1989 Baltimore Orioles season


The 1989 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing 2nd in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses. The team was known as the Comeback Kids as they rebounded from the 54 wins and 107 losses of the 1988 season. The season also took on the "Why Not?!" promotional slogan as the team's pursuit of the pennant went down to the final series of the regular season. The Orioles went into the three-game season finale against the first place Toronto Blue Jays down by one game in the AL East standings and needing either a sweep to win the AL East championship, or two wins to force a one-game playoff. The Blue Jays won the first two games of the series, clinching first place on the penultimate game of the season.

Offseason

Bill Ripken's 1989 Fleer Baseball Card made national news when it included a hidden obscenity. The obscenity was printed in black marker on the knob of his bat. Once the discovery was made public, subsequent printings of the card were issued with the words obscured. The first obscuring involved a blob of white out, another was scribbled with a black pen while the last was covered with a black square.

Opening Day starters

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
CMickey Tettleton117411106.2582665
1BRandy Milligan12436598.2681245
2BBilly Ripken11531876.239226
3BCraig Worthington145497123.2471570
SSCal Ripken, Jr.162646166.2572193
LFPhil Bradley144545151.2771155
CFMike Devereaux122391104.266846
RFJoe Orsulak123390111.285755
DHLarry Sheets10230474.243733

Other batters

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Awards and honors

MLB All-Star Game