1992 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1992 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing third in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses.

1992 Baltimore Orioles
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Oriole Park at Camden Yards
City	Baltimore, Maryland
Record	89–73 (.549)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	Eli Jacobs
General managers	Roland Hemond
Managers	Johnny Oates
Television	WMAR-TV (Jon Miller, Brooks Robinson, Scott Garceau) Home Team Sports (Mel Proctor, John Lowenstein, Jim Palmer, Rex Barney, Tom Davis)
Radio	WBAL (AM) (Chuck Thompson, Jon Miller, Joe Angel)
← 1991 Seasons 1993 →

Having played almost 40 years at Memorial Stadium, the 1992 campaign was the inaugural season for the Orioles' new ballpark, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, where they play to this day.

Offseason

• November 13, 1991: Jeff Robinson was released by the Orioles.^[1]
• January 7, 1992: Amalio Carreño was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.^[2]

Regular season

The Orioles spent most of the first three months of the season battling with the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the division. The lead switched back and forth between the two teams before the Jays took it for good on June 20. Baltimore remained in second place for the next two months, with the margin between themselves and Toronto fluctuating from between one and five games. However, the Birds faded during the September stretch and relinquished second place to the Milwaukee Brewers on September 19. Still, they were not mathematically eliminated from contention until September 27, finishing at a respectable 89–73.

In 1992, Mike Mussina played his first full season with the Orioles. He finished with an 18–5 record and a 2.54 ERA in 241 innings; his .783 win–loss percentage was the best in the American League, and his 1.79 BB/9 was second-best in the AL behind the Brewers' Chris Bosio. Mussina also pitched four shutouts, tying for second in the league behind Boston's Roger Clemens. He finished fourth in the American League Cy Young Award voting, and participated in the 1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in San Diego, pitching one perfect inning.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

In 1992, with grand ceremony, the Orioles began their season in a brand new ballpark, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and thus retiring Memorial Stadium in the major league baseball world. The ballpark was an instant success; however, the name of the new park had controversy. Many felt that since the Orioles' new home was so close to Babe Ruth's birthplace that the new park should have been named after Ruth instead of being indirectly named after the Earl of Camden, Charles Pratt, who was a Briton who never set foot on American soil. There was also the superficial connection to the fact that Ruth played for the Orioles early in his career, but the Orioles team that Ruth played for was in no way related to the Orioles team that moved to Baltimore from St. Louis. Camden Yards was built at the location of the old Camden Railway. It was the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s, and remains one of the most highly praised.^[3]

Right field and the Baltimore & Ohio Warehouse at Camden Yards.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Toronto Blue Jays	96	66	.593	—	53‍–‍28	43‍–‍38
Milwaukee Brewers	92	70	.568	4	53‍–‍28	39‍–‍42
Baltimore Orioles	89	73	.549	7	43‍–‍38	46‍–‍35
Cleveland Indians	76	86	.469	20	41‍–‍40	35‍–‍46
New York Yankees	76	86	.469	20	41‍–‍40	35‍–‍46
Detroit Tigers	75	87	.463	21	38‍–‍42	37‍–‍45
Boston Red Sox	73	89	.451	23	44‍–‍37	29‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1992 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	8–4	6–6	7–6	10–3	8–4	6–7	6–6	5–8	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–8
Boston	5–8	—	8–4	6–6	6–7	4–9	7–5	5–8	3–9	7–6	5–7	6–6	4–8	7–6
California	4–8	4–8	—	3–10	6–6	7–5	8–5	5–7	2–11	7–5	5–8	7–6	9–4	5–7
Chicago	6–6	6–6	10–3	—	7–5	10–2	7–6	5–7	8–5	8–4	5–8	4–9	5–8	5–7
Cleveland	6–7	7–6	6–6	5–7	—	5–8	5–7	5–8	6–6	7–6	6–6	7–5	5–7	6–7
Detroit	3–10	9–4	5–7	2–10	8–5	—	7–5	5–8	3–9	5–8	6–6	9–3	8–4	5–8
Kansas City	4–8	5–7	5–8	6–7	7–5	5–7	—	7–5	6–7	5–7	4–9	7–6	6–7	5–7
Milwaukee	7–6	8–5	7–5	7–5	8–5	8–5	5–7	—	6–6	6–7	7–5	8–4	7–5	8–5
Minnesota	6–6	9–3	11–2	5–8	6–6	9–3	7–6	6–6	—	7–5	5–8	8–5	6–7	5–7
New York	8–5	6–7	5–7	4–8	6–7	8–5	7–5	7–6	5–7	—	6–6	6–6	6–6	2–11
Oakland	6–6	7–5	8–5	8–5	6–6	6–6	9–4	5–7	8–5	6–6	—	12–1	9–4	6–6
Seattle	5–7	6–6	6–7	9–4	5–7	3–9	6–7	4–8	5–8	6–6	1–12	—	4–9	4–8
Texas	5–7	8–4	4–9	8–5	7–5	4–8	7–6	5–7	7–6	6–6	4–9	9–4	—	3–9
Toronto	8–5	6–7	7–5	7–5	7–6	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–5	11–2	6–6	8–4	9–3	—

