The MLB Immaculate Grid throws a curveball to the players every now and then and this was the case on September 8. Today, the daily internet puzzle game quizzed fans about the Baltimore Orioles with a 200+ K season.
Hall of Famer Mike Mussina was the favorite among the fans for today's query, thanks to his glorious stint with the Baltimore Orioles from 1991 to 2000.
Mussina made his MLB debut for the Orioles in 1991 and made the All-Star team for three consecutive years from 1992 to 1994. He is the only Orioles player in history to register 200+ K on three occasions for the franchise, with the first one coming in the 1996 season.
The seven-time Gold Glove winner managed the same feat in 1997 before doing it for a third time in 2000, his last year in Baltimore before joining the New York Yankees. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019 in his sixth attempt.
The first Orioles player to breach the 200+ K mark in MLB was the late Rube Waddell in 1908, when he registered 232 strikeouts for the St. Louis Browns (now Baltimore Orioles).
Incidentally, Waddell's record of 232 SO is still the most strikeouts managed by an Orioles player in a season.
MLB Immaculate Grid September 9: Other Baltimore Orioles players with 200+ K in a season
Dave McNally: An iconic name in the Orioles history books, Dave McNally achieved the feat for the franchise in the 1968 season. The two-time World Series champions with the Orioles registered his career-best numbers that season after managing 202 strikeouts.
Erik Bedard: The former Candian pitcher was the last Orioles player to manage 200+ strikeouts in a season. Bedard made his MLB debut for the team in 2002 and represented the franchise over two stints.
He managed his career-best numbers for the team in the 2006 season, registering 221 SO, the third most by an Orioles player in a season.