The Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team, have a saying and a feeling known as "Orioles Magic: Feel it Happen." It has become a rallying cry and a symbol of hope and excitement for the team and its fans. Orioles Magic represents the unexpected moments of greatness that occur during a game. It is that feeling you get when something magical happens on the field - a walk-off home run, a diving catch, or a game-saving play. It is the belief that anything is possible and that this team can overcome any obstacle. The Orioles have a rich history, with moments of Orioles Magic happening throughout the years.

With a pair of faux binoculars, the Orioles celebrate each hit with a toast to Call of Duty

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images The Orioles' Ramón Urías, foreground, celebrates after earning a bases-loaded walk that scored Austin Hays, background, with the game-winning run against the Yankees on April 15.

Julio Cortez/AP The Orioles' Ramón Urías, left, holds his hands up to mimic binoculars as Austin Hays, right, scores the winning run on a bases-loaded walk by Urías in a 2-1 win over the Yankees in 11 innings on April 15. Many of the Orioles play Call of Duty, so the hit celebration mimicking a pair of binoculars to call in a precision airstrike caught on quickly.

For much of Ryan Mountcastle’s baseball career, the Orioles first baseman’s mind is preoccupied when he gets to first base or beyond. He takes off his batting gloves and hands them to the bat boy. He checks his surroundings and prepares to lead off.

But this season, there comes a chorus from the dugout — “Mounty! Mounty! Mounty!” — and he remembers the new addition to his routine. He turns toward that yelling group of teammates, forms a pair of circles with his hands and brings them to his eyes.

“To everyone else in the world, it’s binoculars,” center fielder Cedric Mullins said.

The Orioles’ Ramón Urías, foreground, celebrates after earning a bases-loaded walk that scored Austin Hays, background, with the game-winning run against the Yankees on April 15.

But to the Orioles, it’s so much more.

It’s a chance to celebrate together, a unity that can lead to more energy in the dugout and on the basepaths. And it’s a chance to recognize what is for many of them their favorite game: Call of Duty. So when the Orioles reach base, they cup their hands around their eyes, pretending to call in a precision airstrike like they do in the video game by using a virtual pair of binoculars.

“Whenever somebody gets a hit, you hear the whole dugout yelling to do it,” Mountcastle said. “Brings a little energy.”

When the Orioles returned to Baltimore for the team’s home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, infielder Rougned Odor gathered a group of players. He’s been around the league since 2014, and in his experience, teams with a unifying ritual tend to be the tightest. The idea isn’t new in Baltimore, either. The 2019 squad celebrated base knocks with a faux-bazooka and a fake lawnmower.

Odor and infielder Jorge Mateo began playing Call of Duty together when they arrived at spring training. Mullins, Mountcastle and a handful of others also play. So in that impromptu team meeting, Odor thought of something many of them could relate with.

When playing Warzone, a game mode in Call of Duty, most of the Orioles players have a similar tactic. They buy a precision airstrike once they receive enough in-game cash. And once they knock an opposing player down, they target that airstrike on where the enemy fell, so the opposing player and his teammates are under even more duress in the free-for-all shooting game.

“We use a sniper,” Odor explained. “When you shoot somebody, make him down, we throw the precision to finish it.”

In that meeting, the very first idea Odor threw out was to don a fake pair of binoculars, hinting at their shared tactic in Call of Duty. For instance, when infielder Ramón Urías worked a walk-off walk to beat the Yankees earlier this month, his first move was to grin and bring his hands to his face.

It’s caught on quickly, even if some in the clubhouse are left blissfully unaware as to what a precision airstrike is in Call of Duty.

“I know it has something to do with a video game,” first baseman Trey Mancini said. “I do it because everybody else does.”

And that’s exactly why Odor suggested the shared ritual. When the Orioles are batting, the dugout is engaged, ready to remind players like Mountcastle to don a pair of Call of Duty-inspired binoculars to celebrate reaching base.

“When you have those little things that create more energy in the team, the whole team comes together,” Odor said. “That’s the whole point: to create energy and make the team more together. I think that’s the big key to winning games.”

