Top 50 Players In Baltimore Sports History: 50-41

46. Brady Anderson, OF, Baltimore Orioles

The first thing that comes to your mind when you mention the name Brady Anderson is 50 home runs. He was the first player in Orioles history to hit 50 home runs in a single season and the only player to do so until Chris Davis hit 53 last year. Was that a breakout year? Yes, but that doesn’t mean that it was his only good year.

Anderson hit just ten home runs in 390 games from 1988-1991, which were the first four years of his career. However, he hit 21 long-balls in 1992 and exceeded double-digit home runs for most of the remainder of his career.

Oct 8, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles batting coach

(left) special assistant Brady Anderson (center) and actor Josh Charles (right) prior to game two of the 2012 ALDS against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

He came into the 1996 season never hitting more than 21 home runs in a single season. He broke out in 1996 hitting 50 home runs and joining an exclusive club. However, in 15 years in the league, that was the only occasion where he ever topped 24 home runs. This has raised speculation that he perhaps took illegal steroids. We may understand the logical reasoning behind that suspicion, but we will save that topic for another time.

45. Miguel Tejada, 3B, Baltimore Orioles

Most people outside of Kansas City don’t know this, but Miguel Tejada was still in the league until the end of last year. However, we aren’t going to talk about what he did at the tail end of his career.

Miguel Tejada was drafted by the Oakland A’s before coming over to Baltimore in 2004 where he spent four years. He had already accomplished a lot before arriving there, hitting 156 home runs in the first seven years of his career including 34 in 2002, the same year he won AL MVP. He signed a six-year/ $72 million deal with the Orioles and continued his success over the next four seasons.

He led the league with 150 RBIs in 2004 and totaled 329 in his four years with the O’s. He would go on to hit 102 home runs with the Orioles while snagging a victory in the 2004 Home Run Derby. If he was on the Orioles roster in those seven years instead of the A’s, then he would probably be higher on the list; but he wasn’t so he falls at number 45.