Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902)

At the end of the 1900 baseball season, the Western League was positioned by its president, Ban Johnson, as a new major league that would compete with the established National League (NL). The league was reorganized and renamed the American League (AL), and eight cities fielded teams in the 1901 season. Johnson wanted one of these eight teams to be in New York City, however the politically powerful New York Giants had successfully prevented the AL from doing so;{{#invoke:Cite web||date=October 20, 2016 |title=Origin of each MLB franchise |url=http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/gallery/origin-of-each-modern-era-baseball-franchise-team-110911 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023090412/http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/gallery/origin-of-each-modern-era-baseball-franchise-team-110911 |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |access-date=July 4, 2022 |website=Fox Sports}} Johnson instead placed the would-be New York franchise in Baltimore, recruiting John McGraw as manager.{{Cite web |last=sabr |title=The American League’s First Baltimore Orioles: John McGraw, Wilbert Robinson, and Rivalries Created – Society for American Baseball Research |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-american-leagues-first-baltimore-orioles-john-mcgraw-wilbert-robinson-and-rivalries-created/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Weeks |first=Jonathan |url= |title=Baseball's Dynasties and the Players Who Built Them |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2016 |isbn=9781442261570 |pages=89}} A Baltimore team had previously played in the NL through the 1899 season, after which the club was shut down by the league. Baltimore was one of three former NL cities where the AL placed teams in an effort to reach underserved fans.{{sfn|Tygiel|2000|pp=48–49}} The new Orioles' first manager was John McGraw, who had held the same position for the previous Baltimore team in 1899; McGraw also held an ownership stake.{{sfn|Tygiel|2000|pp=47, 49}} The team was incorporated as the "Baltimore Baseball and Athletic Company."

In 1901, their first season, the Orioles had a 68–65 win–loss record and finished in fifth place in the AL.{{cite web|title=1901 Baltimore Orioles|publisher=Baseball-Reference.com|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BLA/1901.shtml|access-date=July 1, 2013}} During the season, there were numerous disputes between Johnson and McGraw over disciplinary issues, which continued into the following year.{{sfn|Tygiel|2000|p=52}} Rumors began to spread that Johnson was interested in relocating the team to New York City, in an attempt to compete directly with the NL. On July 16, 1902, McGraw left the Orioles and joined the New York Giants as their manager; he transferred his interest in the Baltimore team to the Giants as part of the deal.{{sfn|Fetter|2005|p=22}} Several Orioles—including Roger Bresnahan and Joe McGinnity—joined the Giants after McGraw's departure, and the Giants gained a majority of the Orioles' stock. The league managed to take back control of the team from the Giants; after the Orioles forfeited a game against the St. Louis Browns the following day because they lacked enough active players,{{sfn|Fetter|2005|pp=22–23}} Johnson ordered that the team be "restocked with players essentially given away by the other teams in order to play out the schedule", according to author Marty Appel.{{sfn|Appel|2012|p=5}} The Orioles finished last in the league both in the standings and in attendance.{{sfn|Fetter|2005|p=23}} The Orioles were disbanded following the end of the season.{{#invoke:Cite news||last=Klingaman |first=Mike |date=June 16, 2022 |title=Retro: Although met with great fanfare, the 1902 Orioles season was marked by losses, warring leagues |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/retro-baltimore/bs-fe-retro-1902-orioles-20220616-2j3zjvehifbiloxrhpcd5ntvpi-story.html |access-date=July 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617080734/https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/retro-baltimore/bs-fe-retro-1902-orioles-20220616-2j3zjvehifbiloxrhpcd5ntvpi-story.html |archive-date=June 17, 2022}}

The AL and NL signed an agreement after the 1902 season that ended the leagues' battles for players, which had led to increasing salaries. Johnson sought the right to locate an AL team in New York City, which was granted as part of the leagues' peace agreement. The agreement was put to a vote, and 15 of the 16 major league owners agreed on it. Johnson's initial intentions for the team to play in Manhattan was opposed by Giants owner John T. Brush and former owner Andrew Freedman, who were connected to the city's Tammany Hall political organization. They blocked several potential stadium locations, before a pair of Tammany Hall politicians, Frank J. Farrell and William Stephen Devery, purchased the New York franchise in the AL.{{sfn|Stout|2002|pp=9–14}} The pair paid {{US$|18,000}} for the team.{{sfn|Appel|2012|p=13}} This was the last change in the lineup of MLB teams for half a century.{{sfn|Fetter|2005|pp=204–205}}

It is not clear whether Farrell and Devery purchased the remains of the Orioles and moved them to New York, or if they received an expansion franchise. According to Appel, the Orioles seasons were included in Yankees history by many historians.{{sfn|Appel|2012|pp=13–14}} Baseball-Reference.com included the 1901 and 1902 Orioles in its statistics for the Yankees until 2014, when it decided to separate the two years from the subsequent New York-based seasons. Official MLB historian John Thorn supported the change, citing the new ownership, high roster turnover, and AL takeover of the Orioles.{{cite news|last=Zalman|first=Jonathan|title=The Yankees' Missing Chapter|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=August 15, 2014|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-yankees-missing-chapter-1408051572|url-access=subscription |access-date=December 30, 2014}} The Yankees do not count the Orioles years as part of their history.{{sfn|Appel|2012|p=14}}

Major League Baseball did not return to Baltimore until 1954, when Bill Veeck sold the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore natives, attorney Clarence Miles and president of the National Brewing Company, Jerold Hoffberger. The Miles-Hoffberger group moved the team from St. Louis to Baltimore, returning major-league baseball to the city after 52 years. In consideration of prior "Baltimore Orioles" baseball teams, the franchise was renamed the Baltimore Orioles. This latest iteration of the Baltimore Orioles continues to play as a member of the American League.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Appel |first=Marty |author-link=Marty Appel |title=Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees From Before the Babe to After the Boss |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2012 |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-60819-492-6}}
• {{cite book |last=Fetter |first=Henry D. |title=Taking on the Yankees: Winning and Losing in the Business of Baseball |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2005 |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-393-32674-1}}
• {{cite book |last=Stout |first=Glenn |title=Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2002 |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-618-08527-9}}
• {{cite book |last=Tygiel |first=Jules |title=Past Time: Baseball as History |url=https://archive.org/details/pasttimebaseball0000tygi |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-514604-2}}

{{American League}}

Category:Baseball teams established in 1901

Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1902

Category:1901 establishments in Maryland

Category:1902 disestablishments in Maryland

Category:Defunct baseball teams in Maryland

Category:Defunct Major League Baseball teams

Orioles