60 Fun Facts About Baltimore Orioles

What is the name of the Orioles' ballpark, opened in downtown Baltimore in 1992?

Camden Yards was built beside an old railroad warehouse in the style of the ballparks of a century ago. It was such a hit that parks built across the majors over the next two decades copied its retro look.

Under what name did the Orioles franchise spend its first American League season in 1901?

Milwaukee Brewers was the name for one last-place season before the club moved to St. Louis. The Baltimore Orioles of that year were a different club, which folded after two seasons and was replaced by a team in New York.

What were the Orioles called during the franchise's 52 seasons in St. Louis?

Browns was a hand-me-down name, used in the 1880s by the St. Louis club that became the Cardinals. The Browns owned Sportsman's Park, and for decades their far more successful rivals were only tenants there.

Which one-armed outfielder played for the Orioles' St. Louis forerunners in 1945?

Pete Gray, who lost his right arm in a childhood accident, hit .218 in 77 games, fielding by flipping the ball from glove to bare hand in one motion. His club was defending the only pennant it ever won in St. Louis.

Which showman owned the Orioles' St. Louis forerunners from 1951 but was blocked from moving them to Baltimore himself?

Bill Veeck once sent Eddie Gaedel, who stood 3 feet 7 inches, up to bat, and he walked on four pitches. Rival owners voted down Veeck's own move to Baltimore, so he sold to investors there, who took the club east for 1954.

Which team acquired Don Larsen from the Orioles in 1954?

The New York Yankees got Don Larsen in a 17-player trade after he had gone 3–21 in Baltimore; two years later he threw the only perfect game in World Series history.

Which future slugger began his professional career in 1914 with the minor-league Baltimore Orioles, in his home city?

Babe Ruth signed with Jack Dunn's Orioles as a teenage pitcher, but Dunn ran short of money that summer and sold him to the Boston Red Sox.

Orioles manager Paul Richards designed an oversized catcher's mitt in 1960 to handle which pitch?

Knuckleball: Hoyt Wilhelm's pitch fluttered so unpredictably that Richards, once a big-league catcher himself, devised a far bigger mitt so his own catchers could handle it.

Which starting pitcher did the Orioles send to Cincinnati in the 1965 trade for Frank Robinson?

Milt Pappas was a steady winner, but Cincinnati's president had judged Robinson old at 30, and Robinson answered by winning the Triple Crown in his first Baltimore season.

Frank Robinson, the first MVP of both leagues, became the majors' first Black manager in 1975 with which team?

The Cleveland Indians made him player-manager while he was still an active hitter, and he homered in his first game in charge, on Opening Day.

Which team did the Orioles sweep in the 1966 World Series for their first championship?

The Los Angeles Dodgers did not score after the third inning of Game 1: Baltimore's pitchers threw 33 straight scoreless innings and beat Sandy Koufax along the way.

Which team pulled off one of the great World Series upsets by beating the Orioles in five games in 1969?

The New York Mets lost Game 1, then won four straight against an Orioles team that had won 109 games; until that year the Mets had never finished above ninth, and the team is remembered as the 'Miracle Mets'.

The 108-win Orioles beat which team in five games in the 1970 World Series?

The Cincinnati Reds, the 'Big Red Machine', took an early three-run lead in each of the first two games at home and lost both by a single run.

Which Pirates star hit .414 as his team rallied from 0–2 down to beat the Orioles in the 1971 World Series?

Roberto Clemente broke a scoreless Game 7 with a home run off Mike Cuellar, Pittsburgh won it 2–1 in Baltimore, and he was named the Series MVP.

Which disco hit was the anthem of the 1979 Pirates, who beat the Orioles from 3–1 down?

We Are Family, by Sister Sledge, was taken up by slugger Willie Stargell that June, and his two-run homer in Game 7 in Baltimore finished the comeback.

Which team did the Orioles beat in five games to win the 1983 World Series?

The Philadelphia Phillies won Game 1 and then lost four straight, and the Series MVP was Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey, a career .233 hitter who batted .385.

Which fiery Orioles manager summed up his philosophy as 'pitching, defense and the three-run homer'?

Earl Weaver came to distrust the sacrifice bunt, arguing that 'if you play for one run, that's all you'll get' and that a team's 27 outs were too precious to give away.

Which saying was the motto of Cal Ripken Sr., longtime teacher of the 'Oriole Way'?

Perfect practice makes perfect was his correction of the old proverb; in 36 years with the organisation he drilled it into hundreds of prospects, his sons Cal Jr. and Billy among them.

Which three-time Cy Young winner for the Orioles modelled Jockey underwear?

Jim Palmer nearly never got there: after arm trouble in 1968 Baltimore left him unprotected in the expansion draft, and neither new team picked him.

