The Orioles currently are staring at a fourth consecutive losing season. This isn't the blackest time in Oriole history, however. In the eighties, the O's went from World Champions to World Chumps in five seasons, losing more games each season than the season before.
How did this happen? After all, the team had a owner, Edward Bennett Williams, who loved being part of a winner, and was willing to spend money. So what went wrong?
In 1984, the O's had a lot of injuries, and the Tigers had blitzed all of baseball with that amazing 35-5 start, so O's fans sort of shrugged their shoulders and though they'd be back next year, that this was a fluke. After all, this was basically the same club that had won the 1983 World Championship.
Well, it was, but it was older. And some of the cogs had fallen right off the machine...Palmer. Bumbry. Singleton. Lowenstein. All gone.
So, in 1985, the O's dipped into the Free Agent market in earnest, coming up with Fred Lynn, Lee Lacy, and Alan Wiggins. The result? Two fewer wins than the year before. Why? The Oriole Way was gone. Dead. Buried. Not only had many of the people who molded the franchise were gone (Altobelli, Robinson, Hunter, Frey, Bamberger, and Ray Miller, as well as other organizational men who had been snatched up by other teams hungry for some of the O's winning ways), but the incoming players were not compatible with the team. Injuries, poor defense, and a half a run increase in team ERA followed.
Not even the Earl of Baltimore coming out of retirement could save the 1986 Roto team from mediocrity. It appears the front office left the team intact, assuming Weaver could give them the eight or so extra wins they'd need to be in the division race. But there were more problems then there had been a year ago. Wayne Gross was gone, and the O's tried at least ten guys at third in his place. The group combined for forty errors. Larry Sheets played some outfield. In case you weren't around, Larry Sheets made Albert Belle look like Luis Matos defensively. Dennis Martinez' personal problems finally became too much for the O's, and he was given up on, too. Ken Dixon replaced him to give up a ton of homers. So Weaver re-retired, and the O's went back to the free agent market. Because, after all, weren't they the Baltimore Orioles? They weren't supposed to be losing. So it was only a matter of making a couple of good moves...
This time, it was signing Ray Knight to play third to replace Floyd Rayford and the cast of thousands from 1986. Rick Burleson was signed to play second. The Rooster could still hit, but he wasn't much of a fielder any more. Terry Kennedy was brought in to catch. It was as if the O's had taken total leave of their senses...it seemed the worse a potential player's defensive skills, the more attracted the O's were. Cal Ripken Sr. was given the managerial reins to herd this morass into a baseball team, but it was not to be. The team sure did hit a lot of homers...the problem was, the other team was allowed to bat, too. So the O's surrendered a 5.01 ERA, and staggered to a 67-95 record.
So, the O's had hit rock bottom. Or had they?...
Next Time: A Different Kind of "Streak"