This was set up to be a look into the history of each AL East member, but after just researching the Baltimore Orioles, I realized there was no way all of that history would fit into one post, so I will be breaking this into two posts. This one will feature the O’s and the Sox with the following one rounding out the rest of the AL East.

Baltimore Orioles

The first baseball team in Baltimore eventually became the New York Yankees. That was the unofficial start to a 124 year old story. If you want to go back even further, the team can trace its roots to Milwaukee and the original Milwaukee Brewers minor league team.

In 1901, Baltimore started a charter team, which morphed into the New York Highlanders the following year. More on that in the next legacy roll call.

When Milwaukee’s minor league team was promoted in 1901 to a major league team, the owners almost immediately turned around and moved the team to St. Louis and renamed them the Browns. Shockingly, like another team with the same name, the Browns were fairly awful throughout their St. Louis tenure. In 52 years the team would post a .433 winning average, 1 pennant, and lost in the World Series to their city neighbors, the Cardinals.

In 1954, the franchise uprooted and moved for the second time. This time they settled in Baltimore and they took up the moniker of the original charter team from that city. Their first season in their new home mirrored their last in The Lou: 54-100.

1955 saw a slow, 3-game improvement, but also the debut of The Human Vacuum Cleaner, Brooks Robinson. The 50’s closed out with little excitement outside of Baltimore hosting their first All Star Game in 1958.

1960 allowed the O’s to finally emerge as a perennial pennant contender when they won 89 games. The club improved on that win total behind the slogan “It Can Be Done in ’61.” Unfortunately, the 95 wins weren’t enough to surpass the Yankees and Tigers and the O’s finished 3rd in the American League. 62 was one of only two losing seasons in the 60’s. In 1964, Brooks Robinson won League MVP, but the team still finished in 3rd.

Dec. 9 1965, a blockbuster trade was made between Cincinnati and Baltimore (believed by many Reds fans to be the biggest trade mistake the club ever made) which sent Frank Robinson, 1956’s ROY and 1961’s MVP, to the O’s. Now with the missing piece, the Orioles won their first World Series in 1966 and Robinson his second MVP.

One year removed from the World Series, the O’s were plagued with injuries, most notably a month-long injury to Frank Robinson in June, and went sub-.500 for the first time since 1962 and the last for 19 years.

1969 started a back-to-back-to-back World Series appearance by Baltimore, but the Miracle Mets crushed their dreams of a title in a 4-1 Fall Classic.

1970 saw the Orioles dominate with 108 wins, a sweep of the Twins in the ALCS, and an-Avenger-like 4-1 World Series win over the Big Red Machine.

1971, the O’s were back in the Fall Classic, but faced a fiery Roberto Clemente and the Pirates. The O’s battled for seven games, but came up just short of their third franchise title.

1982 saw the debut of possibly the most popular Baltimore player when Cal Ripken Jr. took the stage and was awarded ROY status. The O’s would get to the last day of the season tied with Milwaukee for the AL East. Unfortunately, Milwaukee was led by MVP Robin Yount and took the final game of the season.

In 1983, Baltimore found their way back to the World Series where they faced the Hit King and the Phillies. League MVP Rick Dempsey was pivotal to the O’s sealing their third World Series title.

1986 was the first losing season since 1967 when the Birds went 14-42 to close out the season after being only 2.5 games out of first place in the division on August 5.

1989, Baltimore saw a meteoric rise from the ashes of the ’88 54-107 season. The O’s competed for the pennant until the second to last day of the year behind AL Manager of the Year Frank Robinson.

Memorial Stadium was closed at the end of the ’91 season and Camden Yards opened the following year.

1993 brought the All Star Game back to Baltimore.

September 6th 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. broke a record that will never be broken again when he played his 2,131st consecutive game. He would go on to play in 2,632 games.

At the turn of the century, the O’s went 12 (14 back to 98) straight season under .500 before losing the ALDS to New York in 2012 after a 93-69 season. In 2001, Cal Ripken Jr. began his farewell tour, capping his accolades with an All Star Game MVP.

2018 saw the second worst performance in franchise history as the O’s went 47-115.

2021 was Baltimore’s last losing season, since, they have been to the postseason twice, both times getting swept in their first series.

