Leftovers from 1983 Orioles media sessions

Players stood in the dugout yesterday at sold out Camden Yards to watch the ceremony honoring the 1983 World Series champions. None of them born before future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. squeezed Garry Maddox’s line drive for the last out.

All of them hoping 40 years is the limit between titles.

Ripken headed downstairs after the Orioles’ 7-3 win last night and talked to manager Brandon Hyde in the hallway outside the clubhouse. The 1983 team endorses the 2023 group that is a season-high 27 games above .500, loving the talent and energy, and how it’s brought fans back to Camden Yards.

Here’s more from Friday’s media sessions:

Al Bumbry on the similarity between the 1983 and 2023 Orioles.

“I think the biggest thing that we all talk about is the camaraderie that the players had, the connections that the players had. Everybody’s rooting for the other players, there’s not a whole lot of individual guys and it’s not displayed in the way they play. The best teacher or the best guide of success is winning, and they’ve started to win. They’ve gotten a taste of what winning feels like compared to three or four years ago. I think that’s a major, major factor that’s pushing them now.”

Hall of Famer Jim Palmer making comparisons.

“I was here for almost 20 years. The farm system was kind of where they are now. We always had really good teams, but we also had really good organizations and farm systems.”

Reliever Tippy Martinez on the current Orioles.

“I think the guys, it’s so enjoyable to watch, especially the catching and the way (Adley Rutschman) handles the pitching staff. … It’s really enjoyable to see them, you can see the players are having fun. You can almost feel the air or see that our motto is, ‘Stay close, and something good will happen.’ I get that feeling right now with this team. They know they’re going to win. If not, they’re going to be awfully close, and they’re going to be tough to beat.”

Third baseman Glenn Gulliver on the excitement returning to Baltimore.

“I was thinking we were here like 10 years ago, and there was nobody in the stands and it was sort of shocking. Because when we were here in ’82 and ’83, it was always crowded, it was a big baseball thing. Then we’re here 10 years ago … coming to the games for three days in a row, I’m like, ‘Wow, there’s nobody in the stands. This has gotten bad.’ And now, I’ve been watching them on TV last weekend, and the place is packed, and it looked cool again.”

Outfielder Gary Roenicke on the impact of the 2023 club.

“I think this is fantastic for all of baseball. The Orioles can go from where they were to all of a sudden, the team that they have now. Excitement is back, and the ballpark now is filled in. It’s what’s good about baseball.”

Bumbry on backup catcher John Stefero’s game-tying, two-run double off Hall of Fame reliever Goose Gossage in the ninth inning June 30 game at Yankee Stadium, in his second major league game.

“Goose is gassing him up. Goose threw a fastball I guess middle-away, Stefero hit it ‘boom,’ a line drive down the left field line. After the game, Stefero said, ‘I don’t usually hit a ball that way,’ because Stefero was a pull hitter. I said, ‘Stefero, that’s Goose Gossage. He’s throwing close to 100. That’s why that ball went that way. Not because you tried it.’”

Outfielder Tito Landrum, whose home run in the 10^th inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series broke a scoreless tie and propelled the Orioles into the World Series, on whether he ever has to buy a beer in Baltimore.

“Actually, no. It’s been wonderful to be back. The fans are great here. I don’t forget, but it’s still not real to me.

“They certainly do talk about it. Somebody said something about being a folk hero. I don’t know about that because I had teammates that gave me the opportunity to be there.”

Tippy Martinez and Lenn Sakata on whether they’ll forever be linked after Martinez picked off three Blue Jays in the 10th inning Aug. 24, 1983 with Sakata catching for the first time since Little League at age 9. Sakata hit a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10^th.

Martinez: “Yeah, but I think Lenny and I, we requested that. Yeah, it’s the talk of the town as far as one of the great memories here in Baltimore, which probably never happened again. There was a guy out in Philadelphia who picked off two guys, and Tim McCarver was on the show. They were commentating, and he was saying, ‘I have never seen two guys get picked off. Have three ever been picked off before?’ And I told my wife, ‘Honey, give me the phone, I’ve got to call them.’ You’ve got to do your research, man. Come on.

