The Baltimore Orioles Are Bashing Their Way to the Top of the American League
Don't look now, but dingers are back. Baseball is once again flush with the home run, with teams hitting balls out of the yard at a near-record pace.
So far this season, through Thursday's action, there have been 2,717 home runs hit in Major League Baseball. Projected over a full season, that puts baseball on pace for 5,643 taters this season, which would be the second-most in baseball history, behind only the year 2000, when 5,692 homers were bashed at the height of the steroid era.
And while it's not true that the Baltimore Orioles are responsible for just about all those long balls, they are responsible for quite a few of them.
Hyun Soo Kim's blast is @Orioles' 56th HR this month, breaking @MLB record for most in June. https://t.co/cPOyf1nWe8 pic.twitter.com/ZkR985nk54
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) July 1, 2016
The Orioles' 56 dingers last month were 9 more than the Toronto Blue Jays' 47 and puts Baltimore's season total at 125. They're on pace to smash 260 home runs (rounding up), which would come close to setting the all-time record for most homers in a single season, held by the Seattle Mariners in 1997.
| Rank | Team | Year | Games | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Mariners | 1997 | 162 | 264 |
| 2 | Texas Rangers | 2005 | 162 | 260 |
| 3 | Baltimore Orioles | 1996 | 162 | 257 |
| 4 | Toronto Blue Jays | 2010 | 162 | 257 |
| 5 | Houston Astros | 2000 | 162 | 249 |
And those 56 home runs hit by the Orioles in June were the second-most ever hit in a single month, almost breaking their own record.
| Rank | Team | Split | Year | G | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore Orioles | May | 1987 | 28 | 58 |
| 1 | Seattle Mariners | May | 1999 | 27 | 58 |
| 2 | Baltimore Orioles | June | 2016 | 28 | 56 |
| 2 | Cincinnati Reds | Sept/Oct | 1999 | 32 | 56 |
| 2 | Toronto Blue Jays | Sept/Oct | 2010 | 30 | 56 |
| 3 | St. Louis Cardinals | April/March | 2000 | 25 | 55 |
| 3 | Seattle Mariners | August | 1997 | 30 | 55 |
| 3 | Texas Rangers | August | 1999 | 30 | 55 |
| 3 | Oakland A's | August | 1999 | 29 | 55 |
| 3 | New York Giants | July | 1947 | 30 | 55 |
| 3 | Boston Red Sox | July | 2003 | 27 | 55 |
| 3 | Oakland A's | June | 1996 | 29 | 55 |
| 3 | Minnesota Twins | May | 1964 | 30 | 55 |
| 3 | Atlanta Braves | May | 2003 | 28 | 55 |
The O's fence-clearing team has been surprisingly led by offseason signee Mark Trumbo, who has smacked an MLB-best 23 home runs, tied with Chicago's Todd Frazier. Two other Orioles are also among the top 20 in the Majors in taters, Chris Davis with 19 (tied for 8th), and Manny Machado with 18 (tied for 17th). Adam Jones has pitched in with another 16 for good measure, and second baseman Jonathan Schoop has 13.
All these homers have helped Baltimore (47-31) take a surprising five-game lead in the American League East over the Boston Red Sox, who have actually scored more total runs than the O's this season (Boston leads baseball with 434 runs scored, Baltimore is fifth with 403). The Sox also have a higher weighted runs created (wRC+) as a team than the Orioles (114 to 111).
Baltimore's slight advantage in pitching (their team ERA of 4.25 is slightly better than Boston's 4.36) has allowed them to nose ahead of Boston, with their recent seven-game winning streak was snapped Thursday night in Seattle. But thanks to their homer binge, the Orioles went 19-9 last month, keeping them on top of their division.
Can the O's keep this up? They play half their games in a park that is conducive to going deep, with Camden Yards yielding the second-most home runs per game last season (1.415), so the homer barrage should continue.
Whether that will allow them to stay ahead of Boston all summer, a team that also has a great offense, remains to be seen. But if you dig the long ball, then the Orioles are the team for you.
