With Ryan Howard and Chase Utley Aging and Ailing, Roy Halladay May Be The Only Member of The 2007-2011 Phillies to Make The Hall of Fame

Since 2007, the Philadelphia Phillies have been baseball's most dominant franchise.  While the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox may have grabbed more headlines and media attention, the Phillies have been the only team to win their division and make the playoffs each of the past five years.  During their 5-year Division title run, the Phillies have averaged almost 95 wins per year, won two Pennants, and the 2008 World Series.  Unlike most teams, much of the core of the team has stayed intact with Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and manager Charlie Manuel being members of the team since their initial NL East Division title in 2007.  Several of those players have made multiple All-Star teams, Rollins and Victorino have each earned Gold Gloves, and Howard and Rollins have both won MVP trophies.  Along the way they have been joined by other All-Star players such as Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Hunter Pence to make up what has been one of baseball's most memorable Division title runs.  In most cases when a franchise has this long a period of sustained success, multiple players from the team are enshrined in Cooperstown after they retire.  However, taking a look through the roster, aside from Roy Halladay, no other player looks to be on a definite road to Cooperstown.  What is even more surprising is that the sub-.500 Phillies teams of the late '90's may actually wind up with more representatives in Hall of Fame than the dominant 2007-2011 Division title winners.

Roy Halladay 2011 Topps Black Diamond

Before being traded to the Phillies, Roy Halladay, who had won 148 games and a Cy Young Award for the Toronto Blue Jays, was already viewed by many as one of the best pitchers in the game.  But it was during the magical 2010 season, his first with Philadelphia, when he led the NL with 21 wins, pitched a regular season perfect game and a postseason no-hitter, en route to his second Cy Young Award that "Doc" Halladay became a household name.  The right-hander then backed up his dominant 2010 with an impressive 19-win campaign in 2011 to give him 40 wins with an amazing 2.40 ERA in his first two seasons with Philadelphia.  With 188 career wins going into 2012, Halladay has a decent shot at making 300 wins and with two Cy Youngs, three 20-game winning seasons, the perfect game, and the postseason no-hitter, "Doc" already has more than enough accomplishments to etch onto his eventual Hall of Fame plaque.  Halladay's rotation-mates Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels could also wind up putting together Hall of Fame careers but with just 119 wins coming into this season, the 33-year old Lee will need to continue to age like fine wine if he is to seriously merit Hall of Fame consideration.  At 28, Hamels is one the game's finest young pitchers but has yet to place higher than 5th in the Cy Young voting or win more than 15 games in a season.  By this time next year, the sought after free-agent-to-be could be pitching for a different team, regardless we know the young lefty will be much richer.

The three players most synonymous with the success of the club from the onset of its first NL East title in 2007 through the club's most recent 102-win Division title last season, are Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins.  Rollins, who made his major league debut with the club late in the 2000 season, is by far the longest tenured Phillie and was recently rewarded by the team with a 3-year, $33 million contact extension during the off-season.  On pace to finish with well over 2,000 career hits and already the owner of three Gold Gloves at shortstop and the 2007 NL MVP, at first glance "J-Roll" seems like a strong candidate for the Hall of Fame.  However, with a below league average career 97 OPS+ and a .329 career OBP coming into this season, it is doubtful the 33-year old Rollins will merit serious Hall of Fame consideration.

After smashing 58 homers and winning the 2006 NL MVP award in just his second season, first baseman Ryan Howard quickly became the face of the Phillies franchise.  Over the next three years, Howard hit no less than 45 homers and drove in at least 136 runs per season while placing in the top-five each year in the MVP vote.  However, the last two seasons have not been as kind to the power hitting first baseman as he has "only" hit 31 and 33 home runs.  Moreover, Howard earned the wrath of many fans when he took a called strike three for the final out in the club's surprising 2010 NLCS loss to San Francisco.  Unfortunately, during the Phils' shocking NLDS loss to St. Louis last fall, Howard once again had the misfortune of being the final out, only this time the slugger didn't strike out, he grounded out--tearing his Achilles in the process--an injury he has yet to return from.  With 286 career home runs to his credit, Howard is undoubtedly one of the greatest power hitters of his generation, yet with unheralded defense, strikeouts in more than a quarter of his plate appearances, and a career batting average of .275, he has come to be viewed by some as a one-dimensional home run hitter who is protected by a great line up.  Additionally, Howard's career WAR is just 17.7, with only 1.9 of that WAR coming in the past two seasons, and while his .368 career OBP and 138 career OPS+ are strong, with the first baseman seemingly entering the decline phase of his career it is likely those two figures will go down.  There is no telling whether 500 home runs will be considered an automatic ticket to the Hall of Fame by the time Howard is on the ballot, but even if the 32-year old slugger makes a full recovery from his torn Achilles, he will need to average over 30 homers a year for the next seven seasons just to reach 500 and even that milestone may not be enough as many Hall of Fame voters seemed to have devalued power hitting first basemen as of late.

