Around the time of the All-Star Game in July, Fox Sports selected an all-time lineup for all 30 major league clubs — an interesting endeavor.
When I saw the Orioles’ lineup, I agreed with some of the choices and disagreed with others, sensing my blood pressure rising as I perused the selections. If the goal was to stir a reaction — and that certainly was the goal — the all-time lineup did its job as effectively as a starting pitcher hurling a shutout.
It’s a natural discussion-starter at the Bird Tapes, where we’re digging deep into Orioles history. Below are my thoughts on the all-time Orioles lineup that Fox selected. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.
(Note: Click here for an article providing Fox’s in-depth explanation of its choices, as well as a list of honorable mention selections.)
√ Some of the selections obviously are no-brainers. Earl Weaver as the manager. Jim Palmer as the all-time starting pitcher. Brooks Robinson as the third baseman. Cal Ripken Jr. as the shortstop. Eddie Murray is another no-brainer, but it’s at least worth discussing whether he and Boog Powell, who deservedly made the lineup as the DH, should trade places. Sure-handed and surprisingly nimble for a big dude, Powell never won a Gold Glove but was an underrated first baseman. You may recall him joking in his Bird Tapes interview that he should have kept a list of all the throws he dug out of the dirt for outs. (Note: Murray’s 6.6 career defensive-wins-above-replacement figure is solid, but not elite. Powell doesn’t have one.)
√ To be clear, I’m fine with Murray at first base and Powell as the DH, although it’s kind of silly. Powell played in 1,763 games for the Orioles — one as the DH.
√ The fact that Frank Robinson is in left field, not right field, is just as silly as Powell as the DH. Frank is another no-brainer – he’s the most pivotal player in Oriole history, a Hall of Famer who turned them from contenders into champions — but he was in right field for 82 percent of the games in which he put on a glove and played defense. Let me put this simply: an all-time Orioles lineup without Frank Robinson in right field is automatically invalidated.
√ The Orioles’ lineage in center field goes from Paul Blair to Al Bumbry to Brady Anderson to Adam Jones to Cedric Mullins — great stuff. Fox selected Jones as the all-time centerfielder, while also including Anderson in left field. Jones and Anderson both had great careers, no question. But my two cents, if you want to field a winning all-time lineup, you put Blair in center. Doubt it? Ask Palmer. Blair won eight Gold Gloves, nearly a decade’s worth. He ran down everything for years, made the pitchers better, made the Orioles infinitely better. Yes, Jones and Anderson had superior offensive numbers, but the comparisons aren’t totally lopsided. (Blair had 1,426 career hits to 1,781 for Jones and 446 extra-base hits to 595 for Jones). And anyway, who says every choice should boil down purely to offense? This is a hill I’m dying on — highlighting the importance of defense, especially to a franchise with such a glorious defensive history. As Weaver famously said, a run saved is just as important as a run scored.
√ Blair in center and Frank in right leaves left field open on my all-time lineup. Who goes there? I see it as a choice between Anderson and Jones, with Ken Singleton also in the mix. Anderson actually played left field, making 688 appearances there (compared to 927 in center) while Jones played just one game in left (compared to 1,556 in center). But there’s no doubt Jones could have played left so I don’t see that as a decisive factor. Both were such stellar performers for the Orioles that, really, it comes down to the kind of player you prefer. Anderson never won a Gold Glove, but that’s misleading — he covered a ton of ground and had a terrific arm. Jones had 167 more hits and 53 more home runs. Anderson had 307 steals compared to just 90 for Jones. Anderson’s on-base percentage was far higher (.362 to .319), and for the record, Singleton’s OBP (.388) was even higher over the decade he played in Baltimore (mostly in right field). It’s a close call, but I’m taking Anderson on overall well-roundedness.
