Union Park is a former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

ground located in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The ground was home to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles 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 American League's eight charter ...

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–March * January 1 ** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany. ** 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 Af ...

season, abandoning

Oriole Park Oriole Park, often referred to as Terrapin Park, opened in 1914 and closed after a fire on July 3–4, 1944. "Oriole Park" was the name of multiple baseball parks in Baltimore, Maryland, all built within a few blocks of each other. Oriole Par ...

. 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 (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rJFDAAAAIBAJ&sjid=grkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=7081%2C3981859). At that time they were playing in the then-major

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. After that season, the Association folded, and four of its teams were absorbed into the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, 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 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

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 who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

Wilbert Robinson Wilbert Robinson (June 29, 1864 – August 8, 1934), nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals ...

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 , wh ...

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.https://www.deadballbaseball.com/?p=1343 That and other buildings visible in the background of the 1890s photo of the ballpark's exterior still stand today.

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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

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