Flatter Up! Orioles Bring Back the Bird as Marlins Channel Maroon 5

The former Florida Marlins introduced the team’s new name (Miami Marlins) and new Maroon 5-like logo on new uniforms at a fashion show held 11-11-11 that featured its players amusingly strutting the stage front in the new duds.

When the Baltimore Orioles introduced the team’s new uniforms Tuesday, it was without all the glitzy South Florida hoopla. Instead of a fashion show, the O’s simply unveiled the new outfits with the biggest change coming on the team’s caps. Check out both below.

Since 1988, the Orioles have been wearing hats with an ornithologically correct bird on its front. But now the team is returning the design of two of its caps back to the days when the team wore a cartoon bird on their headgear. “The popular cartoon bird will return on two hats,” according to the Baltimore Sun: “a black one with an orange bill and a multipaneled one with a black back, white front and orange bill.” The O’s will keep playing Friday games with a black hat wth an “O” on the front.

MLB.com has it that the new bird is “utilizing elements from both the 1970 and 1983 versions” of the cartoon bird.

The always interesting Uni-Watch.com notes that the ornithologically correct bird was “classy, stately, and proud,” which can “make a good team seem better” and “bad team seem boring.” Unfortunately, the O’s haven’t been good in a while and, as the site points out, “are not likely to get a whole lot better anytime soon” so they can now “at least look like (their) having fun.”

The Marlins' new uniforms:

And the Orioles' new uniforms: