The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) East division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises when the league was established in 1901 with President Ban Johnson, this particular franchise spent its first year as a major league club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as theMilwaukee Brewers before moving to St. Louis, Missouri to become the St. Louis Browns. After 52 often-beleaguered years in St. Louis, the franchise was purchased in November 1953 by Baltimore business interests led by Clarence Miles. The franchise officially moved to Baltimore for the 1954 season and adopted the historic "Orioles" name in honor of the official state bird of Maryland. The Orioles name had also been used by several previous major and minor league baseball clubs in Baltimore, including the franchise that would eventually become the New York Yankees. Nicknames for the team include the "O's" and the "Birds".
The Orioles experienced their greatest success from 1964 to 1983 and have won a total of nine division championships (1969–1971, 1973–1974, 1979, 1983, 1997, 2014), six pennants (1966, 1969–1971, 1979, 1983), three World Series championships (1966, 1970, 1983), two wild card berths (1996 and 2012), and five Most Valuable Player Awards (third baseman Brooks Robinson in 1964, outfielder Frank Robinson in 1966, first baseman Boog Powell in 1970, and shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1983 and 1991).
One of the most historic major league franchises, the O's suffered a stretch of 14 straight losing seasons from 1998 to 2011. However, the team has posted winning seasons since 2012, when the O's qualified for the postseason for the first time since 1997. After missing the playoffs in 2013 they gained a berth in 2014, clinching a division title then advancing to the ALCS for the first time in 17 years after sweeping the Detroit Tigers in the 2014 ALDS. The Orioles are also well known for their successful stadium, the trend-setting Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which opened in 1992 in downtown Baltimore.