Last modified: 2019-06-07 by rick wyatt
Keywords: united states | baseball | mlb | ale | orioles | baltimore | baltimore orioles |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
images by Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
See also:
The Baltimore Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. The Orioles originated as one of the American League's eight charter teams in Milwaukee as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901. The next year, the team moved to St. Louis and became the St. Louis Browns. During most of their 52 seasons in St. Louis, the Browns played home games at the Sportsman's Park. In 1944, with many of the baseball stars serving in WWII, the Browns won their only American League pennant before losing the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.
In 1954, they moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Orioles (the official state bird of Maryland) and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles won their first American League Championship and World Series in 1966. This was the beginning of two decades of prosperity. The Oriles have 3 World Series titles , 6 American League pennants, and 8 Eastern Division titles to date. In 1992, Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened, setting a new standard for baseball stadiums. This was setting when Cal Ripken Jr broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak of 2,130 games in a nationally televised game on September 6, 1998. This was later voted the all-time baseball moment of the 20th century by fans from around the country in 1999. Ripken finished his streak with 2,632 straight games, finally sitting on September 20, 1998.
It should be noted that in the early years baseball teams used pennants rather than flags (hence the practice of calling championships winning the pennant) and there were a host of unofficial manufacturer's variants of these and later fan flags marketed for the Angels and their fans. They included flags, banners, and pennants too numerous to all be shown here.
Rick Wyatt, 2 June 2019
images by Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
Flags representing the Orioles' World Series and American League Championships fly above their home stadium, OPACY.
Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
image by Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
On Mother's Day in 1966, off Cleveland Indians pitcher Luis Tiant, Frank Robinsion hit what would be the only home run out of Memorial Stadium. It cleared the left field single-deck portion of the grandstand. A flag was later erected near the spot the ball cleared the back wall, with simply the word "HERE" upon it. The flag is now in the Baltimore Orioles Museum.
Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
images by Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
After the baseball strike in 1994, which resulted in the cancellation of the World Series for the first time since 1904, many disenchanted fans turned away from the game. September 6, 1995 was the night when Cal Ripken Jr played his 2131st consectutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig's record. The excitement and anticipation had grown throughout the season, leading many to proclaim that Cal Ripken had saved Baseball. "Thanks Cal" items were the result.
Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
images by Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
The Orioles switched from a cartoon bird to variations of an ornithologically correct bird logo in the 1990s. They returned to a cartoon bird for the 20th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 2012. Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
images by Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
These popular variants of the American national flag have been produced for all the MLB teams and displayed by their enthusiastic fans. The canton of the first illustrated here contains white stars and Orioles' cartoon bird face. The second flag has a larger Orioles' cartoon face and no stars. In both designs, the 13 red and white stripes in the fly have been replaced with the orange and black colors of Baltimore Orioles.
Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
image by Rick Wyatt, 4 June 2019
images from Pete Loeser, 17 May 2019
For those baseball fans who own boats and want to display their team loyalty afloat, these flags are available for them. The flags take the form of either a broad pennant or a square boat flag with either a cap or team logo near the hoist. Each uses the individual team's colors in their designs.
Note: Because of the small size of these nautical broad pennants. usually about a foot tall (approximately 30.48 centimeters), they have also gained popularity as "golf cart" flags. It should also be noted that a broad pennant, or any other flag shape, is only called a "burgee" if it designates an organized boating club.
Pete Loeser, 17 May 2019