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The Worst at Camden Yards

Some of the worst players during the Camden Yards era:

Billy Ripken – Was quite bad, then left the Orioles, started to play close to average, then came back and was as bad as ever. A lot of wasted ABs were used up on BRip.

Glen Davis – nuff said

Brett Barberie – I absolutely hated this guy when he was traded for (and to add insult to injury, I loved Jay Powell), and my impression of him was further darkened by his performance.

Tony Tarasco – TT will go down as the guy who had the catch stolen by that kid in Yankees’ stadium… but as it turns out he was a pretty bad player too.

Ryan Minor – nuff said. Gets my vote as the worst hitter of the Camden yards era… 222 ABs, 41 H, 66 SO. Ouch.

Arthur Rhodes – Went on to be a star, but during his stay with the Orioles at Camden Yards he was quite bad. Although he did have a 3-year stretch where he was decent, so he might not belong on this list.

Sid Fernandez – Completely worthless as an Oriole, was then released close to the trade deadline. He gets my vote as the worst pitcher of the Camden Yards era thanks to performance and wasted money.

Brad Pennington – He pitched very little, but when he did he was phenominally bad. Usually guys who pitch ~40 innings for a club are eventually forgotten, but Brad has made a permanent smear on Orioles lore. His AB versus Ken Griffey where he gave up what seemed like a 700 ft. homer stands as the worst AB in the Camden Yards era.

Kent Mercker – Was the unknown gem in the Braves rotation, or so the Orioles thought. They wound up trading a pretty usefull player in Joe Borowski for 1/2 of a wretched season. The bright side is that they did manage to trade him for Eddie Murray, who had a decent 2nd half of a season, helping the Orioles make the playoffs.

Shawn Boskie – Wow, I really hated when the Orioles signed this guy. He was one of those players who was able to parlay one good season into big contracts and multiple spots on major league rosters. The Orioles fell into this trap and paid a vicious price for it… a year later he was out of baseball.

Honorable mentions: Pat Rapp, Manny Alexander, Alan Mills, Jeff Tackett

Finally, the worst season performance of the Camden Yards era has to be Cal Ripken’s 2001 season. He managed to end his illustrious career on a very sour note, compiling a .637 OPS in a phenominal 477 ABs. If any season epitomized the fall of a baseball legend, it was Ripken’s 2001. It was sad to see, and very very painful to watch.

-m