In January 2020, we published the all-time Orioles team, with an assist from our readers. I thought it would be fun to take another look at it. Today, we’ll reveal the 10 pitchers.
I was overwhelmed by the knowledge of our readers, especially those who named players from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, before I arrived in Baltimore.
Many of the suggestions forced me to consider players I hadn’t thought about and created harder decisions.
One cautionary note: Many readers chose five starters and five relievers. That’s not what I’m going to do. This is more like an All-Star team with the 10 best pitchers, three of them relievers.
Again, thanks for your input. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Starting pitchers
Jim Palmer, Mike Mussina, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, Mike Flanagan, Scott McGregor, Milt Pappas.
Palmer is the easiest choice — the only player who was a member of each of the Orioles’ World Series winning teams.
Mussina, whose career won-loss record and winning percentage are similar to Palmer’s but whose ERA is higher, is another easy choice.
Most of McNally’s success came before the designated hitter. Like Palmer, he pitched at Memorial Stadium, not Camden Yards. McNally was a 20-game winner from 1968-1971 and won 181 games with 33 shutouts.
Cuellar’s career stats are almost identical to McNally’s, and he won 143 games in eight seasons. He had three consecutive 20-win seasons, from 1969-71. Unlike McNally, who played only briefly with Montreal, Cuellar had 42 wins with Houston and St. Louis.
Flanagan, like McNally and Cuellar, was a left-hander, and he won 141 games in two stints with the Orioles. In 1979, Flanagan won 23 games as the Orioles came within one win of another World Series title. In 1991, Flanagan threw the last Orioles’ pitch in Memorial Stadium’s final game. He concluded his career as a reliever.
Like the other five starters, McGregor was a 20-game winner. In 1980, McGregor nearly pitched the Orioles into the postseason, but in the pre-Wild Card days, their 100 wins weren’t good enough. McGregor won the last Orioles’ World Series game in 1983. He won 138 games for the Orioles, the only major league team for which he played.
Pappas has been unfairly maligned over the years because he was the Oriole sent to Cincinnati along with pitcher Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson for Frank Robinson in December 1965. But Pappas won 110 games for the Orioles in a career that began in 1957. Overall, Pappas had 220 victories and had similar statistics to Hall of Famer Don Drysdale. Pappas had a 3.24 ERA as an Oriole, better than Flanagan, McGregor and Mussina, who pitched at hitter-friendly Camden Yards.
Also considered: Mike Boddicker, Steve Barber
Boddicker was the Orioles’ last 20-game winner in 1984 and was a key member of the World Series winners in 1983, but had only 79 wins for the Orioles. Although he’s remembered fondly by Oriole fans, he had three excellent seasons with Boston after he was traded there in July 1988 for Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling.
Barber had 95 wins from 1960-1967, and won 20 games in 1963, the first Orioles pitcher to do so.
Relievers: Zack Britton, Gregg Olson, Dick Hall
Britton had perhaps the best season of any reliever when he converted all 47 save opportunities in 2016. He allowed just four earned runs and had a 0.54 ERA.
Olson holds the team record with 160 saves in a six-year career. He gave up just 10 home runs in 350 innings. In 1989, he won the American League Rookie of the Year award, the last Oriole to do so.
Hall’s choice was the most difficult one, partly because I wasn’t around to see his career first-hand, but also because there were many other worthy relievers to consider. Hall pitched 770 innings in a nine-year Orioles career.
He was arguably the most versatile pitcher in team history. He started 22 games but finished 237. His WHIP of 1.005 was the best in Orioles history, and he had a 2.89 ERA. He walked just 1.5 batters per nine innings.
Also considered: Jim Johnson, Tippy Martinez, Darren O’Day, Eddie Watt, Pete Richert, Stu Miller
Johnson had 101 saves in 2012 and 2013, but Britton, Olson and Hall had stronger Oriole careers.
Martinez is remembered fondly for his 11 years with the Orioles, unusually long for a reliever, but his 3.46 ERA and 1.370 WHIP leave him short.
O’Day had a fantastic 2.40 ERA and 0.994 ERA, but he pitched roughly half the innings Hall did.
I never thought about Watt and Richert until readers brought them up.
From 1967-1972, Watt had an ERA of 2.27 or lower five times, but he’s handicapped by his time. In 1969, Watt had a 1.65 ERA and 16 saves but was used in 56 games. That year, Oriole starters threw 50 complete games, and the relievers weren’t as valuable as they are in the contemporary game.
It’s a similar story with Richert, who had a 2.83 ERA in five years with the Orioles. He wasn’t with the team long enough or used often enough to make the list.
Miller had 99 saves and a 2.37 ERA in five seasons from 1963-1967, but the others were more dominant.
Tomorrow: We’ll reveal the 16 position players.
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No problem with that list at all. Maybe a closer look at Tippy. IMO he was our best reliever ever with all due respect to Olsen and Britton.
This is a great list Rich! I can think of a few others who had some great years with the Orioles, such as Steve Stone and Moe Drabowski, but they were not O’s for very long. It’s not surprising that the majority of your list are from “back in the day”. All these guys were special.
