The Western League became the American League in 1900, and achieved the status of a major league in 1901. The Milwaukee Brewers played in the Western/American League from 1894 to 1901, when they moved to St. Louis, and were named the St. Louis Browns. They remained there and played as St. Louis Browns from 1902 to 1953.

The Browns were very popular, though they were a very mediocre team, having only four winning seasons from 1901 to 1922. However, in their first season at St. Louis, the Browns finished second. Robert Hedges, the owner of Browns, in 1916, sold the team to Philip Ball, who once owned the St. Louis Terriers of the defunct Federal League.

In the 1920s, Browns had some of the best players in the franchise, such as Ken Williams, Baby Doll Jacobson, and Jack Tobin, in addition to George Sisler - the future Hall of Famer. In 1922, the Browns nearly beat the New York Yankees to a pennant. Ken Williams became the first player in the history of Major League in 1922, to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season, a feat not repeated till 34 years later, in MLB.

In 1944, the St. Louis Browns won their only St Louis based American League pennant. While at St. Louis, their base was at Sportsman’s Park.

The Move To Maryland
Twice earlier, the owner of the Browns since 1951, Bill Veeck, tried to relocate the Browns. First he tried to move back to Milwaukee, but was blocked by the other American League owners. He then tried to move to Baltimore, but failed. Facing liquidation, Veeck was forced to sell the Browns to a Baltimore-based group led by attorney Clarence Miles and brewer Jerry Hofberger.

It was agreed to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore on September 28, 1953. The team was named the Baltimore Orioles. This new team is not to be confused with another team by the same name, which played in the now defunct National League, and moved to New York in 1903. That team is now the famous New York Yankees.

From 1954 to 1991, the home park of the Orioles was the Memorial Stadium. Since 1992, their home park has been the Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles made a total of 11 playoff appearances, and of the eight original teams of the American League, were the last to win the World Series, beating the highly favoured Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966, with a four game sweep.