SportingPost

AL Baltimore Orioles

Frank Fleming
Author: 
Frank Fleming
6 mins
October 30th, 2023
Bet With Confidence
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  • First Game Played April 26, 1901

  • Last Game Played Sptember 29, 1902

  • Moved to New York 1901

Historical Moments

1901: Ban Johnson had seen what happened in 1899, and decided to take advantage. Johnson was president of the Western League, a minor league in the Central region of the country. Johnson decided it was time for a step up and decided to add teams in a few of the cities victimized by the National League’s actions, including Baltimore, a highly successful team that won three pennants. With the new teams in the National League disposed of cities of Washington, Cleveland, and Baltimore, Johnson encouraged the teams to raid NL rosters, and the American League was born. The new Orioles were led by 1890’s hero john McGraw and would finish fourth with a respectable 68-65 record. Before the season manager, John McGraw tries to bring Charlie Grant a black pitcher into the league by claiming he is a Cherokee Indian named Chief Tokohama. However, McGraw’s plan fails when Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey learns that Grant is a member of the Columbia Giants, a Black team that plays in Chicago

1902: On April 29th, Player-Manager John McGraw was plunked five times by Boston hurler Bill Dineen. Home plate umpire Jack Sheridan didn’t think Mr. McGraw was making a game attempt to avoid the pitches, because the Bird’s skipper was never awarded first base. After he was plunked for the fifth time, McGraw sat down in the batter’s box and refused to get off the field. Because of McGraw’s “sit-down” protest, American League President Ban Johnson suspended McGraw for five games. Old Oriole Park was the site of the next imbroglio when McGraw and Joe Kelley of the Orioles got into a heated discussion with umpires Tom Connolly and Jimmy Johnstone. The Orioles manager was ejected, and Kelley let his feelings be crystal clear. The Birds forfeited the game, and both Kelley and McGraw were suspended indefinitely. “Little Napoleon’s” days in Baltimore and the American League were now numbered. By early July, John McGraw was the manager of the New York Giants, and shortly thereafter, several of the Orioles stars would join him. The Orioles were left in a shambles, finishing in last place with a 50-88 record. American League President Ban Johnson picked up the scraps and took over the operation of the Birds for the rest of the season. It would be these incidents that would lead in part to there being no World Series in 1904.

1903-1953: In January AL President Ban Johnson, NL President Henry Pullman, and the owners of the two feuding leagues met for a peace summit. At this meeting in January, the two leagues formed a co-existence, with AL agreeing to a few of the NL’s rules, including the reserve clause, and the “Gentlemen’s Agreement.” They also agreed on a post-season series for one champion, and that the AL would stay with the same eight teams, and be on level par with NL. However, Johnson agreed only when he was allowed to move one team to New York to make the league competitive, and had a presence in the Biggest City. Unfortunately, for Baltimore, the team that was chosen to move north was the Orioles. This would leave Baltimore without a Major League team for 52 years. Baltimore would have to wait its turn to be Major League again, but the Orioles would establish themselves as one of the top Minor League franchises in the International Leagues. In 1914 the Orioles signed a resident from a local boarding school. His name was George Herman Ruth, better known as Babe to his teammates. The Babe was so impressive that the Red Sox signed him midway through that first year, and the rest was history. Eventually, the Majors would return in 1954 with another team called the Orioles.

Logo 1901

Logo 1902

Championship Teams

Orioles Stadiums

Classic Orioles

Gus Triandos

1955-1961

Ron Hansen

1958-1962

1960 Rookie of the Year

Hoyt Wilhelm

1958-1962

Jim Gentile

1960-1963

Milt Pappas

1957-1965

Steve Barber

1960-1967

Luis Aparicio

1963-1967

Stu Miller

1963-1967

Brooks Robinson

1964 AL MVP

Curt Blefary

1965-1968

1965 Rookie of the Year

Frank Robinson

1966 AL MVP & Triple Crown

1966 World Series MVP

Moe Drabowsky

1966-1968, 1970

Frank Robinson

1966-1971

586 Career Home Runs

Davey Johnson

1965-1972

Don Buford

1968-1972

Pat Dobson

1971-1972

Boog Powell

1961-1974

1970 AL MVP

Dave McNally

1962-1974

Andy Etchebarren

1962-1975

Paul Blair

1964-1976

Mike Cuellar

1969-1976

1969 AL Cy Young

1971: Four 20 Game Winners

Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson,

Dave McNally, & Jim Palmer

Bobby Grich

1970-1976

Jim Palmer

3 AL Cy Young

1973, 1975 & 19

Reggie Jackson

1976

Brooks Robinson

1955-1977

1970 World Series MVP

Lee May

1975-1

Mark Belanger

1965-1981

Doug DeCinces

1973-1981

Steve Stone

1979-1981

1980 AL Cy Young

Earl Weaver

MGR 1968-82, 1985-86

Tito Landrum

1983, 1988

Jim Palmer

1965-1984

Al Bumbry

1972-1984

1973 Rookie of the Year

Eddie Murray

1977 Rookie of the Year

Ken Singleton

1975-1984

Rich Dauer

1976-1985

John Lowenstein

1979-1985

Rick Dempsey

1976-1986, 1992

1983 World Series MVP

Cal Ripken Jr.

