Happy Thanksgiving to all.
The Baltimore Orioles of the late 1960's and 1970's were one of the most successful franchises in baseball, being in playoff contention every year. However, if I described a team, over an 11 year period, as having a .582 winning percentage, 8 First Place finishes, 2 Second Place finishes and 1 Third Place finish, 10 Playoff Appearances with 5 League Championships, you would probably assume I talking about the hated Yankees from their hey day.
I'm actually talking about an Orioles farm team. From 1966-1981, Miami was the Orioles class A affiliate in the Florida State League. From 1966-1970, they were known as the Miami Marlins. in 1971, they were renamed the Miami Orioles. A number of future Orioles played in Miami, over the years, including Jim Palmer, Don Baylor, Eddie Murray, Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martinez, Cal Ripken Jr and John Shelby, to name a few.
Here's what the Marlins/Orioles accomplished during an 11 year run.
Combined record
1968–1978 (879-629) (.582)
Yearly records
1968 (87-55) 1st Lost in Championship Series
1969 (80-52) 1st
Florida State League Champions
1970 (88-45) 1st
Florida State League Champions
1971 (94-47) 1st
Florida State League Champions
1972 (73-57) 1st
Florida State League Champions
1973 (77-64) 2nd Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1974 (74-58) 3rd Missed Playoffs
1975 (79-57) 1st Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1976 (79-63) 1st Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1977 (72-66) 2nd Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1978 (76-65) 1st
Florida State League Champions
Here are all the Miami programs from that incredible run. On a side note, the programs, from 1971-1978, parallel the Orioles spring training programs.
Miami Marlins / Orioles programs from 1968-1978
1968 Miami Marlins - Copy.jpg 1969 Miami Marlins (40 pgs) - Copy.jpg
1970 Miami Marlins - Copy.jpg 1971 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg
1972 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg 1973 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg
1974 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg 1975 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg
1976 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg 1977 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg
1978 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg