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In 1954 Bill Veeck sold the St. Louis Browns to a Baltimore-based group of investors, who moved the perpetual losers to their hometown. With Paul Richards at the helm both on the field and in the front office, the Orioles developed a highly productive farm system and by 1960 were contending for the pennant. The Orioles were built on the arms of the "Baby Birds," a group of young pitchers who included Wally Bunker and Milt Pappas, as well as the brilliant fielding of Brooks Robinson. The addition of Frank Robinson in 1966 brought Baltimore its first WS victory, a four-game sweep of the Dodgers. The Orioles soon became a mini-dynasty, reaching the WS three straight years (1969-71) with a lineup that included Boog Powell, Mark Belanger, and Paul Blair, and pitchers Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, and Jim Palmer. Known for strong organizational unity and "The Oriole Way," which emphasized fundamentals and careful, measured development in the minor leagues, Baltimore has also produced a slew of pitching coaches (George Bamberger, Ray Miller, Wes Stock), managers (Earl Weaver, Frank Robinson), and front-office talent (Harry Dalton, Frank Cashen). A short period of decline in the 1980s was stemmed by Roland Hemond with a typical infusion of young pitching talent. (SH)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 16th, 1887: Opening Day in the A.A. Two rookies, Mike Griffin of the Baltimore Orioles and George "White Wings" Tebeau of Cincinnati, hit HRs in their first ML at bats. They are the first of many to accomplish this. » June 25th, 1891: Tom Brown and Bill Joyce of the Boston Reds become the first pair in ML history to open a game with back-to-back HRs, starting Boston off to a 13-5 defeat of Sadie McMahon and the Baltimore Orioles. » April 23rd, 1892: Bill Shindle of the Baltimore Orioles has 5 errors at shortstop in a 19-9 loss to Boston in the 2nd game of a twin bill. He also makes 2 in the opener. He will make 78 errors by the end of the season. » April 24th, 1894: Losing 3-1 to the Boston Beaneaters in the 9th inning, the Baltimore Orioles rally for 14 runs to top the defending NL champions 15-3. » January 28th, 1901: The AL formally organizes: the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Athletics, and Boston Somersets are admitted to join the Washington Nationals, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Chicago White Stockings. Three of the original clubs -- Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Buffalo -- are dropped. League power aggregates in Ban Johnson as trustee for all ballpark leases and majority stockholdings, and with authority to buy out refractory franchises. Player limit is 14 per team, schedule will be 140 games. » September 29th, 1901: The AL season ends with the White Stockings in first place by four games over Boston. Jimmy Williams of the Baltimore Orioles leads the AL in triples, with 21, 2 years after leading the NL with 27. This feat will be topped by Sam Crawford in 1902-1903. » October 23rd, 1923: Babe Ruth makes a post-season appearance in a Giants uniform, as the Giants defeat the Baltimore Orioles 9-0. Ruth hits a HR over the RF roof at the Polo Grounds. The game is a benefit for destitute former Giants owner John Day. » September 20th, 1930: Joe Hauser of the Baltimore Orioles (International League) sets a new minor league record by hitting his 63rd HR. » February 12th, 1932: George Weiss, GM of the Baltimore Orioles (International League), joins the Yankee front office. He will eventually run the club during its years under Casey Stengel's managing. » October 4th, 1950: The Columbus Clippers (AA) win the Little World Series 4 games to 1 with a 6-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles (IL). » November 11th, 1953: Jimmy Dykes, recently released as the manager of the Athletics, succeeds Marty Marion as the manager of the Baltimore Orioles. » December 22nd, 1953: Jack Dunn III, whose family successfully owned and operated the Orioles for years in the International League, officially turns the old team name over to the Baltimore Orioles. » April 13th, 1954: The new AL Baltimore Orioles open in Detroit and lose 3-0. The Tigers start fast and will win 12 of their first 18 games. » July 30th, 1954: Against Allie Reynolds, 3B Bob Kennedy hits the first grand slam for the new Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles surpass the top season attendance the Browns had in their 52 years, as they draw 27,385 for the game, giving them 7,000 more than the 712,918 St. Louis drew in 1922. » November 5th, 1958: Lee MacPhail becomes GM of the Baltimore Orioles. » May 9th, 1962: The Mets obtain 1B Marv Throneberry from the Baltimore Orioles. » September 26th, 1994: The Baltimore Orioles fire manager Johnny Oates. » November 27th, 1995: Pat Gillick is named GM of the Baltimore Orioles. » February 21st, 1996: Despite the Baltimore Orioles winning in arbitration over P Arthur Rhodes, the players have their first winning year since 1990, going 14-10 in arbitration against the owners. Rhodes, 2-5, gets a team offer raise to $300,000: the pitcher had asked for $675,000. Arbitration-eligible players increased their salaries by 64%, the lowest since 1998, » May 31st, 1997: Cal Ripken snaps a 7th-inning tie with a record-breaking HR as the Baltimore Orioles rally from a 4-run deficit to beat Cleveland, 8-5. Ripken's homer gives him 4,274 total bases with Baltimore, breaking the franchise mark for total bases in a career. The O's also place Eric Davis on the DL. Davis is suffering from colon cancer and will be operated on in early June.