The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891 . They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as the Louisville Colonels from 1885 to 1891; the latter name derived from the historic title of the Kentucky Colonel . After the AA folded in 1891, the Colonels joined the National League and played through the 1899 season.
23-514: "Colonels" was also the name of several minor league baseball teams that played in Louisville, Kentucky , in the 20th century. After spending several years as a well-known semi-pro team, the Eclipse joined the newly founded American Association in 1882. The Eclipse's backer, local distiller J. H. Pank, was named vice-president of the AA, and the team was to be run by a consortium led by W. L. Lyons . Their star player, infielder Pete Browning , who had achieved some measure of local fame, remained with
46-468: A tripleheader on September 7 and a doubleheader the next day, all against the Baltimore Orioles. With the prohibition of tripleheaders in the early 1920s, this record still stands. The 1889 Colonels were the first team in major league history to lose 100 games in a single season. In 1890 the team, which had been purchased by Barney Dreyfuss , bounced back with a vengeance. The Colonels won
69-627: A championship spree, seldom seen in major or minor league baseball ever since. Featuring another future Hall-of-Fame pitcher in Lefty Grove , the Orioles improved on that in 1920 by winning 110 games, including the last 25 of the season. In 1921 , the Orioles won 27 straight games (a record for consecutive victories by a minor league team that would stand until the Salt Lake City Trappers won 29 in 1987 ). The Orioles won
92-465: A rookie, on May 25, 1899. Pete Browning hit for the cycle twice for Louisville, on August 8, 1886, and June 7, 1889. Louisville Colonels (minor league baseball) The Louisville Colonels were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Louisville, Kentucky , from 1901 to 1962 and 1968 to 1972. The name, like that of the 19th century Major League team of that name , is derived from
115-601: The 100 greatest minor league teams of all time . After the 1953 season, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and took the name of the Baltimore Orioles. The last minor league/International League Orioles team (of 1916–1953) re-located to Richmond (coincidentally just as had the earlier Orioles team in 1914), this time as the Richmond Virginians from 1954 to 1964, later relocating as today's Toledo Mud Hens franchise in northwest Ohio since 1965. The Orioles won
138-713: The Boston Red Sox ) later in the 1914 season and many of his other players, and eventually temporarily relocate the team to Richmond, Virginia , as the Richmond Climbers , for the 1915 and 1916 seasons. After the Federal League's demise, Dunn returned with an Orioles team in 1916. This team, later in the 1919 I.L. Baseball Season won the International League pennant with 100 victories, the first team to win that many games and went on
161-549: The Louisville Bats , setting minor league attendance records and outdrawing several major league teams. The Colonels were affiliated with the following Major League Baseball teams: Baltimore Orioles (minor league) The city of Baltimore, Maryland , has been home to two Minor League Baseball teams called the Baltimore Orioles , in addition to the three Major League Baseball teams that have used
184-599: The New York Yankees in 1925. Pee Wee Reese was a rookie with the 1938 Colonels. The Colonels were one of few minor league teams to play throughout World War II, and they won pennants in 1944 and 1945. In 1944, the Colonels played in the Junior World Series against the Baltimore Orioles , and the game drew an attendance of 52,833 — 16,265 more than any single World Series game that year. Through
207-492: The " Junior World Series " that year, four games to two, against Louisville . Six years later, with the shackles of war-time baseball cast off, in 1950, under manager Nick Cullop , Baltimore won the league championship again, only to lose the "Junior World Series" to the Columbus Red Birds of Ohio, four games to one. In 2001, the Orioles teams of 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924 were recognized as being among
230-876: The 1890 pennant in the AA and became the first and only team to rise from the cellar to the pennant in one season. That year the AA was considered only the third-best behind the NL and the Players' League . In 1892 the American Association dissolved, and the Colonels moved to the National League and played there until 1899. In 1900 Dreyfuss acquired controlling interest of the Pittsburgh Pirates and brought 14 Colonels players with him, including future Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke , marking
253-682: The 1940s and 1950s, the Colonels were part of the Boston Red Sox farm system, and they won the pennant in 1954. The Red Sox transferred its affiliation to the San Francisco Seals after the 1955 season. Starting in 1956, the Colonels were affiliated with the Washington Senators . They moved to Fairgrounds Stadium in 1957. In 1959, the Colonels became affiliated with the Milwaukee Braves . They won (in 1960, with pitcher Phil Niekro ) one of three appearances in