Good calls Tx. I think Pat Dobson fits in that category as well.
Raymo - I agree Dobson is a rightful addition to the pitchers who had a short but productive cup of coffee with the O’s.
That 3.46 ERA in that time is not good. e closed because we had nobody else!
Didn’t need no stinkin’ closer, which tippy wasn’t. He often shut ‘em down over 2 or more innings. Different day. Different game and different numbers. Give me Martinez over Britton any day and Olsen some days.
Career WAR 8.6 for Tippy, easily replaceable IMO. But the memory of Tippy on the mound and Lenn Sataka catching? 8/24/1983, top of the 10th vs. TOR - priceless!
My last memory of Tippy is of Kirk Gibson depositing a curve in the upper deck at Tiger stadium, as a 19 year old there, I was crushed as bad as the baseball!
Any O’s pitcher named Martinez - Tippy or Dennis - made me more than comfortable with who was on the mound. I can’t say that with any recent O pitchers, not even Means.
My biggest memory of Tippy on the mound was the “pick off the side” maneuver vs the Blue Jays. I remember listening to that game.
Speaking of another stand out, recall Sammy Stewart striking out 7 in a row? I think it was his rookie year, mid - late 70’s. Another radio memory for me. Had that ever been done before?
Icterus fan, not only was he a rookie, it was his MLB debut. He set a record that I believe still stands today when he K’d the fist 7 batters he faced. It was game 2 of a double header on 9-1-78. I too was listening on the radio and remember thinking WOW, we have another great pitcher now!
Thanks for filling in the details Gruber. I definitely remember being completely fixated on every pitch. Those were the days of our good play by play broadcasters - building suspense and painting the audio picture in the listeners mind. Almost a lost art now these days.
Really a shame how Sammy’s life ended up.
Good but dated article on WAR and Relievers at Fan Graphs.
No relief pitcher makes the Orioles top 10:
1. Palmer 67.6
2. Mussina 47.7
3. McNally 25.3
4. Pappas 21.7
5. Flanagan 21.4
6. McGregor 20.2
7. Boddicker 17.4
8. Cuellar 17.1
9. Barber 16.9
10. Guthrie 16.1
Top 3 relievers:
1. Hoyt Wilhelm 15.6 (he finished more games for the Os than he started, so pipe down)
2. Stu Miller 12.0
3. Olson 11.6
O'Day had a higher WAR with the O's than Britton, 11.6 vs 10.9.
Cuellar 17.1, below Boddicker, McGregor and Flanagan??????????? Just shows how clueless WAR is, good for absolutely nothn"!
WAR for relievers is tricky, Joe. Relievers I’m Wilhelm and Miller’s time were used for multiple innings.
Trevor Hoffman with a 28.0 WAR is in the Hall of Fame. So is Lee Smith with a 28.9. Billy Wagner with a 27.7 has a decent shot in the next few years.
O’Day was always used as a reliever. Britton was a converted starter and had the most unbelievable year a reliever has ever had. I voted for him for the Cy Young.
As good as O’Day was, Britton was far better and more valuable.
I still don’t know much about or care about WAR. Gunthie doesn’t belong on any list with Palmer, Mussina, McNally or even Britton.
Have to go with Wilhelm somewhere, somehow. Maybe if this dream team were 21st century, carrying 14 pitchers, he'd have a place on your team, too.
From what I've been reading... Just like Mike Cuellar was rescued away from the Astros and Pat Dobson from the Padres, if the Orioles could have rescued away Steve Stone earlier in his career from the Chicago Cubs, he would have even better numbers as an Oriole.
Cubs or 1st time with the White Sox, take your pick.
Too many curve balls during his Cy Young year with the O’s ended Stone’s career.
Yes, that's true captain obvious, in year 10 and 11 these were his last years as a pitcher. But as I stated, if they would have gotten him in year 2 or three, he would have had a few more Cy Youngs on his shelf on those real good Oriole teams of the 70's!!!
I never questioned your comment. Just stated why he had to retire young, Captain.
My apologies... I wasn't in a good mood hearing the news on John Madden. Just saddens me on him passing away.
Bile…go O’s…
Hopefully, the Orioles going forward will draft more of the same great pitchers of the past!!! As I stated before, a group of Baltimore Orioles is called a pitch!!! Something the current Orioles need to do a ton better to be a contender again!!!
Good choices. Glad to see Pappas was included. I might have included Tippy but did not realize his ERA was that high. You might also have mentioned that Flanagan was a Cy Young winner.
I know the numbers don’t say it, but Tippy gets included on my list. He was the all everything reliever. Need a few innings or just one batter, he was the guy.
Very Nice list. I think I am the one that reminded about Dick Hall. Now don't forget about Bob Nieman in the position list.
No problem with your list at all, can’t wait to see the position guys…go O’s…
Palmer was one guy we had, that when we were up1-0, I knew we would win! It would be great to e a kid again!
Palmer still coloring his hair, like Ratface at Duke. Jim is GQ compared to him!