GaryMrMets
10-10-2003, 12:57 PM
http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bal/news/bal_news.jsp?ymd=20031008&content_id=568809&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal
10/08/2003 11:36 AM ET
Postseason remembered: 1983
By Gary Washburn / MLB.com
BALTIMORE -- With a veteran team still stung from its 1979 World Series loss, the Baltimore Orioles played with purpose during the '82 season. Veterans such as Eddie Murray and John Lowenstein produced career seasons. The Orioles won 11 of 13 meetings with the Yankees and won 10 straight games in late August.
The season went down to the final day, and the Orioles and Brewers played a winner-take-all game for the American League East division title.
The Orioles, who had beaten Milwaukee three straight games to deadlock the division for this showdown, lost, 10-2, and the Brewers advanced to the postseason. The Orioles were left pondering their future.
"A lot of us thought we would rebuild after 1982," outfielder Ken Singleton said. "That was a tough season. We thought we had put it all together and then we came up short. We really were expecting change."
Before the organization pulled out the shovels and began digging up the roots of the dominant Orioles teams of the late 1970s, it decided to give the team one more chance to make a run.
All emphasis was placed on 1983, and the players realized this could be their final chance at success.
"We had been together for a long time," utility player Lenn Sakata said. "And we felt like we had the talent to win it all. That was a special season, especially after what happened in 1982."
The Orioles led the AL East most of the season and edged the Detroit Tigers by six games to win the division. Joe Altobelli replaced Earl Weaver, and the laid-back manager allowed the veterans to run the clubhouse.
The 1983 Orioles were a special club, and their first opponent in the playoffs was the White Sox, a team managed by Tony LaRussa and led by Cy Young Award winner LaMarr Hoyt. It was Baltimore's first challenge on its way to the world championship, and the team proved worthy.
Here's a breakdown of the Orioles-White Sox best-of-five series.
Game 1
Perhaps Hoyt always will be remembered as being a one-hit wonder like "Right Said Fred" and "Rockwell," but he was definitely dominant in 1983. The burly right-hander tossed a gem in Game 1, allowing just five hits and striking out four in a 2-1 win over the Orioles.
Scott McGregor was solid himself, allowing one earned run in 6 2/3 innings. But Hoyt kept the O's down until the ninth inning, when Cal Ripken singled to score Dan Ford with two outs. But Hoyt then induced Murray to bounce into a fielder's choice to give the White Sox a one-game advantage.
Game 2
Mike Boddicker was the new kid on a staff of grizzled veterans but received the Game 2 start over Mike Flanagan and Jim Palmer. Boddicker was overpowering that night, striking out 14 in a 4-0 Baltimore win. He allowed five hits and struck out the side in the fourth inning.
Gary Roenicke hit a two-run homer off Floyd Bannister and Ripken had two hits as the Orioles evened the series before the teams headed back to Chicago for Game 3. Boddicker was one of team's new additions in 1983 and led the starters with a 2.77 ERA.
Game 3
The Orioles offense took care of this game early, scoring four runs in the first two innings off Rich Dotson, and Mike Flanagan allowed one run over five innings in an 11-1 win. Murray homered off Dotson, and he and Ripken scored three runs each. With a 6-1 lead after the fifth, Altobelli decided to remove Flanagan in favor of Sammy Stewart, who tossed four one-hit innings for the save.
Game 4
This was an epic pitchers' duel between Storm Davis and Britt Burns. Davis tossed six scoreless frames while Burns was masterful, allowing one run and six hits in 9 1/3 innings and 150 pitches. The game was scoreless until the top of the 10th inning, when Tito Landrum hit a one-out homer off Burns.
"I was just trying to make solid contact," Landrum said. "Luckily, he gave me something to hit because he didn't give up anything before that. That seemed to calm us down because we were pretty tense before that."
Roenicke added an RBI single off Salome Barojas in the three-run inning. Tippy Martinez then finished off the White Sox with a scoreless 10th to win the series. It capped a remarkable series for the Orioles pitching staff, which combined to allow just two runs in 37 innings. Boddicker was named the series MVP.
Of course, this series was overshadowed by the Orioles' performance in the World Series, in which which they beat the Phillies, four games to one.
