The Orioles Didn't Improve Much
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LouGehrig
by Harold Friend
The 1954 Baltimore Orioles hit 52 home runs. Since the era of Arena Baseball started after the 1994 World Series was cancelled, Mark McGwire (4), Sammy Sosa (3), Alex Rodriguez (3), Ken Griffey Jr. (2), Barry Bonds (1), Andruw Jones (1), Ryan Howard (1), and David Ortiz (1) have exceeded that total. In 1954, Larry Doby led the American League with 32 home runs. He was the only American Leaguer to hit as many as thirty. Only the Indians (156), Yankees (133) and Red Sox (123) hit more than 100 home runs.
Eight Home Runs Led the Orioles
No Orioles’ player hit as many as ten home runs in 1954. Vern Stephens led the team with 8 home runs and 46 RBIs. The team averaged 3.14 runs a game, so it is not surprising that they lost 100 games while winning only 54. But the Orioles had decent pitching and two youngsters with great potential.
Bob Turley and Don Larsen Had Potential
Bob Turley won 14 games, struck out 185 batters, and had a 3.46 ERA. His problem was that he walked 181 batters. The other Orioles’ youngster was Don Larsen, who had a terrible 1954 season, winning only 3 games while losing 21 with a 4.37 ERA. Veterans Joe Coleman, Duane Pillette, and Lou Kretlow were starters, but twenty two-year-old lefty Billy O’Dell was waiting in the wings, and flame-thrower Ryne Duren was another pitcher in search of control.
Richards Trades Turley and Larsen
General manager Paul Richards had to improve the team, which meant that the farm system would be upgraded and trades had to be made. In November, Richards traded Turley and Larsen to the Yankees in a seventeen-player deal. It turned out to be a trade that helped the Yankees much more than the Orioles, but Richards had to make some moves. As Branch Rickey said to Ralph Kiner after the Pirates finished last but Kiner had a great season, "We finished last with you. We can finish last without you."
Triandos Paid Dividends
In 1955, the Orioles won 57 games. Most of the players that they received in the big Yankees deal were sent away as Richards, who took over as both field manager and general manager, looked for some diamonds in the rough. It was a difficult time. Gus Triandos, a catcher-first baseman involved in the trade, paid the greatest dividends, as he batted .277 with 12 home runs, playing primarily at first. It doesn’t sound like much, but Triandos was the only player to have reached double figures in home runs. In 1958, he tied the American League record for home runs by a catcher when he hit 30, a feat accomplished by Yogi Berra two years earlier. Offensively Challenged
Second baseman Freddie Marsh hit .218, third baseman Wayne Causey hit .194 with 2 home runs, and shortstop Willie Miranda had one of his best seasons at the plate, hitting .255. Center fielder Chuck Diering, one of the greatest defensive outfielders in the history of the game who has been almost completely forgotten, hit .256 with 3 home runs. The Orioles could field, but the couldn’t hit.
A Journeyman Pitching Staff
The pitching staff had a 4.21 ERA, which was not good, but which would be fine today. Journeyman Jim Wilson led the staff with 12 wins while losing 18 and Ray Moore, a decent pitcher with a good fast ball but with control problems, won 10. The rest of the pitching staff consisted of veterans who had seen better days or who never had seen or would see better days. Little progress was being made at the major league level, but that would change in a few long years.
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