Doug DeCinces

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

DeCinces played PONY League Baseball and Colt League Baseball in Northridge, California, with fellow major league player Dwight Evans. He attended and played at Monroe High School in Sepulveda, California, and Los Angeles Pierce College, and is in Pierce College's Athletic Hall of Fame. He came up through the Orioles system, playing for the Asheville Orioles under manager Cal Ripken Sr. He began his major league career at the age of 23 with the Baltimore Orioles late in the 1973 season. When the Orioles' Hall of Fame third baseman, Brooks Robinson, retired at the end of the 1977 season, DeCinces was given the difficult task of replacing the legendary player. Despite initial hostility from some Orioles fans as Robinson's replacement, he endured to play for the Orioles for a total of nine seasons. On June 22, 1979, DeCinces hit a game-winning home run at Memorial Stadium off Detroit Tigers reliever Dave Tobik. The Orioles were trailing the Tigers 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Ken Singleton hit a solo home run off Tobik to bring the Orioles within one. Eddie Murray reached base on a single, and, with two outs, DeCinces hit a two-run home run to give the Orioles a 6–5 victory. The win has been called 'the night Oriole Magic was born.' DeCinces said years later that the game and his home run 'triggered something' and that 'the emotion just multiplied from there,' adding that the ensuing atmosphere of excitement was in no small part due to the excited call of the home run by announcers Bill O'Donnell and Charley Eckman on the Orioles' radio network. The Orioles went on to win the American League pennant in 1979. DeCinces tagged out Dan Ford who was attempting to advance to third base on a force play that ended Game 2 of the 1979 American League Championship Series. In 1981, DeCinces got into a feud with teammate Jim Palmer after DeCinces missed a line drive hit by Alan Trammell in a game against the Tigers. Both DeCinces and Ford were exchanged for each other in a trade that also sent Jeff Schneider from the Orioles to the Angels and was announced on January 28, 1982. The deal was delayed when Ford requested additional compensation because the Orioles were not one of six teams listed in his contract to which he could be traded without approval. The transaction became official upon his approval two days later on January 30. DeCinces'

In Their Own Story

DeCinces famously rescued a pre-teen Cal Ripken Jr. during a pre-game incident involving a teenager firing a rifle into the air adjacent to the stadium where the Orioles played, causing panic amongst those on the field. Ripken Jr. (who was the team's bat boy at the time) was taken away to safety by DeCinces when the gunshots began. DeCinces came up through the Orioles system, playing for the Asheville Orioles under manager Cal Ripken Sr. Both DeCinces and Dan Ford were exchanged for each other in a trade that also sent Jeff Schneider from the Orioles to the Angels and was announced on January 28, 1982. The deal was delayed when Ford requested additional compensation because the Orioles were not one of six teams listed in his contract to which he could be traded without approval. The transaction became official upon his approval two days later on January 30. DeCinces' departure allowed rookie Cal Ripken Jr. to become the Orioles' new starting third baseman.

Reader's Guide

DeCinces was a member of the 1983 American League All-Star team. He won the Silver Slugger Award in 1982. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2006.

Did You Know?

• DeCinces played for the Yakult Swallows in 1988, but the Tokyo Dome opened that year and he joined the team later in the season, so he did not hit a home run in his first at-bat in the first game at the dome.
• He was a consultant for the 1992 film Mr. Baseball.
• DeCinces was charged with insider trading in 2011 and later convicted on 13 felony counts in 2017, receiving eight months of home detention.