The St. Louis Browns. The Milwaukee Brewers — no, really, just for one year. The team we know as the Baltimore Orioles has had a few identities in their 125-year history, but none for as long as their current one, which began in 1954.
Baltimore is also where almost the entirety of the franchise’s success has occurred: they made the World Series just once in their 52 seasons in St. Louis (and the one in Milwaukee). It should be no surprise that their all-time team has been built from their second act — which includes six World Series appearances, three championships, and multiple Hall of Famers.
Manager: Earl Weaver
The funny thing about the initial resistance to sabermetrics in MLB is that these ideas existed years before Bill James, before Baseball Prospectus, before Ivy League grads and bloggers began to join front offices across the league. Thank Earl Weaver for that: his philosophies on building a potent offense focused on plate discipline and power have been around for longer than some of the franchises that utilize them. Weaver managed the O’s from 1968-82, has more than twice as many wins as the next-best manager, a World Series title and the best winning percentage (.596) of any full-season skipper.
Starting pitcher: Jim Palmer
Jim Palmer spent 20 seasons in Baltimore, but only because no one claimed him on waivers or in 1968’s expansion draft while he suffered a mysterious arm injury. Good thing, too: Palmer led the majors in wins and pitcher WAR in 1975, won at least 20 games on eight occasions and remains first all-time for the Orioles with 268. Palmer wrapped his career with 20 more WAR than the next-best starter, Mike Mussina, and his 10-year peak featured a 2.52 ERA (139 ERA+) and four seasons of 300-plus innings. Palmer was on all three World Series-winning O’s teams.
(Photo by Louis Requena/MLB via Getty Images)
Reliever/closer: Zack Britton
There’s more to Zack Britton’s career than Buck Showalter leaving him to rot in the bullpen in a wild card game. He spent eight years with the Orioles, posting a 3.22 ERA, but that doesn’t tell the whole story, either. Britton became Baltimore’s closer in 2014, after three years as a below-average reliever, and everything clicked into place: from that point through 2018, he produced a 2.14 ERA and 139 saves, the second-most in franchise history. Gregg Olson never had a season like Britton’s 2016, however: 47 saves with just four runs allowed, for an 0.54 ERA.
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Catcher: Rick Dempsey
Home runs and walks were key to Earl Weaver’s successful Orioles teams, but there was another element that tied it all together: defense. Rick Dempsey never won a Gold Glove, but modern statistics recognize his greatness behind the dish just as Weaver did. Dempsey compiled over 17 defensive WAR in his career, 79th-most in MLB history. While not known for his bat, he was rarely better at the plate than with Baltimore, which is also where his five most-valuable seasons out of 24 in MLB were played. Oh, and he hit a cool .308/.372/.564 across three World Series.
(Photo by Focus on Sport via Getty Images)
1B: Eddie Murray
Eddie Murray is third in at-bats and plate appearances for the Orioles, fourth in hits (2,080), second in home runs (343), third in total bases (3,522) and RBIs (1,224) and sixth in walks (884) despite all those knocks. “Steady Eddie” played for the Orioles from age 21 in 1977 through 1988, hitting .294/.370/.498. The 1983 World Series-winning season was one of his best in Baltimore, at .306/.393/.549 with 33 homers and 111 RBIs — Murray finished second for the MVP, won a Gold Glove at first base, and was awarded the Silver Slugger.
(Photo by MLB via Getty Images)
2B: Brian Roberts
Roberts began as a defensive specialist, but his bat improved, resulting in a monster 2005 with a .314/.387/.515 line, 70 extra-base hits and 27 steals. Roberts led the American League in doubles in 2004 (50) and MLB in 2009 (56), and in between led the AL in steals with 50 in 2007. While his skills faltered as he entered his mid-30s, Roberts’ peak produced a .287/.361/.428 line worth over 29 WAR, and he ranks third all-time on the O’s in steals (278), fourth in doubles (351), ninth in walks (581) and 10th in extra-base hits (478).
