Best duos in Baltimore Orioles history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Baltimore Orioles history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 1970 Baltimore Orioles
- Paul Blair: 5.9 WAR (#14 position player in 1970)
- Jim Palmer: 6.4 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1970)
- Total: 12.3 WAR
#9. 1976 Baltimore Orioles
- Mark Belanger: 6.5 WAR (#7 position player in 1976)
- Jim Palmer: 6.5 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1976)
- Total: 13 WAR
#8. 1977 Baltimore Orioles
- Ken Singleton: 5.7 WAR (#13 position player in 1977)
- Jim Palmer: 7.3 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1977)
- Total: 13 WAR
#7. 1978 Baltimore Orioles
- Doug DeCinces: 6.8 WAR (#4 position player in 1978)
- Jim Palmer: 6.4 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1978)
- Total: 13.2 WAR
#6. 1992 Baltimore Orioles
- Brady Anderson: 5.2 WAR (#26 position player in 1992)
- Mike Mussina: 8.2 WAR (#3 pitcher in 1992)
- Total: 13.4 WAR
#5. 1983 Baltimore Orioles
- Cal Ripken Jr.: 8.2 WAR (#1 position player in 1983)
- Scott McGregor: 5.3 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1983)
- Total: 13.5 WAR
#4. 1973 Baltimore Orioles
- Bobby Grich: 8.3 WAR (#4 position player in 1973)
- Jim Palmer: 6.3 WAR (#8 pitcher in 1973)
- Total: 14.6 WAR
#3. 1991 Baltimore Orioles
- Cal Ripken Jr.: 11.5 WAR (#1 position player in 1991)
- Todd Frohwirth: 3.3 WAR (#40 pitcher in 1991)
- Total: 14.8 WAR
#2. 1984 Baltimore Orioles
- Cal Ripken Jr.: 10 WAR (#1 position player in 1984)
- Mike Boddicker: 5.2 WAR (#5 pitcher in 1984)
- Total: 15.2 WAR
#1. 1975 Baltimore Orioles
- Bobby Grich: 7.3 WAR (#5 position player in 1975)
- Jim Palmer: 8.4 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1975)
- Total: 15.7 WAR
