This article takes a look at how the Baltimore Orioles did
in the 1999 season relative to pre-season expectations. For an
overview of the approach used in this review, and a definition
of some of the key terms and statistics, please see the overview
page called 1999 Team-by-Team Performance
Reviews.
Capsule Summary
Projected Actual
Runs for 803 851
Runs allowed 815 815
Run Margin -12 36
Wins 81 78
Pythagorean wins 80 84
Placement 3rd 4th
After their team suffered through a disappointing 1998 campaign,
winning only 79 games, Peter Angelos and company did the free
agent shuffle prior to last year. Rafael Palmeiro, Eric Davis,
Alan Mills and Roberto Alomar left and were replaced by a host
of veterans coming in search of greener pastures. Albert Belle,
Will Clark and Delino DeShields arrived to replace the position
players. Several others, including Mike Timlin, Heathcliff Slocumb,
Ricky Bones and Mike Fetters, arrived to shore up the bullpen
after the departure of Mills and Armando Benitez, who was sent
to the Mets for catcher Charles Johnson in the only actual trade
of the off-season.
The spending spree was about as successful as the previous
one as the O's finished with another losing record. To be fair
to the people putting this team together, they were actually a
better group than their record would indicate. They outscored
their opponents by 36 runs, a mark that will usually produce around
84 wins. That's probably small consolation to fans of the team,
however, and one can only wonder what's in store for them next
year.
Key Position Players
The Orioles' hitters scored more runs than anticipated in 1999.
Cal Ripken, Will Clark (despite their injuries), Harold Baines,
Mike Bordick, Jeff Conine, Brady Anderson and B. J. Surhoff all
did better and no one did significantly worse than projected.
They might have seemed like a group of under-achievers to their
fans and to the writers following the team, but they actually
did about as well as anyone had a right to expect.
Charles Johnson, c, age 27 (as of July 1, 1999)
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 490 117 23 0 24 53 69 2 55 4 129 0 1 .239 .317 .433 .750 65
Prorated Bal 437 104 20 0 21 47 61 1 49 3 115 0 0 .238 .316 .428 .743 57
Actual Bal 426 107 19 1 16 58 54 4 55 2 107 0 0 .251 .340 .413 .753 60
Johnson came over in the Armando Benitez deal and was seen
as a welcome change of pace from Chris Hoiles and Lenny Webster,
two better hitting catchers with poor defensive reputations and
weak throwing arms. He did have a chilling effect on enemy base
runners, as the opponents stolen bases fell from 182 in 1998 to
93 last year.
His batting averages in his five full major league seasons
have been .251, .218, .250, .218 and .251. If you have an office
pool on what his average will be next year (and who doesn't?),
you might want to take .218.
Will Clark, 1b, age 35
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 561 153 35 0 18 81 81 4 71 8 94 0 0 .273 .355 .431 .786 88
Prorated Bal 256 69 16 0 8 37 37 1 32 3 42 0 0 .270 .349 .426 .775 39
Actual Bal 251 76 15 0 10 40 29 2 38 2 42 2 2 .303 .395 .482 .877 49
Baltimore and Texas swapped free agent first basemen prior
to last season. After trips to the DL in both 1996 and 1997, Clark
was coming off an injury-free year in Texas. Palmeiro, on the
other hand, had never been on the disabled list and has now missed
only 44 games since becoming a regular with the Cubs in 1988 --
fewer games than both Clark and Ripken missed in 1999 alone.
Clark's problems started in April when he missed five weeks
with a fractured thumb, and ended when bone chips in his elbow
brought his campaign to a halt in mid-August. Despite knocking
in only 29 runs last year (which compared unfavorably to Palmeiro's
148 RBIs down in Texas), he actually hit pretty well while he
was healthy.
Jeff Conine, 1b/dh, age 33
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 219 55 12 0 8 25 32 1 22 1 47 1 0 .251 .318 .416 .734 29
Prorated Bal 433 108 23 0 15 49 63 1 43 1 93 1 0 .249 .315 .406 .722 55
Actual Bal 444 129 31 1 13 54 75 3 30 0 40 0 3 .291 .335 .453 .787 65
Injuries to Clark gave Conine an opportunity to play and he
responded with his best season since he was an All-Star with the
Marlins in the mid-1990s. A slow start and finish (he hit .140
in April and .224 in September with no home runs in either month)
cost him an even more impressive season.
