4 October 2023
It happened slowly, and then all at once. You walk through Baltimore and everywhere you look, there’s a swath of orange and black.
It’s in the hats and jerseys fans are wearing on the way to Camden Yards. It’s in the jackets and T-shirts people have on as they run errands or go to bars, restaurants and coffee shops.
The city is dressed with pride for its playoff-bound Orioles.
With the team going to the postseason for the first time since 2016 and winning the American League East for the first time since 2014, Baltimore residents are showing how much they ride for their winning team.
But it’s not just the jerseys of the young stars leading this year’s club or the shirts announcing the division win that have taken hold. Vintage Orioles merchandise has been in high demand as fans look for unique and affordable ways to show their pride as they attend more games than usual.
“If it’s orange and black, it goes,” said Arvay Adams, the owner of 1719 Aliceanna, a vintage sports merchandise store in Fells Point.
Adams said it’s gotten to the point where he started digging into his own personal collection of Orioles merch to meet the demand.
TJ Fares, who runs Chase Street Vintage online and sells merch out of Balto in Hampden, said there was a point last week when they had no Orioles hats on the shelves at Balto.
“It used to be kind of a running joke with us that we could fill trunks of cars in 2015 and ‘16 if we wanted to with Orioles gear because they weren’t playing well,” Fares said.
“And I guess now we wish we would’ve.”
Adams and Fares have seen a lot of interest in items from the 1980s and ‘90s especially, and theorize that merchandise from past decades reminds fans how much success the Orioles once had.
“I think that person that was a kid, or young enough to experience all that, and [is] now old enough to get the resurgence of the Orioles again and also to have a little more money to spend or taking their kids to the game, they kind of want the childhood aspect of it all,” Adams said.
Older merchandise can have a lived-in feel and more durability. It also doesn’t hurt that most vintage wear — which often ranges from $10 to $40 — is more affordable than something from the official team store, where T-shirts typically start at $30 and jackets and jerseys range from $80 to $150.
“They’re searching for something they can wear and will look good for a long time and not get messed up in a washing machine,” Fares said.
“A lot of this stuff has been washed and dried for 20-plus years and it’s still better quality than the stuff we’re buying now.”
Fans are also digging out merch they bought more than a decade ago or that was passed down through their family.
Outside Camden Yards before the Orioles played the St. Louis Cardinals last month, Mike Stewart, 60, was wearing a Buck Showalter-era T-shirt with “The Oriole Way” on the front and references to major Orioles moments, catchphrases and nicknames on the back.
“Work hard and grind it out. We haven’t had that in a while,” Stewart said, referencing the organization’s founding philosophy. “We’ve been waiting a long time for a good team.”
Even if they haven’t been following the Orioles as closely the past few years, fans who were young kids the last time the team was good are back with their merch from then.
Laura Moore, 34, doesn’t have a particularly sentimental reason for holding on to the shirt she got in the early 2000s.
“It’s the one that fits me,” she joked.
But Moore does remember how she came by it. A group of kids from her neighborhood had gone to a game together, got matching shirts, and had them signed — although she’s not sure anymore which player signed hers.
After moving back to the Baltimore area recently and being able to attend more games, she’s excited to get even more merchandise to show her Orioles pride.
Her friend Eliza Mullen, 36, was wearing the first Orioles shirt she bought for herself as a new college graduate living in Baltimore. For Mullen, the shirt signifies her emergence into adulthood.
“It just always reminds me of all the games I’ve been to. It’s kind of nostalgic to have a little bit of a uniform of my own,” Mullen said.
For other fans, there’s a bit of pride attached to their older Orioles items, especially as more bandwagon fans jump on board.
“I like it ‘cause it lets people know that you’ve been a fan for a long time. You’re not just here ‘cause now they’re winning,” Robert English, 48, said. He doesn’t buy any new merch and was wearing a hat and shirt he’d had since the early 2010s.
With tens of thousands of fans set to attend the ALDS games at Camden Yards this week, there’s something about vintage wear that lets people stand out from the crowd, even in a sea of black and orange.
“You can go to a stadium when it’s packed,” said Adams, the vintage store owner. “And no one else might have your shirt on.”
()