The 2003 Baltimore Orioles season was the 103rd season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 50th in Baltimore, and the 12th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They improved on their record from the previous year with a 71–91 record, but missed the postseason for the 6th straight season.

Offseason December 2, 2002: Bill Pulsipher was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles. January 3, 2003: Omar Daal was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles. March 7, 2003: B. J. Surhoff was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

Steve Bechler On February 16, 2003, towards the beginning of Orioles' spring training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Steve Bechler collapsed while participating in conditioning drills. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, and died the next day. His body temperature had reached . An autopsy performed by Dr. Joshua Perper, a toxicologist, concluded that his death was caused by "'abnormal liver function and mild hypertension', his weight problem (he weighed 230 pounds and was exercising hard, the fact that he was not used to south Florida's warm weather and the toxicity of ephedra. He was using the supplement ephedra, against the advice of his trainer, and probably had not eaten in two days in an effort to lose weight.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Transactions June 3, 2003: Nick Markakis was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1st round (7th pick) of the 2003 amateur draft. Player signed June 11, 2003. July 25, 2003: Sean Spencer was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

Roster 2003 Baltimore Orioles Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (Hitting) (First base) (Bullpen) (Bench) (Third base) (Pitching)

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 Brook Fordyce 108 348 95 .273 6 31 1B Jeff Conine 124 493 143 .290 15 80 2B Brian Roberts 112 460 124 .270 5 41 SS Deivi Cruz 152 548 137 .250 14 65 3B Tony Batista 161 631 148 .235 26 99 LF Larry Bigbie 83 287 87 .303 9 31 CF Luis Matos 109 439 133 .303 13 45 RF Jay Gibbons 160 625 173 .277 23 100 DH David Segui 67 224 59 .263 5 25

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 Melvin Mora 96 344 109 .317 15 48 B.J. Surhoff 93 319 94 .295 5 41 Jerry Hairston Jr. 58 218 59 .271 2 21 Gerónimo Gil 54 169 40 .237 3 16 Gary Matthews Jr. 41 162 33 .204 2 20 Jack Cust 27 73 19 .260 4 11 José Morban 61 71 10 .141 2 5 José León 21 54 13 .241 0 0 Robert Machado 18 49 13 .265 1 3 Carlos Méndez 26 45 10 .222 0 5 Tim Raines Jr. 20 43 6 .140 0 2 Marty Cordova 9 30 7 .233 1 4 Pedro Swann 8 14 3 .214 1 2

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 Jason Johnson 32 189.2 10 10 4.18 118 Pat Hentgen 28 160.2 7 8 4.09 100 Sidney Ponson 21 148.0 14 6 3.77 100 Rodrigo López 26 147.0 7 10 5.82 103 Rick Helling 24 138.2 7 8 5.71 86 Omar Daal 19 93.2 4 11 6.34 53 Damian Moss 10 50.2 1 5 6.22 22 Matt Riley 2 10.0 1 0 1.80 9

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 Eric DuBose 17 73.2 3 6 3.79 44

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Jorge Julio 64 0 7 36 4.38 52 B.J. Ryan 76 4 1 0 3.40 63 Kerry Ligtenberg 68 4 2 1 3.34 47 Buddy Groom 60 1 3 1 5.36 34 Héctor Carrasco 40 2 6 1 4.93 27 Rick Bauer 35 0 0 0 4.55 43 Willis Roberts 26 3 1 0 5.72 26 Travis Driskill 20 3 5 1 6.00 33 John Parrish 14 0 1 0 1.90 8 Sean Douglass 3 0 0 0 13.50 3 Kurt Ainsworth 3 0 1 0 11.57 4

Farm system Baseball America 2004 Directory. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2004

References

External links