Delino DeShields, 2b, age 30
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 482 130 19 9 7 76 46 1 51 3 73 35 11 .270 .338 .390 .728 68
Prorated Bal 332 89 13 6 4 52 31 0 35 2 50 24 7 .268 .336 .380 .716 45
Actual Bal 330 87 11 2 6 46 34 1 37 0 52 11 8 .264 .339 .364 .702 42
When Roberto Alomar signed with Cleveland, it looked for a
moment as if the Orioles might fill the vacancy with a young player
from their farm system. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, however,
and a "name" player (DeShields) was signed to fill the
void. Delino suffered through a variety of ailments in 1999, including
a fractured thumb, strained hamstring, and lower abdominal pain.
His injuries cut down on his speed and by the end of the season
the front office was auditioning his successor for the job, Jerry
Hairston.
Jerry Hairston, 2b, age 23
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 69 19 3 1 1 11 9 1 4 0 7 1 1 .275 .324 .391 .716 9
Prorated Bal 177 48 7 2 2 28 23 2 10 0 18 2 2 .271 .317 .367 .685 20
Actual Bal 175 47 12 1 4 26 17 3 11 0 24 9 4 .269 .323 .417 .740 24
The top prospect in the Orioles system, Hairston was judged
too inexperienced (only half a season at double AA) to succeed
Alomar in 1999. It would be an understatement to say that the
Angelos family prefers veterans to rookies. In 1998, the Orioles
position players were the oldest in major league history with
an average age (weighted by plate appearances) of 33.9. The second
oldest? Last year's Orioles, with an age of 33.2. A fine season
in AAA and injuries to DeSheilds got Hairston an extended trial
in the bigs and he is considered to be the front-runner for the
job in 2000.
Mike Bordick, ss, age 33
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 508 120 24 1 8 55 48 6 42 0 68 3 4 .236 .299 .335 .634 50
Prorated Bal 626 148 29 1 9 67 59 7 51 0 83 3 4 .236 .299 .329 .628 61
Actual Bal 631 175 35 7 10 93 77 5 54 1 102 14 4 .277 .334 .403 .737 83
Set career highs in just about every category in 1999. He's
played more than 150 games each year since coming to Baltimore,
but then again Oriole fans are accustomed to having durable shortstops.
Cal Ripken, 3b, age 38
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 516 135 25 0 13 60 60 4 47 1 60 0 1 .262 .326 .386 .711 64
Prorated Bal 319 83 15 0 8 37 37 2 29 0 37 0 0 .260 .324 .382 .706 39
Actual Bal 332 113 27 0 18 51 57 3 13 3 31 0 1 .340 .368 .584 .952 65
I guess it's safe to say that Cal never quite had a season
like the one last year. He entered unfamiliar territory when he
went on the DL with back problems in April, missed time in July
with a deep bone bruise, lost all of August with more back problems,
before finally having his season end ten days (and nine hits)
too soon with even more back miseries. While he was healthy, however,
Ripken put up some of his best numbers, finishing with both his
highest batting average and slugging percentage of his long career.
As a matter of fact, he collected more extra base hits in the
86 games he played in 1999 than he did while playing almost every
game the year before.
Ryan Minor, 3b, age 25
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 72 14 2 0 1 8 8 1 2 0 19 0 0 .194 .227 .264 .491 4
Prorated Bal 127 24 3 0 1 14 14 1 3 0 33 0 0 .189 .214 .236 .450 6
Actual Bal 124 24 7 0 3 13 10 0 8 0 43 1 0 .194 .241 .323 .563 10
Minor saw more action in the major leagues than expected and
was not quite ready for the experience. While he has not made
a lot of contact in the minor or major leagues (striking out a
combined 308 times in two seasons and walking only 79 times),
he did show some power at AAA in 1999 with 21 home runs in 383
at-bats. Even with that kind of power, he'll have to improve both
his plate discipline and batting average to remain in the majors.
