Your Baltimore Orioles celebrate the anniversary of 
their first game today, as they faced the Detroit Tigers on this day on April 13, 1954.
The match-up with the Tigers was the team’s debut as the Orioles after the franchise relocated from St. Louis in the offseason. The O’s dropped a 3-0 decision to the Tigers, but they would win their home opener two days later in Baltimore.
Tigers starter Steve Gromek out-dueled the Orioles’ Don Larsen, with both pitchers going the distance in Motor City.
Larsen would compile a major-league-worst 21 losses during his lone season in Baltimore. It wasn’t simply playing for a bad team that dinged Larsen, whose numbers, including an ERA+ of 84, suggested it was a rough year.
The O’s traded Larsen to the New York Yankees following the 1954 season. He would go on to pitch the only perfect game in World Series history in 1956.
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