Opening day is no ordinary event on the sports calendar. The first day of baseball season is one of the longest standing traditions in North American sports. It’s the unofficial first day of summer, where optimism is high across the continent that the local nine is destined to hoist the World Series trophy by season’s end.
The same is true in Baltimore, a baseball town through and through where the sport has dug its roots deep. Seventy years ago, the St. Louis Browns came to town and took on the name Baltimore Orioles, filling the hole left behind when the original club left in 1902. The Orioles have since played many memorable opening day games, both at their home ballparks of Memorial Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards as well as on the road.
Here are the top 10 best Orioles opening day games and home openers since their first Baltimore season in 1954.
10. April 1, 2002: Orioles beat New York Yankees, 10-3 (box score)
Attendance: 48,058 (Camden Yards)
In the first year of the post-Cal Ripken Jr. era, the Orioles turned over third base duties to a player they selected off waivers the previous year. Fans were unsure what to expect of Tony Batista, who was in the unenviable position of having to replace a Hall of Famer.
He did so in style, hitting a grand slam off Yankees star Roger Clemens as the Orioles cruised to an opening day victory over their division rivals. Batista would go on to make the American League All-Star team that summer, quelling any fear that the Orioles would suffer an immediate drop-off at the position after Ripken’s retirement.
9. March 30, 2023: Orioles beat Boston Red Sox, 10-9 (box score)
Attendance: 36,049 (Fenway Park)
Last year’s opening day game was one for the record books. Adley Rutschman became the first catcher in the World Series era (1903-present) to reach base six times in an opening day game. He went 5-for-5 with a home run, four singles and a walk to help the Orioles hang on for a one-run win against the Red Sox on the road.
Rutschman drove in four runs in what was the first of the Orioles’ 101 wins, firmly closing the door on their rebuild and swinging their competitive window wide-open. Seven Orioles recorded at least one hit, including multi-hit efforts out of Ramón Urías, Anthony Santander, Adam Frazier and Jorge Mateo.
8. April 6, 1973: Orioles beat Milwaukee Brewers, 10-0 (box score)
Attendance: 26,543 (Memorial Stadium)
This might have been the lowest attended Baltimore home game on the list, but the fans were treated to a contest in which everything went the Orioles’ way. Dave McNally showed he was still at the height of his powers with a shutout on the mound. In true McNally fashion, he needed just one strikeout to do it.
Offensively, Don Baylor led the way with a 4-for-4 performance, finishing a single shy of the cycle with a home run, a triple and two doubles. Brooks Robinson also made his presence felt with a pair of home runs, going back-to-back with Baylor in the seventh inning. This Earl Weaver-led team, which had missed the playoffs in 1972 after three straight World Series appearances, came two AL Championship Series wins away from making it back.
7. April 12, 1966: Orioles beat Red Sox, 5-4 (box score)
Attendance: 12,386 (Fenway Park)
In the year they went on to win their first World Series, the Orioles fell behind the Red Sox 3-2 and then again 4-3 before Brooks Robinson tied the game with an RBI single in the ninth to force extra innings. The game went to the 13th before Boston pitcher Jim Lonborg balked home the winning run.
The Orioles, who acquired Frank Robinson the previous year, had posted 90-plus win totals each of the past two seasons, but a limited playoff field kept them out of the World Series. That wouldn’t be the case this time, as the Orioles went on to pace the AL with 96 wins, Frank Robinson won AL Most Valuable Player honors and Baltimore swept the Los Angeles Dodgers for its first championship.
6. March 29, 2018: Orioles beat Minnesota Twins, 3-2 (box score)
Attendance: 45,469 (Camden Yards)
The 2018 season was a forgettable one for Baltimore, which lost a franchise-record 115 games to begin an extended rebuild in which the team finished fourth or lower in the AL East for five straight years. It was a rebuild not many saw coming, especially after a wild opening day finish in which Adam Jones walked off the Twins with a home run in the bottom of the 11th.
