Curious, so I am asking.....

by Orioles 1894 on Dec 21, 2008 8:57 PM EST Comment 13 comments

As you all well know, I enjoy exploring the history of baseball. The Orioles have a long history of which half is from St. Louis and Milwaukee and the other half is since coming to Baltimore. I enjoy the Orioles a lot, but I also like reading the history of this franchise when it was in St. Louis and Milwaukee. I know that the history before Baltimore was not all that great, but I find it interesting non-the-less and I am sure glad I did not live through those years!

When I was old enough to become a fan it was hard to imagine Baltimore ever having bad teams or even being the Browns. After all we rooted on Powell, McNally, Palmer, Robinson, Dobson, Alexander, Cuellar, Oates, Grich and Belanger and had a manager named Earl. Heck, what was losing like we thought back then. We had a powerhouse in the AL East at the time. Well, we've found out about losing but in time we'll win again. Unfortunately, I also can understand and empathise with the Browns years better now also after the past several seasons. :(

I always find it stunning the Browns could only manage one pennant in all those years. Also, despite their rough years they managed to have such great players such as George Sisler, Ken Williams, Urban Shocker, Goose Goslin, Rogers Hornsby and others. While I find it fascinating I sure am glad they moved to Baltimore and are our Orioles. It is too bad Baltimore hasn't had a continous presence in the majors since the founding of the AL.

So, I am just posting a poll here to see how you all feel about the pre-history of the Orioles. Just call it curiosity I guess. How do you feel about the past? Do you enjoy learning about those who played for this franchise in another place and time? I know some don't care, others are neutral and some like to study those years. I am just trying to figure out what the ratio of Orioles fans feel each way here on CC.

Poll

What are your views on the history of the Orioles concerning the Browns 1902-1953 and the 1901 Brewers? Feel free to expand upon your views with comments.

I only care about the Orioles since 1954

16 votes

I enjoy learning about the pre-Oriole years

17 votes

I don't really care.

7 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

FanPosts are user-created content and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of Camden Chat or SB Nation. They might, though.

0 recs | Comment 13 comments |

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Comments

Hard time voting

though I came out voting for “enjoy the pre-Oriole years.” Both top options are true for me. I enjoy learning about anything re: baseball. But I only CARE (i.e. am emotionally invested in) the post-54 Birds.

I enjoyed reading Halberstam’s “Summer of ’49,” a story of old Yanks and Sox. But I got a real charge out of reading “Birds in Flight”, the story of the 1966 series win, even though it is not nearly as good of a book.

Has there ever been a cooler Oriole than Eddie Murray? I mean, just straight up cool. Like a bad, suave dude. You know what I'm sayin'. COOL. SC 7/24/08

by 33 on Dec 22, 2008 8:40 AM EST reply actions

I thoroughly enjoy reading about the old Brown's franchise.

I am very partial to the latter years of the franchise and the antics of owner Bill Veeck. Signing Satchel was one thing, but playing a midget (Eddie Gaedel) has to take the cake!! I am also into collecting Browns memorabilia. My prize possession is a light up sign featuring ‘Brownie the Elf’ that says ‘Welcome to Sportsmans Park’ in bold letters. Classic shit there.

WHAT ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in WHAT?

by sickuvitall on Dec 22, 2008 4:50 PM EST reply actions

That is cool about your Browns collection!

I would love to see the Brownie the Elf sign. You know there is a St. Louis Browns Fan Club to this day? They were the original loveable losers and there are still many older fans there who remember and still love the Brownies.

Eddie Gaedel was one of Veeck’s classic antics! I still laugh at that picture. One of the Browns staff had a kid whose replica uniform Gaedel wore for the event. From what I read the league was not humored by this stunt, but the fans around the country loved it.

Veeck was a showman and I remember reading about him having the fans in the stands making the calls for a game! He had fun….. and after Veeck was done with the Browns they moved to….. BALTIMORE!!!! :) YAY!

I like the Browns history, it is fascinating and I have a couple of the replica caps. They are fun to read about but I sure am glad I didn’t have to live through all those losses!

"The main idea is to win"-John McGraw

by Orioles 1894 on Dec 22, 2008 8:05 PM EST up reply actions

My favorite Browns cap

has the orange Fluer de Lis logo on the front with a black base. I forget the year that it was from, but I think they only wore it for one season. It amazes me how many 50 win seasons they suffered through…I guess things really could be worse for us!! I was at the Hall for Ripken’s induction and noticed a Satchel Paige Brown’s jersey in one of the displays. Brownie the Elf was on the shoulderpatch, an awesome sight for sure. Man this is some fun stuff, keeps the mind off Marky Mark and the Boras Bunch.

