Oriole Park

Not to be confused with Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Oriole Park was a name applied to five discrete ballparks. They were the homes to the Baltimore Orioles (NL), Baltimore Orioles (AL) and Baltimore Terrapins (Federal League).

The original Oriole Park was home to the National League's Baltimore Orioles from May 1, 1883 to October 10, 1889. It was replaced by Oriole Park II (in 1890-1891) and was in turn replaced by Oriole Park III (from May 11, 1891 to October 10, 1899). That latter version of the ballpark is also called Union Park in some sources.

Sometime during the off-season, the park was torn down and replaced by Oriole Park IV also known as American League Park, which served as the first home for the future New York Yankees, from April 26, 1901 to September 29, 1902 - the entirety of that team's existence. The last park of that name, Oriole Park V, was also known as Terrapin Park and was home to the Federal League Terrapins. Following the demise of the league, it was bought by Jack Dunn, owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles, on March 3, 1916 and renamed. It was used as a home park until it was destroyed by a fire during the night of July 3, 1944. The Orioles then moved into Memorial Stadium, which itself became a major league ballpark with the relocation of the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore in 1954.

Source

• Peter Filichia: Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebrations of All 273 Major League and Negro League Ballparks Past and Present, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1993.

Related Sites

• Union Park (Baltimore) at the SABR Bio Project