1982 Rookie of the Year

1983 & 1991 AL MVP

Dennis Martinez

1976-1986

Tippy Martinez

1976-1986

Storm Davis

1982-1986, 1992

Mike Flanagan

1975-1987, 1991-1992

1979 AL Cy Young

Scott McGregor

1976-1988

Mike Boddicker

1980-1988

1983 ALCS MVP

The Ripken Family

Billy, Cal Sr., and Cal Jr.

Frank Robinson

MGR 1988-1991

Billy Ripken

1987-1992, 1996

Joe Orsulak

1988-1992

Gregg Olson

1989-1993

1989 Rookie of the Year

Cal Ripken Jr.

9/6/1995 Becomes Baseball's All-Time Iron Man.

Eddie Murray

1977-1988, 1996

1996: 500th Career HR

Mike Devereaux

1989-1994, 1996

Chris Hoiles

1989-1998

Roberto Alomar

1996-1998

Cal Ripken Jr.

9/20/1998: The Streak Ends at 2,632

1999 Baltimore Orioles vs. Cuban National Tea

Arthur Rhodes

1991-1999

Mike Mussina

1991-2000

Cal Ripken Jr.

1991 & 2001

All-Star Game MVP

Cal Ripken Jr.

1981-2001

Brady Anderson

1988-2001

Mike Bordick

1997-2000, 2001-2002

Scott Erickson

1995-2003

Jeff Conine

1999-2003, 2006

David Segui

1990-1994, 2000-2004

Sidney Ponson

1998-2003, 2004-2005

Rafael Palmeiro

1994-1998, 2004-2005

B.J. Surhoff

1996-2000, 2003-2005

B.J. Ryan

1999-2005

Jorge Julio

2001-2005

Sammy Sosa

2005

Luis Matos

2000-200

Javier Lopez

2004-2006

Rodrigo Lopez

2000, 2002-2006

Jay Gibbons

2001-2007

Eric Bedard

2002-2007

Miguel Tejada

2004-2007, 2010

Daniel Cabrera

2004-2008

Ramon Hernandez

2006-2008

Kevin Millar

2006-2008

Melvin Mora

2000-2009

Chris Ray

2005-2009

Aubrey Huff

2007-2009

Ty Wiggington

2009-2010

Jeremy Guthrie

2007-2011

Luke Scott

2008-2011

Cesar Izturis

2009-2011

Koji Uehara

2009-2011

Robert Andino

2009-2012

Mark Reynolds

2011-2012

Brian Roberts

2002-2013

Jim Johnson

2006-2013

Jason Hammel

2012-2013

Nate McLouth

2012-2013

Nick Markakis

2006-2014

Nelson Cruz

2014

Tommy Hunter

2011-2015

Wei-Yin Chen

2012-2015

Miguel Gonzalez

2012-201

Steve Pearce

2012, 2013-2015

Bud Norris

2013-2015

Alejandro De Aza

2014-2015

Jimmy Paredes

2014-2015

Brian Matusz

2009-2016

Nolan Reimold

2009-2013, 2015-201

Matt Wieters

2009-2016

J.J. Hardy

2011-2017

Ubaldo Jimenez

2014-2017

Adam Jones

2008-2018

Chris Tillman

2009-2018

Buck Showalter

MGR 2010-2018

Zach Britton

2011-2018

Manny Machado

2012-2018

Darren O’Day

2012-2018

Kevin Gausman

2013-2018

Jonathan Schoop

2013-2018

Brad Brach

2014-2018

Caleb Joseph

2014-2018

Pedro Alvarez

2016-2018

Dylan Bundy

2012,2016-2019

Mark Trumbo

2016-2019

Andrew Cashner

2018-2019

Chris Davis

2011-Present

Trey Mancini

2016-Present

Anthony Santander

2017-Present

Alex Cobb

2018-Present

John Means

2018-Present

Renato Nunez

2018-Present

Dwight Smith Jr.

2018-Present

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Author

Frank Fleming
Frank Fleming founded the Sports Ecyclopedia in 2001 & is a passionate Devils fan.