Jeff Reboulet, 3b/2b/ss, age 35
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 164 37 7 0 1 19 14 2 20 0 34 1 1 .226 .316 .287 .602 16
Prorated Bal 162 36 6 0 0 18 13 1 19 0 33 0 0 .222 .308 .259 .567 14
Actual Bal 154 25 4 0 0 25 4 2 33 0 29 1 0 .162 .317 .188 .506 12
Our projections for Reboulet were pretty pessimistic, but even
we figured he'd do better than a .188 slugging percentage. About
all you can say nice about his season was that he sure walked
a lot. You have to wonder what pitchers were thinking about when
they got three balls on him. After all, he batted .162 with absolutely
no power--you'd think they would've thrown the ball down the middle
of the plate rather than risk walking the guy.
Albert Belle, rf, age 32
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 550 162 36 1 40 91 119 3 64 8 82 5 3 .295 .365 .582 .947 114
Prorated Bal 633 186 41 1 46 104 137 3 73 9 94 5 3 .294 .364 .580 .944 131
Actual Bal 610 181 36 1 37 108 117 7 101 15 82 17 3 .297 .400 .541 .941 135
Albert Belle did just about what everyone should have expected
-- both good and bad -- in his first season in Baltimore. He's
an extremely durable and controversial player (suspended five
times in his career, he's yet to visit the disabled list) who
is one of the top power hitters of his generation. By the time
it was over, he had made lewd gestures to the home fans, tried
to get his team-mates to boycott an exhibition game against the
O's top farm club, posted a sign near his locker asking the writers
following the team to show him some love, and all in all had a
typical Albert Belle season. If he can play productively for another
three or four years, he should finish his career with Hall of
Fame numbers. Assuming he isn't kept out of the Hall by a scandal
or his unpopularity with fans and writers, it should be a very
interesting induction ceremony.
Despite some wild post-signing estimates about what he might
do in Baltimore, it wasn't reasonable to expect Belle to top his
1998 mark of 49 home runs. Camden Yard is not a great home run
park (last year it was actually below average for the long-ball)
and he balanced out a slight decline in his power numbers by setting
a career high in walks. One statistical oddity about Belle's season:
long one of the game's most prolific doubles hitter (averaging
over 45 a year from 1995 to 1998), he had only 11 in his first
109 games. Starting on August 8th, however, Belle would hit 25
doubles in his last 52 games, including two games in which he
hit four apiece.
Rich Amaral, rf/dh/cf/lf, age 37
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 124 34 4 0 0 23 8 2 11 0 21 9 3 .274 .341 .306 .647 14
Prorated Bal 138 37 4 0 0 25 8 2 12 0 23 10 3 .268 .333 .297 .630 15
Actual Bal 137 38 8 1 0 21 11 1 15 0 20 9 6 .277 .348 .350 .699 18
1999 was Rich Amaral's ninth major league season -- not bad
for a guy who had played only 14 major league games before his
30th birthday. Originally a second baseman and shortstop, he has
been primarily an outfielder for the last five years, but his
versatility is the main reason he's still in the majors.
Brady Anderson, cf, age 35
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 607 156 37 5 25 103 74 20 89 4 104 21 9 .257 .370 .458 .828 111
Prorated Bal 581 149 35 4 23 98 70 19 85 3 99 20 8 .256 .369 .449 .819 104
Actual Bal 564 159 28 5 24 109 81 24 96 7 105 36 7 .282 .404 .477 .881 123
Anderson bounced back nicely from a disappointing season in
1998, when he finished with a .236 batting average. He posted
both his second highest home run and stolen base totals of his
career. His career highs in both categories are 50 or higher,
the only player in major league history who can make that claim.
He has now led the league in getting hit by a pitch three of the
last four seasons. He's lost quite a bit defensively in centerfield
and will probably move to a less demanding position in the next
year or two.
