The Cartoon Bird, Isn't It Great?

[Frobby]

We are wearing the caps of WINNERS! This change was long overdue.

[Slappy]

I was 17 when the black hats with the ornothologically correct birds came out in spring of '89, and even though I grew up with the happy bird I prefer the '89 unis. But I'm not really against the happy bird hats. They're fine, and a nice change of pace.

What I really want is the next big change to be something completely new. Been a long time since the great new thing wasn't recycled.

Baseball has always been the sport that clings to tradition though, more than any other. The recent seasons have seen most franchises with any kind of tradition falling back on their "classic" look - Blue Jays, Phillies, Mets, White Sox, and Reds all come to mind. A lot of the original franchises haven't significantly changed their uniform in over 50 years - Yanks, Cardinals, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, etc.

I'd be fine if the Orioles just stuck to the toon bird from this day forward. It is really a unique logo with a lot of history.

[ShaneDawg85]

Not a fan of the cartoon bird, and I LOATHE the three panel hat, however, the new hat and the orange uniform look really good. I'm more interested in seeing them debut the black hat with the cartoon bird. I liked the look in the promo's, and I'm interested to see it live.

[NewMarketSean]

At first I was like :scratchchinhmm: but now I am like :2yay-thumb:

[DuffMan]

Loving the Orange Jersey, I think I like it even more than the black one.

[btownoriole]

The orange jersey brings back a lot of great memories. I became an O's fan in 1978 at the age of 7. I remember going to a Saturday double-header that year (a scheduled one!) and I thought it was so cool that the O's wore orange jerseys in the first game and the white ones in the second.

While I originally didn't want to see the white-paneled hat return, it actually just looks "right", especially with the orange jerseys. I don't know what it is about the cartoon bird. I was glad to see them go to the ornithologically correct bird in '89 but after just 6 winning seasons in 23 years with it, I was ready for the cartoon bird again (6 pennants in 23 years!).

[Brendan25]

I LOVED the Orange Jersey on Saturday. I have a feeling I'm going to love our away unis also.

[Dipper9]

I love the new look, especially the Saturday home oranges.

And, this is the most important thing....the Baltimore Orioles have not lost a regular season game with the cartoon bird on their hat in over 22 years!

[Elrod]

White panel cap + alternate orange jersey = best uniform combo in baseball!

[pinkfloydrayford]

While I love the Cartoon Bird, I think they should keep the white panel hat with the orange jersey exclusively, and use the solid black w/orange bill for everything else.

[scOtt]

Awesome to see the cartoon bird out on the field again. Always thought that the "correct" bird look was classy- BUT there's just something unique to the cartoon bird caps that make them stand out from the rest of the league.

The "O's" cap still really doesn't do much for me though. My dream scenario would be to ditch those (especially since cartoon bird already appeals to the same "youthful"/fun demographic) and replace them with an all-black "correct" bird cap to wear with the black alternate jerseys. I'd also like to see a "correct" bird arm patch on all the jerseys to replace the OPACY anniversary patch next year too. Then we'd have all the important Oriole eras represented (everything cartoon bird represents PLUS '89, OPACY opening, '93 All Star Game, Cal breaking Gehrig's record, '96 and '97, etc.)...

Yes. I'm a uniform geek!

The ONLY place I've ever seen the "Os" hat look good is on the actual cartoon bird...

[scOtt]

I was 17 when the black hats with the ornothologically correct birds came out in spring of '89, and even though I grew up with the happy bird I prefer the '89 unis. But I'm not really against the happy bird hats. They're fine, and a nice change of pace.

What I really want is the next big change to be something completely new. Been a long time since the great new thing wasn't recycled.

I'm more of a fan of sports teams that don't take themselves seriously. I love that the O's can sport the happy bird without having some kind of inferiority complex, or without the logo having to be some kind of snarling, evil Baltimore Oriole. I love that Virginia Tech is both the Hokies and the Fighting Gobblers, both of which are just hilarious on some level. It's beyond awesome when the team needs a huge defense stop and there's a 100 decibel turkey call played on the PA system. It's ridiculously great, being basically the fighting turkeys. I'd be 100% behind the OPACY PA guy playing an Oriole chirp at the key moments of a game!

Sports is supposed to be fun, if you're taking it too seriously you've missed the point.

Maybe this?

Technically... it IS a bird...

And I just read an article yesterday from China, they found fossils of feathered T-Rexs.

[pinkfloydrayford]

I wouldn't mind an alternate cap with a "B" on it, ala 1964-65, but it took 37 years to get Baltimore back on the road jersey, so it'll probably be another 37 before I get that.

[scOtt]

I wouldn't mind an alternate cap with a "B" on it, ala 1964-65, but it took 37 years to get Baltimore back on the road jersey, so it'll probably be another 37 before I get that.

The ONLY reason I wouldn't want the "B" is too many st00pid people would think it was Boston. :rolleyestf:

[nevadaO]

While I love the Cartoon Bird, I think they should keep the white panel hat with the orange jersey exclusively, and use the solid black w/orange bill for everything else.

This is just what I was about to type. The orange jersey/white hat combo is brilliant, but I think that the black front should be used otherwise.

Now that I think about it, the white front might also look great with the black jersey alternates.