Sport: The Orioles Sing Again

Oh…somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children clown;

That somewhere, friend, is Baltimore…the Browns have come to town!

From this exuberant paraphrase of Casey at the Bat, spread across a whole page of The Sun one morning last week, Baltimore baseball fans joyfully learned that their city’s 51-year-exile from the major leagues was ended. After twice vetoing the transfer since last spring, the American League Club owners suddenly and solidly (8-0) voted to switch the St. Louis Browns’ franchise to Baltimore. What changed their minds was the flying-wedge persistence of Baltimore’s Mayor Tommy W. D’Alesandro and Attorney Clarence W. Miles, head of a Baltimore syndicate which will put up the money. Other cities, e.g., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kansas City and Toronto, made token gestures to get the Browns, but only Baltimore came waving real cash.

The Baltimore interests will pay $2,475,000 for 80% of the Browns stock. Thus, control of the club will be wrested from Bill Veeck, who was so unpopular with the other owners that they let the eight-place Browns stew on until Veeck made way for new chefs.

Next season, the Browns, rechristened the Orioles,* will move into Baltimore’s rebuilt, 51,000-seat municipal stadium, which will be the fourth biggest ballpark in the majors.

As a condition of his approval of the Browns shift, Western-minded New York Yankee Co-Owner Del Webb got from other league fathers a concession that raised new hopes in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The American owners changed their constitution to allow enlargement of the league to ten clubs if “it should become desirable to bring major-league baseball to the Pacific Coast.”

* In 1903, the Orioles’ American League franchise was switched to the New York Highlanders, now the Yankees. Among members of the old Orioles: John J. McGraw, Wee Willie Keeler, Wilbert Robinson, Hughey Jennings.