“We had (John) Lowenstein playing second base and then (Gary) Roenicke playing third base. The only guy I did recognize was Eddie Murray at first base, obviously. And then, when Lenny hit that (three-run) home, I didn’t want to go back out there. The defense that we had out there was very slim, to be honest with you. I mean, everybody knows that. But yeah, we’re a package deal, by the way.”

Sakata: “I think the situation became iconic because we won. Had we lost, I think most of it would have been forgotten. The unusual aspect of it was the fact that we had so many guys playing out of position that to win the game was a freak of nature. Me catching and the other guys playing positions they never played. The chances of us going on to win the game are not good.

“We were struggling at that time. Toronto was ahead of us. And then we came back to beat them the next night, and I think that’s gave us the impetus to win was we just kept on going, with everything going our way. So, I think that game had a big impact. But I think it was bound to happen. We had such a good team that we were going to win. That was the best team I ever played on. I think it exemplified not having the greatest talent but having the greatest character and players that really wanted to win more than anything else.”

“Disco” Dan Ford on atoning for a poor 1982 season after the Orioles acquired him from the Angels for third baseman Doug DeCinces.

“Pretty much for me, on a personal level, ’82 was a big disappointment for me. And coming into spring training in ’83 when we changed managers to (Joe) Altobelli, I remember the first week in spring training, he called me to the middle of the field and we talked about the ’82 season. At that time he said, ‘You don’t have a job.’ I said, ‘What?’ I’ve never been in that position before. He said, ‘Well, you’ve got to really show what you can do, who you are and why we have you here in right field, for you to play right field this year for me.’ It took two weeks to think about that. I had to go on a special psychological, I guess, turnaround. And I guess I realized exactly what position I was in compared to ’82 and to where we were trying to be in ’83. That made a big difference for me.

“I think most of all, winning really got into my system in the sense to where, starting in game one, it was all based upon winning.”

Outfielder Ken Singleton on the difference between having Altobelli and Earl Weaver as managers.

“It was a lot more quiet the next year. We were used to Earl voicing his opinions on just about everything, particularly if he thought the first pitch in the game was called against us. He’d be all over the umpires right from the first pitch of the game.”

Singleton on closeness of ’83 team.

“I can recall during spring training (1975), we had a team party down in Miami, and my mom happened to come to spring training. And after the party on the way home, my mom said to me, ‘This is a tight ballclub.’ My mom was a very good judge of character. She said, ‘This is a good ballclub, you might want to stay here for a while.’ So, 10 years, I played the rest of my career with the Orioles, and my mom was right, as she usually was. And I wish she was still around so I could talk to her now. … I was very fortunate to have been traded to this team, when I found out what team baseball was all about.”

Singleton on his Orioles tenure and batting first for Weaver.

“I was here 10 years, we won more games than any team. Over 900. So, you figure out, that’s 90 wins a year. So, you gain a lot of confidence in your abilities, and especially when you have players like this (Palmer and Rick Dempsey) on your team.

“I can remember my first game in an Orioles uniform, opening day in Detroit, Cakes is pitching. We’re facing the Tigers. I think we got snowed out the day before. He pitched like a three-hit shutout. The Tigers hit maybe one ball hard. We won 10-0. That was the year that Earl called me in his office in spring training and said, ‘You’re going to lead off this year.’ I said, ‘What?’ I never led off before. He said, ‘You walk a lot, you get on base. That’s going to be your job.’ I said, ‘Earl, I’ve had a year in Montreal where I drove in 100 runs. I’m not going to do that, leading off.’ He said, ‘You walked 123 times one year.’

“Opening day, I’m the first hitter of the season, I walk. Score on a three-run homer by Lee May. I scored the first run of the year. I walk in the dugout, Earl puts his finger in my chest. ‘That’s what the hell I’m talking about. Just get on base.’ And Cakes went on to win that game, 330-something innings that year.”

Palmer’s response.

“323.”

Singleton’s response.

“That’s never going to happen again.”

Singleton on Weaver’s use of analytics.

“I think he was a little ahead of his time. I already had a year in Montreal where I led the league on on-base percentage (.425 in 1973). Which, to show you how little it was thought of in those days, it wasn’t even a negotiating ploy for the next contract. Didn’t even talk about it. Even though I did double my salary that year. Then, free agency came in and we all doubled and tripled our salaries.”

Dempsey’s response.

“Not all of us.”

And the last word from Singleton.

“Some of us could hit 300, too.”