60 feet 6 inches, that is how far they put the mound from the plate in 1893 and that is where it has stayed ever since.  Sure, they have lowered it and raised it but the distance is still the same.  This season they also did away with the pitchers box and put in a white rubber plate 12 inches long and 4 inches wide.  Rule changes were brought into being for pitchers that are still in effect to this day. The game had brought its pitchers into the modern era.

The split season was done, thank goodness, so that now for this season the NL Pennant winner was the NL Champion.  At the end of this season that would again change.... in a way that Baseball to this day must wonder what those in charge were thinking.

More pieces of the puzzle were coming together for the Orioles this year with the arrival of several more players who were to make Baltimore the terror of the NL  But, the growing pains were still working themselves out as Ned Hanlon led the Orioles at Union Park.  The Orioles went 60-70 .462 -26.5 in 8th out of 12 places in the NL. 

The Orioles this year had the following record against the rest of the NL:

Boston 2-10, Pittsburgh 1-11, Cleveland 8-4, Philadelphia 5-7, New York 4-8, Brooklyn 10-2, Cincinnati 4-8, Chicago 5-7, St. Louis 9-3, Louisville 5-5 and Washington 7-5.  So, while the Orioles could clearly compete with the league as a whole they were creamed by Boston and Pittsburgh the two best teams of the NL.

The Orioles as a team hit .275 which was 7th in the League and the team ERA was 4.97 which was 10th.  The hightlight of 1893 was on August 16th when Bill Hawke no hit the Washington Nationals 5-0.

Wilbert Robinson led the team with a .334 BA.  Heinie Reitz 2b led the team with 130 G, 76 RBI (tied with Joe Kelley CF), Joe Kelley CF also led the team with 9 HR, 16 3B, 27 2B, and a .476 SA.  John McGraw SS was the O's leader with 154 H, 101 BB and 38 SB.  Billy Shindle 3b led the club with 521 AB.

On the pitching side Sadie McMahon continued to be the team ace leading the team in W and L with 23-18, 79 Ks, 40 GS, 346.3 IP, 43 G, 4.37 ERA.  Billy Hawke's no-hitter was the only shutout this year for the Orioles.

While not a good year this was the turning point for the Orioles. In the spring the final pieces would show up for the Orioles, especially in the persons of Willie Keeler, Hughie Jennings and Dan Brouthers who would help the Birds to soar.

But, in the meantime the Oriole fans had no idea of what was about to happen and the NL was unaware at what was about to be unleashed upon them.  But, they were about to experience something never seen before in baseball. This team  would beat you in any way possible  through hitting, fielding, pitching, great base running, agressiveness not only in play but in all ways pertaining to the game, bullying, breaking rules, using rules to create runs, badgering umpires into submission, intimidating the opposition and just plain running roughshod over the rest of the League in any way possible with no mercy given to anyone. Yes, the NL was about to be sacked, rampaged and pillaged by a team of rough and colorful characters who together would become a legend that to this day draws respect and awe from fans who know their baseball history. 

Many rules would come into effect to counter the Orioles and their brilliant innovations.  Umpires would experience fear, opposing teams would be intimidated or get so angry they would blow plays and the Baltimore fans would have the times of their lives watching the Birds lay ruin rest of the League.  But, who would have known that as winter set in during late 1893 and people sat around the Hot Stove talking about baseball.

1892 started with the American Association dead and gone and several AA teams merged into the NL.  One of these teams was the Original Baltimore Orioles.  How would they do in their first year in the NL?  What they faced was a stronger NL for the teams that folded had let their talent go so it only strengthened the level of play in the League with less teams vying for the talent available. 

However, on the plus side the Orioles would not just have one chance during the year for a pennant, but two!  This year the League divided its season into a first half and a second half.  The idea was the first half winner would play the second half winner for the League title.  What would happen if a team won both halves?  Well, no one seemed to have thought of that, but it all worked out anyways.

The manager this year was not Billy Barnie, but rather  George Van Haltren, then John Waltz and finally Ned Hanlon.  The arrival of Ned Hanlon brought the O's the manager who would forge the team into the dynasty that was to come. Another piece had come to the puzzle although one would be hard pressed to see it at the time with the season the Birds had this year.

