Baltimore Orioles: Hall of Fame Inductees Mediocre vs. O’s

May 20, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher former pitcher Pedro Martinez shows his World Series rings prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Four very deserving players were elected for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America: Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio, John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez. Each had long careers with the accumulation of very impressive statistics.

Though they did not lack a decent measure of success against the Baltimore Orioles over their individual careers, neither did they fatten their resumes against the Birds.

This is especially true of the one non-pitcher of the quartet – Craig Biggio – who played his entire 20-year career from 1988-2007 with the Houston Astros of the National League. He had a career batting average of .281 with 291 home runs. And his career OBP was .363!

Against the Baltimore Orioles in only six games, he was 5-for-24 with two doubles and a home run, for a batting average of .208.

The Big Unit Randy Johnson will always be remembered by me first of all for that occasion where a pitch hit a bird on the way to the plate. The bird literally exploded!

In Johnson’s 22-year career, he pitched 12 years in the American League – 10 for Seattle and two for the Yankees. His total record was 303-166 with a 3.29 ERA and WHIP of 1.171. He averaged 10.6 strike outs per nine innings pitched.

Against the Orioles, Randy Johnson had a record of 10-7 in 30 games with a 4.09 ERA and WHIP of 1.309 – striking out 9.2 hitters per nine innings. Not bad overall, but not HOF caliber.

John Smoltz pitched a total of 21 seasons in 22 years – being injured in 2000. Other than the four years following that injury when he was a reliever (recording 55 saves in 2002), he was a starter for the rest of his career.

Smoltz’ final record was 213-155 with 154 saves. His ERA was 3.33 and he posted a WHIP of 1.176 (nearly identical as Johnson).

Since all but his final season was with the Atlanta Braves, he did not face the Orioles very much. In the portion of his final season that he was with the Red Sox, Smoltz made three starts against the O’s and pitched 15 innings. In a total of nine games against Baltimore, he was 2-2 with a 5.50 ERA and WHIP of 1.274.