1987 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1987 Baltimore Orioles season was the 87th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 34th in Baltimore, and the 34th at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished sixth in the American League East with a record of 67 wins and 95 losses.

1987 Baltimore Orioles
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Memorial Stadium
City	Baltimore, Maryland
Record	67–95 (.414)
Divisional place	6th
Owners	Edward Bennett Williams
General managers	Hank Peters
Managers	Cal Ripken, Sr.
Television	WMAR-TV (Chuck Thompson, Brooks Robinson) Home Team Sports (Rex Barney, Mel Proctor, John Lowenstein)
Radio	WCBM (Jon Miller, Jack Wiers)
← 1986 Seasons 1988 →

Offseason

• January 30, 1987: Jack O'Connor was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.^[1]
• February 12, 1987: Ray Knight was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.^[2]
• March 30, 1987: Rich Bordi was released by the Orioles.^[3]

Regular season

• On April 15, 1987, Juan Nieves threw the first no hitter in Milwaukee Brewers history. The Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 7–0.^[4]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	98	64	.605	—	54‍–‍27	44‍–‍37
Toronto Blue Jays	96	66	.593	2	52‍–‍29	44‍–‍37
Milwaukee Brewers	91	71	.562	7	48‍–‍33	43‍–‍38
New York Yankees	89	73	.549	9	51‍–‍30	38‍–‍43
Boston Red Sox	78	84	.481	20	50‍–‍30	28‍–‍54
Baltimore Orioles	67	95	.414	31	31‍–‍51	36‍–‍44
Cleveland Indians	61	101	.377	37	35‍–‍46	26‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1987 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	1–12	9–3	8–4	7–6	4–9	9–3	2–11	5–7	3–10	7–5	4–8	7–5	1–12
Boston	12–1	—	4–8	3–9	7–6	2–11	6–6	6–7	7–5	7–6	4–8	7–5	7–5	6–7
California	3–9	8–4	—	8–5	7–5	3–9	5–8	7–5	8–5	3–9	6–7	7–6	5–8	5–7
Chicago	4–8	9–3	5–8	—	7–5	3–9	6–7	6–6	6–7	5–7	9–4	6–7	7–6	4–8
Cleveland	6–7	6–7	5–7	5–7	—	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	6–7	4–8	5–7	2–10	5–8
Detroit	9–4	11–2	9–3	9–3	9–4	—	5–7	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	7–5	8–4	7–6
Kansas City	3–9	6–6	8–5	7–6	6–6	7–5	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	5–8	9–4	7–6	8–4
Milwaukee	11–2	7–6	5–7	6–6	9–4	7–6	8–4	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–8	9–3	9–4
Minnesota	7–5	5–7	5–8	7–6	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	—	6–6	10–3	9–4	6–7	3–9
New York	10–3	6–7	9–3	7–5	7–6	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	—	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Oakland	5–7	8–4	7–6	4–9	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–6	3–10	7–5	—	5–8	6–7	7–5
Seattle	8–4	5–7	6–7	7–6	7–5	5–7	4–9	8–4	4–9	5–7	8–5	—	9–4	2–10
Texas	5–7	5–7	8–5	6–7	10–2	4–8	6–7	3–9	7–6	7–5	7–6	4–9	—	3–9
Toronto	12–1	7–6	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	4–8	4–9	9–3	7–6	5–7	10–2	9–3	—

Notable transactions

• May 22, 1987: John Shelby and Brad Havens were traded by the Orioles to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tom Niedenfuer.^[5]
• June 2, 1987: Jack Voigt was drafted by the Orioles in the 9th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]
• June 23, 1987: Doug Corbett was signed as a free agent with the Orioles.^[7]
• August 21, 1987: Doug Corbett was released by the Orioles.^[7]
• August 31, 1987: Mike Flanagan was traded by the Orioles to the Toronto Blue Jays for Oswaldo Peraza and a player to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending José Mesa to the Orioles on September 4.^[8]

