2003 Baltimore Orioles season

The 2003 Baltimore Orioles season was the 103rd season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 50th in Baltimore, and the 12th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They improved on their 67–95 (.414) record from the previous year with a 71-91-1 record, but missed the postseason for the 6th straight season.[1]

2003 Baltimore Orioles
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkOriole Park at Camden Yards
CityBaltimore, Maryland
Record71–91-1 (.423)
Divisional place4th
OwnersPeter Angelos
General managersJim Beattie/Mike Flanagan
ManagersMike Hargrove
TelevisionWJZ-TV
WNUV
Comcast SportsNet
(Jim Palmer, Michael Reghi, Buck Martinez)
RadioWBAL (AM)
(Fred Manfra, Jim Hunter)
← 2002 Seasons 2004 →

Offseason

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  • December 2, 2002: Bill Pulsipher was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[2]
  • January 3, 2003: Omar Daal was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[3]
  • March 7, 2003: B. J. Surhoff was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[4]

Steve Bechler

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On February 16, 2003, towards the beginning of Orioles' spring training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Steve Bechler collapsed while participating in conditioning drills. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, and died the next day.[5] His body temperature had reached 108 °F (42 °C).[6] An autopsy performed by Dr. Joshua Perper, a toxicologist, concluded that his death was caused by "'abnormal liver function and mild hypertension', his weight problem (he weighed 230 pounds and was exercising hard,[7] the fact that he was not used to south Florida's warm weather and the toxicity of ephedra.[8] He was using the supplement ephedra, against the advice of his trainer,[9] and probably had not eaten in two days[10] in an effort to lose weight.

Regular season

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Season standings

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AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 101 61 .623 50‍–‍32 51‍–‍29
Boston Red Sox 95 67 .586 6 53‍–‍28 42‍–‍39
Toronto Blue Jays 86 76 .531 15 41‍–‍40 45‍–‍36
Baltimore Orioles 71 91 .438 30 40‍–‍40 31‍–‍51
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 63 99 .389 38 36‍–‍45 27‍–‍54


Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim 1–8 3–6 3–4 6–3 6–1 6–3 5–4 3–6 8–12 8–11 6–3 9–10 2–7 11–7
Baltimore 8–1 9–10 2–4 3–3 3–3 3–4 3–4 6–13–1 2–7 4–5 8–11 7–2 8–11 5–13
Boston 6–3 10–9 5–4 4–2 8–1 5–1 2–4 9–10 3–4 5–2 12–7 5–4 10–9 11–7
Chicago 4–3 4–2 4–5 11–8 11–8 11–8 9–10 4–2 4–5 2–7 3–3 3–4 6–3 10–8
Cleveland 3–6 3–3 2–4 8–11 12–7 6–13 9–10 2–5 3–6 3–6 5–2 4–5 2–4 6–12
Detroit 1–6 3–3 1–8 8–11 7–12 5–14 4–15 1–5 3–6 1–8 2–4 1–6 2–7 4–14
Kansas City 3–6 4–3 1–5 8–11 13–6 14–5 11–8 2–4 2–7 4–5 4–3 7–2 1–5 9–9
Minnesota 4–5 4–3 4–2 10–9 10–9 15–4 8–11 0–7 8–1 3–6 6–0 5–4 3–3 10–8
New York 6–3 13–6–1 10–9 2–4 5–2 5–1 4–2 7–0 3–6 5–4 14–5 4–5 10–9 13–5
Oakland 12–8 7–2 4–3 5–4 6–3 6–3 7–2 1–8 6–3 7–12 6–3 15–4 5–2 9–9
Seattle 11–8 5–4 2–5 7–2 6–3 8–1 5–4 6–3 4–5 12–7 4–5 10–10 3–4 10–8
Tampa Bay 3–6 11–8 7–12 3–3 2–5 4–2 3–4 0–6 5–14 3–6 5–4 3–6 11–8 3–15
Texas 10–9 2–7 4–5 4–3 5–4 6–1 2–7 4–5 5–4 4–15 10–10 6–3 5–4 4–14
Toronto 7–2 11–8 9–10 3–6 4–2 7–2 5–1 3–3 9–10 2–5 4–3 8–11 4–5 10–8


