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33rd Street Region
#16 Lowenstein Plays Possum vs #1 Cal Ripken Immortalized
(#16) June 19, 1980 – This is another one that almost certainly is not one of the greatest games in Orioles history but I find this story hilarious, so deal with it. The O’s trailed the A’s 3-2 in the seventh inning. John Lowenstein, who was battling a sore Achilles, came to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs. He singled to right field and wanted to stretch the hit into a double. The throw nailed Lowenstein in the back of the neck and ricocheted into the outfield, allowing both Mark Corey and Al Bumbry to cross the plate for the tying and go-ahead runs. Lowenstein was knocked out by the impact. After he regained consciousness, medical personnel instructed him to remain still. Instead, he threw his fists in the air in celebration of the go-ahead base hit. The score held and the O’s won 4-3.
(#1) September 6, 1995 – This one speaks for itself. The flowing tears, the 22-minute standing ovation, the lap around the warning track, the banners on the Warehouse – all memories as immortal as the man who wore Number 8. Ripken homered in the fourth inning of the 4-2 O’s win, but the game itself meant nothing compared to the history that was made at Camden Yards that hot September night.
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#15 Hoiles 2 Grand Slams vs #2 Hoiles Ultimate Grand Slam
(#15) August 14, 1998 – Chris Hoiles became the ninth player and first catcher in major league history to hit two grand slams in the same game when he did it at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The O’s won the game 15-3 thanks to the production of Hoiles and a strong outing by Mike Mussina.
(#2) May 17, 1996 – The Orioles have hit eight walk-off grand slams in the history of the franchise. Seven of them came in tie games. This one, however, was a different story. With the O’s trailing the Seattle Mariners 13-10 in the bottom of the ninth, Chris Hoiles came up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Down to his final strike, Hoiles sent one over the left field fence for a walk-off grand slam. It was only the second time in MLB history that a player had hit a walk-off grand slam while down to the game’s final strike, trailing by three runs.
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#14 Reimold Sends Jays Home vs #3 O’s Clinch AL East
(#14) May 27, 2009 – Perhaps this game only made the list because I remember being in a really bad mood when I watched this game after a rough day at school. Needless to say, after the O’s rallied twice to come from behind and beat Toronto, that mood changed. The O’s erased a five-run deficit in the eighth inning to send the game to extras but Toronto took a 10-8 lead in the top of the 11th. After a Luke Scott RBI single, Nolan Reimold sent the 13,713 in attendance home happy with a three-run walk-off blast.
(#3) September 16, 2014 – It had been 17 years since the Orioles last won a division title and with Ubaldo Jimenez set to take the mound, many thought that maybe we would have to wait another day. Instead, the O’s won 8-2 to bring the AL East Division Title back to Baltimore. A Steve Pearce three-run shot in the first inning opened the scoring and a bases-clearing triple by Alejandro De Aza in the seventh all but sealed the deal. When the final out was recorded, I remember hugging random fans in the center field bleachers before running over to the dugout to join in the celebration. I’m not ashamed to admit that the tears were flowing; I had literally waited my entire life for that moment.
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#13 Teagarden Walks It Off vs #4 Ripken Ties Gehrig
(#13) July 14, 2012 – I was working on the Orioles tarp crew. I had a date after the game with a beautiful girl I had met a month prior. Naturally, the 4:05 game lasted almost five hours. After Jim Johnson blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning, the game went to extras. The Tigers took a 5-4 lead in the 11th but Adam Jones tied the game in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI single. After another Tigers run in the top of the 13th, JJ Hardy homered to prolong the game even further. Later that inning, Taylor Teagarden got ahold of one to right-center field and the ball carried just inches over Don Kelly’s glove, landing on top of the grounds crew cage for a walk-off homer. I ended up dating that girl for almost two years. Thanks, Taylor?
(#4) September 5, 1995 – The O’s homered six times against the Angels, including one by the man who tied Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games played. It was fitting that the Orioles would win 8-0 for Number 8. 46,804 were in attendance to see Cal Ripken tie the Iron Horse.
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#12 Hoyt Wilhelm No-Hits Yankees vs #5 Gentile Hits 2 Grand Slams
(#12) September 20, 1958 – Hoyt Wilhelm spun a gem, no-hitting the New York Yankees for the first no-hitter in Orioles history. Gus Triandos provided the only offense of the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh. Future Orioles World Series Champion Manager Hank Bauer struck out twice against Wilhelm.
(#5) May 9, 1961 – Jim Gentile blasted two grand slams and knocked in nine runs in a 13-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Gentile had 46 home runs and 141 RBI that season, good enough to put him third in AL MVP voting behind only Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.
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#11 Tom Phoebus No-Hitter vs #6 1996 ALDS Game 4
(#11) April 27, 1968 – Aided by a spectacular catch by Brooks Robinson on a sinking line drive in the eighth inning, Tom Phoebus blanked the Red Sox for the third no-hitter in Orioles history. Phoebus had previously thrown a no-hitter in the minor leagues as a member of the Rochester Red Wings.
(#6) October 5, 1996 – It looked like the Cleveland Indians were going to force a do-or-die Game 5, but a Roberto Alomar RBI single tied the game with two outs in the top of the ninth and sent the contest to extra innings. In the top of the 12th, Robbie came through again, this time with a solo homer that put the Orioles ahead for good and earned them a date with the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
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#10 Brooks Hits for the Cycle vs #7 Brooks’ Final HR
(#10) July 15, 1960 – Brooks Robinson is most known for his streak of 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards but during the first year of that streak, he made history at the plate, recording the first cycle in Orioles franchise history. Brooks singled in the first inning, homered in the third, singled again in the fifth, doubled in the seventh, and broke the game open with a two-run triple in the top of the ninth to seal the deal.
(#7) April 19, 1977 – The O’s and Indians went to extras tied 2-2 before Cleveland sent all nine guys to the plate in the top of the 10th, opening up a 5-2 lead. After a Lee May single pulled the O’s within two runs in the bottom of the inning, Brooks Robinson stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and delivered a walk-off three-run shot for what would be the last of his 268 career home runs. The homer came against Dave LaRoche, whose son, Adam, and grandson, Drake, have been in the news recently.
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#9 Cal and Billy Lead the Way vs #8 2014 ALDS Game 1
(#9) May 28, 1996 – The Ripken Brothers came to play against the Mariners. Cal blasted three home runs and drove in eight while his brother, Billy, joined the party with a solo shot of his own in the ninth inning. Brady Anderson and Rafael Palmeiro added homers of their own to help the O’s beat the Mariners 12-8.
(#8) October 2, 2014 – After a disappointing ending to the 2012 season, losing to the Yankees in dramatic fashion in the playoffs, the Orioles were back in the postseason two years later, this time as division champions. Towels were waving and fans were yelling as the Orioles exploded for 12 runs against Max Scherzer and the Tigers, including eight runs in the eighth inning. The victory was the first in what would be a sweep of the AL Central champions and their three-headed monster on the mound.
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