One of Hanlon's first move was to trade for Joe Kelley who was to be another vital part of the coming Orioles powerhouse.  While the O's did struggle this year, in both halves, they proved to be an exciting team and their biggest highlight of the year came against St. Louis winning the first game 25-4 and the second game of the doubleheader 9-3.  They had 44 hits in the two games and Wilbert Robinson went 7 for 7 in the first game of the DH.

In the first half the O's finished 20-55 .267 -32.5 in 12th (last) place.  The second half saw a slight improvement with the Birds going 26-46 .361 -25 in 10th place.  For the total season standings the Orioles were 46-101 .313 -54.5 in 12th place.  So, the Orioles finished in last 2 out of 3 possible times this year.  I'm glad they didn't continue the split seasons! Imagine the confusion through discussing a team of the same year as two different seasons!  A good idea gone wrong if ya ask me!

The Orioles seasonal record this year versus the reast of the League was as follows:

Boston Beaneaters 0-13, Cleveland Spiders 2-11, Brooklyn Bridegrooms 2-12, Philadelphia Phillies 4-10, Cincinnati Reds 4-10, Pittsburgh Pirates 5-9, Chicago Colts 4-7, New York Giants 5-9, Louisville Colonels 6-7, Washington Nationals 6-7 and St. Louis Browns 8-6. 

As a team this year the Orioles had a BA of .253 (4th in the NL) and a ERA of 4.28 (last in the NL).  Basically a good hitting, no pitching team the Orioles fielded this year.

George Van Haltren, RF,  led the Orioles this year in; BA .302, Hits 168, Runs 105, Doubles 20 (tied with Billy Shindle), Homers 7, RBIs 57 (tied with Wilbert Robinson), BB 70, SB 49, SA .419, BB 70.  Billy Shindle, 3b, led the team with 18 Triples. 

In pitching the Ace was Sadie McMahon led the team in IP with 397, CG 44, Wins 20, Shoutouts 2, and a 3.24 ERA.  George Cobb led the team in Games 53, GS 47, 159 Ks and a league leading 37 losses.  

A bad start for the Orioles in the NL this season, but very few people could see (and who could blame them?) that the rise of the Orioles was soon to begin.  1893 saw changes come to the game that we take for granted today and saw changes in the Orioles that would in the span of one season bring the Birds to a soaring height that no one could have envisioned at the end of the 1892 season.

The great players revolt was over and the PL had folded.  The American Association limped into the season, its final one.  The losses taken in the 1890 Players Revolt had done damage beyond repair and the now open warfare with the NL over obtaining the star players proved too much for the Association at the end of the year  the AA would fold, but that is another story.

Manager Billy Barnie led his Orioles onto the field this year in two different ball parks. They played 14 games at Oriole Park and then 56 games at the new Union Park (although both parks were known by both names creating confusion for historians).   The beginnings of the rough and tumble, feisty Orioles were born this year.  John McGraw, Sadie McMahon and Wilbert Robinson came together to form the beginnings of the core that would change the baseball world.  It would take 2 more seasons of struggles but the pieces for the future were starting to show up.

It was a very good year for the Birds this year. A 71-64 .526 -22  4th place finish caught the attention of the NL when a few teams of  AA and the NL merged at the end of the year.  It was the right type of season at the right time for the Orioles.

The Orioles as a team this season hit .255 good enough for 5th in the AA.  The big bat was LF George Van Haltren who led the team with a .318 BA (5th in the AA), 75 Stolen Bases (3rd in the AA), 9 Homers, 136 Runs, 180 hits and a .443 SA.  Perry Werden the 1B  led the O's with 104 RBIs and 18 Triples and CF Curt Welch led the club with 22 Doubles.  As a team the Orioles stole 342 bases this year 2nd only to the Boston Reds who led the Association with 447.

On the pitching side of the coin the Orioles were led by Sadie McMahon who led the League with 503 IP and 53 CG.  He led the team with a 35-24 2.81 ERA with a League leading 5 Shutouts. His 219 Ks led the team as did his 61 G and  58 GS. Sadie McMahon would only get better and would prove to be the cornerstone upon the which the future O's staff would be built.  Although he was not the ace of the great Orioles teams he would prove to be a very effective pitcher during the coming dynasty.

