Baltimore Orioles (minor league)
From Freepedia
The city of Baltimore, Maryland has been home to several major league and minor league teams called the Baltimore Orioles. The first team was founded in 1882, a charter member of the American Association, then a major league. After several years of mediocrity, the team dropped out of the league in 1889, but re-joined in 1890 to replace a Brooklyn team which had dropped out. After the 1891 season, the Orioles jumped to the rival National League, playing as an NL team from 1892 through 1899, when the team was one of four teams contracted by the league.
Another Oriole team became a charter member of the American League in 1901. After the 1902 season, the Oriole franchise was shifted to New York and renamed the New York Highlanders.
In 1903, an Oriole minor league team joined the "Eastern League" (renamed the International League in 1911, and not to be confused with the present day AA Eastern League). This Orioles team stayed mediocre for the first few years of its existence, but in 1908 it won the league pennant. After the 1914 season, this team relocated to Richmond, Virginia, ultimately becoming the present-day Syracuse SkyChiefs. A second Orioles team re-located in 1916. The 1919 team, lead by owner and manager Jack Dunn, won the International League pennant with 100 victories, the first team to win that many games. The Orioles improved on that in 1920 by winning 110 games, including the last 25 of the season.
In 1921, the Orioles won 27 straight games, and held the record for the most consecutive victories by a minor league team until the Salt Lake City team of the Pioneer League won 29 in 1987. The Orioles won the league by 20 games over the second place team, and had a home record of 70 wins and 18 losses. Despite their impressive record, however, they lost the Little World Series to the American Association champion Louisville Colonels, 4 games to 1. The Orioles actually led the fourth game, 12-4, but a riot broke out among the Baltimore home crowd in the top of the 9th inning, and the game was forfeited to Louisville, 9 runs to 0.
The Orioles continued to roll over International League opposition through 1925. They did not win another pennant until 1944. The team were leading the league on July 4 of that year, when their home stadium, Oriole Park, burned down. 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 back into the championship when the second place team, the Newark Bears, also lost. But the Orioles went on to win the Little World Series one last time.
After the 1953 season, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and took the name of the Baltimore Orioles. The later minor league Orioles team re-located to Richmond (as had the earlier Orioles team) and later became today's Toledo Mudhens.
