Orioles’ Trademark Remains Intact

There are no tomatoes growing in the Orioles’ bullpen in Memorial Stadium anymore. The team gardener, former manager Earl Weaver, has retired.

It’s probably just as well, though, because few tomatoes would survive long enough to reach a salad the way the Orioles have the bullpen under constant bombardment these days.

Weaver’s gone, but his long-ball approach to the game remains the franchise’s trademark. Even Weaver--whose 1,480 victories as the Orioles’ manager are testimony to the power of punch--would be amazed at the rate the Baltimore hitters have been serving up souvenirs of late.

The Orioles, who lead the majors with 57 homers, hit two more Saturday during a 4-2 victory over the Angels at Anaheim Stadium. They have hit 29 home runs in the last nine games, one shy of the major league record set in 1977 by the Boston Red Sox. The record for 10 games is 33, also held by the same Boston team.

Baltimore also tied the major league mark for consecutive games with two or more homers (nine), established by the 1962 Cleveland Indians.

In the last nine games, the Orioles have scored 64 runs and collected 41 extra-base hits. In the last seven, they have scored 41 runs, all but six on homers.

Nine players have been part of the nine-game home-run parade: First baseman Eddie Murray has seven, center fielder Fred Lynn six, left fielder Larry Sheets and right fielder Jim Dwyer four each, shortstop Cal Ripken, catcher Terry Kennedy and third baseman Ray Knight two apiece and Lee Lacy and Dave Van Gorder one each.

The Orioles are accustomed to hitting homers, but few could recall a streak like this one--with the exception of Lynn, who was a member of the ’77 Red Sox along with Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans, Rick Burleson and Carlton Fisk, to name a few.

“We’re hitting a lot of homers now,” said Lynn, who hit a line-drive home run to left in the sixth inning Saturday, his seventh of the season. “But we’ve been playing in some good home-run parks, too, like Chicago, here in the daytime, and our place, of course.”

The Orioles got off to a slow start this season when Murray and Lynn were struggling at the plate.

“Eddie and Freddie weren’t hitting, and some of the other guys were trying too hard to pick up the slack,” said Dwyer, who hit a towering homer to right in the seventh, his fifth this season. “We seem to follow those guys’ lead. They start hitting, everyone else relaxes and we’re off.

“I was looking for a fastball from (Angel starter Mike) Witt and got a slider. I don’t even know how I hit it. I was pretty lucky. But that’s the thing about streaks. . . . You’ve got all kinds of excuses for slumps, but nobody can explain streaks.”

Manager Cal Ripken Sr. isn’t searching for explanations. This is his 31st year with the Baltimore organization, and he knows better than to start trying to analyze the magic of homer-mania.

“We’ve got a lot of guys on this team who are capable of hitting homers, but early in the year when Murray and Lynn were slumping, everyone else went up there trying to hit a seven-run homer,” he said.

“You just don’t walk up to the plate trying to hit the ball out of the park and end up hitting many home runs.”

So maybe the Orioles step into the batter’s box trying to hit the ball hard, but you can bet that opposing pitchers are more concerned with where it comes down than how hard it’s hit.