Gary Washburn is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/images/2003/10/08/U3fY7UwD.jpg
Tippy Martinez was a key component to the success of the 1983 team. (Dave Hammond/AP)
10/08/2003 11:36 AM ET
Postseason remembered: 1983
By Gary Washburn / MLB.com
BALTIMORE -- With a veteran team still stung from its 1979 World Series loss, the Baltimore Orioles played with purpose during the '82 season. Veterans such as Eddie Murray and John Lowenstein produced career seasons. The Orioles won 11 of 13 meetings with the Yankees and won 10 straight games in late August.
The season went down to the final day, and the Orioles and Brewers played a winner-take-all game for the American League East division title.
The Orioles, who had beaten Milwaukee three straight games to deadlock the division for this showdown, lost, 10-2, and the Brewers advanced to the postseason. The Orioles were left pondering their future.
"A lot of us thought we would rebuild after 1982," outfielder Ken Singleton said. "That was a tough season. We thought we had put it all together and then we came up short. We really were expecting change."
Before the organization pulled out the shovels and began digging up the roots of the dominant Orioles teams of the late 1970s, it decided to give the team one more chance to make a run.
All emphasis was placed on 1983, and the players realized this could be their final chance at success.
"We had been together for a long time," utility player Lenn Sakata said. "And we felt like we had the talent to win it all. That was a special season, especially after what happened in 1982."
The Orioles led the AL East most of the season and edged the Detroit Tigers by six games to win the division. Joe Altobelli replaced Earl Weaver, and the laid-back manager allowed the veterans to run the clubhouse.
The 1983 Orioles were a special club, and their first opponent in the playoffs was the White Sox, a team managed by Tony LaRussa and led by Cy Young Award winner LaMarr Hoyt. It was Baltimore's first challenge on its way to the world championship, and the team proved worthy.
Here's a breakdown of the Orioles-White Sox best-of-five series.
Game 1
Perhaps Hoyt always will be remembered as being a one-hit wonder like "Right Said Fred" and "Rockwell," but he was definitely dominant in 1983. The burly right-hander tossed a gem in Game 1, allowing just five hits and striking out four in a 2-1 win over the Orioles.
Scott McGregor was solid himself, allowing one earned run in 6 2/3 innings. But Hoyt kept the O's down until the ninth inning, when Cal Ripken singled to score Dan Ford with two outs. But Hoyt then induced Murray to bounce into a fielder's choice to give the White Sox a one-game advantage.
Game 2
Mike Boddicker was the new kid on a staff of grizzled veterans but received the Game 2 start over Mike Flanagan and Jim Palmer. Boddicker was overpowering that night, striking out 14 in a 4-0 Baltimore win. He allowed five hits and struck out the side in the fourth inning.
Gary Roenicke hit a two-run homer off Floyd Bannister and Ripken had two hits as the Orioles evened the series before the teams headed back to Chicago for Game 3. Boddicker was one of team's new additions in 1983 and led the starters with a 2.77 ERA.
Game 3
The Orioles offense took care of this game early, scoring four runs in the first two innings off Rich Dotson, and Mike Flanagan allowed one run over five innings in an 11-1 win. Murray homered off Dotson, and he and Ripken scored three runs each. With a 6-1 lead after the fifth, Altobelli decided to remove Flanagan in favor of Sammy Stewart, who tossed four one-hit innings for the save.
Game 4
This was an epic pitchers' duel between Storm Davis and Britt Burns. Davis tossed six scoreless frames while Burns was masterful, allowing one run and six hits in 9 1/3 innings and 150 pitches. The game was scoreless until the top of the 10th inning, when Tito Landrum hit a one-out homer off Burns.
"I was just trying to make solid contact," Landrum said. "Luckily, he gave me something to hit because he didn't give up anything before that. That seemed to calm us down because we were pretty tense before that."
Roenicke added an RBI single off Salome Barojas in the three-run inning. Tippy Martinez then finished off the White Sox with a scoreless 10th to win the series. It capped a remarkable series for the Orioles pitching staff, which combined to allow just two runs in 37 innings. Boddicker was named the series MVP.
Of course, this series was overshadowed by the Orioles' performance in the World Series, in which which they beat the Phillies, four games to one.
Gary Washburn is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/images/2003/10/08/U3fY7UwD.jpg
Tippy Martinez was a key component to the success of the 1983 team. (Dave Hammond/AP)