26. Scott McGregor, LHP (1976-1988)
All-Star: 1981
Scott McGregor (born January 18, 1954, in Inglewood, CA) was a lot like Mike Flanagan, really. Both were lefties, neither were particularly special pitchers, but they were Orioles and had some good years, and were part of the last two truly great Orioles teams (1979, 1983).
McGregor was selected by the New York Yankees with the 14th pick of the 1972 draft. He's the last of the World Series trio (with Dempsey and Tippy) to hit this list, which should tell you just how good that 1976 trade with New York really was. Not so much in that the players we got were great, and Rudy May and Dave Pagan were essentially nothing as Orioles, but all three of Dempsey, Tippy and McGregor played important roles on the 1983 World Series team, which was seven years after they'd been acquired.
Scott McGregor was a finesse pitcher, gave up his share of hits, didn't walk many people, and only once struck out 100 people in a season (119 over 252 innings in 1980). He was known for his curveball and his pickoff move. He first came up in 1976, but joined the rotation in 1978 with a solid season, going 15-13 with a 3.32 ERA. In 1979, McGregor missed some time, but went 13-6 with a 3.35 ERA, and won the deciding game of the ALCS, though he did lose game seven of the World Series against Pittsburgh thanks to Willie Stargell's famous sixth inning homer.
1980 was McGregor's best season to date, as he hit the 20-win mark on the final day of the season. In the strike-shortened '81 campaign, he was 13-5. His ERAs those four years are remarkably consistent: 3.32, 3.35, 3.32, 3.26, with ERA+ marks of 106, 120, 119, 111.
McGregor had a down year in 1982. Though he was 14-12, he had a 4.61 ERA (88 ERA+). Like rebounding from the Stargell homer in '79, McGregor bounced back with the best season he'd ever have in 1983, at just the right time. He went 18-7 with a 3.18 ERA (124 ERA+) and won the deciding fifth game of the '83 World Series against Philadelphia on a five-hit shutout.
After that, and after turning 30, McGregor fell off pretty rapidly, having three years where he wasn't entirely useless but was certainly no longer the pitcher he had been in '83. In 1987, he missed a lot of the year and was terrible, and after four awful starts the next season, Scott McGregor was released on May 2, 1988. He never pitched in the big leagues again, having spent his entire major league career in Baltimore. He is currently the pitching coach for the Bowie Baysox, a career he began in 2002 with the Aberdeen IronBirds, and is a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame.
FRANCHISE RANKINGS
6th, Wins (138)
8th, Games (356)
5th, Innings (2140 2/3)
8th, Strikeouts (904)
4th, Games Started (309)
5th, Complete Games (83)
5th, Shutouts (23)