Orioles Opening Day photos from years past
Look through Orioles Opening Day photos from yesteryear.
ALSO SEE: 2015 Orioles season preview | Highlights from Opening Day | Time lapse: Opening Day at Oriole Park
- 1954: Orioles Opening Day. Players stand for the National Anthem performed by the Army band. (Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- Mobs of people crowd the ball players on Charles and Madison Street at the 1954 Orioles Opening Day. (Clarence B. Garrett./Baltimore Sun)
- 1957: President Eisenhower throws out the first pitch at Opening Day as Managers Chuck Dressen (Senators) and Paul Richards (Orioles) watch. The pitch kicks off the Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Senators game. (Robert F. Kniesche/Baltimore Sun)
- 1961: Orioles Opening Day. Baltimoreans turn their attention to baseball on Orioles Opening Day. A parade honors the Orioles. (Clarence B. Garrett/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 1965: Baseball fans stand during the National Anthem at the 1965 Opening Day. (Joe DiPaola/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 1970: Orioles Opening Day. Teammates and fans welcome hero Brooks Robinson as he heads for the dugout after a winning hit. (William Hotz/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 1973: Gov. Mandel threw out the first ball as the Orioles opened their season on April 7, 1973. (Baltimore Sun)
- 1978: Orioles Opening Day. Oriole outfielder Larry Harlow slides full force into Milwaukee catcher Buck Martinez, while home plate umpire Joe Brinkman gets ready to make the call. (William Hotz/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 1981: Orioles Opening Day. Members of the Peabody Chorus gave a stadium performance for the 1981 opener. (April Saul/ Baltimore Sun)
- 1991: Orioles Opening Day. Guys from Berry Construction create their own deck on a camper. (Amy Davis/ Baltimore Sun)
- 1992: Orioles Opening Day at Camden Yards. Ben Harrington,10 of Annapolis and Governor Schaefer enjoy opening day. Ben got two tickets from the Governor. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 1992: Orioles Opening Day at Camden Yards. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun)
- 1994: Fans go for the ball during the Opening Day game at Camden Yards. (Karl M. Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
- 1996: The Orioles and Kansas City Royals line up on the baselines for the National Anthem. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
- 2000: Opening Day at Oriole Park at Camden Yard. Cal Ripken Jr. and the Oriole Bird during the opening introductions. (Gene Sweeney Jr./Baltimore Sun)
- 2000: Orioles Opening Day. Both teams and the Oriole Bird during the National Anthem. (Gene Sweeney Jr./Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Opening Day. Oriole Albert Belle jumps up to make the catch on a fly ball. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
- 2005: Opening Day ceremonies begin as kids run out onto the field carrying Orioles’ flags at the start of the player introduction. Opening Day at Camden Yards with Orioles and Oakland Athletics. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 2007: Orioles Opening Day. Shown is a multiple exposure composite photo of Orioles starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera, during the 7th inning. (Doug Kapustin/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 2009: Orioles play against the New York Yankees on opening day at Camden Yards. Corey Hahn, left, gets a kiss from Manon Geoghegan at the game. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun) BUY THIS PHOTO
- 2011: The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles listen to the National Anthem during opening day at Camden Yards. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
- 2012: Overhead scene of the Eutaw Plaza walkway as the crowds start to file into Camden Yards. Pregame scenes from the 20th opening day at Camden Yards on April 6, 2012. (Gene Sweeney Jr./Baltimore Sun)
- 2012: Orioles Nick Markakis is announced onto the field. Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins opening day baseball at Camden Yards. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)
- 2012: Lawrence Major of Pottsville, PA tries to catch a batting practice homer before the game. Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins opening day baseball at Camden Yards on April 6, 2013. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)
- 2012: Orioles players line up during the opening ceremonies. Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins opening day baseball at Camden Yards. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)
ARCHIVES: LONGBALL
In the rough-and-tumble baseball of the 1890s, Baltimore rose to the top with skill and guile
By Mike Klingaman, The Baltimore Sun
Updated July 7, 1996
A century ago, Baltimore was a bustling, brawling, blue-collar city of 500,000, teeming with trolleys and privies and chimneys that belched coal smoke. The skyline was beveled by breweries and churches. Cardinal Gibbons and Enoch Pratt were people, not places. And George Herman Ruth (1 year old) was really The Babe.
Then, Baltimore was port for about 4,000 immigrants who streamed into Locust Point each month. One, a young German named Frederick Peter Ripken, settled near Aberdeen, opened a general store and started a family. His descendants would lean toward baseball.
It was the age of handlebars: Men with waxy mustaches rode bicycles down cobbled city streets, past saloons and stables and stores like N. Hess’ Sons, which offered free patent leather shoes to any baseball “crank,” or fan, who could predict the outcome of the National League race.
What race? In the summer of 1896, John Philip Sousa played Baltimore, and the Orioles played ball to beat the band.
Baltimore won 90 games, lost only 39 and rolled to the pennant in the National League, then the only league around. Next month, the maestro of that Orioles team, manager Ned Hanlon, a cunning strategist whose clubs won five championships, will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Five of his players await Hanlon there: John McGraw, Hughie Jennings, Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley and Wilbert Robinson.
Tough outs, all. In 1896, that barbershop quintet hit a combined .377, despite a string of setbacks. McGraw contracted typhoid, Jennings was beaned twice and Robinson had part of a finger amputated.
Hanlon weathered all. A short, stout manager who sat on the Orioles bench in a three-button Victorian suit, circa “Life With Father,” Hanlon shuffled lineups, plugged holes and traded for journeymen who became one-year wonders when dressed in orange and black. (McGraw’s replacement, a utility man named Jim Donnelly, hit .328 in his lone summer here — 99 points above his lifetime average.)
Hanlon’s gambles paid off. The Orioles won the league by 9 1/2 games and swept the playoffs.
That Baltimore even had a 19th-century major-league team will surprise some Orioles fans, who thought life began in 1954, when the current club was born. Or 1966, when Baltimore won its first World Series behind the Robinsons, Brooks and Frank.
Not so. Before B. Robby and F. Robby, there was W. Robby, catcher and captain of a conniving, single-minded ballclub whose tactics were as sharp as its spikes.