Sizing up the best & worst Aprils in Orioles history

Baltimore never had a losing April from 1960-1969 and finished the '60s with their best overall April record (91-62).

The Orioles doubled their win total on Sunday with an 8-3 victory against Oakland that guaranteed they won't match the worst April record in team history, the 1-22 mark posted by the 1988 team.

The 2-11 Birds now need to record an unlikely 10 straight victories to close out the month with a winning record. Otherwise, the franchise will be even-Stephen overall for the month of April with 25 winning Aprils, 25 losing Aprils, and seven .500 Aprils.

Here's a breakdown of how the Orioles have done historically in the fourth month of the year and traditional first month of the baseball season:

-The O's best April mark was 11-1 in 1966. Baltimore never had a losing April from 1960-1969 and finished the '60s with their best overall April record (91-62, .594 winning percentage).

-After 1988, the team's next-worst opening months came in 1955 (4-12, .250 winning percentage) and 1999 (6-16, .272). Among the teams to post the three worst Aprils in team history, only the 1999 Orioles had some fight left in them. The '99 team finished 78-84 while the 1955 Orioles went 57-97 and the '88 Orioles were 54-107.

-The '50s and '80s were the worst decades for the Birds in terms of their April record. The O's finished the '50s (1954-1959) with an April record of 33-50 (.397 winning percentage) and the '80s (1980-1989) with an April record of 85-116 (.422 winning percentage).

-The O's actually were pretty good in April throughout the 2000s. The team finished the decade with a 128-177 record (.522 winning percentage) for the month. The 2009 Orioles had the worst April record of the decade (9-13). The best Aprils came in 2005 (16-7) and 2008 (16-11).

-Baltimore's highest April win total is 16, which they've done four times (1969, 1997, 2005, 2008).

As I've mentioned before, I'm hoping the 2010 Birds resemble the 1999 Birds among slow-starting Orioles teams when it's all said and done.

Image Source: SI Vault (Oct. 10, 1966).

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