Chase Utley 2012 Topps Opening Day

While he may not own an MVP trophy like Rollins or Howard, second baseman Chase Utley is viewed by many as the best overall player of the three.  From 2005 to 2009, Utley played an average of 151 games, averaged 29 home runs, 101 RBI, and batted .301 with a .388 OBP.  Utley was also known for playing through injuries, only missing extended time in 2007 when he lost a month to a broken hand from a John Lannan fastball.  During those years, Utley also ranked 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 1st, and 2nd in the NL in WAR, yet the writers have never voted him higher than 7th in the MVP voting--giving Utley the dubious distinction of being one of baseball's most underrated players.  Never one to hesitate breaking up a double play or shy away from an inside pitch, Utley's hard nose, grinding style of play has seemingly caught up with him the last few years, as a thumb injury--which he suffered sliding into second trying to stretch a single into a double--limited him to 115 games in 2010 and recurring knee injuries that cost him the first 46 games of 2011 have also sidelined him for all of 2012, thus far.  After five excellent seasons, Utley's 2010 wasn't up to his usual standard, hitting .275 with 16 home runs and 65 RBI--though they were respectable totals considering it was an injury shortened season.  However, after the knee injury, Utley's numbers took an even bigger step down, hitting just 11 home runs, with 44 RBI, and a .259 batting average last season.  What will be interesting is how well will Utley bounce back from his latest knee injury.  At age 33, Utley already has accumulated 50.2 WAR, hit 188 home runs, owns a career .290 batting average, and .377 career OBP--all great totals for a second baseman.  Although, Utley--who like Ryan Howard was not an everyday player until age 25--only has 1198 career hits and 694 RBI and it's hard to imagine him getting serious support from the Hall of Fame voters unless the gritty infielder can eclipse 2,000 hits and 1,000 RBI.

Unlike the last several years, the late 1990's were a forgettable time for most Phillies fans.  Mired in a seven-year losing stretch following the team's surprising '93 Pennant, pitcher Curt Schilling, third baseman Scott Rolen, and right fielder Bobby Abreu were the Phillies' star players during those lean years.  Schilling, Rolen, and Abreu were teammates for three sub-.500 seasons, from 1998 to 2000, playing in front of sparse, often unfriendly crowds at aging Veterans Stadium.  By contrast, Rollins, Howard, and Utley have spent most of their time together atop the NL East standings, plying their trade in front of sellout crowds at beautiful Citizens Ballpark.  Yet, years from now when the Hall of Fame votes have been tallied, the unsuccessful Phillies teams of the late '90's could wind up having more Hall of Fame representatives donning the maroon P than the celebrated Division title winners of the last several years.

At first glance Curt Schilling's career record of 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA may not look Hall of Fame worthy but when you factor in that he was arguably the best postseason pitcher of his generation going 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA, while helping lead the Diamondbacks and the Red Sox to World Championships, Schilling's road to Cooperstown looks much more clear.  Couple that with his 3,116 career strikeouts and three runner-up Cy Young finishes during the height of the hitter-friendly Steroid Era and the real question becomes not about Schilling's worthiness but what team he will represent on his Hall of Fame plaque.  Schilling pitched for Philadelphia from 1992 to 2000, winning 101 games, yet is much more remembered for his time with Arizona and Boston where he won 58 and 53 games, respectively.  However, the Hall of Fame, not Schilling or the fans, has the final say as to what cap the honored player wears on his plaque.  In the cases of Gary Carter and Andre Dawson, we have already seen the Hall of Fame pick the team the inductee played for longer than the team they wished to represent or were most remembered playing for.  