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#1732768953130276-498: The Eastern League (renamed the International League in 1911 , and not to be confused with the present day 'Double AA' level, minor league Eastern League ). This Orioles team stayed mediocre for the first few years of its existence, but after the arrival of Jack Dunn (1872–1928), as manager, it won the Eastern League pennant in 1908 . This E.L./I.L. Orioles team played at the old American League Park (a.k.a. Oriole Park) at
299-656: The Junior World Series in that time, but in 1962 the American Association folded. In October 1967, Walter J. Dilbeck purchased the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League and moved them to Louisville, renaming them the Colonels. They played in the International League through the 1972 season. During this stretch, players included Carlton Fisk , Dwight Evans , Luis Tiant , and Cecil Cooper . The franchise had to move when
322-713: The Kentucky State Fair Board announced that Fairgrounds Stadium would be renovated for football in a manner that would make it unsuitable for baseball. The team relocated to Pawtucket, Rhode Island , and became known as the Pawtucket Red Sox . Baseball returned to Louisville when the same stadium was renovated for baseball in 1981 and the Springfield Redbirds came to Louisville as the Louisville Redbirds, later called
345-583: The League by 20 games over the second place team, and had a home record of 70 wins and 18 losses. Despite their impressive record, however, they lost the " Little World Series " to the American Association's champion Louisville Colonels , 4 games to 1. The Orioles actually led the fourth game, 12–4, but a riot broke out among the Louisville home crowd in the top of the 9th inning, and the game
368-453: The end of the original Colonels organization and Louisville as a Major League Baseball host city. Honus Wager recorded his first Major League hit while playing with Louisville. In September 1882, Louisville pitchers threw two no-hitters in the span of nine days; Tony Mullane on September 11, followed by Guy Hecker on September 19. Other Louisville pitchers who threw no-hitters were Ben Sanders on August 22, 1892, and Deacon Phillippe ,
391-483: The historic Kentucky colonels . In the 20th century, several Minor League Baseball teams in Louisville, Kentucky , have been known as the Louisville Colonels. In 1909, the Colonels won the American Association pennant, as they also did in 1921, 1925, 1926, and 1930 while featuring players such as Joe McCarthy , Billy Herman , and Earle Combs ; Combs hit .344 in 1923 and .380 in 1924 before joining
414-564: The name (the first of which played in the American Association in 1882 to 1891, then joined the National League from 1892 to 1899, the second being the American League charter franchise which played for two seasons in 1901 and 1902, and the modern AL team since April 1954.) "Orioles" is a traditional name for baseball clubs in Baltimore, after the state bird of Maryland , with the colors of black and orange/gold/yellow. It
437-511: The old 1922 football bowl of Municipal Stadium on 33rd Street Boulevard (also known as "Baltimore Stadium"), the team seemed to have a hard time recovering from that loss, playing lackluster ball through the rest of the season and losing their last game, only to strangely "back into the championship" when the second place team, the Newark Bears , also lost their recent games. The Orioles, under manager Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas , went on to win
460-531: The southwest corner of Greenmount Avenue and 29th Street in the Waverly neighborhood of northeast Baltimore. The 1914 season featured the professional debut of local son, George Herman "Babe" Ruth , but competition from the Baltimore Terrapins of the new Federal League challenge for major league status, with their more modern steel-beamed ballpark across the street, forced Dunn to sell Ruth (to
483-461: The team when they ascended to major league status. The team got off to a good start, finishing in second place, their best finish for several seasons. Managing partner Lyons resigned in mid-1888, and was succeeded by team secretary Mordecai Davidson . The following season, the team sank to a 27–111 record and a last place finish. As a result, Davidson surrendered control of the team to the AA. The Colonels lost five straight games in two days, including
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#1732768953130506-734: Was forfeited to Baltimore, 9–0. The I.L. Orioles continued to roll over International League opposition for several more seasons straight through to the 1925 Baseball Season . The team entered the Governors' Cup playoffs in the International circuit in 1936, 1937, and 1940, but did not win another pennant until the "war year" of 1944 . The team was leading the League on July 4 of that year, when their home wooden and steel beamed stadium, Oriole Park (formerly Terrapin Park of 1914), burned down. Even after relocating several blocks northwest to
529-533: Was used by major league teams representing the city from 1882 through 1899 in the old American Association and the original National League two decades after its founding in 1876, and by a charter team franchise member of the new American League from 1901 through 1902. The original American League franchise was replaced by a team in New York City in 1903 and eventually became known as the New York Yankees . In 1903 , an Oriole minor league team joined
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