by Andrew Mbow
The Baltimore Orioles belong to Baltimore, Maryland and are regarded as one of the worst baseball teams in the sport. There are many reasons for this; however, let’s start at the beginning of this car-wreck of a baseball team.
The Orioles as we know them originated in 1955 after moving from Milwaukee to Saint Louis, to Baltimore. They signed future all-star 3rd baseman, Brooks Robinson, first baseman Boogs Powell, and pitcher Jim Palmer. These three were responsible for the club many winning seasons between 1963 and 1983, with only one losing season, then winning the World Series three times during this period. Soon enough, they signed Super-star caliber shortstop, Cal Ripken Jr., in 1978.
This monster team played in Camden Yards, a very popular stadium for its time, generating tons of revenue for the team. The Orioles had an awesome run…up until around the 1988 season. They started out the season by losing 21 games straight. By this time, Robinson, Palmer, and Powell had all retired. They tried to fill the insurmountable hole left by them by drafting the switch hitting, mustachioed first baseman, Eddie Murray. They ultimately finished that year going 57-110.
Before I go on, I would like to lay out a story for you. The date is August 22nd, 2007, on a humid evening in Baltimore. A normal baseball game’s score ranges from 1-10 runs scored in total, with about 7 hits combined. Now, imagine what it was like when the Rangers put up 30 runs and 29 hits alone vs the Orioles. Every player that stepped up to the plate that fateful evening either got a hit or was a run. The final score of this bloodbath was 30-3.
Before they knew it, they were losing year after year. This happened, without fail, up until the 2015 season. Chris “Crush” Davis was a left-handed hitting first baseman for the club. In 2013, he finished 3rd in AL MVP voting. However, like all things that the Orioles get their grubby hands on, he was absolutely washed. He then went on to set the Major League record of going 0-for-54 in 2019. Davis announced his retirement on August 12th, 2021 due to health and age-induced problems. Also in 2019, the Baltimore Orioles had set the record high of most home runs given up by a team in a season, with a whopping 305 home runs.
So, why do I hate the Orioles? Well, as a pitcher, it’s a crying shame that every single one of their pitches gets nuked off. The average pitcher ERA (Earned Runs Allowed in their pitching appearance) is around 6.4 (4.5 is league average). This poor pitching, coupled with astoundingly poor hitting ( .239 batting average, league average being .250) makes for a terrible team that I absolutely hate.