Transactions

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Roster

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2003 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Brook Fordyce 108 348 95 .273 6 31
1B Jeff Conine 124 493 143 .290 15 80
2B Brian Roberts 112 460 124 .270 5 41
SS Deivi Cruz 152 548 137 .250 14 65
3B Tony Batista 161 631 148 .235 26 99
LF Larry Bigbie 83 287 87 .303 9 31
CF Luis Matos 109 439 133 .303 13 45
RF Jay Gibbons 160 625 173 .277 23 100
DH David Segui 67 224 59 .263 5 25

Other batters

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Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Melvin Mora 96 344 109 .317 15 48
B.J. Surhoff 93 319 94 .295 5 41
Jerry Hairston Jr. 58 218 59 .271 2 21
Gerónimo Gil 54 169 40 .237 3 16
Gary Matthews Jr. 41 162 33 .204 2 20
Jack Cust 27 73 19 .260 4 11
José Morban 61 71 10 .141 2 5
José León 21 54 13 .241 0 0
Robert Machado 18 49 13 .265 1 3
Carlos Méndez 26 45 10 .222 0 5
Tim Raines Jr. 20 43 6 .140 0 2
Marty Cordova 9 30 7 .233 1 4
Pedro Swann 8 14 3 .214 1 2

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jason Johnson 32 189.2 10 10 4.18 118
Pat Hentgen 28 160.2 7 8 4.09 100
Sidney Ponson 21 148.0 14 6 3.77 100
Rodrigo López 26 147.0 7 10 5.82 103
Rick Helling 24 138.2 7 8 5.71 86
Omar Daal 19 93.2 4 11 6.34 53
Damian Moss 10 50.2 1 5 6.22 22
Matt Riley 2 10.0 1 0 1.80 9

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Eric DuBose 17 73.2 3 6 3.79 44
Relief pitchers
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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Jorge Julio 64 0 7 36 4.38 52
B.J. Ryan 76 4 1 0 3.40 63
Kerry Ligtenberg 68 4 2 1 3.34 47
Buddy Groom 60 1 3 1 5.36 34
Héctor Carrasco 40 2 6 1 4.93 27
Rick Bauer 35 0 0 0 4.55 43
Willis Roberts 26 3 1 0 5.72 26
Travis Driskill 20 3 5 1 6.00 33
John Parrish 14 0 1 0 1.90 8
Sean Douglass 3 0 0 0 13.50 3
Kurt Ainsworth 3 0 1 0 11.57 4

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Ottawa Lynx International League Gary Allenson
AA Bowie Baysox Eastern League Dave Trembley
A Frederick Keys Carolina League Tom Lawless
A Delmarva Shorebirds South Atlantic League Stan Hough
A-Short Season Aberdeen IronBirds New York–Penn League Joe Almaraz
Rookie Bluefield Orioles Appalachian League Don Buford
Rookie GCL Orioles Gulf Coast League Jesus Alfaro

[13][14]

References

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  1. ^ "Yankees 1-1 Orioles (Sep 18, 2003) Game Recap". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  2. ^ Bill Pulsipher Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ "Omar Daal Stats".
  4. ^ B. J. Surhoff Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ^ "Steve Bechler Death | Steve Bechler's Death Five Years Later". Baltimore Sun. February 17, 2008. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  6. ^ "One year later: Remembering Steve Bechler". February 17, 2004.
  7. ^ Why is America so Fat p54 by Ben Kennedy )
  8. ^ Death at the ballpark: a comprehensive study of game-related fatalities of ... by Robert M. Gorman, David Weeks. McFarland Press. p. 64.
  9. ^ Drugs and society by Glen R. Hanson, Peter J. Venturelli, Annette E. Fleckenstein p. 314.
  10. ^ WEIGHT TO BEAR Obsession with shedding pounds led Bechler to ephedra[permanent dead link] BY T.J. QUINN DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER WITH CHRISTIAN RED AND ANTHONY MCCARRON. Sunday, February 23, 2003.
  11. ^ Nick Markakis Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  12. ^ "Sean Spencer Stats".
  13. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  14. ^ Baseball America 2004 Directory. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2004