Dylan Bundy was spectacular, pitching seven scoreless innings before handing things over to the bullpen. Catcher Caleb Joseph gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead, but reliever Brad Brach gave those two runs back in the seventh. It all set the stage for Jones, who became the third player in as many years to record a walk-off hit on opening day for the Orioles.
5. April 5, 1982: Orioles beat Kansas City Royals, 13-5 (box score)
Attendance: 51,958 (Memorial Stadium)
If you like offense, this was the game to attend. The Orioles set the franchise record for the most runs scored on opening day (13) and tied their mark for the most home runs (four) in a 13-5 route of a formidable Royals squad that had reached the playoffs five of the previous six years.
All nine players in the Orioles’ starting lineup reached base, highlighted by a 3-for-4 day from Ripken, first baseman Eddie Murray hitting a grand slam, left fielder Gary Roenicke going 4-for-5 and right fielder Dan Ford chipping in three hits as well. Ripken, Roenicke and Ford all joined Murray in leaving the yard.
4. April 3, 1989: Orioles beat Red Sox, 5-4 (box score)
Attendance: 52,161 (Memorial Stadium)
Coming off a dreadful 107-loss season, the 1989 Orioles decided to adopt the slogan, “Why not?” as they cast themselves as underdogs in a deep AL East division. The “Comeback Kids” pulled off their first of many come-from-behind victories when they erased a late deficit to secure a walk-off win in 11 innings.
Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, Ripken came to the plate to face Clemens and launched a three-run homer to left field that gave the Orioles the lead. Boston responded by tying the game in the seventh and the score remained locked until the bottom of the 11th, when third baseman Craig Worthington sent a packed Memorial Stadium crowd home happy with a walk-off single.
3. April 15, 1954: Orioles beat Chicago White Sox, 3-1 (box score)
Attendance: 46,354 (Memorial Stadium)
Though not technically opening day, the Orioles’ home opener of the 1954 season was a monumental occasion as baseball returned to Baltimore for the first time in 52 years. After splitting their first series with the Detroit Tigers, the Orioles hosted the White Sox and rode the efforts of Browns holdover Bob Turley to a successful first game at Memorial Stadium.
Third baseman Vern Stephens and catcher Clint Courtney each hit solo home runs, giving Turley all the run support he would need. Turley pitched a complete game, allowing the White Sox to scrape across just one run while striking out nine. The Orioles would go on to lose 100 games in their inaugural season, but just getting baseball back was a big enough win for the city.
2. March 31, 2003: Orioles beat Cleveland Indians, 6-5 (box score)
Attendance: 46,257 (Camden Yards)
With snow falling, the Orioles orchestrated comebacks in both the eighth and 12th innings before center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. walked off the Indians in the 13th to finish one of the wackiest back-and-forth opening day games the Orioles have ever played.
Cleveland jumped out to a 4-1 lead in part because Orioles right fielder Jay Gibbons lost a fly ball amid heavy snowfall. The Orioles would climb back in it, however, with Gibbons getting a run back with an RBI single and designated hitter Marty Cordova hitting a two-run homer to tie it. The Indians scored a go-ahead run in the 12th that was erased by Matthews scoring on a passed ball in the bottom frame. He then drove in the winning run with a single in the 13th.
1. April 6, 1992: Orioles beat Indians, 2-0 (box score)
Attendance: 44,568 (Camden Yards)
Rick Sutcliffe wasn’t planning to sign with the Orioles as a free agent over the 1991-92 offseason until he toured the construction site of Camden Yards. He got goosebumps at the idea of being the first player to throw a pitch in the stadium and decided to join the club on a one-year deal.
Sutcliffe delivered, pitching a shutout against the Indians to make the grand opening of the ballpark a memorable one. The Orioles scored their only two runs in the fifth inning with RBIs off the bats of catcher Chris Hoiles and second baseman Billy Ripken, but Sutcliffe stole the show as he forever ingrained himself in Orioles lore.