You did not have to be around for the glory days of the Orioles to understand why putting Baltimore back on the road jerseys is so uplifting to the city's soul.
"Every other team comes in here with their city's name on the front of their jerseys," said Kris Burton of Parkville as he stood inside the Gallery at Harborplace for the unveiling of the new jerseys yesterday afternoon. "It means a lot to me. I'm proud of Baltimore. It doesn't matter how bad [the Orioles have] been or how much they've been losing. I'm proud of my city."
Burton is 31 years old, meaning that he was born after the Orioles last wore Baltimore across their chests in other ballparks. He was 7 when the Colts sneaked out of town and left Baltimore without half of the most positive aspect of its identity to the rest of America.
Yet, in speaking of the meaning of the Orioles' gesture, he used a word that echoed throughout the rally - from younger fans to those who go back to the dawn of the glory days in the mid-1960s to the current manager, Dave Trembley.
Pride.
Yes, at times here, that comes off as provincialism. Or paranoia or poor self-esteem. But Baltimoreans come by it honestly. The loyalty that residents have for this town, their insistence on staying for generations and of passing down its stories, have long led Baltimoreans to fiercely defend the city's charms, pun intended.
The only charms, however, that most of America has acknowledged over the years - at least the years before Harborplace and the two stadiums were built - were the professional sports teams that represented it. Everything else about Baltimore? A joke. Literally. (From George Carlin's classic newscast routines: "In New York, it's 7 o'clock; in Chicago, it's 6 o'clock; ... in Baltimore, it's 4:42.")
Back then, before the Fort McHenry Tunnel, the Harbor Tunnel was widely admired for the way it got drivers around and under Baltimore without actually having to see it (or smell it). And we won't even print the long-standing nickname - if not invented by Washingtonians, then spread far and wide by them - for Baltimore residents. People today complain about the negative image from HBO's The Wire? That's practically a love sonnet compared with the old days.
The Orioles and Colts were more than exceptions. They were Baltimore's primary weapons against such slurs. And, yes, sources of pride in their beloved city that outshined all of the others combined.
