The 40 Greatest Orioles of All-Time - 2006

by Scott Christ on Mar 17, 2006 1:31 PM EST in Greatest Orioles of All Time

Just for quick reference later if you ever want to look back, plus it won't hurt search engine results and things of that nature. I hope everyone enjoyed the feature - it was a lot of fun to compile and write up.

40. Jeff Conine
39. Miguel Tejada
38. Gregg Olson
37. Roberto Alomar
36. Harold Baines
35. Mike Boddicker
34. BJ Surhoff
33. Tippy Martinez
32. Dick Hall
31. Rick Dempsey
30. Hoyt Wilhelm
29. Mike Flanagan
28. Melvin Mora
27. Steve Barber
26. Scott McGregor
25. Luis Aparicio
24. Don Buford
23. Chris Hoiles
22. Jim Gentile
21. Davey Johnson
20. Mark Belanger
19. Stu Miller
18. Al Bumbry
17. Gus Triandos
16. Doug DeCinces
15. Paul Blair
14. Milt Pappas
13. Rafael Palmeiro
12. Bobby Grich
11. Mike Cuellar
10. Ken Singleton
9. Brady Anderson
8. Dave McNally
7. Mike Mussina
6. Boog Powell
5. Frank Robinson
4. Eddie Murray
3. Jim Palmer
2. Brooks Robinson
1. Cal Ripken, Jr.

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Snubs/Honorable Mention

Good job on the list overall.

Just for the sake of arguement/conversation, here are some players that were possibly snubbed or narrowly missed out:

-Dennis Martinez (11 years, 108 wins as an Oriole)
-Mike Bordick (held down SS with excellent defense for 6 seasons)
-Arthur Rhodes (relief pitcher for 9 years, had great seasons, but evened out to be around average)
-Eddie Watt (8 years of excellent bullpen work, one of the staples of the glory days teams)
-Rich Dauer (another all glove-no hit player. Manned 2B for 10 years)
-Gary Roenicke- (8 years of great outfield play for the O's, career OPS+ 117)

thats all i can think of and some of them are big stretches.

by dtran2k3 @ Camden Chat on Mar 17, 2006 2:26 PM EST reply actions

re:

El Presidente largely stunk as an Oriole. His best season was 1979 when he was a little better than average. He became legitimately good after he was traded to Montreal.

Bordick and Watt narrowly missed. Dauer just was not all that good and even his defense doesn't hold up all that well statistically, plus he missed a lot of time and retired at 32.

Roenicke was never a full-timer, a lot like Bob Nieman but with more years. Rhodes, as much as I like him, isn't even close. He had a couple pretty good years out of the bullpen but mostly was just a big disappointment. He tore it up in Seattle for a couple years.

Gene Woodling could've made the list.

"My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.'" - Earl Weaver

by Scott Christ on Mar 17, 2006 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

Ahh, Rhino....

I'd forgotten what fun it was to watch Garry Roenicke play. He and Lowenstein were a great platoon in LF for a while. They really seemed to work well as a team.

Which reminds me of one of my all-time fave Oriole cheers which was often heard around Memorial Stadium in the late 70s:

"C'mon Lowenstein! Hit the National Boh sign!"

I kid you not.

by zknower on Mar 17, 2006 6:27 PM EST up reply actions

Ahhhh, brother Lo!

One of the greatest color men in baseball history. When he and Merl Proctor used to do the Home Team Sports games back in the late 80's , early 90's, it was always great comedy. John had one of the best baseball minds and quickest wits around. Not only that, but when he and Rhino shared left for a couple of years, it was probably the most productive platoon in O's history.
I wonder whatever happened to John?

"What's my secret for winning? That's easy. Pitching, defense, and three run homers" Earl Weaver

by elktonfan on Mar 18, 2006 9:51 AM EST up reply actions

Typo....

Should have been Mel Proctor, not Merl. My bad.

"What's my secret for winning? That's easy. Pitching, defense, and three run homers" Earl Weaver

by elktonfan on Mar 18, 2006 9:52 AM EST reply actions

Where Is Earl?

Should Earl Weaver not be given consideration considering that it was his system that many of these players played in? He was the one that created the "Oriole Way" of doing things, that you hear some people talk about from time to time. Pitching and the 3 run homer, that was Earl Weaver.

by memphisoriole on Mar 18, 2006 4:56 PM EST reply actions

NO you forgot the big Easy

Larry Sheets!

PLay like you want it, Live like you need it

by merdon1332000 on Mar 18, 2006 9:55 PM EST reply actions

and what about

Smokin' Joe O?!?!

by jeremy52 on Mar 20, 2006 1:13 PM EST reply actions

GIDP

Here's an interesting coincidence. Three of the Top 5 Orioles of all time are also in the Top 10 of all time in career GIDP. They are:

Cal Ripken Jr. #1 Oriole #1 GIDP with 350
Eddie Murray #4 Oriole #5 GIDP with 316
Brooks Robinson #2 Oriole #9(tied) GIDP with 297

Additionally another player from the Top 40 Orioles made it into the top 10 GIDP.

Harold Baines #36 Oriole #8 GIDP with 298

The GIDP list is, believe it or not, actually kind of illustrious. #2 is Hank Aaron, #3 is Cal Yastrzemski, and #4 is Dave Winfield.

"You'll get better. I promise." - Cal Ripken Jr.

by Jonnypops on Mar 20, 2006 1:25 PM EST reply actions

of course it has lots of great players

Those guys all had a ton of chances to ground into double plays.

"My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.'" - Earl Weaver

by Scott Christ on Mar 20, 2006 6:01 PM EST up reply actions