Much Ado About Opening Day Lineups
Your first-place Baltimore Orioles…boy, that sounds good! We might as well enjoy it while we can, O’s fans. After last night’s 7-4 win over the Seattle Mariners, the good guys are over .500 for the first time since last April. If you’re like me, you also exhaled loudly when they got that first win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday. There’s something about rooting for a team that once lost their first 21 games that will make you appreciate that initial W. At this point, the only players on the roster who haven’t seen any game action are today’s starter, #29 Adam Loewen, and backup catcher #24 Guillermo Quiroz. After #55 Ramon Hernandez’s Friday night heroics, Guillermo may be waiting for a little while longer!
I wanted to have something number-related to give you today, so I checked out Baseball Reference’s Opening Day lineups to see if I could figure out which Orioles Opening Day lineup was the highest combined uniform number total, and which was the lowest. Unfortunately, their records begin with 1956, which was the third season in existence for the Birds. But I still found some fascinating stuff.
This year’s Opening Day starters add up to 203:
#55 Ramon Hernandez C
#15 Kevin Millar 1B
#1 Brian Roberts 2B
#6 Melvin Mora 3B
#2 Luis Hernandez SS
#30 Luke Scott LF
#10 Adam Jones CF
#21 Nick Markakis RF
#46 Jeremy Guthrie P
#17 Aubrey Huff DH
Though their total was the highest for the O’s since 2000, it’s not the highest ever - not by a long shot. That honor goes to the 1999 team with 258, which was boosted by Albert Belle’s #88 in right field:
#21 Charles Johnson C
#12 Will Clark 1B
#36 Jeff Reboulet 2B
#8 Cal Ripken, Jr. 3B
#14 Mike Bordick SS
#17 B. J. Surhoff LF
#9 Brady Anderson CF
#88 Albert Belle RF
#35 Mike Mussina P
#18 Jeff Conine DH
The 1985 O’s trailed the 1999 team by just two, as they spread it out throughout the lineup with four players ranging from #33 to #43 (#33 Eddie Murray 1B, #34 Storm Davis P, #38 John Lowenstein DH, #43 Mike Young LF). Now if you’re a purist, the highest-numbered Orioles Opening Day lineup in the days before the designated hitter rule was way back in 1958, with a total of 157:
#11 Gus Triandos C
#44 Jim Marshall 1B
#9 Billy Gardner 2B
#5 Brooks Robinson 3B
#3 Ron Hansen SS
#14 Gene Woodling LF
#33 Jim Busby CF
#2 Al Pilarcik RF
#36 Connie Johnson P
Only one Orioles team had an aggregate starting lineup under 100: the 1961 club, with 98.
#11 Gus Triandos C
#4 Jim Gentile 1B
#1 Marv Breeding 2B
#5 Brooks Robinson 3B
#3 Ron Hansen SS
#8 Gene Stephens LF
#25 Jackie Brandt CF
#9 Russ Snyder RF
#32 Milt Pappas P
The 1976 Orioles totaled just 113 in their first game of the season, which was an all-time low for the Birds in the DH era.
#10 Elrod Hendricks C
#14 Lee May 1B
#3 Bobby Grich 2B
#5 Brooks Robinson 3B
#7 Mark Belanger SS
#1 Al Bumbry LF
#6 Paul Blair CF
#29 Ken Singleton RF
#22 Jim Palmer P
#16 Tony Muser DH
Just because I’m having too much fun with this, here’s the all-time highest numbered Opening Day lineup:
#55 Ramon Hernandez C (2005, 2007)
#44 Jim Marshall 1B (1958)
#88 Rene Gonzales 2B (1989)
#33 Eddie Murray 3B(!) (1978)
# 15 Davey Johnson SS (1968)
#43 Mike Young LF (1985)
#44 Tito Francona CF (1956)/Willie Tasby CF (1959)
#88 Albert Belle RF (1999, 2000)
#52 Mike Boddicker P (1987, 1988)
#43 Mike Young DH (1986)
As you can see, there are some familiar faces in unfamiliar places, and Mike Young has the high mark at two different positions. Amazingly, every Opening Day shortstop in team history has fallen between #2 and #15. Of course #7 Mark Belanger (13 years) and #8 Cal Ripken (14 years) combined for 27 Opening Days in a 28-year span; #11 Lenn Sakata bridged the gap in 1982, just before Cal was switched from third base.
As a final note, the Orioles have trotted out the exact same starting lineup on consecutive Opening Days twice in team history: 1969-1970 and 1979-1980. This post is long enough as it is, so I’ll refer you back to Baseball Reference to see who suited up.
Tags: orioles news, uni number arcana