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Critter Catalog

Adult birds are 17 to 20 cm long, somewhat smaller than a robin. There is sexual dimorphism in plumage and in size; males are 1-5% larger than females in a variety of measurements. Adult males have a black head, bill, and back, and a bright orange breast, rump, and underparts. Their wings are black with orange and white wing bars, and the tail is orange with black streaks. Adult females are paler than males, olive-brown to orange. Their wings are brown with white wing bars, and the bill is gray. She may have traces of black on her head. Immature animals are variable, but typically resemble the female. Males take over a year to reach adult plumage. (National Geographic Society, 1999; Peterson, 1980; Tekiela, 1999)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• sexes colored or patterned differently
• male more colorful

• Range mass 28 to 42 g 0.99 to 1.48 oz
• Range length 17 to 20 cm 6.69 to 7.87 in
• Range wingspan 9 to 10 cm 3.54 to 3.94 in
• Average basal metabolic rate 0.5052 W AnAge

Where do they live?

Baltimore orioles are neotropical migrants. They spend summers in the Nearctic, primarily the eastern United States. They breed from Wisconsin to Maine and south to central Mississippi and Alabama, northern Georgia, and western South Carolina and North Carolina. They winter in the neotropics as far north as Mexico and sometimes the southern coast of the United States. (Harrison, 1975; National Geographic Society, 1999; Peterson, 1980; Peterson, 1990)

What kind of habitat do they need?

Baltimore orioles prefer open woods, with a strong preference for deciduous over coniferous trees. They are very adaptable, however, and can be found breeding in a variety of habitats. They are rare on farmlands but have adapted well to urban parks and suburban landscapes. In Mexico, they winter in flowering canopy trees over shade coffee plantations. (Greenberg, et al., 1997; Jobin, et al., 1998; Peterson, 1980; Rising and Flood, 1998)

• These animals are found in the following types of habitat
• temperate
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland
• forest
• rainforest
• scrub forest

• Other Habitat Features
• urban
• suburban
• agricultural
• riparian

How do they reproduce?

Baltimore orioles usually find one mate for a breeding season, but may mate with more than one other bird as well.

In the spring, males try to attract mates to their territory by singing or chattering while hopping from perch to perch in front of her. Males give a bow display, bowing with wings lowered and tail fanned. Interested females sing and give calls or a wing-quiver display in response. The wing-quiver display involves leaning forward, often with tail partly fanned, and fluttering or quivering slightly lowered wings.

• Mating System
• monogamous
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Males arrive on breeding grounds in the spring a few days before females. Courtship displays by the male consist of bowing, to show off the bright orange front and black back, and singing. The female builds a woven pouch nest hanging from the end branches of trees, well concealed by leaves. She builds a new nest each year with little or no help from the male. Baltimore orioles prefer to build nests in elms, maples, willow, or apples, twenty-five to thirty feet above the ground. Any available plant and animal fiber may be used in nest-building.

The female lays four to six eggs, typically four. The eggs are pale grayish or bluish white, irregularly blotched and streaked with browns and black. The female incubates them for twelve to fourteen days. Both parents feed the nestlings. Fledglings will stay with their parents for two weeks, and are fed by both parents during that period. Baltimore orioles lay only one brood per season.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

• How often does reproduction occur? Baltimore orioles breed once yearly.
• Breeding season Breeding occurs from May to June.
• Range eggs per season 3 to 7
• Average eggs per season 4
• Average eggs per season 4 AnAge
• Range time to hatching 11 to 14 days
• Average time to hatching 12 days
• Average time to independence 2 weeks
• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female) 1 years
• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male) 1 years

The female alone broods nestlings; the male occasionally feeds the brooding female, but she usually forages for herself. Parents feed nestlings by bringing up already-eaten food from their crops during the first few days of the nesting period.

• Parental Investment
• no parental involvement
• altricial
• pre-fertilization
  • protecting
    • female
    • protecting
      • female
      • provisioning
        • male
        • female
        • male
        • female
        • provisioning
          • male
          • female
          • male
          • female

          How long do they live?

          The oldest recorded Baltimore oriole in the wild lived to 11 years and 7 months old. They have been recorded living 14 years in captivity. (Rising and Flood, 1998)

          • Range lifespan
            Status: wild 11.5 (high) years
          • Range lifespan
            Status: captivity 14 (high) years
          • Average lifespan
            Status: wild 139 months Bird Banding Laboratory

          How do they behave?

          Baltimore orioles are not gregarious. Like most blackbirds, their flight is strong and direct. These birds are active during the day and migrate between summer and winter ranges.

