Baltimore Orioles

Catchers & Infielders:

• C – Adley Rutschman
• C – Chris Hoiles
• 1B – Eddie Murray
• 2B – Melvin Mora (IF/OF)
• SS – Cal Ripken (3B)
• 3B – Brooks Robinson
• CI – George Sisler (1B)
• CI – Harlond Clift (3B)
• CI – Jim Gentle (1B)

Outfielders:

• LF – Ken Williams (CF)
• CF – Brady Anderson (LF/RF)
• RF – Boog Powell (1B)
• OF – Paul Blair (CF)
• OF – Ken Singleton (LF/RF)

Starting Pitchers:

• SP – Harry Howell
• SP – Barney Pelty
• SP – Jack Powell
• SP – Carl Weilman
• SP – Jim Palmer
• SP – Mike Cuellar

With every team, we started building their all-time 25-man and 40-man rosters by using the Hall of Fame as a starting point, figuring that a player enshrined in baseball’s immortal Hall would certainly qualify to make his team’s all-time roster. Almost all the Hall of Fame members are easily identifiable with one team so it’s a simple way to start every roster with near-inarguable selections.

The only notable player Baltimore has to fight for is Frank Robinson:

Frank Robinson

Reds: 10 years, 6 All-Star Appearances, 1 MVP Award, 63.8 WAR, .303 AVG, 1043 Runs, 1009 RBI, 324 HR, 161 SB

Orioles: 6 years, 6 All-Star appearances, 1 MVP Award, 32.4 WAR, .300 AVG, 555 Runs, 545 RBI, 179 HR, 35 SB, 2 World Series Titles

I love that Robinson earned a triple crown, the MVP, and a World Series title the year after Cincinnati traded him away and their owner called him “an old 30.”

I’m sure the 1970 World Series win over the Reds felt great too – but if you compare his time in both places, he made a deeper and lengthier impact in Cincinnati.

Some other notable Orioles that “belong” to other teams include Fred Lynn (Boston), Bobby Grich (Los Angeles Angels) and Doug DeCinces (Los Angeles Angels). Baltimore easily keeps Mike Mussina as his time and numbers in New York are consistently below his Orioles contributions.

As with every team, we are trying to build an active roster with 13 position players and 12 pitchers, and then a 15-player inactive roster of guys who just missed the cut, but remain valuable as callups in case of slumps or injuries. The 13 active position players are usually two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. The stats are built around the average of the player’s best three consecutive seasons.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame gives us a good start here. Remember that we’re talking about the Orioles FRANCHISE here so they can pull from their year in Milwaukee and seasons as the St. Louis Browns as well. Cooperstown gives us Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken Jr., George Sisler, Jim Palmer, Mike Mussina, Bobby Wallace, and Brooks Robinson.

The Hall of Fame gives us 7 of our 40-man roster, and WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a great stat for looking at the all-around contribution to a team for both hitters and pitchers, can help us with the rest.

We get lots of help here, as we find these hitters: Mark Belanger, Ken Williams, Adley Rutschman, Jim Gentile, Paul Blair, Harlond Clift, Boog Powell, Brady Anderson, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Ken Singleton, Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts, Vern Stephens, and Baby Doll Jacobson.

Once plugged into the simulation software, we looked at their OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) and their defensive rankings and they break down like this:

CATCHER: Chris Hoiles, Adley Rutschman
FIRST BASE: Eddie Murray, George Sisler, Jim Gentile, Boog Powell (sometimes)
SECOND BASE: Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora (sometimes)
SHORTSTOP: Cal Ripken Jr., Melvin Mora (sometimes)
THIRD BASE: Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr. (sometimes), Harlond Clift (sometimes)
LEFT FIELD: Ken Williams, Melvin Mora (sometimes)
CENTER FIELD: Brady Anderson, Melvin Mora (sometimes)
RIGHT FIELD: Boog Powell, Melvin Mora (sometimes)

That leave inactive roster options Trey Mancini, Nick Markakis, Vern Stephens, Gus Triandos, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Bobby Wallace, and Cedric Mullins.

 Gus Triandos makes the inactive roster as Baltimore’s third-rated catcher, as I made sure every team had at least one catcher on their inactive roster in case of an injury to the starter or backup.

For the pitching staff we’re looking for six starters and six relievers. Bear in mind that across the whole game you will see dynamic, outstanding starting pitchers that can’t crack an all-time rotation but are better served as relievers on a team than sitting inactive.

The O’s have two spots reserved for Hall of Famers Jim Palmer and Mike Mussina. With the 24 players on the total roster so far we have room for sixteen more pitchers.

Once we dug into the career WAR rankings (as an Oriole) we came up with these names: Urban Shocker, Jack Powell, Dave McNally, Carl Weilman, Ned Garver, Harry Howell, Milt Pappas, Mike Flanagan, Barney Petty, Lefty Stewart, George Blaeholder, Scott McGregor, Nels Potter, and Mike Boddicker.

Star relievers under consideration are Gregg Olson, Jim Johnson, Tippy Martinez, and Zack Britton.

We looked at their overall numbers in the simulation software and leaned heavily on ERA to come up with these designations:

STARTING ROTATION: Harry Howell, Barney Pelty, Jack Powell, Carl Weilman, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar
RELIEVERS: Eddie Watt, Stu Miller, Felix Bautista, B.J. Ryan
SET-UP: Darren O’Day
CLOSER: Zack Britton

The inactive pitcher options are Urban Shocker (GREAT NAME!), Tippy Martinez, Dave McNally, Milt Pappas, Mike Mussina, and Gregg Olson.

So how did we do?

If the Orioles are your favorite squad you know them better than us.

What did we get right? Where did we go wrong?

Is Jim Palmer the Opening Day starter, or would you slide him down for Howell or Petty?

What batting order would you suggest versus lefties and righties?

Let us know in the forums below and if you make a compelling case we will adapt it in-game. We want every squad to be the best they possibly can be and appreciate your help fine-tuning the Orioles for Eternal Baseball.

Photo Credits:

• Vintage Photo of Rich Dauer by Joe Haupt.
• Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Indians (stadium) by Doug Kerr
• Memorial Stadium by Hans