1977 Baltimore Orioles season

1977 Baltimore Orioles
Brooks Robinson's final season
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) East Division (since 1969)
Location
Memorial Stadium (since 1954) Baltimore, Maryland (since 1954)
Results
Record	97–64 (.602)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Jerold Hoffberger
General manager(s)	Hank Peters
Manager(s)	Earl Weaver
Local television	WJZ-TV
Local radio	WBAL (AM) (Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell)
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The 1977 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing tied for second in the American League East with a record of 97 wins and 64 losses.

Offseason[]

• November 1, 1976: Darryl Cias was released by the Orioles.^[1]
• November 5, 1976: 1976 MLB expansion draft
  • Bob Galasso was selected from the Orioles by the Seattle Mariners.^[2]
  • Dave Pagan was selected from the Orioles by the Seattle Mariners.^[3]
• December 15, 1976: Bob Babcock was traded by the Orioles to the Texas Rangers for Dave Criscione.^[4]
• January 11, 1977: John Shelby was drafted by the Orioles in the 1st round (20th pick) of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.^[5]
• January 20, 1977: Paul Blair was traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Elliott Maddox and Rick Bladt.^[6]
• February 8, 1977: Billy Smith was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.^[7]
• February 11, 1977: Vic Rodriguez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles.^[8]

Regular season[]

Brooks Robinson 3B Retired 1977

Season standings[]

v t AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	100	62	0.617	—	55–26	45–36
Baltimore Orioles	97	64	0.602	2½	54–27	43–37
Boston Red Sox	97	64	0.602	2½	51–29	46–35
Detroit Tigers	74	88	0.457	26	39–42	35–46
Cleveland Indians	71	90	0.441	28½	37–44	34–46
Milwaukee Brewers	67	95	0.414	33	37–44	30–51
Toronto Blue Jays	54	107	0.335	45½	25–55	29–52

Record vs. opponents[]

1977 American League Records v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Opening Day lineup[]

Notable transactions[]

• May 26, 1977: Randy Stein was acquired from the Orioles by the New York Yankees.^[9]
• June 13, 1977: Dyar Miller was traded by the Orioles to the California Angels for Dick Drago.^[10]
• July 27, 1977: Ken Rudolph was purchased by the Orioles from the San Francisco Giants.^[11]
• September 19, 1977: Nelson Briles was purchased by the Orioles from the Texas Rangers.^[12]

Roster[]

1977 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 55 Nelson Briles 45 Tony Chévez 37 Dick Drago 17 Ed Farmer 46 Mike Flanagan 48 Ross Grimsley 38 Fred Holdsworth 30 Dennis Martínez 23 Tippy Martinez 43 Rudy May 39 Scott McGregor 37 Dyar Miller 35 Randy Miller 22 Jim Palmer 32 Mike Parrott 52 Earl Stephenson		Catchers 40 Dave Criscione 24 Rick Dempsey 12 Ken Rudolph  8 Dave Skaggs Infielders  7 Mark Belanger 10 Terry Crowley 44 Rich Dauer 11 Doug DeCinces  3 Kiko Garcia 14 Lee May 33 Eddie Murray 16 Tony Muser  5 Brooks Robinson  2 Billy Smith		Outfielders  1 Al Bumbry 36 Mike Dimmel 34 Larry Harlow 18 Pat Kelly 21 Elliott Maddox 27 Andrés Mora 28 Tom Shopay 29 Ken Singleton		Manager  4 Earl Weaver Coaches 31 George Bamberger (Pitching) 41 Jim Frey (First base) 55 Billy Hunter (Third base) 47 Cal Ripken (Bullpen/Third base)

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	Rick Dempsey	91	270	61	.226	3	34
1B	Lee May	150	585	148	.253	27	99
2B	Billy Smith	109	367	79	.215	5	29
3B	Doug DeCinces	150	522	135	.259	19	69
SS	Mark Belanger	144	402	83	.206	2	30
LF	Pat Kelly	120	360	92	.256	10	49
CF	Al Bumbry	133	518	164	.317	4	41
RF	Ken Singleton	152	536	176	.328	24	99
DH	Eddie Murray	160	611	173	.283	27	88

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
Rich Dauer	96	304	74	.243	5	25
Dave Skaggs	80	216	62	.287	1	24
Andrés Mora	77	233	57	.245	13	44
Kiko Garcia	65	131	29	.221	2	10
Tony Muser	120	118	27	.229	0	7
Elliott Maddox	49	107	28	.262	2	9
Tom Shopay	67	69	13	.188	1	4
Larry Harlow	46	48	10	.208	0	0
Brooks Robinson	24	47	7	.149	1	4
Terry Crowley	18	22	8	.364	1	9
Ken Rudolph	11	14	4	.286	0	2
Dave Criscione	7	9	3	.333	1	1
Mike Dimmel	25	5	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
Jim Palmer	39	319	20	11	2.91	193
Rudy May	37	251.2	18	14	3.61	105
Mike Flanagan	36	235	15	10	3.64	149
Ross Grimsley	34	218.1	14	10	3.96	53

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
Dennis Martínez	42	166.2	14	7	4.10	107
Scott McGregor	29	114	3	5	4.42	55

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
Tippy Martinez	41	5	1	9	2.70	29
Dick Drago	36	6	3	3	3.63	20
Dyar Miller	12	2	2	1	5.64	9
Fred Holdsworth	12	0	1	0	6.28	4
Tony Chévez	4	0	0	0	12.38	7
Mike Parrott	3	0	0	0	2.08	2
Nelson Briles	2	0	0	1	6.75	2
Earl Stephenson	1	0	0	0	9.00	2
Randy Miller	1	0	0	0	40.50	0
Ed Farmer	1	0	0	0	∞	0

Awards and honors[]

• Earl Weaver, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

Farm system[]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Ken Boyer
AA	Charlotte O's	Southern League	Jimmie Schaffer
A	Miami Orioles	Florida State League
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	J. R. Miner

See also[]

• Forfeit (baseball) – the Orioles forfeited their September 15 game against the Toronto Blue Jays^[13]

References[]

External links[]

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1977 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
• 1977 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com