Presenting a new set of questions from the crevices of Orioles history. I know you know a lot. But just how much?
Back in December, I published a quiz about Orioles history. A lot of people seemingly had fun with it. Some fared better than others at answering the questions.
I promised to produce another set of questions, and here it is.
If you nailed Volume 1, it’s your chance to keep that momentum going.
If you flunked Volume 1, it’s your shot at redemption.
As with the first volume, my goal is to pose questions that aren’t TOO hard but also not TOO easy. Hopefully, I’ve threaded that needle. Let me know, I’m listening.
OK, here we go … just how much do you know about Orioles history?
QUESTIONS (answers are below):
(1) Is it true that Earl Weaver once pulled such shenanigans with the Orioles’ designated hitters that the American League amended the DH rules?
a) Yes
b) No
(2) Between 1963 and 1984, starting pitchers for the Orioles combined for an astounding 24 20-win seasons. But two-thirds of the total belonged to Jim Palmer (8) and Dave McNally and Mike Cuellar (four apiece). Can you name the eight other Oriole pitchers who pushed the total to 24 by winning 20 games in a season exactly once between 1963 and 1984?
(3) Among the top 10 players in Oriole history in terms of games played for the club, who is the only one whose entire career unfolded in the 2000s?
a) Nick Markakis
b) Adam Jones
c) Brian Roberts
(4) In a million-to-one coincidence, both of Baltimore’s current major sports teams were nicknamed the Browns before they moved to Maryland. Which was in their former hometown the longest?
a) football’s Cleveland Browns
b) baseball’s St. Louis Browns
(5) Once upon a time, drawing a million fans in a season was considered a major accomplishment for a major league team. The Browns never did it in St. Louis. How long did it take the Orioles to draw a million fans after they moved to Baltimore?
a) 1 season
b) 5 seasons
c) 12 seasons
(6) Who is the Orioles’ career leader in on-base percentage?
a) Eddie Murray
b) Ken Singleton
c) Frank Robinson
(7) “I was the Orioles’ everyday second baseman throughout much of the early ‘60s. Although I never won a Gold Glove or made an All-Star team, I was a solid fielder (ranked in the top 10 in the American League in single-season defensive wins above replacement three times) and a career .258 hitter. When manager Hank Bauer started playing Davey Johnson ahead of me in 1966, I asked for more playing time and was promptly traded to the White Sox, ending my long run in Baltimore, Who am I?”
(8) The Orioles were in their heyday when baseball introduced divisional play and league playoffs in 1969. How many consecutive ALCS games did the Orioles win before they lost one?
a) 4
b) 6
c) 10
(9) How many times has a starting pitcher for the Orioles faced the minimum of 27 batters over nine innings?
a) once
b) twice
c) three times
(10) Brooks Robinson won the gold glove at third base in the American League for 16 straight seasons, from 1960 through 1975. In those years, a bunch of his infield mates also won multiple gold gloves. At what position did other Baltimore infielders win the most gold gloves during Robinson’s 16-year reign at third base?
a) shortstop
b) second base
c) first base
(11) True or False: The Orioles have made the playoffs in each of the six seasons in which they’ve won at least 100 games.
(12) When John Means threw his no-hitter in 2021, it was the Orioles’ first no-hitter in 30 years. Four pitchers combined to throw the club’s previous no-hitter against the Oakland A’s on July 13, 1991. Can you name the four pitchers?
ANSWERS:
(1) The answer is yes, absolutely. Late in the 1980 season, Weaver suddenly began posting lineups with a “phantom” DH — a starting pitcher not scheduled to go that night. Then he pinch-hit for the “phantom” the first time through the lineup, usually with one of the two guys in the DH platoon he employed that year — Terry Crowley against right-handers and Benny Ayala against left-handers. What was he doing? He explained: If the opposing starter was knocked out of the game before the DH batted, Weaver could be stuck with the wrong side of the platoon in his lineup for the rest of the game. To avoid that, he employed the “phantom” and waited until the first at-bat to see who was on the mound, then inserted the “real” DH. There was no rule against it. Weaver did it 21 times in September. His rival Sparky Anderson also tried it a couple of times. The rest of the American League smelled a rat and the DH rule was amended after the 1980 season to force the starting DH to bat at least once.
