PICKED OFF: The Night Tippy Martinez Made History
It doesn’t matter where Tippy Martinez goes around town, whether it’s during a stop at the grocery store, watching one of his grandkids playing ball, or on one of his frequent visits to Camden Yards. At least one person, usually many more, will bring up the memorable night in 1983 that the former Orioles relief ace picked off three Toronto Blue Jays runners…in one inning.
“A lot of people say they remember it, but Memorial Stadium didn’t hold the number of people who said they were there that night,” Martinez says, recalling the night of August 24, 1983.
Any Orioles fan of that era will recall the game, whether they attended or not. In reality, there were 25,882 fans at the stadium that night, but as Martinez says, it seems as if all of Baltimore was there.
It was a season that gave Orioles fans many thrills, culminating in a World Series win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Along the way, the home fans were treated to many memorable games:
On May 17, Mike Boddicker, called up from Rochester to take the place of injured starting pitcher Mike Flanagan, tossed a 5-hit shutout in his first outing to complete a doubleheader sweep of the Chicago White Sox – a team he would later beat to even the then-best-of-five American League Championship Series at a game apiece with a then-record 14 strikeouts (also at Memorial Stadium).
On July 29, the Orioles scored 3 runs in the 8th inning to overtake the Texas Rangers for an 8-6 win in front of 44,970 roaring fans. Leading by a run with two on and one out in the 8th, Rangers manager Doug Rader attempted to bring reliever Victor Cruz into the game, but the umpires realized it was his second trip to the mound that inning and forced Rader to bring pitcher Dave Schmidt back from the dugout. Ripken walked to load the bases. Cruz then came on to pitch and Eddie Murray promptly delivered a 2-run single to right to give the Orioles the lead.
On August 5, a night that the Orioles honored the legendary Brooks Robinson on his induction into Baseball’s Hall of Fame, they trailed the White Sox, 4-2, with two outs in the 9th following a double play. Ripken, Murray, John Lowenstein and Ken Singleton then delivered consecutive singles to tie the game, and Rich Dauer followed with the fifth straight base hit to win the game, 5-4.
In an August 19 doubleheader, four consecutive 2-out singles in the bottom of the 9th plated 3 runs to give the Orioles a 5-4 walk-off win over the Kansas City Royals in the first game, and the 35,582 fans on hand saw the Birds sweep when they scored two runs in the bottom of the 8th of the nightcap for a 3-1 win.
On September 18 vs. Milwaukee, Dan Morogiello – in his longest major league outing – pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings in relief of Jim Palmer, who allowed 7 runs in the second inning. Mo’s effort allowed the Orioles to creep back into the game, and they eventually won it when September call-up John Stefero, who grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Mount St. Joseph High School, singled to center in the bottom of the 9th to drive in the winning run in a 10-9 victory.
The next night, September 19, the Orioles trailed the Brewers 7-6 in the bottom of the 11th inning before three straight 2-out singles gave them an 8-7 win. The winning running was again driven in by Stefero, this time with a single to right. (Former Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, then the Brewers owner, still thinks Stefero’s middle name is the same one Boston fans use to refer to the Yankees’ Bucky Dent.)
Those were just a few among many nights of Orioles Magic in the summer of ’83, but nothing compared to that hot August night on 33rd Street against the Blue Jays, on August 24. But it was not just Martinez’s three pick-offs that made it so memorable. The events leading up to Martinez’s feat, and what followed, made it all the more remarkable.
Jack Clancy, the Blue Jays starting pitcher, took a 3-1 lead into the 9th inning. He got the first two outs sandwiched around a bunt single by John Shelby, but after walking Lenn Sakata, Toronto manager Bobby Cox brought in reliever Joey Geisel. Pinch-hitter Benny Ayala and centerfielder Al Bumbry promptly followed with RBI singles, tying the score before the Blue Jays could get the final out to send the game into extra innings.
