'Baltimore' hits the road

Jerseys boast city name for first time since 1972

Not only were they woven into the fabric of the city, collectively and individually, but they were the best. The Greatest Game Ever Played? Baltimore won it. Best quarterback ever? John Unitas played here. Baseball's greatest post-Yankees dynasty called this city home, with the city's name for all to see in every other American League city.

The desertion of the Colts, then, was nothing less than the theft of an identity - fans who still care about such things don't necessarily want the team back; they want the colors and logos back. The Ravens, as much as they're embraced, represent a much different Baltimore than the Colts did.

Pile that on top of the removal of Baltimore from the Orioles' jerseys for nearly four decades and then stir it up with the fact that it became entrenched under out-of-town ownership - a Washington lawyer, former owner of the Redskins, of all things. Then multiply it by the 11 straight losing seasons by the current version of the Orioles, while owned by a Baltimore guy who, hometown fans believe, should have known better than to not return the city's name to the uniforms immediately.

Few cities sense betrayal and abandonment as keenly as this one. Or embrace a pleasant past as tightly. Or keep a wound open and fresh as long.

And little besides the restoration of the lost identity could have drawn 2,500 to a rally for a team that just finished dead last and entered its second decade without a playoff appearance.

"We're not the Washington Orioles; we are the Baltimore Orioles," insisted Boog Powell, the legend, ballpark barbecue master and, yesterday, uniform model. "It's just like the Baltimore Colts - it's the same thing. They weren't the Washington Colts. It's Baltimore's team."

Now, for every other city to see.

"Damn right," Powell boasted. "And it feels good, too."

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road jerseys

1954: Orioles debut without city name on jerseys

1956: "Baltimore" appears on road uniforms for first time

1973: Year after Senators depart, "Baltimore" does too

2009: City name to return for first time since 1972