The Baltimore Orioles began their long, yet depressing franchise in 1890. Unlike most expansion teams, the Orioles quickly developed talent, and by the end of the 1800s, they were the most dominant team in baseball. Over that ten year time span, the Orioles won a spectacular, four Temple Cups. Unfortunately, the Orioles deserted Baltimore in 1903 and moved to New York, where they were renamed the Highlanders and later the Yankees). That left Baltimore with no baseball team for more than half a century.

Finally the St. Louis Browns (formerly the Milwaukee Browns) left St. Louis and went to Baltimore. The team had been on a roll since the 1920s. Stars like George Sisler and Urban Shocker had led the Browns in the past, and the new Orioles did have a hidden star or two in their lineup. They were sure to bring future glory to Baltimore.

In 1961, the new Orioles first season in Baltimore, the Orioles put on a show for Baltimore fans. Young outfielder Jim Gentile and veteran third baseman Brooks Robinson became key players, and the Orioles ended up winning six more games than the previous year. Despite the Orioles over one hundred wins, the Yankees and the Tigers won even more games, leaving the Orioles in a distant third place.

The start of the Orioles's golden decades began in 1964. The next twenty years consisted of seven division titles, six pennants and three World Series championships. All the glory started when Hank Bauer was hired to manage the team. The first two years for Baltimore didn't go so well. The Orioles finished in a miserable third place both years.

After the 1965 season, the Orioles made some important acquisitions. Both Slugger Frank Robinson and promising pitcher Jim Palmer were brought over from Cincinnati. Immediatley the Orioles went on a surge. In 1966, the Orioles won their first World Series piloted by Palmer, who led a balanced pitching staff by winning 15 games, and Frank Robinson who captured the Triple Crown. In 1967-1968, the Orioles lost Palmer due to injuries, but in 1967 had a second place finish.

In '68 Earl Weaver replaced Bauer and made the Orioles pitching better than ever. In 14 full seasons, Weaver led the O's to six division titles. During those fourteen years, the Orioles had twenty-one twenty win pitching performances (eight by Jim Palmer). In 1969, the first year of divisional play, the Orioles won 109 games and did much more than that. That season was the Orioles best ever and is often ranked the best season of any major league baseball team.

In 1970, the Orioles won the World Series thanks to World Series MVP Brooks Robinson who made a terrific play ending the World Series as a Baltimore victory. After several more pennant quality seasons the Orioles died down. From the eighties on, the Orioles have been a lonely team. Every once and a while they have had a playoff quality season, but for the most part, they've been pretty bad. Even with Cal Ripken, Jr. on the team, they still can't seem to pull of a strong enough season to win a World Series. In the future the Orioles could be storing pennants, but if they do, that'll be a long time from now.