| 1989 Baltimore Orioles | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | East | |
| Ballpark | Memorial Stadium | |
| City | Baltimore, Maryland | |
| Record | 87–75 (.537) | |
| Divisional place | 2nd | |
| Owners | Eli Jacobs | |
| General managers | Roland Hemond | |
| Managers | Frank Robinson | |
| Television | WMAR-TV (Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson) Home Team Sports (Rex Barney, Mel Proctor, John Lowenstein) | |
| Radio | WBAL (AM) (Jon Miller, Joe Angel, Charlie Slowes) | |
| ||
The 1989 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing second in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses. The team was known as the Comeback Kids as they rebounded from the 54 wins and 107 losses of the 1988 season. The season also took on the "Why Not?!" promotional slogan as the team's pursuit of the pennant went down to the final series of the regular season. The Orioles went into the three-game season finale against the first place Toronto Blue Jays down by one game in the AL East standings and needing either a sweep to win the AL East championship, or two wins to force a one-game playoff. The Blue Jays won the first two games of the series, clinching first place on the penultimate game of the season.
The Orioles wore new uniforms which were unveiled on December 14, 1988. More conservative in appearance, the ensemble featured black belts replacing elastic waist bands on the pants and black numbers and letters with orange outline on the away version. The most noticeable change was the caps and helmets which went from being tricolored with a smiling cartoon bird head to monochromatic black with an ornithologically correct oriole.[1] The smiling cartoon bird head returned to the ballclub's caps and helmets 23 years later in 2012.[2]