Roster

1987 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 41 Don Aase 57 Tony Arnold 34 Jeff Ballard 45 Eric Bell 52 Mike Boddicker 23 Doug Corbett 47 Luis DeLeón 39 Ken Dixon 46 Mike Flanagan 42 Mike Griffin 54 John Habyan 48 Mike Kinnunen 16 Scott McGregor 51 José Mesa 49 Tom Niedenfuer 21 Jack O'Connor 24 Dave Schmidt 32 Mark Williamson		Catchers 15 Terry Kennedy 26 Carl Nichols  6 Floyd Rayford 14 Dave Van Gorder Infielders 17 Rick Burleson 88 Rene Gonzales 11 Jackie Gutiérrez 25 Ray Knight 33 Eddie Murray  3 Billy Ripken  8 Cal Ripken Jr. 12 Pete Stanicek 37 Ron Washington  2 Alan Wiggins		Outfielders  9 Jim Dwyer 38 Ken Gerhart 27 Lee Lacy 19 Fred Lynn 18 Larry Sheets 37 John Shelby 42 Nelson Simmons 43 Mike Young		Manager  7 Cal Ripken, Sr. Coaches 10 Terry Crowley (First base/hitting) 44 Elrod Hendricks (Bullpen) 20 Frank Robinson (Bench) 31 Mark Wiley (Pitching) 40 Jimmy Williams (Third Base)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Terry Kennedy	143	512	128	.250	18	62
1B	Eddie Murray	160	618	171	.277	30	91
2B	Billy Ripken	58	234	72	.308	2	20
3B	Ray Knight	150	563	144	.256	14	65
SS	Cal Ripken Jr.	162	624	157	.252	27	98
LF	Larry Sheets	135	469	148	.316	31	94
CF	Fred Lynn	111	396	100	.253	23	60
RF	Lee Lacy	87	258	63	.244	7	28
DH	Mike Young	110	363	87	.240	16	39

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Alan Wiggins	85	306	71	.232	1	15
Ken Gerhart	92	284	69	.243	14	34
Jim Dwyer	92	241	66	.274	15	33
Rick Burleson	62	206	43	.209	2	14
Pete Stanicek	30	113	31	.274	0	9
Ron Washington	26	79	16	.203	1	6
Mike Hart	34	76	12	.158	4	12
Rene Gonzales	37	60	16	.267	1	7
Floyd Rayford	20	50	11	.220	2	3
Nelson Simmons	16	49	13	.265	1	4
John Shelby	21	32	6	.188	1	3
Dave Van Gorder	12	21	5	.238	1	1
Carl Nichols	13	21	8	.381	0	3
Jackie Gutiérrez	3	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mike Boddicker	33	226.0	10	12	4.18	152
Eric Bell	33	165.0	10	13	5.45	111
Mike Flanagan	16	94.2	3	6	4.94	50
Jeff Ballard	14	69.2	2	8	6.59	27
José Mesa	6	31.1	1	3	6.03	17

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dave Schmidt	35	124.0	10	5	3.77	70
John Habyan	27	116.1	6	7	4.80	64
Ken Dixon	34	105.0	7	10	6.43	91
Scott McGregor	26	85.1	2	7	6.64	39
Mike Griffin	23	74.1	3	5	4.36	42

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Tom Niedenfuer	45	3	5	13	4.99	37
Mark Williamson	61	8	9	3	4.03	73
Jack O'Connor	29	1	1	2	4.30	33
Tony Arnold	27	0	0	0	5.77	18
Mike Kinnunen	18	0	0	0	4.95	14
Doug Corbett	11	0	2	1	7.83	16
Luis DeLeón	11	0	2	1	4.79	13
Don Aase	7	1	0	2	2.25	3

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	John Hart
AA	Charlotte O's	Southern League	Greg Biagini
A	Hagerstown Suns	Carolina League	Glenn Gulliver
A-Short Season	Newark Orioles	New York–Penn League	Mike Hart
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Jim Pamlanye

^[9]