Baltimore Orioles (minor league)

Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore, Maryland ;
Minor league affiliations
Previous classes	Triple-A (1946–1953); Double-A (1912–1945); Single-A (1903–1911);
League	International League (1912–1914, 1916–1953); Eastern League (1903–1911);
Major league affiliations
Previous teams	Philadelphia Phillies (1951–1953); St. Louis Browns (1949–1950); Cleveland Indians (1942–1948); Philadelphia Phillies (1940);
Minor league titles
League titles	10 (1908, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1944, 1950)
Team data
Previous parks	Memorial Stadium (1944–1953); Oriole Park V (1916–1943); Oriole Park IV (1901–1914);

The city of

American Association in 1882 to 1891, then joined the National League from 1892 to 1899, the second being the American League charter franchise which played for two seasons in 1901 and 1902, and the modern AL team

since April 1954.)

Name history

"Orioles" is a traditional name for baseball clubs in Baltimore, after the

American Association and the original National League two decades after its founding in 1876, and by a charter team franchise member of the new American League from 1901 through 1902. The original American League franchise was replaced by a team in New York City in 1903 and eventually became known as the New York Yankees

.

First minor league team, 1903–1914

In

Eastern League). This Orioles team stayed mediocre for the first few years of its existence, but after the arrival of Jack Dunn (1872–1928), as manager, it won the Eastern League pennant in 1908. This E.L./I.L. Orioles team played at the old American League Park (a.k.a. Oriole Park) at the southwest corner of Greenmount Avenue and 29th Street in the Waverly

neighborhood of northeast Baltimore.

The 1914 season featured the professional debut of local son, George Herman "Babe" Ruth, but competition from the Baltimore Terrapins of the new Federal League challenge for major league status, with their more modern steel-beamed ballpark across the street, forced Dunn to sell Ruth (to the Boston Red Sox) later in the 1914 season and many of his other players, and eventually temporarily relocate the team to Richmond, Virginia, as the Richmond Climbers, for the 1915 and 1916 seasons.

Second minor league team, 1916–1953

After the Federal League's demise, Dunn returned with an Orioles team in 1916. This team, later in the

Louisville Colonels, 4 games to 1. The Orioles actually led the fourth game, 12–4, but a riot broke out among the Louisville home crowd in the top of the 9th inning, and the game was forfeited to Baltimore, 9–0.^[1] The I.L. Orioles continued to roll over International League opposition for several more seasons straight through to the 1925 Baseball Season

.

The team entered the

Municipal Stadium on 33rd Street Boulevard (also known as "Baltimore Stadium"), the team seemed to have a hard time recovering from that loss, playing lackluster ball through the rest of the season and losing their last game, only to strangely "back into the championship" when the second place team, the Newark Bears, also lost their recent games. The Orioles, under manager Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas, went on to win the "Junior World Series" that year, four games to two, against Louisville. Six years later, with the shackles of war-time baseball cast off, in 1950, under manager Nick Cullop, Baltimore won the league championship again, only to lose the "Junior World Series" to the Columbus Red Birds of Ohio, four games to one. In 2001, the Orioles teams of 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924 were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.^[2]

Back to the majors

After the 1953 season, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and took the name of the Baltimore Orioles. The last minor league/International League Orioles team (of 1916–1953) re-located to Richmond (coincidentally just as had the earlier Orioles team in 1914), this time as the Richmond Virginians from 1954 to 1964, later relocating as today's Toledo Mud Hens franchise in northwest Ohio since 1965.

Championships

The Orioles won the

Little World Series

5 times.

1936 – Lost to Buffalo
1937 – Lost to Newark
1940 – Lost to Newark
1944 – Defeated Newark
1950 – Defeated Rochester

Notable players

Hall of Fame
shortstop and manager
Hall of Fame
catcher and manager
Jack Dunn - 1907-11, 1919; second baseman, later manager and owner of the club
Hall of Fame
third baseman
Sammy Strang - 1908-10; Major League Baseball third baseman and outfielder
Cy Seymour - 1910-11; Major League Baseball pitcher and outfielder
Fritz Maisel - 1911-13, 1919-28; Major League Baseball third baseman, longest-tenured player in Orioles history
Bob Shawkey - 1912-13; Major League Baseball pitcher
Hall of Fame
pitcher and outfielder
Jack Bentley - 1916-17, 1919-22; Major League Baseball pitcher and first baseman
Max Bishop - 1918-23, 1936; Major League Baseball second baseman
Hall of Fame
pitcher
Hall of Fame
pitcher
George Earnshaw - 1924-28; Major League Baseball pitcher
Sherry Magee - 1925-26; Major League Baseball outfielder
Joe Hauser - 1930-31; Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder
Buzz Arlett - 1932-33; Major League Baseball outfielder
Phil Weintraub - 1938; Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder
Sherm Lollar - 1943-46; Major League Baseball catcher
Bobby Ávila - 1948; Major League Baseball second baseman

References

^ Baltimore Sun, October 10, 1921, pg 1
^ "Top 100 Teams". MiLB.com. 2001. Retrieved May 9, 2017.

[1] Baltimore Sun, October 10, 1921, pg 1

[2] "Top 100 Teams". MiLB.com. 2001. Retrieved May 9, 2017.

[1]

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