Union Park (Baltimore)
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Union Park is a former
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
ground located in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
. The ground was home to the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
during their first "glory years" in the 1890s. It was located in an area bounded by East 25th Street to the north, 24th Street to the south, Hunter Street to the west and Barclay Street to the east. Guilford Avenue teed into 24th from the south, behind right-center field. The Orioles opened this park during the
1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...
season, abandoning
Oriole Park Oriole Park was the name of multiple baseball parks in Baltimore, Maryland, all built within a few blocks of each other. Oriole Park I, 1883–1889 The first field called Oriole Park I was built on the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Hunt ...
. Their first game there was on May 11, 1891, an 8–4 victory over the St. Louis Browns in front of over 10,000 fans. At that time they were playing in the then-major American Association. After that season, the Association folded, and four of its teams were absorbed into the
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
, including the Orioles. The Orioles became a perennial contender during that time. Despite that success, they were dropped when the National League contracted after the
1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
season. The legacy of those Orioles lived on through the later achievements of their many Hall of Fame players, such as
John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...
,
Wilbert Robinson Wilbert Robinson (June 29, 1864 – August 8, 1934), nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Athletics (American Association) ...
,
Hughie Jennings Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won N ...
and
Willie Keeler William Henry Keeler (March 3, 1872 – January 1, 1923), nicknamed "Wee Willie" because of his small stature, was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910, primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn ...
. Slugger
Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , w ...
played first base for the Orioles during the 1894 and 1895 seasons. On June 16, 1894, he hit a home run over the distant center field fence, the ball landing on Guilford Avenue and finally rolling to a stop at 23rd Street. The Baltimore ''Sun'' for April 18 described it as "the longest ever made on the grounds." Decades later, the blow was still being talked about, and due to the distance it rolled was facetiously described as a 1,300 foot home

There was a destructive fire on January 14, 1895, which destroyed the grandstand and a clubhouse. The structure was rebuilt and the Orioles were able to continue to use ballpark for their remaining seasons. Today the site is a residential area of Barclay with 321 East 25th Street once located next to the grandstand. That and other buildings visible in the background of the 1890s photo of the ballpark's exterior still stand today.


See also

*
Temple Cup The Temple Cup was a cup awarded to the winner of an annual best-of-seven postseason championship series for American professional baseball from 1894 to 1897. Competing teams were exclusively from the National League, which had been founded in ...


Sources

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References

Sports venues in Baltimore Defunct baseball venues in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in Baltimore Defunct sports venues in Maryland Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899) Baseball venues in Maryland Sports venues completed in 1891 1891 establishments in Maryland {{Maryland-baseball-venue-stub