There’s No Place Like Baltimore

For the second day in a row, a piece about the Ravens is going to begin by talking about the Orioles (shoutout to my guy Nikhil for yesterday’s Out to Lunch, go read it if you haven’t already). Last month, baseball fans were eagerly awaiting the official reveal of the Baltimore Orioles’ City Connect jerseys. Before their official release, some images were leaked early of what the jerseys would look like, and the reception was… well, you can read the commentary on that Tweet.

Leaked – Orioles city connect jerseys pic.twitter.com/bu2mqyhJOu

— Beckett (@410Beck) May 8, 2023

Full and complete honesty: I was among the fans that were less than pleased. I’ve spent time in Baltimore since before I can remember, and I knew how many things there were to love about the city. “What exactly is this connecting to the city?” I kept asking myself. I thought about how I would’ve handled the execution of the jersey with inclusions of simple things like the Maryland flag color pattern, perhaps using the typeface from the famous Domino Sugars sign across the Inner Harbor, and the plain outward appearance certainly felt like a letdown.

It wasn’t until the team and the artists behind the design broke down the jersey’s meaning that I started to come around. The intent wasn’t about the obvious, surface-level appearances; like the city itself, you had to look closer to embrace its beauty.

This is what it means to wear Baltimore on your chest. pic.twitter.com/42jXwRT9PV

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 22, 2023

We are Baltimore. You can’t clip these wings. pic.twitter.com/4eQAdPtmjy

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 22, 2023

Sure, this was an artistic take, and one that a lot of fans still haven’t come around on, but I get it. Admittedly, the city of Baltimore has rough edges and difficult aspects to embrace. Even so, and even having lived in Virginia for a longer portion of my life than I lived in Maryland, I still feel a special connection to the city of Baltimore. There’s no other place like it, and it’s something that’s hard to understand until you experience it for yourself.

Embrace The City

Shortly following the draft, Zay Flowers got to meet former Raven Steve Smith, Sr. on a video call, and among other encouragement that Agent 89 gave to Zay, he said, “I’ve got one requirement for you, man: embrace that city, because when you win, that city will take care of you, they look out for you.”

“I got one requirement for you man.”

The legend @SteveSmithSr89 had to catch up with @ZayFlowers pic.twitter.com/LlvAkQwgih

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 7, 2023

Maybe some of it is because the Ravens are one of the only two games in town. Maybe it’s because Baltimore is a small sports market with a firm hold on the locals. Some of it could go back to the days when the Colts left town in the middle of the night, and the arrival of the Ravens meant that a fan base starving for football had a team to support again. Whatever it is, there’s something different about fandom in Baltimore, and the players know it. The city embraces them, and it does the heart good as a fan to see the players embrace us right back.

https://t.co/7KlJxoCAZv

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 24, 2023

“Baltimore and the Ravens are one.” @marlon_humphrey pic.twitter.com/qXiMuCJKLU

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 15, 2023

.@obj‘s fully embracing Baltimore: pic.twitter.com/ya1rzHnu7c

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 13, 2023

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A post shared by blu (@kyublukelly)

Side note: someone has to let Kyu know that Baltimore doesn’t count as the DMV.

Rookies… what are you gonna do?

It’s great to see how much joy the players experience by acknowledging that they, as Ravens, have become part of the fabric of Baltimore itself. Players elsewhere become beloved figures, especially when they perform at a high level, but consider how welcomed players have been when they left and came back. Brent Urban and Michael Pierce each landed back at The Castle after stints elsewhere, and you can hear in their voices how much it meant for them to be back here. That feeling isn’t reserved for active players, either; even in the face of roster cutdowns, Tony Jefferson acknowledged that he felt that he was a Raven for life…

.@_tonyjefferson in his last Baltimore presser: “Raven for life.” pic.twitter.com/CxbHpWD4yN

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) August 31, 2022

…before recently returning to the coaching staff as a scout and being welcomed back with open arms.

This past summer, I got the chance to talk with Zach Orr, whose tenure with the Ravens was unfortunately shortened by injury, but he’s found a home as a linebackers’ coach on the team staff. Even in about 90-degree heat and overseeing a tough position battle, he seemed happier than I’d ever seen him otherwise, and I credit that to the culture around Baltimore’s team.

Ed Reed said it himself in his Hall of Fame enshrinement speech: “There’s no place like BALTIMORE!”

The success enjoyed by the Ravens as a relatively young team compared to the rest of the league has established Baltimore as a place that players truly want to be. It doesn’t just become a workplace, but your home. Donning that black and purple makes you more than a football player; it makes you a member of The Flock.

Here’s hoping that the new-look Flock can fly far this season.

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