2003 Baltimore Orioles season

The 2003 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing 4th in the American League East with a record of 71 wins and 91 losses.

2003 Baltimore Orioles
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record71–91 (.423)
Divisional place4th
Other information
Owner(s)Peter Angelos
General manager(s)Jim Beattie/Mike Flanagan
Manager(s)Mike Hargrove
Local televisionWJZ-TV
WNUV
Comcast SportsNet
(Jim Palmer, Michael Reghi, Buck Martinez)
Local radioWBAL (AM)
(Fred Manfra, Jim Hunter)
< Previous season     Next season >

Offseason
  • December 2, 2002: Bill Pulsipher was signed as a Free Agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[1]
  • January 3, 2003: Omar Daal was signed as a Free Agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[2]
  • March 7, 2003: B. J. Surhoff was signed as a Free Agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[3]

Steve Bechler

On February 16, 2003, towards the beginning of Orioles' spring training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Steve Bechler collapsed while participating in conditioning drills. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, and died the next day.[4] His body temperature had reached 108 °F (42 °C).[5] An autopsy performed by Dr. Joshua Perper, a toxicologist, concluded that his death was caused by "'abnormal liver function and mild hypertension', his weight problem (he weighed 230 pounds and was exercising hard,[6] the fact that he was not used to south Florida's warm weather and the toxicity of ephedra.[7] He was using the supplement ephedra, against the advice of his trainer,[8] and probably had not eaten in two days[9] in an effort to lose weight.

Regular season

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 10161 0.623 — 50–32 51–29
Boston Red Sox 9567 0.586 6 53–28 42–39
Toronto Blue Jays 8676 0.531 15 41–40 45–36
Baltimore Orioles 7191 0.438 30 40–40 31–51
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6399 0.389 38 36–45 27–54

Record vs. opponents
2003 American League Records

Sources:
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim —1–83–63–46–36–16–35–43–68–128–116–39–102–711–7
Baltimore 8–1—9–102–43–33–33–43–46–13–12–74–58–117–28–115–13
Boston 6–310–9—5–44–28–15–12–49–103–45–212–75–410–911–7
Chicago 4–34–24–5—11–811–811–89–104–24–52–73–33–46–310–8
Cleveland 3–63–32–48–11—12–76–139–102–53–63–65–24–52–46–12
Detroit 1–63–31–88–117–12—5–144–151–53–61–82–41–62–74–14
Kansas City 3–64–31–58–1113–614–5—11–82–42–74–54–37–21–59–9
Minnesota 4–54–34–210–910–915–48–11—0–78–13–66–05–43–310–8
New York 6–313–6–110–92–45–25–14–27–0—3–65–414–54–510–913–5
Oakland 12–87–24–35–46–36–37–21–86–3—7–126–315–45–29–9
Seattle 11–85–42–57–26–38–15–46–34–512–7—4–510–103–410–8
Tampa Bay 3–611–87–123–32–54–23–40–65–143–65–4—3–611–83–15
Texas 10–92–74–54–35–46–12–74–55–44–1510–106–3—5–44–14
Toronto 7–211–89–103–64–27–25–13–39–102–54–38–114–5—10–8

Transactions

Roster
2003 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI

Other batters
Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA
Relief pitchers
Player G W L SV ERA SO

Farm system
Level Team League Manager
AAA Ottawa Lynx International League Gary Allenson
AA Bowie Baysox Eastern League Dave Trembley
A Frederick Keys Carolina League Tom Lawless
A Delmarva Shorebirds South Atlantic League Stan Hough
A-Short Season Aberdeen IronBirds New York–Penn League Joe Almaraz
Rookie Bluefield Orioles Appalachian League Don Buford
Rookie GCL Orioles Gulf Coast League Jesus Alfaro

[12][13]

References
  1. Bill Pulsipher Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/daalom01.shtml
  3. B. J. Surhoff Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  4. "Steve Bechler Death | Steve Bechler's Death Five Years Later". Baltimore Sun. February 17, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  5. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1736985
  6. Why is America so Fat p54 by Ben Kennedy )
  7. Death at the ballpark: a comprehensive study of game-related fatalities of ... by Robert M. Gorman, David Weeks. McFarland Press. p. 64.
  8. Drugs and society by Glen R. Hanson, Peter J. Venturelli, Annette E. Fleckenstein p. 314.
  9. WEIGHT TO BEAR Obsession with shedding pounds led Bechler to ephedra BY T.J. QUINN DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER WITH CHRISTIAN RED AND ANTHONY MCCARRON. Sunday, February 23, 2003.
  10. Nick Markakis Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  11. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/spencse01.shtml
  12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  13. Baseball America 2004 Directory. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2004
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