Baltimore Orioles Tickets: The Orioles Are One Of The American League Eight Franchises In 1901

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns.

After 52 mostly hapless years in St. Louis, the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954 and adopted the Orioles name in honor of the official state bird of Maryland.

The Orioles name had been used by previous major league baseball clubs in Baltimore, including the American League Baltimore Orioles franchise from 1901-1902 that became The New York Yankees and the National League Baltimore Orioles which won National League championships under Hall-of-Fame manager John McGraw, before McGraw took the black and orange team colors to the New York Giants baseball team, which became the San Francisco Giants after the 1957 season. Nicknames for the team include the O's and the Birds.

The Orioles experienced their greatest success from 1964/1983, winning seven Divisional Championships ,six pennants , three World Championships (1966, 1970 and 1983), and five Most Valuable Player awards .The first World Series Championship team in 1966 was led by Hall-of-Famers Frank Robinson (OF), Brooks Robinson (3B), and Jim Palmer (P). Frank Robinson won the 1966 World Series MVP award, as well as the Triple Crown in hitting, in which he led the American League in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.

The second World Series Championship team in 1970 was led by the previous trio of Hall-of-Famers, Hall-of-Fame manager Earl Weaver, and 1970 AL MVP Boog Powell (1B). Brooks Robinson won the 1970 World Series MVP award. The third World Championship team was led by Hall-of-Famers Cal Ripken, Jr. (SS), Eddie Murray (1B), Jim Palmer (P) and 1983 World Series MVP Rick Dempsey (C).

The Orioles success after 1983 included the following: Frank Robinson won the American League manager of the year in 1989 managing the Orioles to a second-place finish in the AL East Division only two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays; Cal Ripken Jr. won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1991; the Orioles won their first American League Wild Card playoff appearance in 1996 and went wire-to-wire in winning the American League East Division championship in 1997, with Davey Johnson winning the American League Manager of the Year Award.

As mentioned above, the Miles-Hofberger group renamed their new team the Baltimore Orioles soon after taking control of the franchise. The name has a rich history in Baltimore, having been used by Baltimore baseball teams since the late 19th century.
In the 1890s, a powerful and innovative National League Orioles squad included several future Hall of Famers, such as "Wee" Willie Keeler, Wilbert Robinson, Hughie Jennings, and John McGraw. They won three straight pennants, and participated in all four of the Temple Cup Championship Series, winning the last two of them.

That team had started as a charter member of the American Association in 1882. Despite its on-field success, it was one of the four teams contracted out of existence by the National League after the 1899 season. Its best players (and its manager, Ned Hanlon) regrouped with the Brooklyn Dodgers, turning that team into a contender.

The Orioles started off their 2010 season with newly acquired Kevin Millwood as their opening day starter. On April 12, 2010 the team set a club record for the lowest paid attendance in Camden Yards history, only 9,129 attended the game versus the Tampa Bay Rays .The Orioles then went 2-16 to begin the season, one of the worst openings in MLB history. For much of the first half of the season, they had by far the worst record in the league.

On June 4, the Orioles replaced Dave Trembley as manager with third base coach Juan Samuel. Samuels's appointment was announced as interim.

On July 30, the Orioles hired Buck Showalter to be the full-time manager. He was introduced on August 2 and made his debut on August 3. Showalter chose to wear the number 26 in honor of his friend and former Oriole's manager Johnny Oates.Showalter's arrival produced, or coincided with, a turnaround; the Birds went 34-24 in August, September and October.