WHAT ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in WHAT?

by sickuvitall on Dec 23, 2008 4:39 AM EST up reply actions

that is a cool hat!

They did suffer through a lot of bad seasons. I’m glad our bad seasons aren’t like the ones they had.
I had to laugh when I read that one day during a doubleheader the Browns won the first game and actually moved out of last place.Well, they went out to the board showing where each team was in the standings. They went to move the Browns plaque but couldn’t because they had been in last place for so long it had rusted it into the holder so they couldn’t move it. It didn’t matter for they lost the second game of the DH and went back into last place again.

The Browns are fun to read about but living through all that had to be hard.

"The main idea is to win"-John McGraw

by Orioles 1894 on Dec 23, 2008 4:40 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, but St. Louis

also had the Cardinals. Given their success at the time, I am sure that the patrons of the Gateway to the West had plenty to cheer about. Isn’t it ironic that the Brownies lost their only Championship appearance to none other than the Cards!? Seems almost not fair…
The plaque story is classic, great stuff there. Makes you wonder how it is possible for one team to be so consistently bad for so many years. Think about how we have suffered with the O’s, and that has only really been for the last decade or so. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Birds rock some Browns throwbacks at some point, could be a fun idea.

WHAT ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in WHAT?

by sickuvitall on Dec 24, 2008 3:05 AM EST up reply actions

the great thing about the Browns and Cardinals series is that

it the only second world series ever played in the same park, Sportsmans Park. The Browns owned it and leased it to the Cardinals, who in the end ended up owning it before the Browns left town.

Here is another fun thing about the ’44 Series. The managers of the Browns and Redbirds shared the same apartment. Since when one St. Louis team was home the other was on the road the arrangement worked out great all season. Then, they met in the World Series so gets the apartment?

Now, that would be interesting to see the Birds playing in the Browns uniforms wouldn’t it? I don’t think it will ever happen. But, I would love to see them wear the 1890’s uniforms or those cool 1902 road uniforms with all those black and yellow stripes.

For all the bad years they had the Browns are interesting for if you look in the Orioles Franchise records there are lots of Brownies listed in the top ten in many categories. For as good as the O’s have been and as bad as the Brownies were you would think the O’s would’ve wiped them off the books by now.

The Browns weren’t all bad. In 1922 they hit as a team .313, had 4 guys with 100 or more RBIs and Ken Williams led the AL with 39 homers. That year the first MVP given out by MLB was given to the Brown’s George Sisler. Yeah, they had their good years, but they just weren’t all that often, unfortunately.

"The main idea is to win"-John McGraw

by Orioles 1894 on Dec 24, 2008 8:11 AM EST up reply actions

Brownie Throwbacks

The O’s did wear them for their first interleague series in St. Louis, in June 2003. I’ve got a card with a photo of Melvin Mora in his Browns threads here.

by Brotz13 on Dec 25, 2008 1:48 PM EST up reply actions

I can't believe I didn't know about that!

Good job on the find, the Brown’s unies are exquisite, especially the sox. I also liked the link to the 1901 pics. The Birds should definitely consider them for a Friday night game after Wieters is called up…the auction price afterwards would be bountiful.

WHAT ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in WHAT?

by sickuvitall on Dec 25, 2008 4:32 PM EST up reply actions

auctioning those unis off for a charity is a great

thing to do, especially with the rough times presently. Lets keep our fingers crossed they do so. :)

"The main idea is to win"-John McGraw

by Orioles 1894 on Dec 25, 2008 6:41 PM EST up reply actions

What a great picture!!!

I copied to my files, what a keeper. I want to see those 1901 O’s uniforms, those would make a great picture also!!

"The main idea is to win"-John McGraw

by Orioles 1894 on Dec 25, 2008 6:39 PM EST up reply actions

Pretty rare

To see a team giving a nod to its history in another city, but I guess the wounds in St. Louis have healed. ;-)

by Brotz13 on Dec 26, 2008 8:05 PM EST up reply actions

I'm loving it

Bad Left Hook
Camden Chat

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by SC on Dec 22, 2008 6:34 PM EST reply actions