Early Oriole Parks
All of the early incarnations of "Oriole Park" were built within a few blocks of each other.
The first field called Oriole Park was built on the southwest corner of Sixth Street / Huntington Avenue (later 25th Street) (north); and York Road (later Greenmount Avenue) (east). The park was also variously known as Huntington Avenue Park and American Association Park. It was the first home of the major league American Association franchise called the Baltimore Orioles, during 1882–1889.
In 1890, the club moved four blocks north and opened a new Oriole Park, retroactively tagged as Oriole Park II. It was on a roughly rectangular block bounded by 10th Street (later 29th) (north); York Road (later Greenmount) (east); 9th Street (later 28th) (south); and Barclay Street (west). This field served as the home of the AA entry only briefly, during 1890 and for the first month in 1891. The club's reason for abandoning the park after barely more than one full season is unknown.
The club opened Union Park (also sometimes called Oriole Park - i.e. Oriole Park III) in early 1891 and operated there for the rest of the 1890s, joining the National League when the Association folded, and producing the first glory years of the Orioles. Despite their great success in the 90s, Baltimore was dropped when the League contracted from 12 to 8 teams in 1900.
The newly formed American League took up in 1901 where the National had left off. They opened a new Oriole Park, retroactively called Oriole Park IV, as well as being dubbed American League Park by the contemporary media. It was on the same site as the 1890-91 experiment (located at 39°19′22″N 76°36′37″W / 39.32278°N 76.61028°W / 39.32278; -76.61028). The AL's Orioles played for just two uneventful seasons before they were transferred north to become the team now known as the New York Yankees, where they eventually became the most successful team in the history of major league baseball. Baltimore was thus reduced to minor league status, as an entry in the International League (then known as the Eastern League) which began play at this same Oriole Park. There they enjoyed some success, producing some marketable players, notably one local boy, Babe Ruth, who was eventually sold to the Boston Red Sox and later gained even greater fame with the same New York Yankees that had begun in Baltimore.
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