The Orioles record against the other clubs this year was as follows:

Boston 8-12, St. Louis 7-12, Philadelphia 9-10, Columbus 12-7, Cincinnati 7-5. Milwaukee 5-3, Louisville 12-6 and Washington 12-6.

While it was a very satisfying season for the O's, there was to be two more years of wandering in the wilderness before they got to the promised land.  A move to the NL was the next step and as the season ended it was the end of the American Association who had so strongly competed with the NL.  A huge turning point in the history of baseball was about to happen and those involved definitely had no knowledge of changes they were to unleash upon the baseball world in the next decade.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!!

As you all well know, I enjoy exploring the history of baseball.  The Orioles have a long history of which half is from St. Louis and Milwaukee and the other half is since coming to Baltimore.  I enjoy the Orioles a lot, but I also like reading the history of this franchise when it was in St. Louis and Milwaukee.  I know that the history before Baltimore was not all that great, but I find it interesting non-the-<!-- TOKEN_1229911004143_TOKEN -->less and I am sure glad I did not live through those years!

When I was old enough to become a fan it was hard to imagine Baltimore ever having bad teams or even being the Browns.  After all we rooted on Powell, McNally, Palmer, Robinson, Dobson, Alexander, Cuellar, Oates, Grich and Belanger and had a manager named Earl.  Heck, what was losing like we thought back then. We had a powerhouse in the AL East at the time.   Well, we've found out about losing but in time we'll win again. Unfortunately,   I also can understand and empathise with the Browns years better now also after the past several seasons.  :(

I always find it stunning the Browns could only manage one pennant in all those years.  Also, despite their rough years they managed to have such great players such as George Sisler, Ken Williams, Urban Shocker, Goose Goslin, Rogers Hornsby and others.   While I find it fascinating I sure am glad they moved to Baltimore and are our Orioles.  It is too bad Baltimore hasn't had a continous presence in the majors since the founding of the AL.

So, I am just posting a poll here to see how you all feel about the pre-history of the Orioles.  Just call it curiosity I guess.  How do you feel about the past? Do you enjoy learning about those who played for this franchise in another place and time?  I know some don't care, others are neutral and some like to study those years.  I am just trying to figure out what the ratio of Orioles fans feel each way here on CC.

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After the good year of 1888 the Oriole fans had to be excited.  Hopes of a pennant had to be rampant, yet the Orioles who had a good year must have proved disappointing to their hopeful fans.  Billy Barnie led the Orioles to a 70-65 .519 -22 5th place finish.  The Orioles did provide baseball with a first however.  The batting title this year when to their 1b Tommy Tucker.  Tommy Tucker was the first switchitter to ever win a batting title in the majors.  The next switchhitter to win the batting title was in 1956.  Tucker hit .372 and led the team with 5 homers, 99 RBIs , Stolen Bases with 63 and a SA of .484.  Mike Griffin in CF led the team with 152 Runs.  The Orioles as a team hit .254.  The pitching was led by Matt Kilroy again who went 29-25 with a 2.85 ERA.   His 55 Complete Games led the American Association.  Kilroy led the team with 217 Ks, 480.2 IP and 5 Shutouts which tied him with Frank Foreman for the team lead.  Their combined 10 shutouts led the AA for the 1889 season.  While not winning the pennant, the Orioles still had a decent season and there was hope for the next year.  There record against the other AA teams were as follows:  Brooklyn 8-12,  St. Louis 7-12, Philadelphia 8-11, Cincinnati 8-11, Columbus 12-8, Kansas City 11-7 and Louisville 16-4.

The 1890 season dawned with the great players' revolt underway.  The players founded and owned their own league, the Players League.  This greatly weakened many clubs and in some cities there were three teams.  Almost everyone lost money this year which eventually led to not only the PL collapsing, but also the AA going out of business, leaving the NL the only league in operation.  But, for 1890 there were three leagues.  How did the Orioles do?  Well, Matt Kilroy, Tommy Tucker and Frank Foreman jumped to the PL. The AA had a power struggle over who was to be President of the AA and the Orioles withdrew from Association.   They joined the Atlantic Association and romped to a 77-24 record till August 27th when they rejoined the American Association and finished the year  under Manager Billy Barnie at 15-19 .441 -30.5 in 6th place.  The one big event for the Orioles this year was the arrival of pitcher Sadie McMahon who was the first member of the famous Orioles to arrive.  1891 was to prove to be the turning point for the Orioles... but more about that next time. :)