Which Orioles slugger, famed for his ballpark barbecue, won the 1970 AL MVP?

Boog Powell won a year after finishing second. By his own account, 'Boog' was his father's shortening of a Southern word for a mischievous child.

Which Orioles manager was fired six games into the record 0–21 start of 1988?

Cal Ripken Sr. had two of his sons in his infield when he was dismissed; Frank Robinson took over and lost the next 15 before the first win, on April 29.

Which rallying cry belonged to the 1989 Orioles, who finished second a year after losing 107 games?

Why Not? caught on as the team spent much of the summer in first place; the chase ended on the season's next-to-last day, after two one-run losses to Toronto.

Whose record did Cal Ripken Jr. break in 1995 by playing his 2,131st consecutive game?

Lou Gehrig had held it for 56 years with 2,130; once the game became official, play stopped for more than 20 minutes while Ripken was pushed into taking a lap around the field.

What ended Cal Ripken Jr.'s record streak at 2,632 games in 1998?

His own request: before the last home game of 1998, Ripken walked into his manager's office and said it was time, ending the speculation over when the streak would stop.

Why did the Orioles refuse to field replacement players during the 1994–95 strike?

Their owner was a labour lawyer who sided with the players' union; a substitute team would also have put Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive-games streak at risk, months before he broke the record.

Who won the Orioles in bankruptcy court in 1993, with Tom Clancy as partner?

Peter Angelos wanted the club in Baltimore hands, and at the auction his group's $173 million bid, then a record for a baseball team, beat New York art dealer Jeffrey Loria.

Which Orioles leadoff hitter hit 50 home runs in 1996, more than twice his next-best total?

Brady Anderson had never hit more than 21 and never again hit more than 24; that April he led off four straight games with a home run.

Which 12-year-old fan turned a Derek Jeter fly ball into a home run in the 1996 ALCS?

Jeffrey Maier reached his glove over the wall above right fielder Tony Tarasco and pulled the ball into the stands; umpire Rich Garcia signalled home run and later admitted he had got it wrong.

The 1997 Orioles won the AL East 'wire-to-wire', which means they did what all season?

Led the division every day: they were in first place from the opening game on, yet manager Davey Johnson's resignation was accepted the very day he was named AL Manager of the Year.

Which Oriole denied steroid use to Congress, then failed a 2005 drug test?

Rafael Palmeiro tested positive weeks after his testimony and was suspended that August, soon after his 3,000th hit, during a run of 14 straight losing seasons for the club.

Which manager, who took over in August 2010, led the Orioles to three playoff trips in the 2010s?

Buck Showalter inherited a struggling club that then finished with the AL East's best record over the last two months; two years later it ended a run of 14 losing seasons.

Which 20-year-old rookie helped the 2012 Orioles end a 15-year playoff drought?

Manny Machado, a shortstop, was moved to third base for the pennant race; that team went 16–2 in extra innings and 29–9 in games decided by one run.

Which Orioles closer set the franchise record with 51 saves in 2012?

Jim Johnson then closed out the club's first playoff win in 15 years, but in the next series opener the Yankees scored five runs in the ninth inning and he took the loss.

The Orioles beat which team in the inaugural AL Wild Card Game in 2012?

The Texas Rangers started Yu Darvish at home against Joe Saunders, who had never won in their ballpark in six starts, yet Saunders outpitched him and Baltimore won 5–1.

Which player did the Orioles draft first overall in 2019 after losing 115 games?

Adley Rutschman, a switch-hitting catcher from Oregon State, reached the majors in May 2022, and the year after that the club that had lost 115 games won the AL East.

Which unanimous 2023 AL Rookie of the Year was the Orioles' first winner since Gregg Olson in 1989?

Gunnar Henderson was batting under .200 after the first month of 2023, then caught fire: that June he hit a 462-foot home run onto Eutaw Street, beyond the right-field wall.

Which manager led the 2023 Orioles to their first 100-win season since 1980?

Brandon Hyde, named AL Manager of the Year, had lost 110 games with the same club two years earlier; his 2023 team was never swept in the regular season, then was swept out of the playoffs.

Which Carlyle Group founder led the group that bought the Orioles for $1.7 billion in 2024?

David Rubenstein, a Baltimore native and a postal clerk's son, brought Cal Ripken Jr. into his ownership group and paid almost exactly ten times the club's 1993 auction price.

Which announcer did the Orioles take off the air in 2023 after he noted their poor past record at Tampa Bay?

Kevin Brown had only described a graphic he did not build; Yankees announcer Michael Kay called the move 'minor league', and a year later the club gave Brown a contract extension.

What is the splash zone at the Orioles' ballpark, where 'Mr. Splash' hoses down fans, called?

