Spirit of '83

Orioles: Twenty years later, the principals still have fresh memories of the O's last world title, and the satisfaction of putting the Phillies away after letting the Pirates off the hook.

By Peter Schmuck | Sun Staff

June 28, 2003

The Orioles didn't have to travel far during the 1983 World Series, but they were carrying a lot of baggage when they faced the star-studded Philadelphia Phillies 20 years ago.

"We were determined - after what happened in 1979 - that this team was not going to let up," said Mike Flanagan, an Orioles pitcher then and now a vice president of the club, which is in the midst of a series with the Phillies this weekend and is commemorating that Series.

"We were up three games to one against the Pirates and didn't bring it home. In 1980, we won 100 games and went home, 1981 was the strike season and we lost on the last day of the season in 1982. We'd had good season after good season and had nothing to show for it."

The 1982 season, which came down to a climactic final series against the Milwaukee Brewers, was particularly disappointing, because the Orioles wanted to send retiring manager Earl Weaver out with another World Series championship.

"I remember seeing everyone come into spring training [in '83], and it was a completely different feeling," Orioles coach Elrod Hendricks said. "They were all business. You could see that there was something. ... Nobody ever said it, but they wanted it for Earl in '82, his last year, and they fell short. Once the '83 season started, they never looked back."

The '83 Orioles won 98 games and finished the regular season with a six-game cushion over the second-place Detroit Tigers. They lost the opener of the best-of-five American League Championship Series to a Chicago White Sox team that had won the AL West by 20 games, but won the next three games in a row to advance to the Fall Classic against a Phillies team loaded with future Hall of Famers.

"They had Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Joe Morgan and Steve Carlton," catcher Rick Dempsey said. "Those were names that were almost invincible. How were you ever going to overcome that winning tradition? I don't think anyone would have been surprised if they had won in five games."

Except that most of those superstars were in the twilight of their careers. The Phillies were so old that they were known affectionately as the "Wheeze Kids." They limped through a difficult season before upsetting the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, then feigned offense when a solid majority of media prognosticators picked the Orioles to win the World Series.

"It was not our best team as far as personnel," said Flanagan, who started Game 3 at Veterans Stadium, "but the good thing was, they were a lot older than we were."

Falling in Game 1

That didn't seem to matter, however, when veteran right-hander John Denny gave up just five hits over 7 2/3 innings and home runs by Morgan and Garry Maddox carried the Phillies to a 2-1 victory in Game 1.

The Orioles could take some solace that they had lost the opener of the ALCS by the same score and rebounded by running the table against the White Sox, but the loss created tremendous pressure to salvage a split of the first two games at Memorial Stadium.

Rookie pitcher Mike Boddicker stepped into the breach and delivered a masterful three-hit performance to even the series with a 4-1 victory. The 26-year-old right-hander, who became the media darling of the postseason because he spent offseasons working in a grain elevator near his home in Iowa, struck out six and did not allow an earned run in his World Series debut.

In the turning-point second game, the turning point came in the fifth inning, when outfielder John Lowenstein tied the game with a leadoff home run and Dempsey gave the Orioles the lead with an RBI double to right field. No one could have known it at the time, but that hit would turn the 80th World Series into a life-changing experience for the occasionally goofy 34-year-old catcher.

"Charlie Hudson threw me a fastball up and away, and I hit it off the wall in right field," Dempsey said. "That one at-bat was the best at-bat of my career, and it lifted a great weight off my back. I finally had done something offensively for the club that was really significant."

It was only the beginning. Dempsey would go on to deliver a pair of doubles and score a big run in Game 3. He also had two hits and drove in a run in the decisive 5-0 victory that gave the Orioles their third world championship.

Dempsey still shakes his head in disbelief when he remembers the moment that he found out he had been named World Series Most Valuable Player.

"That was one thing that never crossed my mind the entire World Series," he said. "I came off the field and somebody yelled, `Hey, Dempsey, you're the MVP.' Then it hit me - boom - and I thought, `How the heck did that happen?' "

There were several strong individual performances, but no one dominated the series. Scott McGregor gave up just two runs over 17 innings, but split his two starts. Eddie Murray hit two home runs in Game 5 - one of them a mammoth blast that hit his name on the scoreboard - but was not a major factor in the first four games. Cal Ripken had won the American League MVP award during the regular season, but had just three hits in 18 at-bats. Dempsey made an impact on three of the four Orioles victories.

"I think I was the first MVP [position player] to ever get pinch hit for, and not once but twice," Dempsey said. "I had five hits in the series. Scott McGregor pitched two great games and could easily have been voted MVP. Eddie didn't have a lot of hits up to the last game, but he hit two home runs. If the series had gone seven games, I'm sure that Eddie or Cal would have been the MVP.

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Spirit of '83

Orioles: Twenty years later, the principals still have fresh memories of the O's last world title, and the satisfaction of putting the Phillies away after letting the Pirates off the hook.

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