1885 dawned with hope after the Orioles had a winning season in 1884.  Managed again this year by Billy Barnie the Orioles quickly dashed any hopes of a good year collapsing into last place (8th) with a 41-68 .376 -36  record for the year.  Bright spots for the year included a winning record of 7-6 against the New York Metropolitans  who had finished 3 games ahead in the standings. The Orioles had a .219 team BA for the year with their leading hitter being Dennis Casey hitting .288.  Team leader in HR's was first baseman Dan Stearns hitting 8.  Hardie Henderson led the pitching staff with 25 wins but led the league in losses with 35. 

1886 saw Billy Barnie once again managing the Orioles.  The results were about the same, another last place finish with a 48-83 .366 -41 record.   The Orioles hit as a team this year a very bad .204 with Chris Fullmer the team's catcher leading the team with a .244 average.  Milt Scott af 1B led the team in Homers with 2.  On the mound pitcher Matt Kilroy threw a no-hitter for the Orioles on October 6th, beating the Pittsburgh Alleghenys (now the Pirates) 6-0.  Kilroy led the league in games with 68, Games Started 68, Complete Games 66, Strikeouts with 513.  He led the team in wins with 29 and led the league with 34 losses. 

Despite the rough years Billy Barnie again returned as the Orioles manager for 1887.  However, this year was different.  The Orioles put it together and finished third in the American Association with a 77-58  .570  -18  record.  The team hit a robust .277 with SS Oyster Burns leading the team with a .341 BA.  He and 3B Jumbo Davis led the league with 19 triples.  Oyster edged out Jumbo for the team HR crown with 9 to Jumbo's 8, Oyster was third in the AA in Homers this year.  Jumbo however led the team with 109 RBIs.  Star pitcher Matt Kilroy had a banner year leading the league with 69 G, 589.1 IP, 69 GS,  66 CG, 46 Wins and 6 Shutouts.  His 217 Stikeouts led the team with Phenominal Smith getting 206.  The Orioles had a very good year this year with their whipping boys being the Cleveland Blues who they beat 17 times out of 20 tries.  Fans had to be looking forward to 1888 after such a decent year.

Well, Jobe asked where the Old Parks are located and here is a list I compiled from every source I could find.  Please know that sometimes the names conflict in the records but the locations do not.  So, I'll go in chronological order with the names I have. As far as I know nothing is left of these old parks.  I don't know if there are any historical signs there or not.

If anyone goes to these places please, take a picture and share it with us so we can see what it looks like now.  If I can finad any pictures on the net of the old parks I'll post them in the Fan Shots. 

For those who love to read there are two books with some good pictures of the team and players.  Where they Ain't  by Burt Soloman has information about the 1890's O's.  The Ultimate Baseball Book has a chapter about the old Orioles with some great pictures in it.  One shot in 1897 of the park is great! 

The Orioles started in 1882 in Newington Park.  Some say they played just part of the year there, others the whole year.  This park was also the home from 1872-1874 of the National Association team Lord Baltimore(s).  The park was bordered by the following streets:  Pennsylvania Ave, Gold Street, Calhoun Street and Baker Street.  It was in West Baltimore.

The Orioles next played at Union Park or as some called it Oriole Park.  There seems to be some conflict in what the name of the park was.  The O's played here from 1882 or 1883-1889 when they left the AA.  It was bordered by 6th Street, Huntington Avenue (later changed to 25th street) and York Road (later changed to Greenmount).

When the Orioles rejoined the AA part-way through the 1890 season they had moved just north to a new park called Oriole or Union Park.  They played here for part of the 1890 and for a very short period in 1891 before moving during the '91 season again! This park was bordered by the following streets: 10th street (which was renamed 29th st.), York Road (later renamed Greenmount), 9th street (was renamed 28th street) and the final road bordering it was Barclay Road.

In 1891 the O's moved to their next park, Union Park which again some called Oriole Park.  This park burned down in 1894, but was rebuilt.  This version of Oriole/Union Park was also used in 1901-02 by the American League version of the Orioles which later moved to New York and became we know who!  This park was bordered by 25th street and Barclay. 