Bird Bath grew out of the players' own water celebrations, a mimed tap after singles and sprinklers after doubles; on its first night Cedric Mullins hit for the cycle and the section got soaked.

Which John Denver song has been the Orioles' seventh-inning-stretch anthem since August 1975?

Thank God I'm a Country Boy brought out the man himself: Denver danced to it on top of the Orioles' dugout in September 1997, three weeks before he died in a plane crash.

Which word do Orioles fans famously shout during 'The Star-Spangled Banner'?

The tradition started with Wild Bill Hagy's 'Roar from 34' in the 1970s and follows Baltimoreans everywhere, including the Rio Olympics.

Which catchphrase belonged to longtime Orioles PA announcer Rex Barney?

'Give that fan a contract' was his call whenever someone in the stands caught a foul ball. Rex Barney had thrown a no-hitter for Brooklyn in 1948 before wildness ended his pitching career.

Which logo returned to the Orioles' caps in 2012 after more than two decades away?

The 'cartoon bird' first appeared in 1966, the year of the club's first championship, and its return in 2012 coincided with the first winning season since 1997.

Which Orioles third baseman won 16 straight Gold Gloves in a 23-year career spent entirely in Baltimore?

Brooks Robinson was no sure thing: early in 1959 the Orioles sent him back to the minors in Vancouver, and his run of Gold Gloves began only the year after.

Which company became the Orioles' first-ever jersey sponsor in June 2024?

T. Rowe Price is a Baltimore firm, and its sleeve patch carries the company's bighorn sheep, a mascot chosen for the animal's sure-footed agility on steep ground.

What does the Orioles' 2026 City Connect jersey say across the chest?

BMORE was chosen to stand for every neighbourhood in the city, and the jersey made its debut on April 10, which the club billed as '410 Day' after Baltimore's telephone area code.

The Orioles' 2023 City Connect cap and jersey feature which colour as the base?

Black is only the outside: a bright mosaic standing for Baltimore's neighbourhoods lines the inside of the jersey, something no major-league uniform had done before.

Which Orioles-controlled TV network held the Washington Nationals' broadcast rights from 2005 through 2025?

MASN was the Orioles' compensation for a new club moving into their territory; the two teams then fought in court for more than a decade over how much the network owed Washington for its games.

Which Orioles broadcaster left after 1996 to become the voice of the San Francisco Giants?

Jon Miller was let go because the club's owner found his play-by-play too critical of the team; he joined the club he had grown up listening to near San Francisco and won the Frick Award in 2010.

Who holds the Orioles single-season record with 53 home runs, set in 2013?

Chris Davis then signed the richest contract the club had ever given, $161 million, and went on to set a major-league record for non-pitchers by going 54 straight at-bats without a hit.

Which Orioles pitcher won 25 games and the 1980 Cy Young Award after never topping 15 wins?

Steve Stone decided to throw far more curveballs that year, knowing the strain it would put on his arm; the gamble bought one great season, then tendinitis, and he pitched only one more year.

Which Oriole stole a franchise-record 57 bases in 1964, his ninth straight league steals title?

Luis Aparicio helped bring base-stealing back after the home-run era had pushed it out of fashion; two years later he was the shortstop on the Orioles' first championship team.

Which Oriole had a 30-game hitting streak in 1998, a year after colon cancer treatment?

Eric Davis was back in the lineup by September 1997, while still undergoing chemotherapy, and played in that autumn's playoffs; the hitting streak came the following summer.

What is the name of the Orioles' regional rivalry with the Washington Nationals?

The Beltway Series grew out of a fight off the field: the Orioles' owner spent years trying to keep a rival club out of Washington, and lost when the Nationals arrived in 2005.

Which two Orioles won Rookie of the Year awards in the 1970s?

Al Bumbry and Eddie Murray won four years apart; Bumbry had batted .178 in the low minors before serving as a platoon leader in Vietnam, where he earned a Bronze Star.

Which film's theme was played at the Orioles' final game at Memorial Stadium in 1991?

Field of Dreams music played as 78 former Orioles walked out to their old positions; home plate was dug up that day and sent across town to the new ballpark.

Which Baltimore mayor, father of future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, helped bring major-league baseball back to the city in 1953?

Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. had already championed the rebuilding of Memorial Stadium as a big-league park, and when the club arrived in 1954 it became the Orioles' first home.

Which 6-foot-8 closer, nicknamed 'The Mountain', reached the majors with the Orioles in 2022?

Félix Bautista had been released by the Marlins as a teenager after struggling to throw strikes, and he spent a year out of professional baseball before the Orioles signed him in 2016.

Which former Red Sox general manager ran the Orioles' front office during their three playoff runs of the 2010s?

Dan Duquette had not run a major-league club since Boston fired him in 2002; in between he ran a sports academy and helped start a professional league in Israel.