All-time best starting lineup of Orioles based on WAR

Since the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954, there have been some outstanding players that have come through the charm city, whether they spent their entire career with the Orioles or just a couple of seasons.

With some record breakers and famous faces, a starting lineup of the best players to ever don the Orioles uniform can be assembled. Eliminating pure opinion from the matter, because anyone can have a different opinion, this starting lineup of the best Orioles players is assembled by WAR from baseball reference, otherwise known as bWAR. This list only includes members of the Orioles, not the original St. Louis Browns. This lineup includes nine hitters and one starting pitcher.

Constructing an all time best Orioles starting lineup

1. Cal Ripken Jr, SS

Leading off for the Orioles legend team is none other than baseball's Iron Man. Ever since a 23 game rookie season, Ripken Jr became a fixture in the Orioles lineup, playing in 2,632 consecutive games, smashing Lou Gehrig's previous record of 2,130.

Ripken Jr ended his career with a .276/.340/.447 slash line, hitting 431 home runs and driving in 1,695 RBIs over 21 seasons in the major leagues and 3,0001 regular season games, every single one coming in an Orioles uniform. He had a .336/.411/.455 slash line with one home run in 28 playoff games.

Cal Jr was one of baseball's best, and he has the accolades to prove it. He's a rookie of the year, a two time MVP winner, a two time gold glover, a home run derby champion, a 19 time All Star, an All Star Game MVP, a two time major league player of the year, an 8 time gold glover, and a World Series champion in 1983. Ripken is the most valuable Oriole by bWAR, with 95.9 to his name.

2: All time best Orioles starting lineup: Bobby Grich, 2B

Batting second and at second base is Bobby Grich, who spent seven of his 17 seasons in an Orioles uniform. A 6 foot 2 infielder, Grich has 70 home runs and 307 RBIs with the Orioles, with a slash line of .262/.372/.405 in Baltimore. He had 137 doubles and 27 triples, amassing a 36.0 WAR with the team.

Grich earned three of his six All Star Game appearances with the Orioles, was on the 1970 World Series winning team, and won all four of his gold gloves with the team, which all came in a row from 1973-1976.

Although he's probably better known for his 10 years with the California Angels, Grich was a tremendous infielder for the Orioles in his seven seasons in the Charm City, and with his bWAR numbers, earns a spot in the starting lineup.

3: All time best Orioles starting lineup: Boog Powell, LF

Powell gets the nod in left field here. Powell spent 14 of his 17 years in the bigs with the Orioles, with a .266/.362/.465 slash line, giving him a .826 OPS in an Orioles uniform. Powell was a pretty good home run hitter, bashing 303 with 1,063 RBIs with the Orioles over 14 years.

Powell is a two time World Series champion with the Orioles, as part of their 1966 and 1970 teams. In that 1970 championship season, Powell won his first and only MVP award. He made four All Star Games, which came consecutively from 1968-1971.

To put it simply, Powell was nothing short of spectacular for the Orioles, being a key cog of two World Series champions and taking home an MVP in Orioles colors. His career bWAR is 39.1, with Powell amassing 35.5 of that with the Orioles. He's a deserving starter in this lineup.

4: All time best Orioles starting lineup: Eddie Murray, 1B

The reason Powell is in the outfield and not at first is because of Eddie Murray, one of the better power hitters to come through the charm city. He spent 13 of his 21 major league seasons with the Orioles, playing for five teams throughout his career.

If you needed a home run, chances are Murray would provide it for you. He hit 504 home runs in his career, 343 of which came with the Orioles. Murray was very good at driving in runs, with 1,917 in his career and 1,224 with the Orioles. Murray had a .498 slugging percentage and .868 OPS in an Orioles uniform, another stat to prove his power bat legit.

Murray won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1977, one of many awards he would win. He won three silver slugger awards and three gold gloves, won the home run derby in 1985, hit 33 home runs as part of the 1983 World Series champion team, and is a member of the Hall of Fame. With a career 68.6 bWAR, Murray was an important bat in the heart of the Orioles lineup.

6: All time best Orioles starting lineup: Rick Dempsey, C

Catcher was a toss-up between Dempsey and Chris Hoiles, but ultimately Dempsey gets the nod. Hoiles had the higher bWAR with Baltimore, but played 10 years. Dempsey has a higher career bWAR between all the teams he played for, but he played in Baltimore for 12 years.

Dempsey had a .238/.319/.355 slash line with the Orioles, hitting 75 home runs with 355 RBIs, but his .674 OPS and 89 OPS+ leaves something to be desired. But, catchers are more important for their defensive abilities, so underwhelming hitting stats are easier to flush when catchers are being discussed.

The shining moment for Dempsey in an Orioles uniform was their World Series run in 1983. He hit .385 with one home run and a 1.390 OPS in their World Series win against the Philadelphia Phillies, resulting in him being named World Series MVP.

