1971 Baltimore Orioles season

the 1971 Baltimore Orioles season finished first in the American League East, with a record of 101 wins and 57 losses. They returned to the World Series for the third consecutive season, but were defeated by the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games at home. As of 2025, the 1971 Orioles are one of only two Major League Baseball clubs to have four 20-game winners in a season: Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, and Pat Dobson.

Offseason

December 16, 1970: Roger Freed was traded by the Orioles to the Philadelphia Phillies for Grant Jackson, Jim Hutto and Sam Parrilla

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

May 28, 1971: Jim Hardin was traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Bill Burbach.
May 28, 1971: Dave Boswell was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.

Draft picks

June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
*Randy Stein was drafted by the Orioles in the 1st round.
*Kiko Garcia was drafted by the Orioles in the 3rd round. Player signed June 27, 1971.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		101	316	79	.250	9	42
1B		128	418	107	.256	22	92
2B		142	510	144	.282	18	72
3B		156	589	160	.272	20	92
SS		150	500	133	.266	0	35
LF		122	449	130	.290	19	54
CF		141	516	135	.262	10	44
RF		133	455	128	.281	28	99

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	141	491	156	.318	11	75
	70	222	60	.270	9	29
	42	84	15	.179	2	7
	38	81	19	.235	0	4
	47	74	19	.257	0	5
	38	53	10	.189	4	8
	23	49	10	.204	1	6
	7	30	9	.300	1	6
	18	23	4	.174	0	1
	1	2	0	.000	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	38	292.1	20	9	3.08	124
	38	282.1	20	8	2.90	187
	37	282.0	20	9	2.68	184
	30	224.1	21	5	2.89	91

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	29	77.2	4	3	3.13	51
	12	54.0	2	3	2.83	18

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	35	39.2	3	1	11	1.82	26
	35	36.1	3	5	4	3.47	35
	28	38.1	1	5	4	3.52	30
	27	43.1	6	6	1	4.98	26
	16	24.2	1	2	0	4.38	14
	6	5.2	0	0	0	4.76	3
	5	14.2	0	1	0	3.07	4

Postseason

ALCS

Baltimore Orioles defeat the Oakland Athletics, 3–0

World Series

'''NL Pittsburgh Pirates vs. AL Baltimore Orioles '''

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Miami, Bluefield

Japan tour

Three days after the conclusion of the World Series, the Orioles embarked on a tour of Japan to play 18 games against Nippon Professional Baseball competition beginning on October 23. The team had accepted the invitation to participate in the Yomiuri Shimbun-sponsored event at the start of the calendar year on January 1. Included in the 12-2-4 overall record was the Orioles going undefeated at 8-0-3 in head-to-head competition against the Yomiuri Giants which was owned by the tour's sponsor and had recently captured its seventh consecutive Japan Series championship.
The Japanese point of view of high hopes entering the exhibitions and the disappointment with the unfavorably lopsided results is chronicled in Robert Whiting's 1977 book The Chrysanthemum and the Bat.

Game	Month	Date	Day	Place	Opponent	W/L/D	Score	Orioles Pitcher of Record	Notes
1	OCT	23	SA	Tokyo	Yomiuri Giants	W	8-4	Jim Palmer
2	OCT	24	SU	Tokyo	Yomiuri Giants	W	8-2	Mike Cuellar
3	OCT	27	W	Sendai	Yomiuri Giants	W	10-1	Pat Dobson	Dobson three-hitter; two triples and four RBI for Mark Belanger.
4	OCT	28	TH	Kōriyama	Yomiuri Giants	D	3-3	-
5	OCT	31	SU	Osaka	Japan All-Stars	W	4-1	Mike Cuellar
6	NOV	1	M	Nishinomiya	Yomiuri Giants/Nankai Hawks	W	2-0	Dave McNally	Scheduled OCT 30 ; consecutive homers by Brooks Robinson and Davey Johnson in the fifth.
7	NOV	2	TU	Toyama	Yomiuri Giants	W	2-0	Pat Dobson	Dobson pitches a no-hit, no-run game.
8	NOV	3	W	Tokyo	Japan All-Stars	W	7-0	Jim Palmer
9	NOV	5	F	Niigata	Yomiuri Giants	D	4-4	-
10	NOV	6	SA	Tokyo	Yomiuri Giants	D	9-9	-
11	NOV	7	SU	Tokyo	Yomiuri Giants	W	7-0	Pat Dobson	Game abbreviated by rain.
12	NOV	9	TU	Kyoto	Yomiuri Giants/Hankyu Braves	L	2-8	Jim Palmer	Palmer loses to Hisashi Yamada in a duel between two 20-game winners.
13	NOV	10	W	Hiroshima	Yomiuri Giants/Hiroshima Toyo Carp	W	4-2	Mike Cuellar
14	NOV	11	TH	Matsuyama	Yomiuri Giants	W	2-0	Eddie Watt
15	NOV	13	SA	Fukuoka	Yomiuri Giants/Nishitetsu Lions	D	9-9	-
16	NOV	14	SU	Kitakyushu	Yomiuri Giants	W	8-7	Pete Richert
17	NOV	16	TU	Nagoya	Yomiuri Giants/Chunichi Dragons	L	1-9	Grant Jackson
18	NOV	20	SA	Tokyo	Yomiuri Giants	W	5-0	Tom Dukes	Scheduled OCT 26 in Sapporo, then NOV 18 in Tokyo.

Source: .