√ Rick Dempsey is certainly the most popular catcher in Orioles history and played the position far more (1,231 games) than any other Oriole catcher, but he only hit .238 as an Oriole. Is he really the best catcher in Oriole history? Gus Triandos had more power, but wasn’t great defensively. Andy Etchebarren had his moments but only hit .232. Elrod Hendricks was more valuable than many fans realize from 1969 through 1971 and was a wonderful ambassador for the club for decades, but he didn’t do much after a 1972 shoulder injury. Matt Wieters was a four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner, the backbone of several playoff teams. He hit 52 more home runs for the Orioles than Dempsey. His career Oriole average (.249) was higher. You could easily make a case for Wieters as the pick. But I’m going with Dempsey. I can’t put my finger on the Orioles’ record in games he started, but I know it was far better than Wieters’ record. Weaver heaped abuse on Dempsey every day but also wrote his name into the lineup every day seemingly forever — a telling decision that speaks volumes. Dempsey was terrific at calling games, handling pitchers and throwing out would-be base stealers. In 1977, he threw out an astounding 58 percent. That was during a run of five straight years in which he led the league in erasing would-be stealers. And of course, he had that incredible moment as the MVP of the 1983 World Series.
√ Second base is another position where the Orioles have a strong history. Davey Johnson, Bobby Grich, Roberto Alomar and Brian Roberts all could stake a claim to belonging on the all-time team. Alomar is the only one in the Hall of Fame and ranks among the most brilliantly talented players I’ve ever watched with my own eyes, but he played for the Orioles for just three years. That’s not long enough. Fox picked Roberts, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The Orioles didn’t win much in his 14 years with the club, but Roberts was a two-time All-Star who put up impressive totals of hits, runs scored, steals and extra base hits while providing consistently strong defense. Nonetheless, I’m going with Grich, and not just because his recent Bird Tapes interview was so entertaining. Although he only played six years in Baltimore, Grich won four Gold Gloves in that time, made three All-Star appearances and was among the game’s most valuable players, as evidenced by his huge wins-above-replacement figures. He is highly underrated historically.
√ Relief pitcher is another position where the Orioles have several legitimate candidates for an all-time team. Gregg Olson is the franchise’s career saves leader. Zack Britton is second all-time in saves and had the greatest season ever in 2016 with 47 saves and a sub-one ERA. Jim Johnson was really good for a few years. You can’t leave out Tippy Martinez, who is fourth all-time in saves, pitched effectively in league playoff and World Series games and appeared in 499 games, far more than Olson (320) or Britton (306). Fox went with Britton, but he surpassed 20 saves in a season only three times. Olson did it five times for the Orioles. Although I’m tempted to go with Tippy, who was important for longer than anyone else, I’ll go with Olson, who was close to unhittable for quite a while until an arm injury brought him back to earth.
√ Fox’s selections covered the entire 125-year history of the franchise now known as the Orioles, which also played in Milwaukee for a season and then in St. Louis, as the Browns, for 51 years before landing in Baltimore in 1954. That’s why such non-Orioles as Ken Williams, Heinie Manush and George Sisler are among the honorable mention selections. One could easily argue that Sisler, a career .344 hitter for the Browns, belongs on the all-time team. For the record, I only considered players who’ve worn the Oriole uniform since 1954.
BaltimoreBaseball.com is delighted to be partnering with John Eisenberg, the author and longtime Baltimore sports columnist, whose latest venture is an Orioles history project called The Bird Tapes. Available via subscription at birdtapes.substack.com/subscribe, the Bird Tapes is built around a set of vintage interviews with Orioles legends that Eisenberg recorded a quarter-century while writing a book about the team. Paid subscribers can hear the interviews, which have been digitized to make them easily consumable. The Bird Tapes also includes new writing on Orioles history from Eisenberg, who is the author of 11 books, including two on the Orioles. BaltimoreBaseball.com will publish Eisenberg’s new writing.
You’ll receive instant access to vintage audio interviews with Orioles legends, including:
Jon Miller
Davey Johnson
Earl Weaver
Fred Lynn
Al Bumbry
Peter Angelos
Rick Dempsey
Elrod Hendricks
Mike Flanagan
Eddie Murray
Ken Singleton
Brooks Robinson
Frank Robinson
Boog Powell
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Paul Blair
And many more to come, added weekly