B.J. Surhoff, lf, age 34
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 553 151 31 3 20 76 85 3 48 10 73 4 5 .273 .330 .448 .779 81
Prorated Bal 654 178 36 3 23 89 100 3 56 11 86 4 5 .272 .328 .442 .770 94
Actual Bal 673 207 38 1 28 104 107 2 43 1 78 5 1 .308 .347 .492 .839 114
Surhoff had his finest season in 1999, topping 200 hits, 100
runs and 100 RBIs for the first time. He was over 35 by the time
he reached the 200 hit mark, making him the fourth oldest player
to reach that plateau for the first time. Here are the five oldest,
along with their ages as of July 1st in the year the topped the
200 hit mark:
Name Age Year H Team(s)
Jake Daubert 38.2 1922 205 BRO N
Randy Velarde 36.6 1999 200 ANA A and OAK A
Eddie Brown 35.0 1926 201 BOS N
B.J. Surhoff 34.9 1999 207 BAL A
Dante Bichette 34.6 1998 219 COL N
I'm not sure what to make of the fact that three of the five
players on this list did it in the last two years.
Harold Baines, dh, age 40
Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC
Projection Bal 404 120 21 0 15 54 69 1 47 7 55 0 0 .297 .369 .460 .830 66
Prorated Bal 346 102 18 0 12 46 59 0 40 6 47 0 0 .295 .366 .451 .817 55
Actual Bal 345 111 16 1 24 57 81 0 43 3 38 1 2 .322 .395 .583 .977 75
Prorated Cle 85 25 4 0 3 11 14 0 9 1 11 0 0 .294 .362 .447 .809 13
Actual Cle 85 23 2 0 1 5 22 0 11 0 10 0 0 .271 .354 .329 .684 10
Prorated Tot 431 128 22 0 16 57 73 1 50 7 58 0 0 .297 .369 .459 .828 70
Actual Tot 430 134 18 1 25 62 103 0 54 3 48 1 2 .312 .387 .533 .919 85
Another pleasant surprise for the Orioles, at least until they
sent him to the Indians at the end of August for prospects. He
now is only 217 hits away from 3000. That mark still looks far
away, but he's actually improved his hitting since turning 35.
The last player that managed to do something like that was, well,
Paul Molitor, perhaps not coincidentally another DH. If Baines
does manage to hang on for another two years and get to 3000 hits,
he may very well become the first player in that club NOT to be
admitted to the Hall of Fame.
Key Pitchers
As a whole, the Baltimore staff performed exactly as expected
in 1999. A handful of starting pitchers (Mike Mussina, Sidney
Ponson and Jason Johnson) did somewhat better than our projections,
compensating for some disappointments in the bullpen. The staff
was terrible in the early going, as a 6.49 ERA in April was largely
responsible for the team's 6-16 start.
Mike Mussina, starter, age 30
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 3.72 32 32 13 10 0 218 209 27 52 192 .253 .709
Prorated Bal 3.72 30 30 12 9 0 205 196 25 49 180 .253 .709
Actual Bal 3.50 31 31 18 7 0 203 207 16 52 172 .268 .724
The ace of the Oriole staff, Mussina put together another outstanding
year in 1999. A liner off the bat of Brook Fordyce on August 22nd
hit Mussina in the shoulder, knocking him out of the game. The
injury would cause him to miss his next four starts, costing him
a shot at his first 20-win season. An inning later in the same
game, another liner -- this time from Chris Singleton -- would
knock out Arthur Rhodes, Mussina's replacement. The shoulder injury
didn't seem to bother Mike down the stretch, as he finished with
back-to-back scoreless outings.
Scott Erickson, starter, age 31
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 4.33 32 32 13 13 0 226 249 21 63 143 .284 .747
Prorated Bal 4.33 33 33 13 13 0 235 258 22 65 148 .284 .747
Actual Bal 4.81 34 34 15 12 0 230 244 27 99 106 .280 .791
His higher than anticipated ERA was due to the worst control
of his career. A strong finish enabled Erickson to avoid what
was shaping up to be a disastrous year. After his loss to the
Phillies on June 4th, he had a 1-8 record to go with a 7.11 ERA.
From then on, however, he went 14-4 with a 3.81 ERA.