Scott Rolen and Curt Schilling 2000 SkyBox Metal Fusion

With eight Gold Gloves, over 2,000 hits, and more than 300 home runs, third baseman Scott Rolen is putting together a career that is already worthy of a good Hall of Fame debate.  After all, Rolen had already amassed a career WAR of 66.0 coming into this season and only Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt have won more Gold Gloves at hot corner.  Equally debatable will be what cap would Rolen wear on his Hall of Fame plaque:  Rolen played 844 games in a Phillies uniform from 1996 until his trade to St. Louis just before the July 2002 trade deadline.  By comparison, the third baseman took the field in 661 games for the Cardinals--183 less than with the Phillies--but won two Pennants and a World Series as a Redbird, whereas he never even made the postseason with Philadelphia.  Rolen left both teams under less than cordial circumstances.  Prior to his trade from Philadelphia, Rolen's reputation with the front office and the fans was tarnished after a very public spat with manager Larry Bowa, while his time in St. Louis came to an end after he ran afoul of manager Tony LaRussa.  Clashes with management aside, Rolen started his career with and played more games in a Phillies uniform which may be the determining factor on what cap will be chiseled out if Rolen is one day honored with a Hall of Fame plaque.

Had Bobby Abreu started his career in Oakland rather than Philadelphia, it is likely his patience at the plate would have been celebrated and possibly documented in both the "Moneyball" book and movie.  Instead Abreu was often the target of angry Philly fans who wanted more aggressiveness out of their three-hole hitter and saw his patience as selfish and accused him of padding his stats.  Abreu played for the Phillies from 1998 until his July 2006 trade to the New York Yankees but even after leaving Philadelphia, the patient right fielder never seemed to get his due.  In his career, Abreu has had nine seasons with 20 or more home runs, eight years with at least 100 RBI, thirteen seasons where he stole more than 20 bases, as well as thirteen years where he played in over 150 games.  Yet, Abreu has never placed higher than 12th in the MVP vote and has only made two All-Star teams.  Always consistent but never dominant, going into this season, Abreu was tied with Todd Helton as the active leader in doubles with 554, had a career WAR of 57.5, along with a .293 career batting average and .397 OBP.  Moreover, there is a good chance when Abreu retires he will have over 2,500 hits, 300 home runs, and 400 stolen bases, so despite being underrated by the writers, he should be a good Hall of Fame candidate for the sabermetric crowd to rally behind.  Since he spent the bulk of his career with Philadelphia there is really no question that if inducted, Abreu would go in as a Phillie.  However, in contrast to Schilling, Abreu's Hall of Fame chances may be adversely affected by the championships he didn't win.  For example, the Phillies started their 5-year Division title run the season after trading Abreu away and the Yankees were unable to advance out of the ALDS with Abreu but promptly won the World Series the year after he left the team.

In summary, with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley approaching their mid-30's and their careers stalled by injuries, it appears Roy Halladay may be the only member of the team who played a significant role in the 5-year Division title run to be immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  While there is little doubt Halladay will eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame, whether or not he will don a Phillies cap on his plaque is much less of a certainty.  When he retires it is likely "Doc" will be more remembered for his time with Philadelphia rather than Toronto but the Hall of Fame--not Halladay or the fans--has the final say on what cap the honored player wears on his plaque.  With 11-plus seasons and 148 wins as a Blue Jay, the Phillies will need to keep Halladay in Philadelphia and hope the talented righty wins close to 300 games or risk having their 2007-2011 Division winners lack a Hall of Fame representative from those great Phillies teams.

----by John Tuberty   

Sources:  Baseball Reference, MLB, ESPN, ESPNMAG, Balls, Sticks, and Stuff, Los Angeles Times, Google News Archive

Previous article:  Comparing Dwight Evans' OBP, WAR, and OPS+ To Hall of Fame Inductees Of The Last Thirty Years

Comparing Dwight Evans' OBP, WAR, and OPS+ To Hall of Fame Inductees Of The Last Thirty Years

Dwight Evans 1984 Topps

In recent years, Dwight Evans' Hall of Fame candidacy has become a popular debate for the sabermetric crowd with many writers including Bill James taking up his cause.  Evans, who retired after the 1991 season, finished his career with 2,446 hits, 385 home runs, and 1,384 RBI, along with eight Gold Gloves in right field.  However, when the former Red Sox slugger made his debut on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot six years later his support was sparse, mostly because of his .272 career batting average.  It wasn't until the early 2000's--a few years after Evans was no longer on the Hall of Fame ballot--that the baseball community finally started to look past hits and batting average and recognize the importance of walks and on base percentage.  Unfortunately for "Dewey", while he was on the ballot few voters fully appreciated the value of his 1,391 career walks and excellent .370 career OBP.  In addition to walks and OBP; WAR and OPS+ are two sabermetric statistics that many Hall of Fame voters now view alongside the more traditional, easily quantified stats such as hits, batting average, home runs, and RBI.  Just as with walks and OBP, Evans' stellar 62.8 career WAR and strong 127 career OPS+ underline how great a player he really was.

