The 2001 Baltimore Orioles season was the 101st season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 48th in Baltimore, and the 10th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They failed to improve on their record from the previous year with a 63–98 record, and missed the postseason for the 4th straight season. It would also be the final season for Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.

Offseason October 5, 2000: Trenidad Hubbard was released by the Baltimore Orioles. December 20, 2000: Mike Bordick was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

Regular season CalRipken Jr.SS, 3BRetired 2001 In June 2001, Cal Ripken Jr. announced that he would retire at the end of the season. He was voted the starting third baseman in the All-Star game at Safeco Field on July 10, 2001, in Seattle. In a tribute to Ripken's achievements and stature in the game, shortstop Alex Rodriguez (unknowingly foreshadowing his own future) insisted on exchanging positions with third baseman Ripken for the first inning, so that Ripken could play shortstop as he had for most of his career. In the third inning, Ripken made his first plate appearance and was greeted with a standing ovation. Ripken then homered off the first pitch from Chan Ho Park. Ripken ended up with All-Star MVP honors.

The Howard Street Tunnel fire began a few blocks away from Camden Yards during an Orioles doubleheader on July 18. The stadium was evacuated after that day's first game.Rivera, John, and Kimberly A.C. Wilson. "Baseball fans and commuters held hostage by road closings", Baltimore Sun, July 19, 2001, page 10A. The second game of the doubleheader and the games scheduled to be played on July 19 and 20 were all postponed, with play at Camden Yards resuming on July 21.

Ripken's #8 was retired by the Baltimore Orioles in a ceremony before the final home game of the 2001 season. Ripken's final game was originally set to be played at Yankee Stadium; however, all Major League Baseball games from September 11 to 17 were postponed due to the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. The Orioles were at home during the attacks, so the games missed were added on to the end of the season's schedule, which changed the location of Ripken's final game to Oriole Park, much to the delight of Orioles fans. Cal Ripken ended his career in the on deck circle in the bottom of the ninth inning. Longtime teammate Brady Anderson, also playing in his last game for the Orioles, swung and missed a fastball high and tight on a 3–2 count to end the game. In his final season, Ripken had the lowest zone rating of all major league third basemen (.734).

Opening Day starters Brady Anderson Mike Bordick Delino DeShields Brook Fordyce Jerry Hairston Jr. Pat Hentgen Melvin Mora Chris Richard Cal Ripken Jr. David Segui

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Transactions June 25, 2001: Tony Batista was selected off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Roster 2001 Baltimore Orioles Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 Brook Fordyce 95 292 61 .209 5 19 1B Jeff Conine 139 524 163 .311 14 97 2B Jerry Hairston Jr. 159 532 124 .233 8 47 SS Mike Bordick 58 229 57 .249 7 30 3B Cal Ripken Jr. 128 477 114 .239 14 68 LF Delino DeShields 58 188 37 .197 3 21 CF Melvin Mora 128 436 109 .250 7 48 RF Brady Anderson 131 430 87 .202 8 45 DH Tony Batista 84 308 82 .266 12 42

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 Chris Richard 136 483 128 .265 15 61 David Segui 82 292 88 .301 10 46 Brian Roberts 75 273 69 .253 2 17 Jay Gibbons 73 225 53 .236 15 36 Fernando Lunar 64 167 41 .246 0 16 Mike Kinkade 61 160 44 .275 4 16 Larry Bigbie 47 131 30 .229 2 11 Luis Matos 31 98 21 .214 4 12 Greg Myers 25 74 20 .270 4 18 Gerónimo Gil 17 58 17 .293 0 6 Willie Harris 9 24 3 .125 0 0 Tim Raines Jr. 7 23 4 .174 0 0 Casey Blake 6 15 2 .133 1 2 Tim Raines 4 11 3 .273 1 5 Gene Kingsale 3 4 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 Jason Johnson 32 196.0 10 12 4.09 114 José Mercedes 33 184.0 8 17 5.82 123 Josh Towers 24 140.1 8 10 4.49 58 Sidney Ponson 23 138.1 5 10 4.94 84 Pat Hentgen 9 62.1 2 3 3.47 33 Rick Bauer 6 33.0 0 5 4.64 16 Sean Douglass 4 20.1 2 1 5.31 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 Willis Roberts 46 132.0 9 10 4.91 95 Calvin Maduro 22 93.2 5 6 4.23 51 Chuck McElroy 18 45.1 1 2 5.36 22

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 Buddy Groom 70 1 4 11 3.55 54 B.J. Ryan 61 2 4 2 4.25 54 Mike Trombley 50 3 4 6 3.46 45 Ryan Kohlmeier 34 1 2 6 7.30 29 John Wasdin 26 1 1 0 4.17 47 Chad Paronto 24 1 3 0 5.00 16 Jorge Julio 18 1 1 0 3.80 22 John Parrish 16 1 2 0 6.14 20 Alan Mills 15 1 1 0 9.64 9 John Bale 14 1 0 0 3.04 21 Kris Foster 7 0 0 0 2.70 8 Leslie Brea 2 0 0 0 18.00 0

Farm system LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: BluefieldBaseball America 2002 Directory. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2002

References

2001 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference 2001 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com