1971 Baltimore Orioles season

Offseason

• December 16, 1970: Roger Freed was traded by the Orioles to the Philadelphia Phillies for Grant Jackson, Jim Hutto and Sam Parrilla

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

• Mark Belanger (SS)
• Paul Blair (CF)
• Elrod Hendricks (C)
• Davey Johnson (2B)
• Dave McNally (P)
• Boog Powell (1B)
• Merv Rettenmund (LF)
• Brooks Robinson (3B)
• Frank Robinson (RF)

Notable transactions

• May 28, 1971: Jim Hardin was traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Bill Burbach.
• May 28, 1971: Dave Boswell was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.

Draft picks

• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
  • Randy Stein was drafted by the Orioles in the 1st round (23rd pick).
  • Kiko Garcia was drafted by the Orioles in the 3rd round. Player signed June 27, 1971.

Roster

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Postseason

ALCS

Main article: 1971 American League Championship Series

Baltimore Orioles defeat the Oakland Athletics, 3–0

World Series

Main article: 1971 World Series

NL Pittsburgh Pirates (4) vs. AL Baltimore Orioles (3)

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Miami, Bluefield

Japan tour

Three days after the conclusion of the World Series, the Orioles embarked on a tour of Japan to play 18 games against Nippon Professional Baseball competition beginning on October 23. The team had accepted the invitation to participate in the Yomiuri Shimbun-sponsored event at the start of the calendar year on January 1. Included in the 12–2–4 overall record was the Orioles going undefeated at 8–0–3 in head-to-head competition against the Yomiuri Giants which was owned by the tour's sponsor and had recently captured its seventh consecutive Japan Series championship.

The Japanese point of view of high hopes entering the exhibitions and the disappointment with the unfavorably lopsided results is chronicled in Robert Whiting's 1977 book The Chrysanthemum and the Bat.

Source: Baltimore Orioles 1972 Media Guide (scroll down to pages 25 and 26).

References

Bibliography

References

1. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/1971.shtml 1971 Baltimore Orioles Statistics and Roster – Baseball-Reference.com] {{webarchive. link. (March 1, 2009)
2. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/f/freedro01.shtml Roger Freed page at Baseball Reference]
3. [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1971&t=BAL 1971 Baltimore Orioles Roster by Baseball Almanac]
4. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/burbabi01.shtml Bill Burbach page at Baseball Reference]
5. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bosweda01.shtml Dave Boswell page at Baseball Reference]
6. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/steinra02.shtml Randy Stein page at Baseball Reference]
7. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garciki01.shtml Kiko Garcia page at Baseball Reference]
8. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1971_WS.shtml 1971 World Series – PIT vs. BAL – Baseball-Reference.com]
9. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/02/archives/orioles-to-tour-japan.html "Orioles to Tour Japan," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Friday, January 1, 1971.] Retrieved March 22, 2023.
10. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1984/10/28/orioles-look-anemic-losing-1st-to-carp-1-0/cb0c6ad8-229b-48b0-9efa-dedd697ebc61/ "Orioles Look Anemic, Losing 1st to Carp, 1–0," ''The Washington Post'', Sunday, October 28, 1984.] Retrieved March 24, 2023.
11. [https://japanesebaseball.com/writers/display.gsp?id=43551 "''The Chrysanthemum and the Bat''," ''Kirkus Reviews'', August 15, 1977.] Retrieved March 22, 2023.
12. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/28/archives/orioles-beat-yomiuri-giants.html "Orioles Beat Yomiuri Giants," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Wednesday, October 27, 1971.] Retrieved March 22, 2023.
13. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/31/archives/orioles-rained-out-in-japan.html "Orioles Rained Out in Japan," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Saturday, October 30, 1971.] Retrieved March 22, 2023.
14. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/02/archives/orioles-win-in-japan-20.html "Orioles Win in Japan, 2-0," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Monday, November 1, 1971.] Retrieved March 24, 2023.
15. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/10/archives/orioles-suffer-first-japan-loss-bow-82-to-team-of-tokyo-giants-and.html "Orioles Suffer First Japan Loss," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Tuesday, November 9, 1971.] Retrieved March 22, 2023.
16. [https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-baltimore-orioles-1971-japan-trip/ Glassman, Steven M. "The Baltimore Orioles' 1971 Japan Trip," Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).] Retrieved March 22, 2023.