Browns fade to black

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI - Befitting its history, the St. Louis Browns lost the final game it played on this date in 1953. The loss to the Chicago White Sox in 11 innings was the 100th of the season. The team left St. Louis that winter for Baltimore to become the Orioles in 1954.

Until the team moved to Baltimore, where it remains, the franchise had a somewhat vagabond history. It was established in 1901 in Milwaukee as the Brewers - one of the charter franchises of the American League. The Brewers, not to be confused with the current Milwaukee Brewers, stayed a year. The team moved to St. Louis for the 1902 season and became the Browns, a name relinquished a few years earlier by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Confused? Suffice it to say, the Browns are now the Orioles and in Baltimore. The Brewers, who were the Seattle Pilots for one year, have been in Milwaukee since 1970, and the Cardinals remain where they've always been - St. Louis (unless you're talking about the football Cardinals, but that's a story for TODAYinFOOTBALL). And, oh, the Baltimore Orioles of 1901 - not to be confused with the current Orioles - moved to New York in 1903 and became the Highlanders (today's Yankees).

Contributing sources:
September 27, 1953 box score/play-by-play
MLB team histories
Major League Baseball

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