There is a book about this, but I've never seen it or read it.  It is called Baseball in Baltimore by Tom Flynn.  I hope this is helpful and again, if anyone gets to these places please tell us about it!  I know I would be interested. :)

I am not sure if this is something you all are looking for here on CC so let me know if you don't want this type of posting here and I'll make sure this is the last one. I'll put a poll below so you can vote to let me know. :)  I get bored during the off season and enjoy expanding my knowledge about the history of Baltimore Baseball.  I'll share some here if you all decide you like this type of post. I'll probably post twice a week at most.

The Original Orioles began, not in the NL or in 1892.  The Club was actually a last minute fill in for another team that decided to not participate in the first season of the American Association in 1882.  Made up of whatever players the owners could find the Orioles got off to a rather rough start.  They had the worst offense and defense in the league and finished in last, of course.  The record was 19-54 .260  32.5 GB.  The team hit .207 and made 490 errors. Doc Landis led the team with 11 wins and led the league in losses with 27.  Henry Myers was the first manager.

1883 saw new owners named Von Der Horst, Houck and Barnie. The Von Der Horst's owned a Brewery. Barnie became the manager.   The team had another awful year, but made money for the new owners at Union Park which seated about 6,000.  Jim Clinton and Dave Rowe both hit .313 and led the offense which hit .246 for the year.  The Orioles again finished last  with a 28-68 .292 37 GB.  John Coleman led the team with 12 wins and led the league with losses, a whopping 48!

1884 saw the fortunes change for the Orioles.  In a 13 team American Association the Orioles finished 6 with a 63-43 .594 11.5 GB.  Jim Clinton led the offense with a .270 BA, Joe Sommer had 129 hits and scored 96 runs, the most on the team that season.  Bob Emslie led the team with 32 wins while Hardie  Henderson struck out 346 batters.  The Orioles pitching staff led the league with 635 K's in 1884.  Billy Barnie finally had a winning season as Manager.

Thats the first three years.... comments?

This is my first fanpost here after several months of lurking without joining.  I finally took the plunge and joined and hope you'll all bear with me as I take my first steps in trying my hand at this.  I've been a fan since 1972 and have spent years raising my family as I watched or listened to as many games as possible. I finally have more time to devote to my favorite past time now, the O's.

Through the years I've seen a lot of great and not so great moments.  But, one memory I found hilarious at the time still sticks with me to this day.  I don't know what date it was but I remember it was the Orioles versus Detroit which were always fun for the Tigers and O's were both good then and when Billy Martin and Earl Weaver both managed you never knew what would happen.

Well, this game was hard fought and there was a bad call and Earl stormed out on the field and argued with the umpire.  He argued and finally turned his hat backwards as his face turned purple and was ejected from the game.  Did Earl leave?  Oh no, he flung second base into the outfield, he buried home plate under dirt and refused to leave for a long time arguing loud and long.  I loved it and laughed at his antics. When he went into the dugout he threw gloves out onto the field and stormed out of the dugout to the clubhouse.

Well, it must've taken at least 20 minutes for the argument and to clean up the mess after wards.  The game restarted and it was three pitches later and the Tigers didn't get a called strike according to Billy Martin and out he comes.  My father snorted and said, "well here goes another 20 minutes" and he went to get a beer.  Well, Billy came out screaming and promptly was kicked out and he pointed to umpire, then his eyes and promptly kicked dirt over home plate.  Then he kicked dirt on the umpire's shoes, threw his hat, took the ball from the pitcher and threw it into the outfield, and then kicked dirt all over the umpire's shoes again all the while screaming like a madman.

Billy finally left the field and not to be outdone by Earl he took all the bats out of the bat rack and threw them onto the field.  He wasn't yet done though, he came back out and kicked more dirt on the umpire and was still screaming.  Finally, he left and I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Seeing Earl or Billy arguing with the umpire was always fun.  However, both in the same game and then in the same inning was classic!

Strange enough I don't remember who won the game, but I remember my dad and I laughing hysterically  and my mom saying something about grown men acting like children..... Baseball has definitely changed, can you imagine such a scene nowadays?

Any  funny or strange memories of the O's you all remember?