From 1983 to 2012, the BBWAA elected 32 hitters to the Hall of Fame.  When you compare Evans' career OBP, WAR, and OPS+ line to the average Hall of Fame inductee during this time, his .370-62.8-127 line matches up very well with the average inductee's .360-69.0-124 line.  Moreover, if you include Evans in with the hitters honored since 1983, he would rank 12th out 33 in OBP, 22nd in WAR, and be tied with Rickey Henderson for 16th in OPS+.  Additionally, only 7 of the 32 elected hitters own an equal or higher career OBP, WAR, and OPS+ than Evans.  Those 7 hitters--Mike Schmidt, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, and Carl Yastrzemski--were each voted into the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.  And while it is true that Evans' totals represent the minimum of the group, nevertheless, even to be the outlier among a group of first ballot Hall of Famers, showcases just how strong across the board "Dewey's" career OBP, WAR, and OPS+ are.

Evans played nearly his whole career as a right fielder, hitting well enough to win two Silver Slugger Awards and fielding well enough to win eight Gold Gloves Awards.  Eleven of the 32 hitters elected since 1983, spent their careers primarily in the outfield with 4 of those 11--Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Andre Dawson, and Tony Gwynn--playing the bulk of their careers as right fielders.  The former Red Sox right fielder's .370-62.8-127 line is almost a carbon copy of both the average right fielder's .354-63.4-130 line, as well as the average outfielder's .363-63.6-129 line.

From 1983 to 2012, the often controversial and ever changing voting body known as the Veterans Committee elected 19 hitters to the Hall of Fame.  During this time the Veterans Committee voted in some debatable candidates such as Bill Mazeroski, Rick Ferrell, and Phil Rizzuto but also elected some very strong candidates who had been overlooked by the BBWAA such as Pee Wee Reese, Arky Vaughan, and most recently Ron Santo.  By 1983, the Veterans Committee was past its most controversial period when committee members Frankie Frisch and Bill Terry were instrumental in electing several of their former teammates who had questionable Hall of Fame credentials.

Dwight Evans 1984 Donruss

When you measure Evans' career OBP, WAR, and OPS+ against the average Veterans Committee inductee of the last thirty years, the former Red Sox slugger's .370-62.8-127 line is far more impressive than the average inductee's .363-49.5-113 line.  When ranked amongst the Veterans Committee inductees, Evans ranks 7th out of 20 in OBP, 5th in WAR, and 4th in OPS+.  In fact, Arky Vaughan is the only one of the 19 inductees to have a higher career OBP, WAR, and OPS+ than Evans.  However, comparing Evans' career numbers to the average Veterans Committee inductee's is more difficult since aside from Santo, Mazeroski, and Orlando Cepeda--whose careers were wrapping up just as Evans' was beginning--all other hitters elected between 1983 and 2012 were long retired before "Dewey" made his major league debut in 1972.  In addition, since many of the Veterans Committee inductees played in vastly different eras than the one Evans played in, using OBP, WAR, and OPS+ to compare these players encounters some of same problems that using traditional stats such as batting average and home runs does.  For example, the career WAR of some of these players is a little understated since several of the players lost a year or more to World War II.

In December 2013, the revamped Veterans Committee division now known as the Expansion Era Committee will meet to vote on eligible players who made their biggest contributions after 1972 and retired prior to 1992.  This will mark the first time since 1999 that Evans, whose last season in the majors was 1991, will be eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame.  The Expansion Era Committee meets once every three years, the last time was in December 2010 when they elected former General Manager Pat Gillick to the Hall of Fame.  Aside from Gillick, there were eleven other candidates on the Expansion Era ballot, five of which--Ted Simmons, Steve Garvey, Al Oliver, Dave Concepcion, and Rusty Staub--were hitters.  The average career OBP, WAR, and OPS+ of these hitters is .342-39.9-114, a far cry from "Dewey's" .370-62.8-127 line.  In fact, in comparison to the Expansion Era candidates, Evans ranks 1st in OBP, WAR, and OPS+.