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
3B: Brooks Robinson
Brooks Robinson was the quintessential Oriole, the first true, sustained star for the organization. “Mr. Oriole” spent 23 years with Baltimore: he debuted at 18 in 1955, and retired at 40. Robinson would win 16 Gold Gloves at third base; while it took time for his bat to get going, from 1960 through 1971, he hit .277/.331/.432, and won the 1964 MVP. Robinson twice led the AL in WAR, and neither of those were his best season: that would be 1968, in which he was worth a league-leading 4.5 wins on defense, the sixth-best mark ever.
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
SS: Cal Ripken Jr.
If anyone rivals Brooks Robinson as “Mr. Oriole,” it’s Cal Ripken Jr. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 1982 at 21, which was also the last time he missed a game until September 20, 1998, well after he’d surpassed Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak of 2,130: Ripken pushed his own to 2,632. He did more than just show up to work, however: Ripken won the 1983 MVP, made 19 consecutive All-Star teams from ‘83 through 2001, and, at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, normalized the now-common idea of a taller shortstop with his elite play. Thanks, Earl Weaver.
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
OF: Frank Robinson
Not content with one star named Robinson, the Orioles added a second in 1966. All Frank Robinson did was win his second MVP award by securing the Triple Crown, making him the first player to be given those honors in both leagues. Robinson might have been at his best at the plate that year, but he was always great: across six seasons with the O’s, he somehow produced 32 WAR while hitting .300/.401/.543 with 179 homers. With 586 career home runs, Robinson ranks 10th in MLB — the all-time great was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
OF: Brady Anderson
It took Brady Anderson four years to break through, but in 1992 he batted .271/.383/.449 with 21 homers and 53 steals, while earning the first of three All-Star nods. His peak was long, with Anderson being above-average at the plate — or far better — from 1992 through 2000, a stretch in which he hit .270/.378/.465 with 191 homers and 246 steals. While always a power-speed combo player once his bat came around, Anderson heavily leaned power in ‘96 with a surprise 50 homers. He’s fourth in Orioles’ history in extra-base hits (602) and second in steals (307).
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
OF: Adam Jones
The Orioles went through an extended stretch of fourth- and fifth-place finishes after their 90s resurgence came to a close. Adam Jones, acquired in a 2008 trade that it’s impolite to ask Mariners fans about, was at the center of this renaissance and three postseason appearances. Jones would win four Gold Gloves with Baltimore to go with five All-Star appearances, three seasons with MVP votes, and a Silver Slugger. He finished fifth in Orioles’ history in hits (1,781), extra-base hits (595) and home runs (263), and was elected to the team’s Hall of Fame in 2025.
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
DH: Boog Powell
Boog Powell isn’t here because he has one of the greatest baseball names ever, but because he paired that name with a bat deserving of it. The 1970 AL MVP was the Orioles’ power-hitting first baseman in the years before Eddie Murray’s arrival, and he kept that seat more than warm: Powell was, at one time, Baltimore’s home run leader with 303, but now sits third behind Murray and Ripken Jr. — not bad company at all. In 33 postseason games, Powell went deep six times, and slugged .592 for his career in the ALCS thanks to four of those homers.
(Photo by Louis Requena/MLB via Getty Images)
Honorable mention:
- Buck Showalter (manager)
- Mike Mussina (starting pitcher)
- Dave McNally (starting pitcher)
- Gregg Olson (reliever/closer)
- Chris Hoiles (catcher)
- Rafael Palmeiro (1B)
- Chris Davis (1B)
- Roberto Alomar (2B)
- Bobby Grich (2B)
- Manny Machado (3B)
- Melvin Mora (3B)
- BJ Surhoff (OF)
- Paul Blair (OF)
- Don Buford (OF)
- Miguel Tejada (DH)
- Heinie Manush (DH)
- George Sisler (DH)
- Ken Williams (DH)
- Harold Baines (DH)
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