1990 Baltimore Orioles season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1990 Baltimore Orioles season was the 90th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 37th in Baltimore, and the 37th at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 76 wins and 85 losses.
| 1990 Baltimore Orioles | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Division | East |
| Ballpark | Memorial Stadium |
| City | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Record | 76–85 (.472) |
| Divisional place | 5th |
| Owners | Eli Jacobs |
| General managers | Roland Hemond |
| Managers | Frank Robinson |
| Television | WMAR-TV (Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson) Home Team Sports (Rex Barney, Mel Proctor, John Lowenstein) |
| Radio | WBAL (AM) (Jon Miller, Joe Angel, Charlie Slowes) |
Offseason
- October 3, 1989: Mark Huismann was released by the Orioles.[1]
- November 2, 1989: Jamie Quirk was released by the Orioles.[2]
- December 5, 1989: Keith Hughes and Cesar Mejia (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the New York Mets for John Mitchell and Joaquin Contreras (minors).[3]
- February 20, 1990: Sam Horn was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.[4]
- February 22, 1990: Danny Boone was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.[5]
Regular season
On May 25, 1990, the Orioles announced that the team would move their spring training home games from Miami Stadium where they had played since 1959 to Bradenton and Sarasota in 1991.[6] When Cleveland announced that they would leave Hi Corbett Field for Florida, Tucson tried to attract the Orioles to move to Arizona.[7]
Ben McDonald became the first Oriole to win his first six major league decisions.[8]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 51–30 | 37–44 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 86 | 76 | .531 | 2 | 44–37 | 42–39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 9 | 39–42 | 40–41 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 85 | .475 | 11 | 41–40 | 36–45 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 76 | 85 | .472 | 11½ | 40–40 | 36–45 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 14 | 39–42 | 35–46 |
| New York Yankees | 67 | 95 | .414 | 21 | 37–44 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–3 |
| California | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 3–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–9 | 10–3 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 |
| New York | 7–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 0–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 5–8 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 12–0 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 9–3 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–9 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–7 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
- June 4, 1990: 1990 Major League Baseball draft
- Mike Mussina was drafted by the Orioles in the first round.[10]
- Scott McClain was drafted by the Orioles in the 22nd round. Player signed June 7, 1990.[11]
- June 5, 1990: Jay Tibbs was traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later. The Pirates completed the deal by sending Dorn Taylor to the Orioles on September 5.[12]
- July 30, 1990: Phil Bradley was traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Ron Kittle.[13]
Roster
Player stats
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 | Mickey Tettleton | 135 | 444 | 99 | .223 | 15 | 51 |
| 1B | Randy Milligan | 109 | 362 | 96 | .265 | 20 | 60 |
| 2B | Billy Ripken | 129 | 406 | 118 | .291 | 3 | 38 |
| 3B | Craig Worthington | 133 | 425 | 96 | .226 | 8 | 44 |
| SS | Cal Ripken Jr. | 161 | 600 | 150 | .250 | 21 | 84 |
| LF | Phil Bradley | 72 | 289 | 78 | .270 | 4 | 26 |
| CF | Mike Devereaux | 108 | 367 | 88 | .240 | 12 | 49 |
| RF | Joe Orsulak | 124 | 413 | 111 | .269 | 11 | 57 |
| DH | Sam Horn | 79 | 246 | 61 | .248 | 14 | 45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Finley | 142 | 464 | 119 | .256 | 3 | 37 |
| Bob Melvin | 93 | 301 | 73 | .231 | 5 | 37 |
| Brady Anderson | 89 | 234 | 54 | .231 | 3 | 24 |
| Tim Hulett | 53 | 153 | 39 | .255 | 3 | 16 |
| David Segui | 40 | 123 | 30 | .244 | 2 | 15 |
| Rene Gonzales | 67 | 103 | 22 | .214 | 1 | 12 |
| Brad Komminsk | 46 | 101 | 24 | .238 | 3 | 8 |
| Jeff McKnight | 29 | 75 | 15 | .200 | 1 | 4 |
| Chris Hoiles | 23 | 63 | 12 | .190 | 1 | 6 |
| Ron Kittle | 22 | 61 | 10 | .164 | 2 | 3 |
| Dave Gallagher | 23 | 51 | 11 | .216 | 0 | 2 |
| Leo Gómez | 12 | 39 | 9 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Greg Walker | 14 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 0 | 2 |
| Donell Nixon | 8 | 20 | 5 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Stan Jefferson | 10 | 19 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Marty Brown | 9 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Juan Bell | 5 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Harnisch | 31 | 188.2 | 11 | 11 | 4.34 | 122 |
| Dave Johnson | 30 | 180.0 | 13 | 9 | 4.10 | 68 |
| Bob Milacki | 27 | 135.1 | 5 | 8 | 4.46 | 60 |
| Ben McDonald | 21 | 118.2 | 8 | 5 | 2.43 | 65 |
| Jay Tibbs | 10 | 50.2 | 2 | 7 | 5.68 | 23 |
| José Mesa | 7 | 46.2 | 3 | 2 | 3.86 | 24 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Ballard | 44 | 133.1 | 2 | 11 | 4.93 | 50 |
| John Mitchell | 24 | 114.1 | 6 | 6 | 4.64 | 43 |
| Anthony Telford | 8 | 36.1 | 3 | 3 | 4.95 | 20 |
| Mickey Weston | 9 | 21.0 | 0 | 1 | 7.71 | 9 |
| Danny Boone | 4 | 9.2 | 0 | 0 | 2.79 | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregg Olson | 64 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 2.42 | 74 |
| Joe Price | 50 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3.58 | 54 |
| Mark Williamson | 49 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2.21 | 60 |
| Kevin Hickey | 37 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5.13 | 17 |
| Curt Schilling | 35 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2.54 | 32 |
| Brian Holton | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.50 | 27 |
| José Bautista | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 15 |
| Jay Aldrich | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8.25 | 5 |
| Dorn Taylor | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.45 | 4 |
| Mike Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 2 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Greg Biagini |
| AA | Hagerstown Suns | Eastern League | Jerry Narron |
| A | Frederick Keys | Carolina League | Wally Moon |
| A | Wausau Timbers | Midwest League | Mike Young |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Gus Gil |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Frederick[14]