Orioles go back to the 80′s with new caps, jersey

The Baltimore Orioles turned back the clock on their uniform set today when they unveiled their new home and road caps as well as a new orange alternate jersey for the 2012 season.

Coming back is the cartoon bird head which was featured prominently on the Orioles caps from 1966-1988, the logo is wider than the version worn in the 1980s and has been modernized slightly also to include the Orioles alternate “O’s” logo cap on the head of the oriole.  This means Orioles players would technically be wearing both cap logos on their heads at the same time for most games.

The new looks are already for sale on the Orioles official team shop.  You can pick up the new home cap here, the new road cap here or the new orange alternate jersey here.

Comparing the changes in the Orioles cartoon bird logo from 1966-2012 (click for larger image)

Gone is the oriole perched on the cap which had been worn in one version-or-another since the beginning of the 1989 season, the version just replaced was last tweaked before the 2009 season.

The new cap will have a white front panel with orange bill/brim for use at home and with the new orange home alternate.  This will be the first Major League Baseball team to regularly wear a white front-panel cap since the Toronto Blue Jays eliminated their white paneled home cap eighteen years ago while midway through the 1993 season.

For use on the road the cap will include the same cartoon bird-head logo, the cap itself will be all-black with an orange brim.

The new home alternate jersey is orange, the second orange alternate jersey released in baseball this week, the design is reminiscent of the orange alternate uniform the Orioles wore throughout the 1980s up until 1992.  The white front-panel cap will be paired with this jersey.

The home, road, and black alternate jerseys are remaining mostly the same, there are slight changes to the road “Baltimore” script in the way it’s angled.  The black alternate complete with the black “O’s” cap from 2011 will be back next season.

Previously announced is the inclusion of a Camden Yards at Oriole Park 20th anniversary patch which will be worn on all four game jerseys.