Many of the Orioles fans back then didn’t know that thirty years later, in 2018 more specifically, the Orioles would have an even worse record of 47-115, be dead last in the majors in wins, lose a superstar slugger, Manny Machado in a deal to the Dodgers (who then went to the Padres), and for of course Chris Davis to start what would become a record breaking 0 for 54 slump expanding into 2019.
I remember calling the Orioles when the SI issue came out (0-18) and saying how sorry I was for their troubles. The lady on the other end chuckled and thanked me.
@Schrodinger's Snuffleupagus this year's orioles lost more games and they started 3-0 😆 Edit: it not for surprising win totals vs the Yankees and redsox were talking 1962 Mets here....
I was in high school in the Baltimore area when this happened. The day after that first loss, I was at the Baltimore Science Center with my parents when one of the exhibitors saw my Orioles hat and tried to poke a little fun at the ol' home team. "It's just one game!", I told him defiantly. I was so wrong.
Another joke: Mr Jones was a violent man, beating his son Billy. Billy ran away from home. A policeman found him and asked where he was going. Billy says he's going to Oriole park. The Orioles don't beat anyone.
@@jerometaperman7102 Nope, never heard it ever before I just read his post. I was 16 in '88 and we would have known about it, unless it just circled in old mans language. And if it were in cycle in old man language, Akbar would be about 120 by now and not even know how to type anymore. Have a great day ahead
@@noah_that_bills_fan1613 moneyball will make a competitive team which can win the World Series though spending some money on players wouldn’t hurt I mean unless it does
For me as an modern orioles fan. After knowing how bad the 88 team was initially. It just puts into perspective how bad the 2018 team was, after managing to lose even more games. Pain.
Football fans: You didn't win for 24 days? Eh, so what you lose 4 or 5 games in a row, that happens sometimes- Every other sport: We play almost every single goddamn day, y'know. Football fans: *Oh shit.*
As an A's fan I love that they have been doing well during the regular season but every time they make the postseason my heart sinks knowing they just will blow it
As an orioles fan, I can indeed confirm that it is tough being a member of birdland. I’ll never give up on my O’s though. Someday we’ll be on top again.
I unironically appreciate your optimism. I’m a rays fan, so I know how it feels to be at the bottom. We’re only just starting to look up after like 7 years
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started out at 0-26, but they were a new Franchise. the Orioles had already won a W.S. and started out 0-21. i'd say that's worse, but Ask Steve Spurrier, the QB who got the crap beat out of him for 14 games the 1st year...he might disagree with me.
Baseball players are mentally tough. They have to be because they play almost every day. Can’t get too high when you win, or too low when you lose. But to go through something like this is something that would bring down even the mentally tough. There’s only so much failure anyone can take.
While I recall that streak (yes, I am old enough), the team didn't feel that awful and the team bounced back the next year.... not like the current Orioles.
Actually I'd like to see him cover some bad teams as I find them interesting. Since the modern World Series, the 1962 Mets aren't the worst: 1916 Philadelphia Athletics 36 117 .235 1935 Boston Braves 38 115 .248 1962 New York Mets 40 120 .250 And Babe Ruth finished his career with those Braves. Digging back into the late 1800's: 1899 Cleveland Spiders 20 134 .130 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys 23 113 .169 1883 Philadelphia Quakers 17 81 .173 1889 Louisville Colonels 27 111 .196 Louisville was in the American Association, the rest were in the National League. The Spiders and Colonels are defunct franchises. The Quakers changed their name to the Phillies in 1890 and the Alleghenys changed their name to the Pirates in 1891.
I think from a baseball psychology standpoint. The opponent would expect or anticipate a 0-10 team would be "Due for a win" and would play harder. Whereas a 10-0 team might be due for a loss.
