All-Time Young Orioles Team

A few days ago ESPN.com ran a piece on the best seasons by players 22 years old and younger. Interesting reading. Here is a similar rundown for the All-Time Young Orioles Team. Criteria is 23 years old or less, minimum 200 AB, only that year taken into account.

C--Matt Wieters, 2009 (23). There aren't too many young catchers to pick from in Oriole history. Wieters' solid rookie season gets the nod.

1B--Eddie Murray, 1979 (23). Young Eddie rocked the American League that year. His .295/.369/.475 slash line with 25 HR helped the O's to the World Series.

2B--Bobby Grich, 1972 (23). This was Grich's breakout year (.278/.358/.415) and his first appearance in an All-Star game. He actually played more games at short than at 2nd in 1972, but this team already has a pretty good shortstop...

SS--Cal Ripken, 1983 (22). Cal won his first MVP this year and led the Orioles to their last World Series win. His .888 OPS was the second highest of any Oriole 23 years old or younger.

3B--Brooks Robinson, 1960 (23). Brooks won his first Gold Glove this year and went to his first All-Star game. Cal Ripken played his rookie season at third and really could have been here but I love the thought of a Murray/Grich/Ripken/Robinson infield. Even if it is only in my fantasies.

LF--Curt Blefary, 1965 (21). Curt is a player who is often forgotten by contemporary Oriole fans but he had some outstanding years in the mid '60s. He was Rookie of the Year in '65, pounding 22 HRs. After a down year in '68 the O's traded him for Mike Cuellar.

CF--Paul Blair, 1967 (23). This was the hardest spot for me to decide. You could make reasonable arguments for Adam Jones ('09) or Rich Coggins ('73). I went with Blair because of his glove. A .293/.353/.446 line doesn't hurt either.

RF--Nick Markakis, 2007, (23). Markakis is slumping so badly now it seems like a lifetime ago that he was 23 and every phase of his game improved every day. In '07 he OPSed .848 and started to build his reputation for nailing base runners.

DH--Boog Powell, 1964 (22). OK, so Boog played before the DH era. Still, I had to get both Boog and Eddie Murray on the team. After all, Boog had the best offensive season of any Young Oriole. In '64 his OPS was a beastly 1.005 with 39 HRs. He led the league with a .606 slugging percentage. BEASTLY, I say!!!

P--Mike Mussina, 1992 (23). At 23 years old Mussina was already the unquestioned leader of the pitching staff. He threw 241 innings, compiling a 2.54 ERA. The Orioles have had a lot of great young pitchers in their history but Mussina stands out.

P--Jim Palmer, 1969 (23). When selecting starting pitchers I was heavily influenced by innings pitched. In '69 Palmer pitched 181 innings, the lowest total on the "staff," but I couldn't ignore Palmer's 2.34 ERA and 16-4 record. The league hit .200 against him that year.

P--Wally Bunker, 1964 (19). Wally Bunker is the youngest player to earn his way onto this team. He showed enormous promise in '64, going 19-5 with a 2.69 ERA. Unfortunately he never got close to that level again. After a series of disappointing years the Orioles let him go to the Royals in the expansion draft. Bunker was out of baseball by the time he was 27.

P--Storm Davis 1984 (22). Davis is another pitcher who didn't live up to his early promise but he was awfully good in '84. He only allowed 7 HRs in 225 innings, compiling a 14-9 record, 3.12 ERA.

P--Dave McNally, 1965 (22). Gotta have a lefty in the bunch, right? In his first big year McNally went 11-6 with a 2.85 ERA. He established himself as a major part of the dynasty teams that were right around the corner.

CL--Gregg Olson, 1989 (22). My first impulse was to ignore relief pitchers for this team but I couldn't leave out Olson's incredible '89 season. He won the ROY award and got Cy Young and MVP votes as well. He rode one of the best curveballs I've ever seen to 27 saves and a 1.69 ERA.

As always, these "teams" are more art than science. The pitchers were particularly hard. Milt Pappas, Steve Barber, Ben McDonald, Jerry Walker, Brad Bergesen, and others deserve mention. I feel bad that there wasn't room for Ron Hansen who hit 22 HRs as a 22 year old second baseman in 1960.

My sincere hope is that I get to revamp this team next year to make room for Zach Britton. Maybe in a few years I'll have to figure out how to get Manny Machado in there.