstead's refusal to have a tarpaulin covering the pitcher's mounds in the home team's bullpen in the left‐field corner removed. Out of concern for the safety of his left fielder Andrés Mora, manager Earl Weaver protested Springstead's decision by pulling his team off the field. The forfeit was declared after 15 minutes had elapsed and the Orioles had not returned. Weaver explained, "Mora almost broke his leg on that damn thing yesterday. If that had not happened, I might not have thought of it. If a guy slips out there and hurts his leg, how am I gonna feel?"[5] American League president Lee MacPhail upheld the forfeit two days later on September 17. Even though he said that Weaver's concern for his players' safety was "not only understandable, but commendable," MacPhail stated, "There is a basic principle involved here, and that is that someone involved as a competitor cannot be allowed to dictate decisions that must be made by a neutral official."[6]

The Orioles drew 1,195,769 which at the time was the second-highest home attendance total since the franchise's first season in Baltimore in 1954, surpassed by only 1,203,366 in 1966.[7] A 10–4 defeat to the Red Sox at Memorial Stadium on September 18 drew 51,798, then the largest crowd to attend an Orioles home regular-season game, who paid tribute to Brooks Robinson who had announced his retirement as an active player one month prior on August 21.[8] The ballclub sustained a net operating loss of $43,846, primarily because of a $499,000 increase in player payroll in the first year of Major League Baseball (MLB) free agency.[7]

Offseason

Regular season

Brooks
Robinson
3B
Retired 1977

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 10062 0.617 — 55–26 45–36
Baltimore Orioles 9764 0.602 2½ 54–27 43–37
Boston Red Sox 9764 0.602 2½ 51–29 46–35
Detroit Tigers 7488 0.457 26 39–42 35–46
Cleveland Indians 7190 0.441 28½ 37–44 34–46
Milwaukee Brewers 6795 0.414 33 37–44 30–51
Toronto Blue Jays 54107 0.335 45½ 25–55 29–52

Record vs. opponents
1977 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —6–85–65–511–412–34–711–46–48–78–27–34–610–5
Boston 8–6—7–33–78–79–65–59–64–68–78–310–16–412–3
California 6–53–7—8–76–44–66–95–57–84–75–109–65–106–4
Chicago 5–57–37–8—6–44–68–76–510–53–710–510–56–98–3
Cleveland 4–117–84–64–6—8–73–711–42–93–127–37–32–99–5
Detroit 3–126–96–46–47–8—3–810–55–56–95–55–62–810–5
Kansas City 7–45–59–67–87–38–3—8–210–55–59–611–48–78–2
Milwaukee 4–116–95–55–64–115–102–8—3–88–75–57–35–58–7
Minnesota 4–66–48–75–109–25–55–108–3—2–88–67–88–79–1
New York 7–87–87–47–312–39–65–57–88–2—9–26–47–39–6
Oakland 2–83–810–55–103–75–56–95–56–82–9—7–82–137–3
Seattle 3–71–106–95–103–76–54–113–78–74–68–7—9–64–6
Texas 6–44–610–59–69–28–27–85–57–83–713–26–9—7–4
Toronto 5–103–124–63–85–95–102–87–81–96–93–76–44–7—

Notable transactions

Roster
1977 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Game log

Regular season
1977 regular season game log: 97–64 (Home: 55–26; Away: 45–36)
April: 9–8 (Home: 5–6; Away: 4–2)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
1April 7Rangers
2April 9Rangers
3April 10Rangers
—April 15@ Rangers
—April 16@ Rangers
6April 17
(1)		@ Rangers
7April 17
(2)		@ Rangers
—April 22@ TigersPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 7)
—April 23@ TigersPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 8)
11April 24
(1)		@ Tigers
12April 24
(2)		@ Tigers
13April 25YankeesL 6–9Tidrow (1–1)Martínez (0–1)Lyle (4)3:0617,6247–6L2
14April 26YankeesW 6–2May (2–2)Holtzman (1–1)—2:1512,8848–6W1
15April 27YankeesL 3–4Lyle (1–1)Martínez (0–2)—2:5115,6478–7L1
May: 17–10 (Home: 10–3; Away: 7–7)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
31May 19@ YankeesL 1–9Figueroa (5–2)Flanagan (1–2)—2:0915,90917–14L3
32May 20@ YankeesW 6–5Martínez (2–2)Tidrow (2–2)—3:0125,87218–14W1
33May 21@ YankeesW 4–3 (12)Martinez (1–0)Lyle (2–2)—3:1219,96819–14W2
34May 22
(1)		@ YankeesW 5–1May (5–4)Hunter (1–3)—2:23—20–14W3
35May 22
(2)		@ YankeesL 2–8Guidry (3–0)McGregor (1–1)—2:2343,28520–15L1
38May 25, 1977}
(1)		Royals
39May 25, 1977}
(2)		Royals
40May 27Twins
41May 28Twins
42May 29Twins
43May 30@ Twins
44May 31@ Twins
June: 13–18 (Home: 6–8; Away: 7–10)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
45June 1@ White Sox
46June 2@ White Sox
47June 3@ Royals
48June 4
(1)		@ Royals
49June 4
(2)		@ Royals
50June 5@ Royals
53June 8@ Red Sox
54June 9@ Red Sox
55June 10White Sox
56June 11White Sox
57June 12White Sox
64June 20Red Sox
65June 21Red Sox
66June 22Red Sox
67June 23Red Sox
July: 20–8 (Home: 10–3; Away: 10–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
76July 1@ Red Sox
77July 2@ Red Sox
78July 3@ Red Sox
79July 4Tigers
80July 5
(1)		Tigers
81July 5
(2)		Tigers
82July 6Tigers
83July 8YankeesL 5–7Gullett (7–3)May (10–8)Lyle (13)2:5233,73846–37L1
84July 9YankeesW 6–5Martinez (2–0)Lyle (7–3)Drago (4)2:3444,19347–37W1
85July 10YankeesW 6–0Grimsley (8–4)Figueroa (8–7)—2:1234,29948–37W2
86July 11YankeesW 4–3Flanagan (6–8)Torrez (8–8)—2:5642,60349–37W3
87July 12@ Rangers
88July 13@ Rangers
89July 14@ Rangers
48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York
93July 22Rangers
94July 23Rangers
98July 26@ YankeesL 4–5 (10)Lyle (8–3)McGregor (1–2)—2:4832,09756–42L1
99July 27@ YankeesW 6–4Palmer (12–8)Hunter (6–5)Martinez (5)3:1547,27157–42W1
100July 28@ YankeesL 2–14Torrez (10–9)May (11–9)—2:4040,81857–43L1
August: 16–11 (Home: 12–5; Away: 4–6)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
116Error: Invalid time.Twins
117August 16Twins
118August 19@ Twins
119August 20@ Twins
120August 21@ Twins
121August 22@ Royals
122August 23@ Royals
123August 24White Sox
124August 25White Sox
125August 26Royals
126August 27Royals
127August 28Royals
September: 21–9 (Home: 11–2; Away: 10–7)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
131September 2@ White Sox
132September 3@ White Sox
133September 4@ White Sox
134September 5
(1)		@ Tigers
135September 5
(2)		@ Tigers
136September 6@ Tigers
137September 7
(1)		@ Tigers
138September 7
(2)		@ Tigers
139September 8@ Tigers
147September 16Red Sox
148September 17Red Sox
149September 18Red Sox
157September 27Tigers
158September 28Tigers
159September 29Tigers
160September 30@ Red Sox
October: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–0)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
161October 1@ Red Sox
—October 2@ Red SoxPostponed (Rain)
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Orioles team member