The past is history and we learn. Positive mind set...Orioles were always a good team regardless and they were dominating in the 70's and always in the playoffs
A bad season was going to happen for the Orioles. Ok maybe not an 0-21 start. But, after winning the World Series in 83, many of the core players from the 70's retired or were older and closer to retirement- Singleton, Al Bumbry, Scotty Mac, Dempsey. Then top prospects didn't pan out, Mike Young, Sheets-to a certain degree, and a bunch of pitchers. Then the Orioles tried a quick fix in 85, signing Fred Lynn, Don Aase, and Lee Lacy. Part of that had to due with the owner Williams who was battling cancer and wanted to see a winning team. So, I understand why they did it, but it wasn't a good move. They even brought back Earl Weaver, but he didn't have the players. The 89 Orioles, with Greg Olsen and could other players who had their career years, almost won the AL East.
Thanks for this one Stark Raving Sports/Mike, it brought back an AMAZING memory! Oh Boy...do I remember the 87 O's. I was at the game between the O's and the Jays, Sept 14, 1987 at Exhibition Stadium in TO when Cal Sr, ended Cal Jr;s consecutive inning streak of 8243. On this night the Blue Jays pounded 10 Home Runs on the way to beating the toasted O's 18-3. It was such a wacky wild game with all those dingers that I lost my voice from "yahooing" basically all night. It might be worth showcasing as a sequel to this video. Cheers!
The 2021 Orioles as of this post are sadly approaching that mark again, and already have become the first team to have two losing streakings of at least 14 games in the same season since the 1935 Boston Braves, and have the highest margin of defeat in Major League History since way back in the inaugural 1876 season for the current 15-game losing streak. Even drawing 10,000 fans is a challenge nowadays, compared to the frequent sellouts at Camden Yards during the '90s. The pitching is even worse now than in '88 with a team era of 5.85! I've never lived to experience a pennant and a World Series appearance like my dad did, who grew up during those glory years.
Their owner, Edward Bennet Williams, took over the team in 1979 and started eviscerating the farm system, so they became dependent on free agents. Roland Hemond took over the team in 1988 and rejuvenated player development, so they played respectably over the next several seasons. Then another lawyer, Peter Angelos, wrecked the team again.
@2:31 - the Cleveland Indians didn't use the "C" as their logo in 1988, but Chief Wahoo. Please don't don't try to rewrite history as fact, that's a disgrace.
I remember this season like it was yesterday---unfortunately. Ironically, as the losses piled up, the Orioles became the team no one wanted to play because no one wanted to be the first team to lose to them.
Dang i'm just happy Orioles are still in Baltimore at this point. Were 23-13 This year and im so proud what weve been able to do so far no matter how the out come it is ths year 2023 World Series Champions ! lol I'm Predicting now hoping me and my Dad gets to see us win one Together 🙏
I saw the Orioles play the twins on a Monday night, the last week of the streak. An Orioles player took a swing and corkscrewed his way to the ground after missing a pitch. It was a very sad sight. I was a twins fan and believe me they were no champions, though they won two titles around that time. Sorta by luck. But watching the Orioles that night I never felt so sorry and sad for a baseball team. This is the stuff of Legends.
Oh my god this puts something into so much context for me. The Orioles had a promotional VHS tape for fans that I had as a kid, my grandmother had it at her house where I used to go after school every day and I watched it dozens of times. It was called "Baltimore Orioles: 1989 Why Not?" Now knowing this comes off the back of the season of pain it feels so much different to know this wasnt just a happy go lucky thing for a 3rd or 4th place team.
Lived in Arlington VA for this. One of the local radio stations (think it was 105, but don't quote me on that) used to have a 10 songs in a row commercial free block, and decided they would extend it with the O's. Ended up being like an hour and a half to 2 hours, then an hour of commercials.
Yea but in 18 we knew it was going to be bad, the great Buck Showalter g9ne, hotheads like Manny sent away for being an expensive dirty player...poofed away.