          Home Range

          Territory size varies with habitat quality, food availability, population density, and time of breeding season. It is largest when the male is attempting to attract a female and smallest after eggs are laid. (Rising and Flood, 1998)

          How do they communicate with each other?

          The male sings all summer. His song is rich and flute-like, with each individual having a distinct song. The female song is generally shorter and simpler. The call, from both sexes, is a whistled "hew-li." Nestlings beg loudly.

          Baltimore orioles also use postures and movements to communicate, such as male courtship displays, female wing-flutter displays, and nestling wing-flutters when begging for food.

          What do they eat?

          Baltimore orioles eat primarily caterpillars, including many pest species. They also eat other insects, some small fruits, and nectar. They are an important predator of the nuisance forest tent caterpillar, which it eats in both its larval and pupal forms. Large larvae are seized and smashed against a twig to break them open and avoid the setae (stiff, hair-like structures). Pupae are pulled out of their cocoon.

          In suburban and rural areas, Baltimore orioles can be attracted to feeders by providing orange halves, grape jelly, or artificial nectar. Adults who come to feeders will take their young to the feeder once they are fledged.

          • Primary Diet
          • carnivore
            • insectivore
            • Animal Foods
            • insects
            • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
            • mollusks
            • Plant Foods
            • fruit
            • nectar

            What eats them and how do they avoid being eaten?

            Baltimore orioles have many different kinds of predators, including larger birds and mammals. Most predators take eggs, nestlings, or fledglings. In western Massachusetts, avain predators caused 16% of egg losses and 9% of nestling and fledgling losses. In response to predators, both males and females give alarm calls, and chase and mob (harass) predators. (Rising and Flood, 1998)

            • Known Predators
              • common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula)
              • American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
              • eastern screech owls (Otus asio)
              • blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata)
              • black-billed magpies (Pica pica)
              • red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
              • fox squirrels (Sciurus niger)
              • eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)
              • domestic cats (Felis silvestris)

              What roles do they have in the ecosystem?

              Baltimore orioles are important predators on insects in the communities in which they live. Because they live in forested areas and prey on caterpillars, the lifestage at which many insects do most damage to plants, they are especially important in protecting forest trees from damage.

              Do they cause problems?

              Baltimore orioles may occasionally damage crops of peas or small fruits. (Bent, 1965)

              • Ways that these animals might be a problem for humans
              • crop pest

              How do they interact with us?

              Baltimore orioles are attractive songbirds that will come to feeders. They are generally liked by both serious birdwatchers and casual backyard enthusiasts for both their appearance and song. They are also important predators on some insect pests such as forest tent caterpillars. (Bent, 1965; Parry, et al., 197)

              • Ways that people benefit from these animals:
              • ecotourism
              • controls pest population

              Are they endangered?

              Baltimore orioles are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They may be at risk due to habitat loss, as they prefer wooded areas, but this is not well documented. Although direct human impacts on oriole populations are unknown, the increase in number of orioles wintering in temperate North America may be due to an increase in bird feeders in backyards and elsewhere. (Rising and Flood, 1998)

              • IUCN Red List Least Concern
                More information
              • IUCN Red List Least Concern
                More information
              • US Migratory Bird Act Protected
              • US Federal List No special status
              • CITES No special status
              • State of Michigan List No special status

              Some more information.

              Baltimore orioles were previously considered a supspecies of northern orioles ( Icterus galbula galbula ) along with Bullock's orioles ( Icterus glabula bullockii ), a western North American oriole. They are currently considered separate species: Baltimore orioles, Icterus galbula, and Bullock's orioles, Icterus bullockii. Some hybridization occurs in the Great Plains where these species overlap. (Gill, 1995; Peterson, 1990)

              Contributors

              Kathleen Bachynski (author, editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Tanya Dewey (editor), Animal Diversity Web.

              Sara Kennedy (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Terry Root (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

              References

              Bent, A. 1965. Life histories of North American blackbirds, orioles, tanagers, and allies . New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

              Gill, F. 1995. Ornithology . New York: W.H. Freemand and Company.

              Greenberg, R., P. Bichier, J. Sterling. 1997. Bird populations in rustic and planted shade coffee plantations of Eastern Chiapas, Mexico. Biotropica , 29 (4): 501-514.

              Harrison, H. 1975. A field guide to birds' nests . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

              Jobin, B., J. Des Granges, C. Boutin. 1998. Farmland habitat use by breeding birds in southern Quebec. Canadian Field-Naturalist , : 611-618.

