1981 Baltimore Orioles season

1981  Baltimore Orioles
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Memorial Stadium
City	Baltimore, Maryland
Record	1st half: 31–23 (.574) 2nd half: 28–23 (.549) Overall: 59–46 (.562)
Divisional place	1st half: 2nd (2 GB) 2nd half: 4th (2 GB)
Owners	Edward Bennett Williams
General managers	Hank Peters
Managers	Earl Weaver
Television	WMAR-TV
Radio	WFBR (Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell, Tom Marr)
←  1980 Seasons 1982  →

The 1981 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's 28th season based in Baltimore and 81st overall season as a member of the American League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Orioles competed as members of the American League East, finishing second in the first half of the season and fourth in the second half of the season; their overall record was 59 wins and 46 losses. The Orioles hit five grand slams, the most in MLB in 1981. ^[1]

Offseason

• December 15, 1980: Paul Hartzell was released by the Orioles. ^[2]
• January 22, 1981: Joe Kerrigan and John Buffamoyer (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the Cincinnati Reds for Mike Grace and John Hale. ^[3]

Regular season

• August 10, 1981: Cal Ripken Jr. made his major league debut in a game against the Kansas City Royals. ^[4]

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1981: Kiko Garcia was traded by the Orioles to the Houston Astros for Chris Bourjos and cash. ^[5]
• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
  • Jeff Schaefer was drafted by the Orioles in the 12th round. ^[6]
  • Cecil Fielder was drafted by the Orioles in the 31st round, but did not sign. ^[7]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Brewers	62	47	.569	—	28‍–‍21	34‍–‍26
Baltimore Orioles	59	46	.562	1	33‍–‍22	26‍–‍24
New York Yankees	59	48	.551	2	32‍–‍19	27‍–‍29
Detroit Tigers	60	49	.550	2	32‍–‍23	28‍–‍26
Boston Red Sox	59	49	.546	2½	30‍–‍23	29‍–‍26
Cleveland Indians	52	51	.505	7	25‍–‍29	27‍–‍22
Toronto Blue Jays	37	69	.349	23½	17‍–‍36	20‍–‍33

AL East First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	34	22	.607	—
Baltimore Orioles	31	23	.574	2
Milwaukee Brewers	31	25	.554	3
Detroit Tigers	31	26	.544	3+1⁄2
Boston Red Sox	30	26	.536	4
Cleveland Indians	26	24	.520	5
Toronto Blue Jays	16	42	.276	19

AL East Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Milwaukee Brewers	31	22	.585	—
Boston Red Sox	29	23	.558	1+1⁄2
Detroit Tigers	29	23	.558	1+1⁄2
Baltimore Orioles	28	23	.549	2
Cleveland Indians	26	27	.491	5
New York Yankees	25	26	.490	5
Toronto Blue Jays	21	27	.438	7+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Roster

1981 Baltimore Orioles roster
Roster
Pitchers 52 Mike Boddicker 46 Mike Flanagan 21 Dave Ford 36 Steve Luebber 30 Dennis Martínez 23 Tippy Martinez 16 Scott McGregor 22 Jim Palmer 57 Jeff Schneider 53 Sammy Stewart 49 Tim Stoddard 32 Steve Stone		Catchers 24 Rick Dempsey 37,41 Dan Graham 59 Willie Royster Infielders  7 Mark Belanger  2 Bobby Bonner 25 Rich Dauer 11 Doug DeCinces  6 Wayne Krenchicki 33 Eddie Murray  8 Cal Ripken Jr. 12 Lenn Sakata		Outfielders  1 Al Bumbry 15 Mark Corey 28 Jim Dwyer 38 John Lowenstein 35 Gary Roenicke 37 John Shelby 29 Ken Singleton 39 Dallas Williams Other batters 27 Benny Ayala 10 Terry Crowley 34 José Morales		Manager  4 Earl Weaver Coaches 44 Elrod Hendricks 31 Ray Miller 47 Cal Ripken, Sr. 54 Ralph Rowe 40 Jimmy Williams

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

= Indicates league leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Rick Dempsey	92	251	54	.215	6	15
1B	Eddie Murray	99	378	111	.294	22*	78
2B	Rich Dauer	96	369	97	.263	4	38
3B	Doug DeCinces	100	346	91	.263	13	55
SS	Mark Belanger	64	139	23	.165	1	10
LF	John Lowenstein	83	189	47	.249	6	20
CF	Al Bumbry	101	392	107	.273	1	27
RF	Ken Singleton	103	363	101	.278	13	49
DH	Terry Crowley	68	134	33	.246	4	25

• Tied with Tony Armas (Oakland), Dwight Evans (Boston) and Bobby Grich (California) for league lead.

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Gary Roenicke	85	219	59	.269	3	20
Lenn Sakata	61	150	34	.227	5	15
Dan Graham	55	142	25	.176	2	11
Jim Dwyer	68	134	30	.224	3	10
Benny Ayala	44	86	24	.279	3	13
José Morales	38	86	21	.244	2	14
Wayne Krenchicki	33	56	12	.214	0	6
Cal Ripken Jr.	23	39	5	.128	0	0
Bobby Bonner	10	27	8	.296	0	2
Mark Corey	10	8	0	.000	0	0
Willie Royster	4	4	0	.000	0	0
Dallas Williams	2	2	1	.500	0	0
John Shelby	7	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dennis Martínez	25	179.0	14*	5	3.32	88
Scott McGregor	24	160.0	13	5	3.26	82
Jim Palmer	22	127.1	7	8	3.75	35
Mike Flanagan	20	116.0	9	6	4.19	72
Steve Stone	15	62.2	4	7	4.60	30

• Tied with Steve McCatty (Oakland), Jack Morris (Detroit) and Pete Vuckovich (Milwaukee) for league lead.

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Sammy Stewart	29	112.1	4	8	2.32	57
Dave Ford	15	40.0	1	2	6.53	12

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Tippy Martinez	37	3	3	11	2.90	50
Tim Stoddard	31	4	2	7	3.86	32
Jeff Schneider	11	0	0	1	4.88	17
Steve Luebber	7	0	0	0	7.56	12
Mike Boddicker	2	0	0	0	4.76	2

Awards and honors

• Dennis Martínez, American League Leader Victories (14)

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Doc Edwards
AA	Charlotte O's	Southern League	Mark Wiley
A	Hagerstown Suns	Carolina League	Grady Little
A	Miami Orioles	Florida State League	Minnie Mendoza
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Lance Nichols

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Hagerstown

Notes

1. "Team Batting Event Finder: 1981, All Teams, Home Runs, With Runners on 123". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
2. Paul Hartzell page at Baseball Reference
3. Joe Kerrigan page at Baseball Reference
4. "Cal Ripken Jr. Stats".
5. Chris Bourjos page at Baseball Reference
6. Jeff Schaefer page at Baseball Reference
7. Cecil Fielder page at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1981 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
• 1981 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com