70 in 70. Celebrating the Orioles 70th season by showcasing a handful of pictures from each season of Orioles Baseball. 2002
March 9, 2023
70 in 70. Celebrating the Orioles 70th season by showcasing a handful of pictures from each season of Orioles Baseball. 2002
10 comments
Oof, they really lowered the standards for what made a Star in the early 00’s for the orioles.
I completely forgot Cordova played for us.
From Cal, Alomar, Mussina, etc, straight to the dark ages in the blink of an eye.
Not going to lie, doing this series about these years just makes me sad. 2002 was definitely a start of a new era. In the middle of the playoff drought and no true star players, the team struggled late in the season losing 32 of 36 games. At one point the record was 63-63 but the late season collapse would lead to one of the worse records in a long time for the Orioles.
Chris Singleton is not related to former Oriole fan favorite Ken Singleton but Chris was often mistaken for being Ken’s son during his career. When Chris Singleton was on the Orioles, he chose to wear the same number 29 that Ken Singleton wore during his career as an Oriole. This only added to the confusion. Marty Cordova new to Baltimore in 2002 and would only play on 140 games his whole career as an Oriole but his signing in the 2001-2002 off season garnered enough hype to be on the Orioles magazine cover with Chris Singleton
There’s not a lot of celebration for the 10th year at OPaCY because of how new the stadium still was. But the Fleer baseball card is notable because it was printed as part of the 2002 set but the picture is from sometime in the 1990s.
Travis Driskill was a career minor leaguer before he came to Baltimore during the 2002 off season. He would bounce from organization to organization and even play overseas before landing with the Orioles and finding a place in the starting rotation. He would go 8-8 with a 4.95 ERA which was actually second best for Starters for the Orioles with that many games.
Jay Gibbons was actually pretty solid in 2002 and would have an even better 2003 but was only worth 1.6 bWAR. Gibbons would be part of a core of Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora for the early 2000s Os. The team lacked star power and production up and down the roster and it showed during what is basically a dark era of Orioles Baseball
Marty Cordova best known for burning himself in a tanning bed. Gotta say that this was the toughest time of the purgatory years. Wasn’t a lot to be excited about and Cal had retired. And it was before Tejada and the emergence of guys like Roberts and Mora.
I went into the Army in 2002. Got out in 2006 thankfully I didn’t miss too much lol
The teams were awful, but the hat and uniform combo is so nostalgic for me. Just takes me back to being a kid again.
Holy shit haven’t seen or thought about the name Marty Cordova in at least 15 years
I have that program. It was the first big league baseball game I ever went to. Orioles vs. Mariners. Holy shit.
10 comments
Oof, they really lowered the standards for what made a Star in the early 00’s for the orioles.
I completely forgot Cordova played for us.
From Cal, Alomar, Mussina, etc, straight to the dark ages in the blink of an eye.
Not going to lie, doing this series about these years just makes me sad. 2002 was definitely a start of a new era. In the middle of the playoff drought and no true star players, the team struggled late in the season losing 32 of 36 games. At one point the record was 63-63 but the late season collapse would lead to one of the worse records in a long time for the Orioles.
Chris Singleton is not related to former Oriole fan favorite Ken Singleton but Chris was often mistaken for being Ken’s son during his career. When Chris Singleton was on the Orioles, he chose to wear the same number 29 that Ken Singleton wore during his career as an Oriole. This only added to the confusion. Marty Cordova new to Baltimore in 2002 and would only play on 140 games his whole career as an Oriole but his signing in the 2001-2002 off season garnered enough hype to be on the Orioles magazine cover with Chris Singleton
There’s not a lot of celebration for the 10th year at OPaCY because of how new the stadium still was. But the Fleer baseball card is notable because it was printed as part of the 2002 set but the picture is from sometime in the 1990s.
Travis Driskill was a career minor leaguer before he came to Baltimore during the 2002 off season. He would bounce from organization to organization and even play overseas before landing with the Orioles and finding a place in the starting rotation. He would go 8-8 with a 4.95 ERA which was actually second best for Starters for the Orioles with that many games.
Jay Gibbons was actually pretty solid in 2002 and would have an even better 2003 but was only worth 1.6 bWAR. Gibbons would be part of a core of Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora for the early 2000s Os. The team lacked star power and production up and down the roster and it showed during what is basically a dark era of Orioles Baseball
Marty Cordova best known for burning himself in a tanning bed. Gotta say that this was the toughest time of the purgatory years. Wasn’t a lot to be excited about and Cal had retired. And it was before Tejada and the emergence of guys like Roberts and Mora.
I went into the Army in 2002. Got out in 2006 thankfully I didn’t miss too much lol
The teams were awful, but the hat and uniform combo is so nostalgic for me. Just takes me back to being a kid again.
Holy shit haven’t seen or thought about the name Marty Cordova in at least 15 years
I have that program. It was the first big league baseball game I ever went to. Orioles vs. Mariners. Holy shit.
Cordova could rake lefties on MVP 2002.