              National Geographic Society, 1999. Field guide to the birds of North America . Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.

              Parry, D., J. Spence, W. Volney. 197. Responses of natural enemies to experimentally increased populations of the forest tent caterpillar *Malacosoma disstria*. Ecological Entomology , : 97-108.

              Peterson, R. 1980. A field guide to the birds . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

              Peterson, R. 1990. A field guide to western birds . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

              Rising, J., N. Flood. 1998. Baltimore Oriole. The Birds of North America , No. 384: 1-32.

              Tekiela, S. 1999. Birds of Michigan field guide . Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications, Inc..

              Kennedy, S. 2001. "Icterus galbula" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed January 16, 2024 at http://www.biokids.umich.edu/accounts/Icterus_galbula/

              BioKIDS is sponsored in part by the Interagency Education Research Initiative. It is a partnership of the University of Michigan School of Education, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and the Detroit Public Schools. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL-0628151.
              Copyright © 2002-2024, The Regents of the University of Michigan. All rights reserved.

              Decades later, ‘Orioles Magic’ still resonates

              Facing a daunting 0-2 deficit in the American League Championship Series, the Orioles will need more than a little luck to make it to the World Series. They need some magic.

              For more than three decades, the team’s penchant for comebacks has been captured in a song many fans still sing today. “Orioles Magic (Feel It Happen)” has accompanied the O’s through the heyday of Wild Bill Hagy, through a 1983 World Series championship, through Cal Ripken Jr.‘s 2,632-consecutive-game streak and through a 14-season playoff drought that ended in 2012. Now fans hope the anthem can help the team achieve the improbable by beating the Kansas City Royals.

              Those fans might not know they have the Royals to thank, in a way, for their enduring anthem.

              In the late 1970s, a jingle writer from Cleveland named Walter Woodward was hired by Kansas City to write a song called “Royalmania.” It caught on quickly, and teams wanted their own — including the Orioles, who were riding the momentum that won them a trip to the World Series in 1979. Al Harazin, then an Orioles executive, invited Woodward to Baltimore after the 1979 season to discuss the magic that kept occurring at Memorial Stadium, and to see whether he could capture it in a song.

              “We came away from that meeting having a sense that something was going on in Baltimore that was awesome,” Woodward, now a University of Connecticut professor and the state historian of Connecticut, said on the phone from his Columbia, Conn., home last week. “Could we get it on music? I loved that challenge.”

              The only non-negotiable requirement from the team was the title, he said. After sleeping on it, Woodward picked up a guitar and had the song finished before breakfast.

              “I may have written the piece of music itself in about an hour,” said Woodward, now 65.

              “I remember feeling at the time, ‘This is it.’ “

              His latest jingle would be adopted by generations of Orioles fans.

              It’s “probably the most identifiable audio element of the ball club,” says Greg Bader, vice president of communications and marketing for the team. After the Orioles’ come-from-behind win in Game 2 of this year’s American League Division Series, he said, “Orioles Magic” played throughout the stadium as fans exulted in the victory.

              “‘Orioles Magic’ is that link to every generation, every moment, every memory,” Bader said. “It’s still [as] appropriate today as it was 35 years ago.”

              A fan since 11, Debbie Roland said she has “Orioles Magic” on her cellphone and plays it before games. The 53-year-old Parkville resident loved the 1979 team that inspired the song and sees similarities to the current club.

              “They never give up. Somebody new will just step in there and do it, and it was the same thing in ’79,” said Roland, who has an original “Orioles Magic” 7-inch vinyl record. “I get those same feelings. I guess that’s why the song means so much still. You hear it, and you can’t help but go with it.”

              “Orioles Magic” — which was recorded at Nashville’s Woodland Sound Studios and debuted on April 15, 1980, when the O’s beat, of all teams, the Royals at home — is timeless for many, but it is very much a 1980s artifact. At the time, Woodward pictured Neil Diamond, one of the era’s most reliable hitmakers, singing on the track, even though he knew it would not be possible.

              “He sort of sounds like Neil Diamond,” Woodward said, chuckling, of the session singer he hired but whose name escapes him today. He could not recall how much the Orioles paid for the song but estimated it was between $7,000 and $10,000.

              Another longtime fan of the song is Michael Gibbons, executive director of the Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation.

