The 5 Best Players in Baltimore Orioles History

In 1954 the owners of the St Louis Browns, decided they had enough of the Midwest and moved to Baltimore and thus the Baltimore Orioles were born. Though you would not know it from their recent stretch of losing seasons, the Baltimore Orioles have had their share of success - winning 3 World Championships (1966, 1970 and 1979) and 6 American League Pennants (1966,69,70,71,79 and 83). They also have had their share of great players. Here is a look at the five greatest players in Baltimore Orioles history. This list is alphabetical order and only looks at players who played for the Baltimore Orioles and not the St Louis Browns.

1) Eddie Murray (1977-1988, 1996) Eddie Murray is one of only three players baseball history to hit 500 home runs and 3000 hits (the other two are a couple of guys named Hank Aaron and Willie Mays). Eddie Murray won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1977 when he hit 27 home runs, 88 RBI's with a .283 average. Eddie Murray ranks 2^nd in Orioles history with 343 home runs, 3^rd in RBI's with 1224 and 3^rd in hits with 2080. Eddie Murray was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and his number 33 was retired by the Orioles.

2) Jim Palmer (1965-1984) Jim Palmer played his entire career with the Orioles and is the greatest pitcher in Orioles history. He ranks first in Oriole history in the following categories wins (268), games pitched (558), games started (521), shutouts (53) and strikeouts (2212). Jim Palmer also won 3 Cy Young Awards (1973, 75 and 76) and won 20 games in a season 6 times. He is the only pitcher to win a World Series game in 3 different decades. Jim Palmer was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990 and also has his number retired by the Orioles.