When Evans appeared on BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot in the late '90's, his 2,446 career hits, 385 home runs, 1,384 RBI, .272 batting average, and eight Gold Gloves were not enough for him to be voted into the Hall of Fame.  However, since that time the BBWAA and the baseball community as a whole have started to appreciate the value of walks, the importance of OBP, as well as embrace sabermetric stats such as WAR and OPS+.  In fact, when you look past just his traditional stats and focus on Evans' career .370 OBP, 62.8 WAR, and 127 OPS+, the former Red Sox slugger is on par with the BBWAA inductees of the last thirty years, stands tall in comparison to those voted in by the Veterans Committee, and dwarfs the recent Expansion Era candidates.  Unfortunately for Evans, the BBWAA's acceptance of OBP, WAR, and OPS+ came several years after he was no longer on the ballot.  Now, Evans' only chance at the Hall of Fame will be through the Expansion Era Committee, a 16-member panel most recently made up of seven Hall of Fame players, one Hall of Fame manager, four executives, and four writers.  Yet it appears the Expansion Era Committee may be even slower to warm up to stats like OBP, WAR, and OPS+ as the only hitter to even carry half of the vote in their most recent election was Dave Concepcion, who had the lowest OBP, lowest OPS+, and second lowest WAR of the five eligible hitters.  Hopefully for Evans' sake, the next time the Expansion Era Committee meets they will take cue from the BBWAA and take a longer look at undervalued stats like OBP and sabermetric stats such as WAR and OPS+.          

----by John Tuberty

Sources:  Baseball Reference, Baseball Hall of Fame

Related article:  The Best Players Not In the Hall of Fame By Position-Part 2:  Tim Raines and Dwight Evans Highlight the Outfield   

Cal Ripken Jr. and The 1987 Baltimore Orioles in Polaroids-Part 2

Oriole legend Cal Ripken Jr. Fuji Photo Night 1987

In part one we took a look at Fuji Photo Night Polaroids of Oriole legend Cal Ripken Jr., his brother Billy, injury-prone free agent acquisition Fred Lynn, and the late Alan Wiggins.  In part two we take a look at Polaroids of Scott McGregor, Mike Boddicker, and others from the 95-game losing, 6th place '87 Orioles team.

Despite having Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray batting in the middle of the line up, the late 1980's Orioles were one of baseball's worst teams.  You would be hard pressed to name another team that struggled so mightily despite having two future Hall of Famers in the prime of their careers.  By 1987, Murray's days in Baltimore were numbered after a public squabble with owner Edward Bennett Williams.  In addition, many fans had taken a liking to the blue collar Jim Traber who had filled in brilliantly at first base while the usually durable Murray was on the disabled list the previous summer.  As the Orioles struggled to stay out of the cellar, more and more the boos seemed to outweigh chants of "Eddie!" "Eddie!"  Not surprisingly, Murray didn't come out to pose for pictures during Fuji Photo Night.

Larry Sheets and Scott McGregor

During the '87 season, it appeared outfielder Larry Sheets, would finally fulfill the promise the Orioles saw in him when they selected him in the second round of the 1978 draft.  Sheets, a Staunton, Virginia, made an impressive debut in Baltimore, hitting .438 in a September 1984 eight game call up.  Joining a team with an already crowded outfield, Sheets struggled to regularly make the line up during the 1985 and 1986 seasons and was used mostly at DH while also seeing action at left field, right field, first base, third base, and even catcher.  During the '85 and '86 seasons, in a combined 725 plate appearances, Sheets hit 35 home runs while batting .267.  When the 1987 season started, Sheets got off to hot start and finally became a fixture in the line up, getting regular playing time in left and right field.  With 508 plate appearances in 135 games, the Staunton native was able to establish himself as one of the league's best hitters, drilling 31 homers, with a .316 batting average, and .563 slugging percentage--all team leading totals.  Sheets also drove in 94 runs, the second most on the team, behind only Ripken.

However, despite his All-Star caliber breakout season, Sheets turned out to be a one-season wonder, batting just .230 with 10 home runs the following year.  And by 1989, Sheets was an afterthought during Baltimore's improbable 2nd place finish, starting only 82 games and hitting just 7 homers in 338 plate appearances, all of which came as a DH or pinch hitter.  The 1989 season proved to Sheets' last with the team as he was sent to Detroit for infielder Mike Brumley.  Sheets, along with '87 Oriole teammates Ken Dixon, Mike Young, and Ken Gerhart were all high draft picks, selected in the first five rounds, and represented the generation of Oriole ballplayers that the franchise hoped would lead the team into the next decade.  However, none would ever become the star player the Orioles hoped they would.

