Baltimore Orioles

"O's" and "The O's" redirect here. For the Latin character, see O. For other uses, see OS and O (disambiguation).
This article is about the current baseball team. For the bird species, see Baltimore oriole. For other uses, see Baltimore Orioles (disambiguation).

Baltimore Orioles
2024 Baltimore Orioles season
LogoCap insignia
Major league affiliations
Current uniform
Retired numbers
Colors
  • Black, orange, white, gray[1][2][3]
           
Name
Other nicknames
  • "The O's"
  • "The Birds"
  • "Why Not? Orioles" (1989)
  • "The Buckle Up Birds" (2012)
  • "The Birdland Power Co." (2016-2017)
Ballpark
Major league titles
World Series titles (3)
AL Pennants (7)
AL East Division titles (10)
Wild card berths (4)
Front office
Principal owner(s)David Rubenstein
PresidentDavid Rubenstein (CEO)
General managerMike Elias
ManagerBrandon Hyde
Websitemlb.com/orioles

The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the American League's eight charter teams in 1901, the franchise spent its first year as a major league club in Milwaukee as the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns in 1902. After 52 years in St. Louis, the franchise was purchased in 1953 by a syndicate of Baltimore business and civic interests, led by attorney and civic activist Clarence Miles and Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. The team's current owner is David Rubenstein. The Orioles' home ballpark is Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which opened in 1992 in downtown Baltimore.[4][5] The oriole is the official state bird of Maryland; the name has been used by several baseball clubs in the city, including another AL charter member franchise which folded after the 1902 season and was replaced the next year by the New York Highlanders, later the Yankees. Nicknames for the team include the "O's" and the "Birds".

The franchise's first World Series appearance came in 1944 when the Browns lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Orioles went on to make six World Series appearances from 1966 to 1983, winning three in 1966, 1970, and 1983. This era of the club featured several future Hall of Famers who would later be inducted representing the Orioles, such as third baseman Brooks Robinson, outfielder Frank Robinson, starting pitcher Jim Palmer, first baseman Eddie Murray, shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., and manager Earl Weaver. The Orioles have won a total of ten division championships (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1997, 2014, 2023), seven pennants (1944 while in St. Louis, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1983), and four wild card berths (1996, 2012, 2016, 2024). The franchise was the last charter member of the American League to win a pennant, and the last charter member to win a World Series.

After 14 consecutive losing seasons between 1998 and 2011, the team qualified for the postseason three times under manager Buck Showalter and general manager Dan Duquette, including a division title and advancement to the American League Championship Series for the first time in 17 years in 2014. Four years later, the Orioles lost 115 games, the most in franchise history.[6] The Orioles chose not to renew the expired contracts of Showalter and Duquette after the season, ending their respective tenures with Baltimore. The Orioles' current manager is Brandon Hyde, while Mike Elias serves as general manager and executive vice president. Two years after finishing 52–110 in 2021, the Orioles went 101–61 in 2023, en route to winning the AL East for the first time since 2014.

From 1901 through the end of 2024, the franchise's overall win–loss record is 9,120–10,084–110 (.475). Since moving to Baltimore in 1954, the Orioles have an overall win–loss record of 5,658–5,530–12 (.506) through the end of 2024.[7]

  1. ^ "Orioles announce uniform changes for 2012". Orioles.com (Press release). MLB Advanced Media. November 15, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2017. The club's new home cap will feature the cartoon bird on a white front panel with a black back and orange bill and button.
  2. ^ "Orioles Logos & Mascots". Orioles.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  3. ^ Trezza, Joe (December 21, 2020). "How the oriole became a baseball bird". Orioles.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved December 21, 2020. To this day, the club has made minimal changes to the orange-and-black color scheme that makes the Baltimore Orioles – and Baltimore orioles – distinctive.
  4. ^ Kamin, Blair. "Camden Yards paved a retro revolution — and influenced Wrigley Field's renovations". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  5. ^ Weigel, Brandon. "A More Complex Legacy: Oriole Park is known as "the ballpark that forever changed baseball", and its impact may well extend to local governing". Baltimore City Paper. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  6. ^ Meoli, Jon (December 31, 2018). "Orioles rated as worst team in all of sports in 2018". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  7. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Team History & Encyclopedia". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 30, 2024.