Joe Altobelli, in his first year as Orioles manager after replacing the immortal Earl Weaver following the 1982 season, had made every move imaginable to get his team into position to win the game. He’d already pinch-hit or pinch-run for both of his catchers, Rick Dempsey and Joe Nolan, as well as second baseman Rich Dauer, third baseman Todd Cruz, outfielder Jim Dwyer and designated hitter Ken Singleton. When Altobelli pinch-hit Ayala for Dempsey in the 9th, he admitted he was “thinking of a three-run homer,” hoping not to have to figure out a defensive alignment if the game should go extras. But with no catcher or extra infielders left on the bench, fans were left with a veritable Abbott and Costello routine trying to figure who was playing where when the Orioles took the field in the 10th inning.
Bumbry, in center, and Ford, in right, took their normal spots, with Ayala going to left (Shelby, a better defensive outfielder, had been used to run for Singleton and was now the DH). Future Hall of Famers Eddie Murray, at first base, and Cal Ripken, at shortstop, were familiar faces on the infield.
John Lowenstein moved from the outfield to second base, a position he had not played in eight years, and outfielder Gary Roenicke made his big league debut at third base. And moving from second base as the emergency catcher was little Lenn Sakata, who hadn’t been behind the plate since he was a 9-year-old little leaguer.
It appeared as though it wouldn’t matter when the Jays’ Cliff Johnson nailed reliever Tim Stoddard’s first pitch of the 10th for a go-ahead home run and Barry Bonnell followed with a single to center. That’s when Altobelli signaled for the left-handed Martinez.
Martinez, who was not particularly known for his pick-off move, promptly caught Bonnell leaning the wrong way. He threw to Murray, who chased down the Blue Jay outfielder on what technically went as a caught stealing.
Martinez then walked Dave Collins on four of the six pitches that Sakata actually caught in the inning. Martinez went into his set and caught Collins too far off the bag, with Murray applying the tag.
Willie Upshaw was next up, and he singled on a ball that second baseman Lowenstein fielded but could not make a play on. Martinez lobbed two pick-off tosses to first and Upshaw got back easily. Then, despite everyone among the 25,882 fans in attendance knowing what was coming, Martinez again threw to Murray, who nabbed Upshaw before he could get back to the bag. First base umpire Larry McCoy emphatically made the call as Upshaw and Toronto first base coach Cito Gaston simply shook their heads.
“The reason Tippy kept throwing to first base,” Lowenstein said afterward, “is because Murray is the only guy he recognized.”
“Our strategy,” Sakata explained, “was to keep throwing to first until the lights went out…I didn’t want to give away our secret weapon – the one-hop throw to second base.”
Trouble was, the Orioles still trailed when they came to bat in the bottom of the 10th. Not for long. Cal Ripken celebrated his 22nd birthday with a lead-off homer to tie the game. Murray walked and went to second on Lowenstein’s ground out before Shelby was walked intentionally. Roenicke struck out, bringing Sakata to the plate.
And, of course, the emergency catcher, who hit only 25 homers in 11 big league seasons, connected on a three-run, game-winning homer that just crept into the first row of the left field bleachers off Blue Jays pitcher Randy Moffitt, winning the game, 7-4.
“Hey, the way he hit that home run, he’s going to want to catch all the time now,” said manager Altobelli, who fortunately did not have to resort to such measures again.
The improbable victory started the Orioles on a season-best 8-game winning streak. In fact, the very next night Bonnell’s 10th inning homer broke a scoreless tie, but Ford doubled in two runs in the bottom of the inning to break the Blue Jays backs.
The next night, Mike Boddicker shutout the Minnesota Twins, 9-0, and after flip-flopping between first and second place for 12 weeks – Baltimore was never more than 3 games out of first place the entire season – the Orioles moved into the division lead for good. Beginning with the win on August 24, the Orioles went 27-7 over the next 32 days and never lost consecutive games until after they clinched the American League East title on September 25 at Milwaukee with a week left in the season.
A 3-games-to-1 win over the White Sox gave them the AL pennant, and they beat the Phillies in five games to clinch their third World Championship.
Forty years later, the game of August 24 resounds not only as one of the most memorable, but as one that sparked the Orioles to an amazing fall finish.
The Orioles will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1983 World Championship on August 4-5 at Camden Yards. See many of the players from that team at the Oriole Advocates’ luncheon on Friday, August 4, and in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday, August 5, when the Orioles play the New York Mets at 7:05 pm.