Notable transactions

• August 11, 1992: Juan Bell was traded by the Orioles to the Philadelphia Phillies for Steve Scarsone.^[4]

Roster

1992 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 29 Pat Clements 34 Storm Davis 46 Mike Flanagan 49 Todd Frohwirth 31 Craig Lefferts 55 Richie Lewis 19 Ben McDonald 52 José Mesa 18 Bob Milacki 75 Alan Mills 35 Mike Mussina 30 Gregg Olson 45 Jim Poole 53 Arthur Rhodes 40 Rick Sutcliffe 32 Mark Williamson		Catchers 24 Rick Dempsey 23 Chris Hoiles 27 Mark Parent 41 Jeff Tackett Infielders 48 Manny Alexander 37 Glenn Davis 10 Leo Gómez 36 Tim Hulett 2,67 Mark McLemore 39 Randy Milligan  3 Billy Ripken  8 Cal Ripken Jr. 43 Steve Scarsone 21 David Segui		Outfielders  9 Brady Anderson 12 Mike Devereaux 14 Chito Martínez 11 Luis Mercedes  6 Joe Orsulak Other batters 15,38 Sam Horn  1 Tommy Shields 28 Jack Voigt		Manager 26 Johnny Oates Coaches 25 Greg Biagini (hitting) 27 Dick Bosman (pitching) 44 Elrod Hendricks (bullpen) 15 Davey Lopes (first base)  7 Cal Ripken, Sr. (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	Chris Hoiles	96	310	85	.274	20	40
1B	Randy Milligan	137	462	111	.240	11	53
2B	Billy Ripken	111	330	76	.230	4	36
3B	Leo Gómez	137	468	124	.265	17	64
SS	Cal Ripken Jr.	162	637	160	.251	14	72
LF	Brady Anderson	159	623	169	.271	21	80
CF	Mike Devereaux	156	653	180	.276	24	107
RF	Joe Orsulak	117	391	113	.289	4	39
DH	Glenn Davis	106	398	110	.276	13	48

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
Mark McLemore	101	228	56	.246	0	27
Chito Martínez	83	198	53	.268	5	25
David Segui	115	189	44	.233	1	17
Jeff Tackett	65	179	43	.240	5	24
Sam Horn	63	162	38	.235	5	19
Tim Hulett	57	142	41	.289	2	21
Luis Mercedes	23	50	7	.140	0	4
Mark Parent	17	34	8	.235	2	4
Steve Scarsone	11	17	3	.176	0	0
Rick Dempsey	8	9	1	.111	0	0
Manny Alexander	4	5	1	.200	0	0
Tommy Shields	2	0	0	----	0	0
Jack Voigt	1	0	0	----	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 Mussina	32	241.0	18	5	2.54	130
Rick Sutcliffe	36	237.1	16	15	4.47	109
Ben McDonald	35	227.0	13	13	4.24	158
Bob Milacki	23	115.2	6	8	5.84	51
Arthur Rhodes	15	94.1	7	5	3.63	77
José Mesa	13	67.2	3	8	5.19	22
Craig Lefferts	5	33.0	1	3	4.09	23
Richie Lewis	2	6.2	0	2	10.80	4

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
Gregg Olson	60	1	5	36	2.05	58
Todd Frohwirth	65	4	3	4	2.46	58
Storm Davis	48	7	3	4	3.43	53
Mike Flanagan	42	0	0	0	8.05	17
Alan Mills	35	10	4	2	2.61	60
Pat Clements	23	2	0	0	3.28	9
Mark Williamson	12	0	0	1	0.96	14
Jim Poole	6	0	0	0	0.00	3

Awards and honors

• Cal Ripken Jr., shortstop, Roberto Clemente Award

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Jerry Narron
AA	Hagerstown Suns	Eastern League	Don Buford
A	Frederick Keys	Carolina League	Bob Miscik
A	Kane County Cougars	Midwest League	Joel Youngblood
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Mike O'Berry
Rookie	GCL Orioles	Gulf Coast League	Phillip Wellman

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bluefield^[5]

References

1. Jeff Robinson page at Baseball Reference
2. "Amalio Carreño". Baseball Reference. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
3. "FOX Sports on MSN - MLB - Top 10 ballparks". Archived from the original on September 15, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
4. Juan Bell page at Baseball Reference
5. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

• 1992 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
• 1992 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com