(2) The eight Oriole starters who posted a single 20-win season between 1963 and 1984 were Steve Barber in 1963, Pat Dobson in 1971, Mike Torrez in 1975, Wayne Garland in 1976, Mike Flanagan in 1979, Steve Stone in 1980, Scott McGregor in 1980 and Mike Boddicker in 1984.
(3) The correct answer is Jones, who ranks eighth all-time in games played for the Orioles. The seven players ahead of him, in order, are Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger, Eddie Murray, Brady Anderson, Boog Powell and Paul Blair. After Jones, who played in 1,613 games for the Orioles, Ken Singleton and Al Bumbry complete the top 10. Nick Markakis, whose entire Oriole career also took place in the 2000s, is No. 11 on the all-time list.
(4) It’s a close call but baseball’s Browns were in St. Louis for slightly longer than football’s Browns were in Cleveland. The football Browns represented Cleveland in the All-America Football Conference from 1946-49 and the NFL from 1950-95. That’s a total of 50 seasons. Baseball’s Browns represented St. Louis in the American League for 52 seasons before they moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles.
(5) The Orioles did it immediately, drawing 1,060,910 fans in their first season in Baltimore. It was an auspicious showing considering the Browns never drew more than 713,000 fans in 52 seasons in St. Louis. The Orioles surpassed a million fans again in 1957 and 1960.
(6) The correct answer is Frank Robinson. Of the many numbers that testify to his greatness, his career on-base percentage of .389 over 21 seasons certainly ranks near the top. And he surpassed his career figure during his six seasons in Baltimore, posting a .401 OBP. Ken Singleton (.388), Randy Milligan (.388), Boog Powell (.374) and Brian Roberts (.364) were also among the best in club history at getting on base.
(7) The speaker is Jerry Adair, a native of Oklahoma who signed with the Orioles, debuted in 1958 and became an infield regular in 1961. He mostly played second base that season, switched to shortstop in 1962 and then returned to second base in 1963-65. A solid major leaguer, he played in 736 games for the Orioles. Although he was traded away early in the club’s magical 1966 season, he did play in the World Series as an infielder for the Red Sox a year later.
(8) The correct answer is 10. The Orioles swept the Twins in the inaugural American League Championship Series in 1969 — a best-of-five series in those days — and then swept the Twins again in 1970 before sweeping the A’s in 1971. That’s nine wins in a row, and when they returned to the ALCS in 1973, they won Game 1 against the A’s to push the streak to 10 straight wins. They finally lost when the A’s beat them in Game 2 in 1973 and went on to win the series in five games.
(9) Three times in Oriole history, a starting pitcher has faced the minimum of 27 batters over nine innings. Bob Milacki did it against the Twins on April 23, 1989. Erik Bedard did it against the Rangers on July 7, 2007. And John Means faced 27 when he threw his no-hitter in Seattle on May 5,2021. Seattle’s only runner reached base on a dropped third strike and was caught stealing. The dropped third strike was all that separated Means from what would’ve been the first perfect game in Orioles history.
(10) The correct answer is shortstop … barely. During the 16 seasons that Brooks ruled at third base, Luis Aparicio won two gold gloves playing shortstop next to him and Mark Belanger, who replaced Aparicio, won five, for a total of seven. At second base, Davey Johnson won three and Bobby Grich also won three, for a total of six between 1960 and 1975. It’s a tricky question because a) Grich won another in 1976, but that wasn’t during Brooks’ 16-year rule and b) Aparicio won five more gold gloves playing shortstop during Brooks’ 16-year rule, but he did it with the White Sox.
(11) False. They didn’t make the playoffs in 1980 when their 100-62 record was only good for second place in the AL East and there were no wild-card playoff qualifiers. The other five times the Orioles won at least 100 games, in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979 and 2023, they did make the playoffs.
(12) Bob Milacki started against Oakland that day and threw six innings without allowing a hit. (He did issue three walks.) He was removed from the game because he said his fingers were tingling. Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson each pitched an inning of hitless relief to complete the gem.
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Jon Miller
Davey Johnson
Earl Weaver
Fred Lynn
Al Bumbry
Peter Angelos
Rick Dempsey
Elrod Hendricks
Mike Flanagan
Eddie Murray
Ken Singleton
Brooks Robinson
Frank Robinson
Boog Powell
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Paul Blair
Dennis Martinez
Harry Dalton
Ernie Harwell
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