Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Baltimore Orioles' 1970 World Series championship team is not merely an exercise in nostalgia, nor has the commemoration of past Orioles glory been a regular exercise of the present Bird regime. For example, witness the near absence of attention several years ago to the 1966 champions, the team's first World Series winners, who swept the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers and their Hall of Fame pitching tandem of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.
So it is appropriate that on Saturday, the present Oriole organization will honor one of baseball history's greatest teams, the 1970 squad that dismantled another of the era's dominant teams, the Cincinnati Reds and their "Big Red Machine" of Johnny Bench and Pete Rose.
The 1970 Orioles were the centerpiece of the most dominant era in Baltimore baseball history; beginning with the arrival of Frank Robinson in 1966, who won the Triple Crown (leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in) and Most Valuable Player award, and the naming of Earl Weaver as manager in 1968.
The following season, 1969, saw the Orioles win 109 games and capture the first of three consecutive American League titles — a feat accomplished by only three other AL franchises, the New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers, and the Athletics of both Philadelphia and Oakland — only to be upset in the World Series by the "miracle" New York Mets.
The Orioles in 1970 won 108 games, on their way to an astounding 318 victories over three seasons, finishing 15 games ahead of the Yankees, spending all but seven days of the season in first place, and remaining there to stay after April 21.
Hitting, pitching and defense — the 1970 Orioles excelled in all three. Playing in pitcher-friendly Memorial Stadium, the Orioles led the league in runs scored and had a "murderer's row" lineup in which every regular, except shortstop Mark Belanger, hit 10 or more homers, with American League MVP Boog Powell leading the way with 35.
As for pitching, the Orioles led the league in earned run average and had three 20-game winners in Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar (24 wins each) and Jim Palmer (20 victories). The trio combined for 54 of the team's 60 complete games — that's right, pitch-count aficionados, 60 complete games, the most in baseball. As a result, Oriole relievers had only 31 saves on the season, the third fewest in the American League.
The Orioles were second in American League fielding, led by perennial Gold Glove winner Brooks Robinson at third base (on his way to 16 consecutive awards). Center fielder Paul Blair, Mr. Belanger and Mr. Jim Palmer each won Gold Gloves in their careers, and Mr. Robinson in right field and Davey Johnson at second base were both always underrated at their positions.
After the sting of defeat by the Mets in 1969, the Orioles were a team on a mission the next season. After winning the Eastern Division, they made short order of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Championship Series, then took the first two World Series games in Cincinnati before winning the first of three at Memorial Stadium. Only a late home run by Lee May — a future Oriole — in Game 4 stood in the way of complete Baltimore dominance.
However, Mr. Cuellar, after allowing three early Reds runs in Game 5, would finish with a complete game, as the Oriole bats pounded out an eventual 9-3 victory for the World Series championship. Brooks Robinson, with clutch hitting and his extraordinary (even for him) mastery in the field, would win the series MVP award.
The 1970 World Series was not the end for Bird dominance. The next season, the Orioles won 101 games and the American League title (over Charlie Finley's up and coming Oakland A's), before losing a tough seven-game World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates and their MVP right fielder, Roberto Clemente.
The Orioles of 1970 were, of course, a great team on the field, but they had a stable front office with owner Jerrold Hoffberger (who ran National Bohemian Brewery), executive vice president Frank Cashen and general manager Harry Dalton. The players were a group of strong personalities who nonetheless got along well and were always team-oriented. Mr. Weaver, an advocate of using his entire 25 man roster, played three catchers, platooned his outfielders and utilized pinch hitters in those pre-designated hitter days. After their playing and managing careers, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Mr. Palmer and Mr. Weaver were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame.
Sadly, a number of players from the team of 40 years ago have left us, including Messrs. Belanger, Cuellar and McNally; catcher (and later coach) Elrod Hendricks; outfielder Curt Motton; and rookie catcher Johnny Oates (who was later an Orioles manager). So it is fitting that this team, fundamentally sound in every phase of the game, which Mr. Weaver called "the best damn team in baseball," and which baseball historians Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein in their book Baseball Dynasties rank as one of the three greatest in history (after the 1939 Yankees with Joe DiMaggio and the 1998 Yankees with Derek Jeter, et. al., who won 114 games) should be honored.
So celebrating the 1970 Orioles is not simply an exercise in nostalgia but recognition of one of baseball's all-time best teams, and the greatest of Oriole teams — period.
William J. Thompson is a history instructor at Stevenson University. His e-mail address is wthompson@stevenson.edu.