Larry Sheets and Scott McGregor

Scott McGregor, on the other hand, had more than fulfilled the promise that the Orioles saw in him when they plucked the left-handed pitcher from the Yankees' minor league system as part of the Doyle Alexander trade in June 1976.  Selected by New York with the 14th overall pick in the 1972 draft, McGregor would be one of Baltimore's most durable and dependable pitchers over the next decade with several memorable wins for the franchise.  McGregor more than proved his worth with a Pennant clinching six-hit shutout on the road versus the Angels in Game 4 of the 1979 ALCS.  A week and a half later, McGregor pitched Game 7 of the World Series at home against the Pirates.  Unfortunately, the lefty picked up the loss that day despite yielding only two runs in eight innings of work.  McGregor was able to overcome the Game 7 loss and win a career high 20 games the next year and follow that up with an impressive 13-game winning performance during the strike-shortened 1981 season.  McGregor had, perhaps, his best year in 1983, going 18-7 with a career best 3.18 ERA.  During the '83 postseason, McGregor cemented his legacy as a postseason money pitcher when he one-upped his own 1979 ALCS shutout with a championship clinching five-hit shutout on the road against the Phillies in Game 5 of the 1983 World Series.

Following a slightly off-form 1984 season, Baltimore signed McGregor to a 5-year contract.  However, McGregor struggled to put together another impressive season and by 1987 shoulder injuries had started to take their toll on the lefty who managed just a 2-7 record with a 6.64 ERA.  McGregor never did find his form again and he was released after just four starts into the following season, spelling an end to the popular veteran's career with the organization which was still on the hook for nearly two million dollars of McGregor's contract.
              
Mike Boddicker

While Scott McGregor and Mike Flanagan made up the veteran half of the championship 1983 rotation, Mike Boddicker and Storm Davis made up the younger half of the rotation.  After a stellar breakout '83 season, in which he went 16-8 with a 2.77 ERA, Boddicker followed that up with a Cy Young caliber season, going 20-11 with a 2.79 ERA, and was the AL leader in both wins and ERA.  Aside from his excellent 1984 season, Boddicker, like his rotation mates, had trouble finding success following the '83 championship season, going a combined 26-29, in 1985 and 1986, while seeing his ERA balloon up to 4.40.  Unfortunately, the 1987 season was more of the same for the right-hander who went 10-12 with a 4.18 ERA.  Still, Boddicker was by far the most dependable starter of Baltimore's beleaguered staff whose 5.01 team ERA was the second highest in the majors.  Boddicker was the club's only pitcher to eclipse 200 innings and led the staff in several other categories including wins, games started, and strikeouts.  

Mike Boddicker

Storm Davis was the first of the '83 championship rotation to leave the organization, dispatched to San Diego following a subpar 1986 season for All-Star catcher Terry Kennedy and pitching prospect Mark Williamson.  With Baltimore out of the 1987 AL East division race, Flanagan was traded to Toronto on August 31.  After McGregor was released in May 1988, this left Boddicker as the sole remaining member of the 1983 championship rotation.  Finally, with the Orioles once again out of the division race, Boddicker was traded to Boston in July 1988 for Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson.  There would be good times again for Boddicker and the Orioles, just not together.  Boddicker would have the most successful post-Oriole career of his '83 rotation-mates, helping Boston to 1988 and 1990 division titles by winning 39 games in two and a half seasons with the Red Sox.  Following an excellent 1990 campaign, Boddicker signed as free agent with Kansas City where he joined Storm Davis but they failed to rekindle the "Oriole Magic" of the 1983 championship season.  Boddicker finally wrapped up his career after an unsuccessful stint with Milwaukee in 1993.          

