The 1988 Baltimore Orioles season was the 88th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 35th in Baltimore, and the 35th at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles had the worst start to a season in modern American baseball history. The Orioles finished seventh in the American League East, reduced to a record of 54 wins and 107 losses just five seasons after winning the World Series. The season is most notable for the 0–21 start that lasted from April 4 to April 28.1988 Baltimore Orioles Schedule, Box Scores and Splits - Baseball-Reference.com Manager Cal Ripken Sr. was fired after an 0–6 start and replaced by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. The Orioles won their first game of the year against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on April 29.Box Score of Game played on Friday, April 29, 1988 at Comiskey Park I The most runs allowed during the season was 15 in a game on June 19 while the most runs scored was 12 in a game on May 31. Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams died in August of that year.

This was only the second time that the Orioles had lost at least 100 games since their move to Baltimore (the other 1954); in addition, the 107 losses would not be surpassed until 30 years later. It was the team's fifth-worst overall franchise record, behind only 1939 (43–111), 2018 (47–115), 2021 (52–110) and 2019 (54–108). The next year the Orioles switched back to the full bodied bird logo (which had been previously featured on the caps for the team's first 12 years from 1954 to 1965), the cartoon bird logo wouldn't return to the caps until 2012.

The Orioles’ 21-game losing streak would not be matched as the American League's longest losing streak until 2024, when the Chicago White Sox matched it.

Offseason October 8, 1987: Mike Kinnunen was released by the Orioles.Mike Kinnunen page at Baseball Reference October 8, 1987: Mike Hart was released by the Orioles.Mike Hart page at Baseball Reference November 6, 1987: Rico Rossy and Terry Crowley Jr. (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Joe Orsulak.Rico Rossy page at Baseball Reference February 27, 1988: Ray Knight was traded by the Orioles to the Detroit Tigers for Mark Thurmond.Ray Knight page at Baseball Reference March 21, 1988: Mike Young and a player to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rick Schu, Keith Hughes and Jeff Stone. The Orioles completed the deal by sending Frank Bellino (minors) to the Phillies on June 14.Rick Schu page at Baseball Reference

Regular season April 4, 1988: The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Orioles 12–0, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in a shutout win on Opening Day.SI.com - Statitudes - Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers - Sunday March 30, 2003 01:50 AM September 7, 1988: Curt Schilling made his major league debut. He pitched against the Boston Red Sox and pitched in 7 innings. Schilling gave up 6 hits and 3 earned runs. He had 2 strikeouts and 5 bases on balls.Curt Schilling page at Baseball Reference

The losing streak Game 13: The Orioles tied the 1904 Washington Senators and the 1920 Detroit Tigers for most losses to start the season with 13 losses when they lost to the Brewers 9–5 in Milwaukee.Washingtonpost.com: The 1988 Orioles: And the Losing Goes On Game 14: On a cold, wet night, 7,284 witnessed baseball history at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Baltimore became the first team in MLB history to start the season 0–14 as the Brewers won, 8–6. No MLB team would lose this many games in a row to open a season until the 1997 Chicago Cubs did so. Game 21: The Orioles lost 4–2 to the Minnesota Twins in Minnesota, extending their streak of season-starting losses to half again their original record, marking their seventh straight series being swept, and ending the day 16 games out of first place on April 28.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters Mike Boddicker Terry Kennedy Fred Lynn Eddie Murray Joe Orsulak Billy Ripken Cal Ripken Jr. Rick Schu Larry Sheets Jeff Stone1988 Baltimore Orioles Roster by Baseball Almanac

Notable transactions April 2, 1988: Dickie Noles was signed as a free agent with the Orioles.Dickie Noles page at Baseball Reference April 5, 1988: Mickey Tettleton was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.Mickey Tettleton page at Baseball Reference June 1, 1988: Pete Rose Jr. was drafted by the Orioles in the 12th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed September 1, 1988.Pete Rose Jr. page at Baseball Reference July 29, 1988: Mike Boddicker was traded by the Orioles to the Boston Red Sox for Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling.Mike Boddicker page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1988 Baltimore Orioles roster Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (Bench) (Hitting) (Third Base) (Bullpen) (First Base) (Pitching)

Player stats = Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average Pos Player G AB H HR RBI Avg. C 86 283 74 11 37 .261 1B 161 603 171 28 84 .284 2B 150 512 103 2 34 .207 3B 89 270 69 4 20 .256 SS 161 575 152 23 81 .264 LF 83 261 60 4 17 .230 CF 87 301 76 18 37 .252 RF 125 379 109 8 27 .288 DH 136 452 104 10 47 .2301988 Baltimore Orioles Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average Player G AB H HR RBI Avg. 103 352 78 10 45 .222 85 265 60 3 16 .226 103 262 51 9 23 .195 92 237 51 2 15 .215 53 177 35 1 9 .198 41 108 21 2 14 .194 26 81 15 2 4 .185 26 61 10 0 1 .164 35 53 12 0 3 .226 18 47 9 0 1 .191 20 30 3 0 0 .100 13 25 6 0 0 .240 13 24 3 0 2 .125

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 33 171.2 6 15 4.30 76 30 158.2 4 15 5.39 82 25 153.1 8 12 4.40 41 21 147.0 6 12 3.86 100 19 86.0 5 7 5.55 61 3 25.0 2 0 0.72 18 4 17.1 0 3 8.83 10 4 14.2 0 3 9.82 4 2 13.0 0 2 5.54 10 2 3.1 0 2 24.30 1

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 41 129.2 8 5 3.40 67 37 117.2 5 8 4.90 69 22 71.1 1 6 5.43 29 2 3.0 0 0 6.00 2

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L SV ERA SO 52 59.0 3 4 18 3.51 40 52 94.1 3 3 0 3.72 26 43 74.2 1 8 3 4.58 29 35 46.2 0 0 0 4.05 28 7 14.2 1 0 0 4.30 4 10 11.0 1 1 0 3.27 9 4 4.0 0 1 0 13.50 3

Farm system

References

1988 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference 1988 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com