Orioles Magic. The steady hand of Buck Showalter. The veteran presence of former HDIB? blog post subject Nate McLouth.

All possible reasons for the resurgent 2012 season the Baltimore Orioles have enjoyed. A 93-69 record, good for 2nd place in the AL East, and a Wild Card berth, which, after a stunning victory over the Texas Rangers in the so-called play in game, gave them the pleasure of facing the New York Yankees in the ALDS, all fly in the face of the black and white numbers of the O’s season.

A +10 run differential, and a 82-80 Pythagorean Win-Loss Expectancy, all point to Baltimore having no business in the postseason; judging by those numbers, they don’t have the look of a playoff contender.

While on the subject of looks–

…damnit sit down, Nick Markakis, we’re not talking about you.

So how about those looks. Using ol’ Nick as our model, it looks that this year, the O’s have reverted back to their old cartoon bird logo, which was first seen back in 1965. From ’65 until 1988, the goofy bird adorned the noggins of many an Oriole, even Lenn Sakata, whose 1983 Topps baseball card adorned the spokes of my Mongoose bike, and made it sound pretty rad.

Sorry, Lenn, you deserved better, but 7 year old radinsky36 didn’t know any better. If I could take it all back, I’d have used Charlie Kerfeld’s card.

However, in 1988, until 2011, the Orioles had the ornithologically correct bird for their mascot, which was also the logo used from their inaugural season of 1954, until 1965.

Markakis, get away from the mirror, and show the good readers of HDIB? the old hat.

OK, that’s enough out of you #21. Go have a seat, and try not to strain anything along the way.

Prior to the outstanding season of 2012, the last winning season Baltimore enjoyed was in 1997, coincidentally the last year they saw the playoffs. 15 years of ineptitude, 15 years wearing the ornithologically correct logo…

Could the 2012 magic be due in part to the reverting back to the cartoon Oriole logo?

Let’s go to the numbers, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

First, the ornitholgically correct years – 1954-65, then 1988-2011. Table me!

Year	G	W	L	Ties	W-L%	Finish	Playoffs
2011	162	69	93	0	0.426	5th of 5
2010	162	66	96	0	0.407	5th of 5
2009	162	64	98	0	0.395	5th of 5
2008	161	68	93	0	0.422	5th of 5
2007	162	69	93	0	0.426	4th of 5
2006	162	70	92	0	0.432	4th of 5
2005	162	74	88	0	0.457	4th of 5
2004	162	78	84	0	0.481	3rd of 5
2003	163	71	91	1	0.438	4th of 5
2002	162	67	95	0	0.414	4th of 5
2001	162	63	98	1	0.391	4th of 5
2000	162	74	88	0	0.457	4th of 5
1999	162	78	84	0	0.481	4th of 5
1998	162	79	83	0	0.488	4th of 5
1997	162	98	64	0	0.605	1st of 5	Lost ALCS (4-2)
1996	163	88	74	1	0.543	2nd of 5	Lost ALCS (4-1)
1995	144	71	73	0	0.493	3rd of 5
1994	112	63	49	0	0.563	2nd of 5
1993	162	85	77	0	0.525	3rd of 7
1992	162	89	73	0	0.549	3rd of 7
1991	162	67	95	0	0.414	6th of 7
1990	161	76	85	0	0.472	5th of 7
1989	162	87	75	0	0.537	2nd of 7
1965	162	94	68	0	0.580	3rd of 10
1964	163	97	65	1	0.599	3rd of 10
1963	162	86	76	0	0.531	4th of 10
1962	162	77	85	0	0.475	7th of 10
1961	163	95	67	1	0.586	3rd of 10
1960	154	89	65	0	0.578	2nd of 8
1959	155	74	80	1	0.481	6th of 8
1958	154	74	79	1	0.484	6th of 8
1957	154	76	76	2	0.500	5th of 8
1956	154	69	85	0	0.448	6th of 8
1955	156	57	97	2	0.370	7th of 8
1954	154	54	100	0	0.351	7th of 8

To cut to the chase: 35 years, with 11 winning seasons, *2* playoff appearances, *1* first place finish. On average, the ornithologically correct era was a losing one, with 75 wins being an average season.

Now, on to the cartoon bird years — table, please!

Year	G	W	L	Ties	W-L%	Finish	Playoffs
2012	162	93	69	0	0.574	2nd of 5	Tied in LDS (1-1)
1988	161	54	107	0	0.335	7th of 7
1987	162	67	95	0	0.414	6th of 7
1986	162	73	89	0	0.451	7th of 7
1985	161	83	78	0	0.516	4th of 7
1984	162	85	77	0	0.525	5th of 7
1983	162	98	64	0	0.605	1st of 7	Won WS (4-1)
1982	163	94	68	1	0.580	2nd of 7
1981	105	59	46	0	0.562	2nd of 7
1980	162	100	62	0	0.617	2nd of 7
1979	159	102	57	0	0.642	1st of 7	Lost WS (4-3)
1978	161	90	71	0	0.559	4th of 7
1977	161	97	64	0	0.602	2nd of 7
1976	162	88	74	0	0.543	2nd of 6
1975	159	90	69	0	0.566	2nd of 6
1974	162	91	71	0	0.562	1st of 6	Lost ALCS (3-1)
1973	162	97	65	0	0.599	1st of 6	Lost ALCS (3-2)
1972	154	80	74	0	0.519	3rd of 6
1971	158	101	57	0	0.639	1st of 6	Lost WS (4-3)
1970	162	108	54	0	0.667	1st of 6	Won WS (4-1)
1969	162	109	53	0	0.673	1st of 6	Lost WS (4-1)
1968	162	91	71	0	0.562	2nd of 10
1967	161	76	85	0	0.472	6th of 10
1966	160	97	63	0	0.606	1st of 10	Won WS (4-0)

Oh my. What a difference a logo makes.

The cartoon bird tale of the tape:

24 years, 8 first place finishes, 20 winning seasons, an 88 win season on average, 9 playoff appearances, 6 World Series appearances, winning 3 of them, including one in the first year of the cartoon logo.

The evidence is fairly damning – cartoon bird makes the Orioles world go ’round, and is the bringer, on average, of 13 more wins than boring, normal looking Oriole logo.

When first unveiled, Baltimore won it all with the cartoon Oriole in tow. Could history repeat itself, with a fourth championship brought to Charm City, courtesy of the re-unveiling of the old logo?

If it does, it will be (cartoon) Orioles Magic.