Player stats

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
CRick Dempsey9127061.226334
1BLee May150585148.2532799
2BBilly Smith10936779.215529
3BDoug DeCinces150522135.2591969
SSMark Belanger14440283.206230
LFPat Kelly12036092.2561049
CFAl Bumbry133518164.317441
RFKen Singleton152536176.3282499
DHEddie Murray160611173.2832788

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
Rich Dauer9630474.243525
Andrés Mora7723357.2451344
Dave Skaggs8021662.287124
Kiko Garcia6513129.221210
Tony Muser12011827.22907
Elliott Maddox4910728.26229
Tom Shopay676913.18814
Larry Harlow464810.20800
Brooks Robinson24477.14914
Terry Crowley18228.36419
Ken Rudolph11144.28602
Dave Criscione793.33311
Mike Dimmel2550.00000

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 Palmer39319.020112.91193
Rudy May37251.218143.61105
Mike Flanagan36235.015103.64149
Ross Grimsley34218.114103.9653

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
Dennis Martínez42166.21474.10107
Scott McGregor29114.0354.4255

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 Martinez415192.7029
Dick Drago366333.6320
Dyar Miller122215.649
Fred Holdsworth120106.284
Tony Chévez400012.387
Mike Parrott30002.082
Nelson Briles20016.752
Earl Stephenson10009.002
Randy Miller100040.500
Ed Farmer1000inf0

Awards and honors

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Ken Boyer
AA Charlotte O's Southern League Jimmie Schaffer
A Miami Orioles Florida State League Len Johnston
Rookie Bluefield Orioles Appalachian League J. R. Miner

References
  1. "Red Sox Oust Orioles, 11–10, To Stay Alive," The Associated Press (AP), Friday, September 30, 1977. Retrieved April 18 2023.
  2. "Six Oriole Homers Eliminate Boston at Fenway, 8–7," The New York Times, Sunday, October 2, 1977. Retrieved April 18 2023.
  3. Povich, Shirley. "Orioles Seem Destined for Third Place," The Washington Post, Wednesday, March 23, 1977. Retrieved April 18 2023.
  4. "Eddie Murray Rookie Of Year In AL," The Associated Press (AP), Tuesday, November 22, 1977. Retrieved April 18 2023.
  5. "Orioles Forfeit Game to the Jays in Dispute over Bullpen Mound," United Press International (UPI), Friday, September 16, 1977. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  6. Montgomery, Paul L. "But Baltimore Loses Appeal to League Over Forfeit," The New York Times, Sunday, September 18, 1977. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  7. Scannell, Nancy. "Orioles Expect Loss At Gate of 150,000, Substantial Deficit," The Washington Post, Sunday, September 10, 1978. Retrieved April 18 2023.
  8. Montgomery, Paul L. "Red Sox Set Back Orioles, 10–4, As Both End Ungainful Weekend," The New York Times, Monday, September 19, 1977. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  9. Darryl Cias page at Baseball Reference
  10. Bob Galasso page at Baseball Reference
  11. Dave Pagan page at Baseball Reference
  12. Dave Criscione page at Baseball Reference
  13. John Shelby page at Baseball Reference
  14. Paul Blair page at Baseball Reference
  15. Billy Smith page at Baseball Reference
  16. Vic Rodriguez page at Baseball Reference
  17. Randy Stein page at Baseball Reference
  18. Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  19. Ken Rudolph page at Baseball Reference
  20. Nelson Briles transactions at Baseball Reference
  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1977 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
  • 1977 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.