8th October 1879
The fans of the Orioles never saw their team in contention to retain their AL pennant this year. The team struggled early in the season to get going. They were well behind come the All Star Break and it was only strong months in July and August that pulled them up to the position of 3rd in the AL table. The fans will be looking for a better start to the season next year if the team are to move back to the top of the standings.
The final four games of the season saw them lose 2-5 against the St Louid Brown Stockings followed by a 1-2 series loss on the road to the Philadelphia Athletics 3-4, 2-4 and 4-1. Jack Manning tore a hip flexor tendon during these games and will be on the treatment table for between 5 and 6 weeks.
The pitching this year was steady for the most part with solid ERA's. The best of the starters was Frank Hankinson. Hankinson, who is in his second year in the league, started 39 of the 84 games and pitched 330.2 innings for 18 wins. He gave up 331 hits and 100 earned runs for an ERA of 2.72
The batting had its good and bad months during the year as they struggled to find consistent form. It is difficult to find a player that shone with the bat during the whole season. If we had to select someone it would probably be Short Stop Jacob Doyle. Doyle joined the club in Early July through a trade with the Brooklyn Atlantics. His time in an Orioles Jersey saw him start 35 games and claim 33 hits from 113 at bats. This gave him an average of .292 for the time with the Orioles. Slightly below his season average of .299. He also scored 17 runs and 8 RBI's for the Orioles.
Full pitching stats for the season
Full batting stats for the season
We will bring you a full off season round up once the First Year Draft has been completed.