Baltimore
Baltimore holds an important place in plunk history. Don Baylor recorded 46 of his 267 HBPs while playing with the Orioles, and Hughie Jennings recorded 205 of his 287 plunks with the Orioles... but not the same Orioles. The current Orioles franchise began life in the American League as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901 but grew out of that by 1902 and became the St Louis Browns. They moved to Baltimore in 1954 and took over the name Orioles which had been unused since 1900. Hughie Jenning's Orioles played in the National League from 1892-1899 and the American Association before Jenning's got there. They were reportedly an impressive and pretty funny bunch of cheaters. Maybe the problem with modern day cheating is the lack of crowd participation. In 1900 the National League contracted, dropping four teams, and Baltimore wouldn't have Orioles* for another 54 years.
*See comments for correction.
Labels: Don Baylor, Hughie Jennings, Orioles
2 Comments:
Biggio just got #263 and then a stolen base. Jorge Julio is the plunker tonight!!! Top of the 8th, Biggio was leading off.
Actually, the Orioles didn't disappear for 54 years, they just went underground.
To the minors.
Baltimore had an International League franchise betwen 1903 and 1914, and then again between 1916 and 1953.
In 1940, they became an affiliated team, and 1949 and 1950, oddl;y enough, they became a farm team for the team that would take their name, the Browns.
http://www.geocities.com/big_bunko/international0299.htm
Babe Ruth, hit by a pitch only 43 times in the majors, played his first professional baseball, I believe, for the IL Orioles.
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