Juan Guzman, starter, age 32
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 4.07 32 32 13 10 0 210 189 28 92 170 .241 .733
Prorated Bal 4.07 19 19 8 6 0 128 115 17 56 103 .241 .733
Actual Bal 4.18 21 21 5 9 0 123 124 18 65 95 .265 .796
Prorated Cin 4.07 11 11 5 4 0 75 68 10 33 61 .241 .733
Actual Cin 3.03 12 12 6 3 0 77 70 10 21 60 .238 .675
Prorated Tot 4.07 31 31 13 10 0 203 182 27 89 164 .241 .733
Actual Tot 3.74 33 33 11 12 0 200 194 28 86 155 .255 .750
He did slightly better than expected in 1999. Unfortunately
for the Orioles, most of his best pitching took place after he
was traded to the Reds at the end of July. Like Erickson, he started
slowly (0-3 with a 8.10 ERA in April) and got better as the year
progressed. B.J. Ryan, who came to Baltimore in the trade, pitched
extremely well at the end of the season and should be a prominent
member of the O's bullpen in 2000.
Sidney Ponson, starter, age 22
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 5.25 27 27 8 10 0 159 186 23 55 103 .294 .807
Prorated Bal 5.25 35 35 10 13 0 204 238 29 70 132 .294 .807
Actual Bal 4.71 32 32 12 12 0 210 227 35 80 112 .282 .813
He was somewhat of a pleasant surprise despite tying the club
mark for homers allowed with 35, joining Robin Roberts (1963)
and Scott McGregor (1986). He did noticeably better with more
than four days rest between starts (3.43 ERA compared to a 5.48).
Jason Johnson, starter, age 25
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 6.05 4 4 1 1 0 19 22 3 8 14 .286 .824
Prorated Bal 6.05 23 23 6 6 0 113 129 18 47 82 .286 .824
Actual Bal 5.46 22 21 8 7 0 115 120 16 55 71 .267 .783
Johnson got his chance to move into the rotation when Kamieniecki
failed to pitch effectively as a starter. He was another of the
Oriole starters who finished strongly, going 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA
after the middle of August.
Mike Timlin, closer, age 33
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 3.43 70 0 4 6 30 76 79 8 17 56 .271 .707
Prorated Bal 3.43 58 0 3 5 25 63 65 7 14 46 .271 .707
Actual Bal 3.57 62 0 3 9 27 63 51 9 23 50 .221 .685
Timlin came over from Seattle to replace the departing Benitez
and was given the closer's job in spring training. His work in
the first half of the season had Ray Miller trying Rhodes, Orosco
and Gabe Molina in the role as well. On July 6th, he had a 3-8
record, a 5.35 ERA, and nearly as many blown saves (8) as saves
(9). A strong second half got him his job back, as he finished
by converting 18 of his remaining 19 save opportunities while
posting a 1.30 ERA in his last 30 games.
Doug Johns, swing man, age 31
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 6.24 34 4 3 5 0 71 91 10 28 33 .318 .882
Prorated Bal 6.24 39 5 3 6 0 81 104 11 32 38 .318 .882
Actual Bal 4.47 32 5 6 4 0 87 81 9 25 50 .248 .702
He entered the season with a 5.32 lifetime ERA and as recently
as 1997 was pitching poorly (4-6 with a 5.38 ERA) in AAA. He moved
between Baltimore and Rochester in the early going, before coming
up to stay in May. He ended up pitching exactly as many innings
as he had the year before, while allowing 27 fewer hits and 7
fewer walks. He also pitched effectively as a starter when given
a shot late in the year.
Scott Kamieniecki, middle reliever, age 35
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 5.44 27 27 7 9 0 132 152 18 59 74 .292 .834
Prorated Bal 5.44 11 11 3 4 0 55 63 8 25 31 .292 .834
Actual Bal 4.95 43 3 2 4 2 56 52 4 29 39 .250 .704
Originally slated for a starting role, Kamieniecki began the
season on the DL with hamstring problems. He got hammered in two
starts (13 earned runs in 5 innings) after his return and was
sent to the minors for three weeks. He pitched pretty well in
relief the rest of the way before getting an opportunity to start
the last game of the season. Kamieniecki took a no-hitter into
the fourth inning of that game before being ejected for throwing
a brush-back pitch.
Jesse Orosco, Middle Relief, age 42
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 2.92 70 0 5 2 1 74 56 8 43 67 .211 .658
Prorated Bal 2.92 32 0 2 1 0 34 26 4 20 31 .211 .658
Actual Bal 5.34 65 0 0 2 1 32 28 5 20 35 .239 .788
If you only looked at the right hand side of the "Prorated"
and "Actual" lines above, you might get the idea that
Orosco's season ended up being close to his projected performance.