The O’s, however, are poised with some of the most talented players to have a breakout year behind Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.

Award	# of Recipients
World Series	3
AL Titles	7
MVP	5 (Cal Ripken twice)
Cy Young	6
ROY	7 (including Gunnar Henderson)
Manager of the Year	4

Boston Red Sox

What started as a charter member of the original American League, Boston has grown into one of the most iconic franchise.

In 1901, the team started with the moniker of the Boston Americans but quickly changed to the Boston Red Sox in 1908. The name refers to the original Boston team, the Boston Red Stockings, who are now the Atlanta Braves. They started with possibly the best pitcher on any roster at the time when Denton True “Cy” Young took the mound.

Boston took the inaugural World Series against Pittsburgh in 1903.

In 1912, the oldest ballpark in America opened its doors for the first time. Fenway Park has played host to the BoSox ever since, with the diabolical “Green Monster” playing extra left field in every game. Baby Fenway was a lucky charm as the Sox won their second World Series title in the ballpark’s first season.

1914 saw the beginning of another baseball legend born to the Boston franchise as George Herman “Babe” Ruth took the field. In his 391 games in a Red Sox uniform, George would only hit 49 home runs while also earning 89 wins and a 3-0 record in the World Series.

In 1915 and 16, Boston went back to back as World Series champions over the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Robins, respectively. 1917 was a down year as the Sox finished second in the AL. However, they bounced back and went back to the World Series and won it again in 1918 over the Chicago Cubs, for the franchise’s fifth in 18 seasons.

But fate changed the history of the franchise following the 1919 season. On December 26, 1919, Babe Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees for $100,000.

Thus began the Curse of the Bambino and the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry.

From 1919 through 1937, the BoSox did not finish a season within 15 games of first place in the AL. In fact, until 1934, the team hadn’t gone .500 since their 1918 World Series.

The Sox wouldn’t win the AL until 1946 when they lost in the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1967- Fast forward 21 years and the Sox are back in the World Series. Again they face off against the Cardinals. Again the Sox lose the series 4-3.

The Curse stands at 47 years.

1975- The Sox are back in the Series. This time facing off against the Big Red Machine. The series goes 7. The Sox even take an early 3-0 lead. But they score no more as the Machine won 4-3.

The Curse has surpassed 55 years now.

1986- The Mets are the next to benefit from The Curse, taking the 1986 Series, 4-3.

66 years

In 1988, 1990, and 1995, Boston would make the postseason, but would be swept out each time.

Fast forward to October 17 2003. The Yankees just beat the Sox in the ALCS. The Sox, in 83 years, have now gone: 0-10 in postseason attempts for a World Series, 0-4 in the Series, itself. All this after their 95 wins were the team’s highest since 1986.

2004- On the backs of household names like David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, and Curt Schilling, the Sox entered the postseason as the American League Wild Card with 98 wins, 3 games back of the Yankees. They took the brooms to Los Angeles in the Division Series, but were driven to the brink of a sweep themselves at the hands of the Yanks, down 3-0 in the ALCS after getting beat 19-8 in Game 3.

The Sox would become the first team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a postseason series. Game 4 required 12 innings to keep Boston’s season alive. Game 5 required 14. But then the Sox finally overcame the Yankees, at Yankee Stadium, winning Games 6 and 7 on the road. For the fifth time since the Curse began, the Sox were going to the World Series.

Boston would go on to sweep the Cardinals and finally break The Curse.

The Sox won 3 more titles in ’07, ’13, and ’18.

Since their monster 108 win season in 2018, the Sox have been on a roller coaster attempting to find the right mix to get back to the Fall Classic, only having appeared in one postseason since.

Award	# of Recipients
World Series	9
AL Titles	17
MVP	11
Cy Young	7
ROY	6
Manager of the Year	2

1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooks_Robinson_1977.jpg ↩︎
2. https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/camden-yards/ ↩︎
3. https://1000logos.net/boston-red-sox-logo/ ↩︎
4. https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-11-1914-babe-ruth-debuts/ ↩︎
5. https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/sports/high-school/2024/02/04/remembering-the-2004-boston-red-sox-world-series-20-years-later/72424515007/ ↩︎