The Orioles haven't had any real flashy catchers in their history, except for Adley Rutschman and possibly Matt Wieters. But Dempsey was someone who got the job done, and his 21.2 bWAR in an Orioles uniform signifies that.

7: All time best Orioles starting lineup: Frank Robinson, DH

With a crowded outfield picture, another Robinson gets a spot in the all-time lineup as a DH. Robinson only spent six of his 21 seasons with the Orioles, and he's more known for his tenure with the Cincinnati Reds. But man, he was a good player to come through Baltimore.

In six seasons, Robinson had a .300/.401/.543 slash line, belting 179 home runs and driving in 545 runs, with a resounding 169 OPS+ in 827 games. Both of his World Series titles came with the Orioles, winning in 1966 and 1970 while being named World Series MVP in 1966.

Robinson quickly amassed a 32.4 bWAR in those six seasons and has quite the trophy case. Five of his 14 All Star Game appearances came with the Orioles. He won the Triple Crown in 1966, his first season with the Orioles, also winning the AL MVP that season.

To cap off his legendary resume, Robinson was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, getting 89.2 percent of the vote six years after his last season in 1976. Robinson was nothing short of legendary, and was a key cog of two World Series champions in the charm city.

8: All time best Orioles starting lineup: Paul Blair, CF

Blair gets the nod as the starting center fielder of the all-time Orioles. Outside of Baltimore, Blair was worth negative bWAR, but his bWAR in an Orioles uniform was 39.6, giving him a 37.7 bWAR all time. He spent 13 of his 17 seasons with the Orioles, also spending time with the Yankees and Reds.

Two of Blair's four World Series titles came in Baltimore, coming in 1966 and 1970. He made the All Star Game in 1969 and 1973 and won all eight of his gold gloves in Baltimore. He played in Baltimore from eight games in 1964 all the way until the end of the 1976 season.

Blair has a .204/.306/.338 slash line in Baltimore, with an exactly league average 100 OPS+ in his Orioles career. He has 126 home runs and 567 RBIs, swiping 167 bases and working 400 walks in 1,700 regular season games in an Orioles uniform. While not the most decorated, Blair was still a greatly important piece to the Orioles outfield, at the most important outfield spot too.

9: All time best Orioles starting lineup: Brady Anderson, RF

Rounding out the starting nine is another outfielder, this time being Brady Anderson. He's not as well known as the other names on this list because he doesn't have the titles and the major awards, but he was a really good player for the Orioles, and for a decent stretch of time too.

Anderson spent 13+ seasons of his 15 year career with the Orioles, going from the Boston Red Sox to Baltimore part of the way through the 1988 season. Anderson made all 3 of his All Star Games with the Orioles, which came in 1992, 1996, and 1997.

Over his 15 years, Anderson had a career 35.0 bWAR, amassing 34.9 of that with the Orioles. Anderson could sure steal some bases, with 307 of them in an Orioles uniform. He had a .257/.364/.430 slash line with the Orioles, posting a 110 OPS+ and working 927 walks.

Anderson was also someone who could be counted on to be in the lineup consistently. After playing 94 games in 1989 and 89 in 1990, Anderson surpassed 100 games in every year with the Orioles following that, having played 1,759 games in Oriole colors.

While not a big name, Anderson was someone who brought speed a bit of power to the table, with 210 home runs and 761 RBIs in Baltimore. He was very reliable when he was called upon and was a really good player.

All time best Orioles starting lineup: Jim Palmer, starting pitcher

I mean, who else but Jim Palmer would get the nod here? An Arizona native, Palmer was an Oriole lifer, playing all 19 years of his major league career in the charm city. Palmer debuted in 1965 and played all the way until 1984, where his career unfortunately ended on the wrong note, with some less than favorable statistics.

Over those 19 years, Palmer amassed 268 wins and 152 losses, a winning percentage of .638. He had 211 complete games and 53 shutouts, even picking up four saves. He surpassed the 300 inning threshold four times, throwing 305 innings in 1970, 323 in 1975, 315 in 1976, and 319 in 1977. He surpassed 200 innings 10 total times.

Palmer had a career 2.86 ERA, 1.180 WHIP, and a 125 ERA+, with a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.69. He logged 3,948 innings over 521 starts and 558 games total in the regular season, a true workhorse and iron man of the pitching staff.

In the postseason, Palmer has a 8-3 record, 2.61 ERA, and 1.214 WHIP over 124 1/3 innings, making 15 starts and two relief appearances. He won World Series titles in 1966, 1970, and 1983, making nine total appearances in the World Series.

Palmer has three titles, three Cy Young Awards, four gold gloves, six All Star Game appearances, two ERA titles, and a Hall of Fame induction to his name, and it was all done in Baltimore. He's as deserving as it gets for this spot.