The ERA line, however, tells a very different story. When you're
dealing with such a small number of innings (despite a lot of
appearances) the timing of a few hits can cause large swings.
For example, of the five home runs he gave up in 1999, two were
with the bases loaded and two more were three-run shots. He's
been one of the most effective and under-appreciated lefty relievers
of his era but his difficulty getting left-handed hitters out
last year might signal the end of the line for Orosco.
Mike Fetters, Middle Relief, age 34
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 3.75 70 0 6 4 3 98 95 8 43 78 .257 .717
Prorated Bal 3.75 25 0 2 1 1 35 34 3 15 28 .257 .717
Actual Bal 5.81 27 0 1 0 0 31 35 5 22 22 .278 .877
Fetters was expected to be an important part of the Orioles
bullpen in 1999, but he injured his elbow in early June and was
out for nearly three months. Even before his injury, he was having
the poorest season of his career and it only got worse after his
return.
Arthur Lee Rhodes, Middle Relief, age 29
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 3.16 53 0 4 2 2 57 50 6 22 63 .237 .691
Prorated Bal 3.16 54 0 4 2 2 58 51 6 22 64 .237 .691
Actual Bal 5.43 43 0 3 4 3 53 43 9 45 59 .221 .753
His control abandoned him in 1999. Actually, it has been leaving
him for a while now; over the last three years his rate of walks
per nine innings has gone from 2.45 to 3.97 to 7.64. Pitched only
once after getting hit by a line-drive on August 22nd.
Heathcliff Slocumb, Middle Relief, age 33
Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS
Projection Bal 4.15 53 0 4 3 0 69 73 5 43 57 .273 .759
Prorated Bal 4.15 8 0 1 0 0 11 11 1 7 9 .273 .759
Actual Bal 12.46 10 0 0 0 0 9 15 2 9 12 .395 1.215
Prorated StL 4.15 40 0 3 2 0 52 55 4 32 43 .273 .759
Actual StL 2.36 40 0 3 2 2 53 49 3 30 48 .243 .679
Prorated Tot 4.15 48 0 4 2 0 63 66 5 39 52 .273 .759
Actual Tot 3.77 50 0 3 2 2 62 64 5 39 60 .267 .766
He couldn't get anyone out in Baltimore and the Orioles gave
up on him at the end of April. He made a surprising recovery once
he turned up in St. Louis and his final numbers were very close
to our original projections.
Outlook
Peter Angelos fired GM Frank Wren (who had served less than
a year) and manager Ray Miller shortly after the end of the season,
letting the world know who he thought was responsible for the
team's second consecutive losing season. Before the shake-up,
the Orioles spent September showing off some of their younger
players. For much of the month, Jerry Hairston was at second,
Gene Kingsale in center, Calvin Pickering at first, Matt Riley
in the starting rotation and B.J. Ryan and Gabe Molina in the
bullpen. This might signal a change in direction for this expensively
mediocre team, but it's too soon to tell. The Orioles were the
first team to sign a free-agent this off-season when they inked
Mike Trombley of the Twins to a three-year deal. He'll be 33 by
the time 2000 rolls around and could be the first of another large
crop of veteran imports. Angelos has decided not to hire a new
general manager for the time being, letting a five-man committee
(including two of his sons) run the circus instead.
Despite problems at the top, the Orioles finished the year
on a strong note and their pitching staff was one of the best
in the AL down the stretch. They still need to round out their
starting rotation -- Matt Riley doesn't look as if he will be
quite ready next year and Mike Mussina is entering the final year
of his contract in 2000 and may spend much of the summer on the
trading block. A bigger problem for the O's, however, will be
the age of their lineup. Ripken and Clark are both old and coming
off of injuries. With the exception of Hairston and Belle, all
of their regulars are likely to get worse rather than better next
year. Baltimore may be entering a rebuilding phase and that can't
be good news for new manager Mike Hargrove or those members of
the GM committee unrelated to the owner.
Projections and text: Copyright © 1999.
Diamond Mind, Inc. All rights reserved.
Actual 1999 statistics: Copyright © 1999. STATS, Inc. All
right reserved.
