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Baltimore Orioles: Reactions to New Era ‘Local Market’ Hat

By Arrick Joel |
SARASOTA, FL- MARCH 08: A Baltimore Orioles hat is seen against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 8, 2017 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
SARASOTA, FL- MARCH 08: A Baltimore Orioles hat is seen against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 8, 2017 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
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On Tuesday, New Era released a “Local Market” hat series, including a new Baltimore Orioles hat. Here’s an explanation of the designs and how fans reacted to the latest O’s gear

Unveiled on Tuesday, the “Local Market” hat series is the latest mock-up of Major League Baseball hats produced by New Era, which introduces a brand new Baltimore Orioles hat design. The series attempts to surround the standard team logo with market-exclusive area codes and designs that relate to the history of the city each team plays in.

Here’s a look at the Baltimore Orioles New Era 59FIFTY “Local Market” design:

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SOURCE: New Era

The hat’s design includes area codes 410, 443, and 667 to the left of the team’s logo, each of which are area codes covering the Baltimore metropolitan area. Oriole Park at Camden Yards falls within the 410 area code listed at the top of the list on the hat.

On the hat’s right side is the 1983 World Series logo, which represents the franchise’s most recent title and nods to Orioles legends who played in the series, such as Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr., and World Series MVP Rick Dempsey.

The defining figures of Baltimore featured on the hat include the USS Constellation, a crab, a portrait of Edgar Allan Poe, and an orange-colored silhouette of the state of Maryland with “1954” printed within it.

Here’s a brief explanation of the significance of each design:

  • USS Constellation – Commissioned by the Union to block ports of the Confederacy during the Civil War, the ship is now a National Historic Landmark in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.
  • Crab – Maryland’s connection to the Chesapeake Bay makes crabs a popular export for the state.
  • Edgar Allan Poe – The world-renowned poet’s earliest standing home is located in Baltimore, where he spent many years of his life.
  • 1954 – The franchise relocated to Baltimore and became the Orioles during this year.

As all 30 MLB team’s designs were released by New Era on Tuesday, fans took to social media to voice their distaste for the hat series. Many believed the hats were inaccurate, busy, or just flat-out confusing.

From the beginning, many people saw issues with the choices of area codes for each hat. For example, the Kansas City Royals Local Market design includes area codes 316, 620, 785, and 913 but omits 816, the area code of Kauffman Stadium. The Royals official Twitter account changed its bio to poke fun at New Era’s error.

Zack Meisel, who covers the Cleveland Indians for The Athletic, shared a tweet about the series, calling the designs, “fifth grade art projects” while sharing photos of the Indians’ hat. Fans seemed particularly confused about the pierogi on the back of the hat. One fan noted how closely the design resembles a Smucker’s Uncrustables sandwich in a reply to Meisel’s tweet.

The negative response over the design ultimately made New Era decide to remove the hat series from their website within the same day as its release, according to a tweet from Dani Welniak of KCTV.

Whether New Era plans to re-launch the Local Market line has yet to be announced. However, if Tuesday’s response holds true to what fans think of the design, New Era has some work to do if they hope to be successful with this hat series.

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