<P> The first club to be called the Baltimore Orioles was a charter member of the American Association in 1882 . When the AA folded after the 1891 season, four of its teams were brought into the expanded National League, including the Orioles . These Orioles became a dominant team in the league during the 1890s, in part because of their innovations and their tough, relentless play . The term "Old Oriole" is sometimes used to describe a player whose aggressive style fits the legacy of those 1890s teams . The team's fortunes took a downturn in 1899 when many of its stars were transferred to the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Baltimore was one of four teams contracted out of existence in 1900 . </P> <P> The newly formed American League wanted to compete directly with the National League's New York Giants, but the Giants used their political clout to block the American League from placing a club there . Instead, a team was placed in Baltimore in 1901 . Their "Orioles" nickname was acknowledged in an unusual way that year, with an orange letter "O" on their uniform shirts, probably the only major league team ever to sport a symbol that looked like a "zero". The 1902 shirts substituted a more conventional B. In 1903, after the American and National leagues settled their dispute, the National League allowed the American league to have a New York club and the Baltimore club, which was originally meant to have been located in New York from the beginning was transferred to New York City and is now known as the New York Yankees . </P> <P> A top - level minor league version of the Baltimore Orioles replaced the departed major league club, and it would be a force in the minors for 50 years, winning a number of International League championships and also providing local boy Babe Ruth to the major leagues . </P> <P> Another Baltimore team was the Federal League entry of 1914--1915, which called itself the Baltimore Terrapins, after the diamondback terrapin, the state reptile of Maryland now primarily associated with the University of Maryland, College Park sports teams . The Federal League Terrapins opened Terrapin Park across the street from the minor league club's own ballpark, which was acquired by the Orioles after the Fed folded . That began a chain of events which led to Baltimore's return to major league status, a story covered in more detail in the article on Memorial Stadium . </P>

Who had the c first the bears or the reds