  Terry Crowley

Mike Boddicker and Hitting Coach Terry Crowley

Terry Crowley's origins with the Orioles date all the way back to being picked by the franchise in the 11th round of the 1966 draft.  Crowley spent the bulk of his 15-year career playing for Earl Weaver, who primarily used him as a pinch hitter and in platoons against right-handed pitchers.  Never a full-time player, Crowley only twice surpassed 200 plate appearances in a season but retired with a decent .345 career OBP.  Crowley won two World Series rings as a player, the first one coming with Weaver and the Orioles over the Reds in 1970 and the second as a member of the "Big Red Machine" in 1975.  In 1985, Crowley became Baltimore's hitting coach, a position he held until 1988.  After eight years as Minnesota's hitting coach, Crowley returned as Baltimore's hitting coach in 1999, a position he held until 2010.  Last season Crowley became the Orioles' roving hitting instructor and also filled in as bullpen coach when Mark Connor left the team.

Terry Kennedy and Mark Williamson

Catcher Terry Kennedy and right-handed pitcher Mark Williamson both came from San Diego to Baltimore in exchange for Storm Davis following the 1986 season.  Kennedy replaced 1983 World Series MVP Rick Dempsey, the heart and soul of the championship team.  At the time of the trade, Kennedy was one of the more prominent catchers of his day, a three-time All-Star who had helped San Diego win the 1984 NL Pennant.  In 1987, Kennedy had a pretty good first half, batting .264 with 13 home runs, and made his fourth All-Star team.  However, Kennedy struggled to hit his weight in the second-half, batting .230 while only adding 5 more home runs, and finished the season with a subpar .250 batting average.  After a dismal 1988 season, Kennedy was swapped to San Francisco in return for catcher Bob Melvin.  Kennedy helped San Francisco win the 1989 NL Pennant and stayed with the club until he retired after the 1991 season.

Terry Kennedy and Mark Williamson

Mark Williamson made 61 appearances, mostly in relief, for the 1987 Orioles.  He finished the season with an 8-9 record and a 4.03 ERA.  Williamson's biggest contributions came to the 1989 and 1990 Orioles when the righty went a combined 18-7 with a 2.62 ERA over almost 200 innings, all in relief.  The '89 season was a bittersweet one for Baltimore and Williamson.  Fresh off their 107-game losing 1988 debacle, the Orioles were only expected to contend for the cellar in 1989.  In contrast to 1988's 21-game losing streak to start the season, the 1989 squad actually began the year 11-10, surprisingly tied with Milwaukee for first in the AL East.  Even more shocking, the Orioles early success didn't fade as they spent all of July and August atop their weak division before finally being passed by the powerhouse Blue Jays.  Along the way Williamson was the workhorse of the bullpen, pitching three innings or greater on ten separate occasions.

For the last three games of the season, the Orioles went to Toronto needing to win all three against the Jays to take the division or two out of three to force a tiebreaker.  At this point in the season, Williamson had already logged just over 100 innings in 60-plus appearances.  In the first game, Williamson would be summoned to pitch the bottom of the 11th with the score even at one.  Unfortunately for Williamson, he would pick up the loss when Lloyd Moseby singled Nelson Lirano home from second with two outs.  Despite the loss, manager Frank Robinson showed his confidence in Williamson when he called upon the righty less than 24 hours later to save the second game of the series.  Williamson entered the game in the bottom of the 8th with runners on 1st and 2nd and a 3-1 lead.  Williamson retired the first batter but then gave up back-to-back singles to Mookie Wilson and Fred McGriff to tie the score.  One batter later, clean up hitter George Bell put Toronto in the lead for good with a sacrifice fly that sent Wilson home and the Blue Jays to the division title.  For both Williamson and the underdog Orioles, the Cinderella dream season was over.  After being so dependable all year, the 100-plus innings of relief had finally caught up with Williamson and rendered the righty ineffective against the mighty Jays.

Williamson followed up his excellent 1989 campaign with an even better 1990 season, despite the team nosediving back down below .500 to a 5th place finish.  Williamson would pitch for four more seasons in the majors, all for Baltimore, but perhaps just as in the final week of the 1989 division race, all those consecutive nights of long outings took their toll on Williamson who never did find the form he had in '89 and '90.  While the last few years of Williamson's career may have been forgettable he did make a memorable appearance on July 13, 1991:  with Baltimore mired in the midst of another last place season, Williamson pitched the 8th inning of a combined no-hitter, on the road in Oakland, against the defending AL champion Athletics.  Williamson shared the no-hitter with 1989 teammates Bob Milacki and Gregg Olson as well as with Oriole legend Mike Flanagan.

----by John Tuberty

Polaroids taken by Jack Tuberty

Sources:  Baseball Reference, Google News Archive

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