THE ORIOLES' AMATEUR DRAFT HISTORY:  THE EARLY 1980's (1980-86)

We've now covered 1965-79, the first 15 years of the amateur draft, and things look like this:

(Note:  for an explanation of the ranking categories, see the draft introduction article.)

Contrary to popular legend, the Orioles had not, particularly, utilized the draft to stockpile 15 almost uninterrupted years of competitive clubs through the draft.  As we saw after a look at the 1970 Orioles (see the Draft History Sidebar: Where the Dynasty Came From), trades and pre-draft signings carried the day.  (In time, we'll take a look at the origins of some of the later successful Oriole clubs.)  Over time, however, a change would take place.  All the great pre-draft signees would retire; the gravy train of trades fleecing other clubs would come to an end as well.  Looking for a reason why the Orioles collapsed beginning in the mid-1980s?  Look no further; the 1980-86 period was essentially a complete disaster.

1980 was a portent of things to come.  Six selections reached the bigs, but none particularly distinguished themselves.  Outfielder Mike Young was the best of the bunch, playing parts of eight seasons and, after a promising debut in 1984, had a genuinely good season in 1985...and then essentially completely fell off the table and was done at the age of 29.  Young gets "journeyman" status.  RHP Ken Dixon was the next best player; after a solid 1985, Dixon's career was over after two more awful seasons, a function (at least in part) of drugs.  Dixon was 26 when his career ended.  He gets "journeyman" status as well.  Those are the highlights.  Catcher Al Pardo got into 53 games in parts of fours seasons with the O's and Phillies and is designated in the cup of coffee category along with catcher Carl Nichols (96 games over six seasons), RHP Mark Brown (15 games, two seasons) and shortstop Ricky Jones (16 games in 1986).

1981 made 1980 look like a big success.  Only two players made it to the bigs--utilityman Jeff Schaefer appeared in 226 games over parts of five seasons with three different teams and will generously be awarded the journeyman tag.  RHP Tony Arnold appeared in 38 games over two seasons and falls into the cup of coffee category.  That's it.

Things improved somewhat in 1982.  Six players had big league careers and a couple of them actually had a measure of success.  John Habyan was probably the best of the bunch, appearing in 348 games over parts of 11 seasons with six clubs, including a couple of very effective years as a setup man with the Yankees in the early 1990s.  Habyan falls into the "contributing pitchers" category.  3B Mike Blowers had a couple of decent seasons as part of his eight in the bigs, but not enough to be considered more than a journeyman.  Billy Ripken had pieces of eight seasons in the bigs, and while he really didn't have a starter's bat by any reasonable assessment, he was a starter for most of five of his big league seasons.  We'll be excessively beneficent and call him a starter.  The others all get journeyman tags, including highly touted outfielder Ken Gerhart (three seasons, 215 games); LHP Eric Bell (68 games in six injury-marred seasons); and flash-in-the-pan 1B/OF Jim Traber (264 games in four seasons).

One player--one--in the 1983 draft reached the big leagues:  RHP Bob Milacki.   Milacki appeared in parts of eight seasons in the majors, and had a promising start in 1989.  He ended up with three serviceable seasons, but completely fell off the table after 1991.  I'll split the difference with Billy Ripken and put Milacki in the journeyman category.

So 1983 was pretty dry, huh?  You ain't seen nothin' yet.  Not a single player drafted by the Orioles in 1984 reached the big leagues. 

1985 was better, but not all that much.  Four players made the bigs:  cup of coffee LHP Brian DuBois had good stuff (including a killer straight change), but was bedeviled by injuries and never amounted to anything.  LHP Jeff Ballard had one good season (1989) and was a complete disaster from that point on; he appeared in parts of seven seasons, but six couldn't even be described as mediocre...he gets the journeyman tag.  Pete Stanicek got on base, but didn't really have a position and had no pop; he appeared in 113 games over two seasons and falls squarely in the cup of coffee category.  Craig Worthington displayed some reason for optimism in his rookie year (1989), but worries about his bat proved warranted, and despite playing parts of seven seasons, he was a starter in only two.  He gets the journeyman label. 

Only 1984 (remember, none of that year's picks made the majors) was worse than 1986.  Only two players drafted in '86 made the big leagues--lefty Blaine Beatty had a cup of coffee with the Mets; lefty Gordie Dillard made it into all of seven games with the O's and Phils over two seasons.  Both pitchers fall in the cup of coffee category.

As you can see from the above table, the 1980-86 period was the worst one we've seen for the Orioles, easily.  The team developed no stars at all and a less generous tally might show no one above the journeyman category.  In fact, the two best players chosen in these seven drafts were John Habyan and Billy Ripken.  That ain't good.  The lack of success that the O's had drafting in this period was a big part of the (mostly) lean years on the field from from 1985-91.  As we'll see, the Orioles had more success in the next few drafts, though it wouldn't last. 

Here's the overall 22 year record:

This latest poor stretch really pulls the overall evaluation down.  Only 15 players drafted over the 22 years thus far were significant contributors, and only five could be called stars.  Remember, this counts players who "made it" with teams other than the Orioles.  We'll run one final segment, through the 1995 season, and then we'll draw some comparisons with other franchises.  The real evaluation of the Orioles drafting must be a comparative one.

Next:  1987-95:  Early Success, Later Failure

Previous Segments:  THE ORIOLES' AMATEUR DRAFT HISTORY:  AN INTRODUCTION
                                   THE ORIOLES' AMATEUR DRAFT HISTORY:  THE EARLY YEARS (1965-71)
                                   ORIOLES DRAFT HISTORY SIDEBAR:  WHERE THE DYNASTY CAME FROM
                                   THE ORIOLES' AMATEUR DRAFT HISTORY:  THE 1970s (1972-79)