Celebrating 60: Stone has vivid memories of "enchanting" 1980 O's season that ended with Cy Young

As a free agent after the 1978 season, pitcher Steve Stone chose the Orioles over other teams because he liked their chances to make the World Series. He was right. In his only Fall Classic, Stone pitched two innings in the Orioles' 1979 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. His 1980 season, though, was one for the ages in Orioles history: Stone won 25 games and the American League Cy Young Award. He is the last Orioles pitcher to win the award, joining Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer (three times) and Mike Flanagan. "It was an enchanting season," Stone says. "I wasn't an overpowering pitcher. I relied on my defense. Guys all over the diamond played great defense, chasing down the balls. The bullpen was very good." The Orioles had 100 wins, but didn't make the playoffs, losing the AL East by three games to the New York Yankees. Since division play began in 1969, those Orioles and the 1993 San Francisco Giants, whose 103 wins were not enough to beat the Atlanta Braves in the National League West, are the only teams to have triple-digit wins and not make the postseason. "We didn't have wild cards," Stone says. Stone, who does TV broadcasts for the Chicago White Sox, pitched 250 2/3 innings in 1980, going 25-7 with a 3.23 ERA and 149 strikeouts. He won the AL Cy Young by nine points over Oakland's Mike Norris, who had fewer wins (22), a lower ERA (2.53) and more innings (284 1/3). In those days, managers decided when a pitcher was done, not pitch counts. Stone told of a game where he was pitching well and gave up a long ball a mile foul. When Weaver came to the mound to take him out, Stone protested. "I said, 'Earl, that was a foul ball,' " Stone says. "He said, 'Yes, but the next one isn't going to be.' " Stone won 14 consecutive games from mid-May through July. He lost one and then won five straight, including back-to-back complete-game wins of 4-2 and 6-1 against the Yankees. "I threw fastballs and curves in the first game and in the second, I threw fastballs and sliders,'' Stone says. Stone threw 15 of his 37 starts on short rest, including four in August and September. "We were used to pitching on short rest," Stone says. "I liked pitching on short rest." With Weaver as manager, Stone threw three perfect innings as the AL starter in the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium. The NL won 4-2. Stone struck out three, but the story was that he batted, something pitchers don't do now. He batted versus flame-throwing J.R. Richard of Houston and told NL catcher Johnny Bench when he got to the plate that, "This guy scares me to death.'' Stone struck out. Bench told Stone that Richard threw extra hard for fear that Stone would embarrass him with a batted ball. The Giants drafted Stone and he worked his way through the minors as a strikeout pitcher to earn a spot in their rotation behind future Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry and Juan Marichal in 1971 and 1972. Stone lost his fastball and had to reinvent himself, using more curveballs. He retired after the 1981 season because of an elbow injury. He pitched three years for the Orioles and won 40 games. He also pitched for the Cubs and White Sox, and when he earned the choice of where to play, he came to Baltimore. "I didn't know anything about the city, but I knew the Orioles had a good team and (manager) Earl Weaver's reputation preceded him," Stone says. "It was an easy decision."