Lol I'm just happy and jealous of myself at being a Cardinals fan, cuz after seeing this, I realize how lucky I've been that we are almost always contending or in the playoffs
I loved these days at old Memorial Stadium. Im a Phillies fan but my dad and uncle would take us to Baltimore from Jersey for the weekend to see the Orioles for 2 games along with the Inner harbor. I always remembered being blown away at real grass opposed to the Vet Stadium turf.
There is a part 2 to this story. The Oriole returned to Baltimore at 1 and 23 to face Texas on what was called "fantastic fan night". They won before a crowd of over 50k screaming fans! There it was announced that the Orioles has signed a 15 year lease to play at a new stadium to be built in the Camden Yards industrial area near the Harbor.... Do a youtube or google search on Orioles fantastic fan night 1988 for more information. And as others have mentioned they almost came in first in 1989!
This was the prequel for one of the most exciting seasons I have ever had as a Baltimore Orioles fan. The 1989 Why Not? Season. Went into the final series against division leader Toronto with a chance to overtake or tie them but fell short.
I was 12 years old when I witnessed this madness. My father was a lifelong O’s fan who watched every game. To say he was miserable would’ve been the understatement of the century.
As an Orioles fan I stopped watching baseball when Eddie Murray was traded as a scapegoat. So this season is one of my last Memories of watching baseball regularly
The Orioles turned it around in 1989. They unexpectedly competed for the AL East crown finishing 2nd, 2 games behind the Blue Jays. They went to Toronto for a season ending 3 game series 1 game behind the Jays but lost the first two games of that series to be eliminated on the next to last day of the season. Btw, this Orioles team is not the worst in franchise history. They are the 7th worst. 1939 St. Louis Browns 43 111 .279 2018 Baltimore Orioles 47 115 .290 1911 St. Louis Browns 45 107 .296 1937 St. Louis Browns 46 108 .299 1910 St. Louis Browns 47 107 .305 2019 Baltimore Orioles 54 108 .333 1988 Baltimore Orioles 54 107 .335
Say what you will about this losing streak, but nothing will ever hold a candle to the infamous Earl Weaver rant from back in the day. You old timers know I'm talking about & for the younger generation, just type in Earl Weaver Rant & you'll see for yourselves what I mean. In one word to describe that one, CLASSIC!!!
As a White Sox fan this is depressing to see that the Orioles beat that 21 game losing streak.......but at least the Sox currently swept them before the All-Star break. Thank you, Baltimore. 😂
@StarkRavingSport, you might considered to come up with new version since this 2021's Baltimore Orioles are back it with another possibility to breaK their own record and even the old time at least in losing streak at any time of the season.
And now, with a 5-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics on August 5, 2024, the 2024 Chicago White Sox have now lost 21 straight games, tying the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.
As someone who lived through that time as an Orioles fan, I remember a joke a sports journalist made. "Why are the Orioles like Michael Jackson? They both wear a single glove for no reason."
Rex Barney former Brooklyn Dodgers flamethrower was the P.A. Announcer at Memorial Stadium and as long as I can remember (at least 1978) he would say that line after a nice grab by a fan. He was one of the best.
I still remember this because the second Brewers series happened during my chicken pox bout when I was eight...and it was fun watching all this go on and watching the Brewers announcers gleeful over their horribleness.
In 1988 the started broadcasting the oriel's and people in my area had a choice, the braves were the only option before, and the oriel's then continued to be record shatteringly horrible, it was fun
This is when it all started going to shit for the orioles. Only a few years later, the Angelos family would buy the team and the rest is unfortunately history.
Prior to 1983, the Baltimore Orioles always had winning teams for three decades. Surely they were about to feel the aftershock in not drafting good players in the later years. Same thing happened to the great Yankees teams in the 60s. They suffered for a decade. They had Roy White and Thurman Munson. However, Steinbrenner infused some free agent talent to make them a dynasty. The game is ran on cycles eventually the Orioles will come around...
in AFL (Australian Rules Football) a team called the sydney swans went 0-6 to start an 23 game season in 2017 before only losing 2 the rest of the year and coming 5th in league.
