Baltimore Orioles Baseball: '1989 Baltimore Orioles: "Why Not?"'

Source:Baltimore Orioles Baseball- the Orioles against I believe the Anaheim Angels, in 1989.

"This music video is from the VHS documentary of the 1989 Baltimore Orioles.  

The 1988 Baltimore Orioles started the '88 season 0-21 and finished that year with a record of just 54 wins, and 108 losses.  So when the 1989 season began, no one gave the Orioles a chance to even compete.  But the young and hungry Orioles had something to prove, going 87-75 and finishing just two games out of first place in the American League East.  During that season, the term, "WHY NOT?", was coined by Oriole fans, and  it has lived with us since that magical season." 

From Baltimore Orioles Baseball

The Orioles literally came out of nowhere in 1989 to be AL East contenders after having one of the worst teams of all time in 1988. Which is one of the reasons why they were so successful in 1989 because they surprised so many people. 

A lot of the Orioles success started in 1988, by calling up pitcher Bob Milacki and trading for power hitting catcher Mickey Tettleton. And in the offseason of 1988-89 by trading their best player in Eddie Murray to the Los Angeles Dodgers and getting 1B Randy Milligan and OF Mike Deveraux who both contributed to the Orioles success of 1989, as well as in 1992. 

The 1989 Orioles weren't really great anywhere except on defense, but they had three reliable starting pitchers they could count on in Jeff Ballard who only had one good year in his entire MLB career but that year was 1989. To go along with Bob Milacki and Dave Schmidt and Dave Johnson came up during that year and won some big games for them. And they had a solid bullpen that could hold leads with Greg Olson closing out games. And 2-3 hitters in their lineup they could rely on to hit big home runs and drive in runs. Cal Ripken, Mickey Tettleton and Craig Worthington, and Phil Bradley at the top of the lineup.

The 1989 Orioles were a lot of fun to watch and it made going back to Baltimore Memorial Stadium fun again because you knew that the Orioles had a good shot at winning again. And without 1989, the Orioles would've had a harder time getting Oriole Park at least when they did. And their financial situation in the 1990s would've looked at lot different having to play at Baltimore Memorial Stadium for perhaps another five years, with Baltimore still trying to land a pro football franchise. So 1989 was critical for the Orioles success.