              “Baseball is the great community unifier,” Gibbons said. “We can all get into it and all feel good together, and I think the song contributes mightily to that.”

              Jacob Pomrenke, a staff member of the Society for American Baseball Research, said there was a trend in the early 1980s of teams adopting theme songs similar to “Orioles Magic,” but nearly all eventually fell out of favor with fans.

              “Generally, those songs are short-lived,” Pomrenke said.

              He said the staying power of Woodward’s tune is unusual. Only a few teams can boast songs that have had similar longevity: “Meet the Mets,” “Go Cubs Go,” “OK Blue Jays” and “Tessie,” a song that has been associated with the Boston Red Sox for more than a century.

              For the record, the Royals no longer use “Royalmania.”

              Over the years, “Orioles Magic” has been the go-to anthem for the team (in August, it was featured in the organization’s 60th anniversary celebration) and fans (a Virginia rapper named Cane released a modern-sounding remake this season). Woodward attributes the song’s continuing popularity to its positive spirit and the catchiness of the tune and lyrics.

              “That cheer — ‘O-R-I-O-L-E-S’ — is as powerful an earworm mnemonic as you can get,” he said while crediting superfan Hagy as obvious inspiration. (The lyric, “There’s a thundering roar from 34,” was a nod to Section 34 in Memorial Stadium, where Hagy sat. He died in 2007.) “But what do I know? I’m just the songwriter.”

              Woodward and his former advertisement company, Perfect Pitch, wrote many catchy songs and won eight Clio Awards, the equivalent of Oscars in advertising. But out of his entire catalog, Woodward said, “Orioles Magic” remains an all-time favorite piece.

              “If I hadn’t written ‘Orioles Magic,’ I would love ‘Orioles Magic’ to this day,” he said.

              Sensing computers were about to drastically change his industry, Woodward sold Perfect Pitch in the late 1980s, and went on to be named Connecticut’s third state historian and a University of Connecticut professor in 2004. Despite the change in profession, Woodward remains proud of his songwriting, and “Orioles Magic” in particular.

              “I had been aware that ‘Orioles Magic’ has had an extended life, and it’s made me feel very happy,” he said. “For a guy from Cleveland who still thinks the Ravens should be wearing brown uniforms, to be in love with a Baltimore team [says] a lot.”

              Woodward acknowledges that he is more of a football fan these days, but he said he has taken a serious interest in this year’s baseball playoffs. When asked if he cared to make a prediction, Woodward did not hesitate to reaffirm his allegiance.

              “The magic is here. … I think it’s the Orioles’ time again,” he said. “Like Baltimore, [Kansas City] is another little engine that could. But I’ve always liked the Orioles’ jingle better, so let’s hear it for them.”

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              The Orioles have a rich history, with moments of Orioles Magic happening throughout the years. From the dramatic home runs of Frank Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr., to the clutch pitching performances of Mike Mussina and Jim Palmer, Orioles Magic has been a constant presence in the team's success.

              

              The phrase "Feel it Happen" emphasizes the importance of being in the moment and embracing the excitement and energy of the game. It encourages both the players and the fans to have faith in the team and to believe that something extraordinary can happen at any given moment. Orioles Magic goes beyond the game itself. It represents the connection between the team and the city of Baltimore. The fans are known for their unwavering support and passion for the Orioles, and they play an essential role in creating that magical atmosphere at Camden Yards. In recent years, the Orioles have faced some challenging seasons. However, the spirit of Orioles Magic remains alive. It is a reminder to never give up, to keep believing, and to always be ready for that magical moment. Orioles Magic: Feel it Happen is more than just a slogan. It is a symbol of hope, excitement, and the unbreakable bond between a team and its fans. It is a reminder that, no matter what the odds may be, anything can happen in the game of baseball..

              Reviews for "Orioles Magic: Bringing Joy and Excitement to Baltimore Fans"

              1. John - 2 stars: I was really disappointed by "Orioles magic feel it happen". The story lacked depth and the characters felt one-dimensional. The plot was predictable and didn't offer any surprises. The writing style also didn't captivate me, as it lacked the necessary descriptive elements to bring the scenes to life. Overall, this book left me unsatisfied and I wouldn't recommend it to others.

              2. Sarah - 2 stars: "Orioles magic feel it happen" was a letdown for me. The storyline was confusing and disjointed, making it difficult to follow and connect with the characters. The dialogue between the characters felt forced and unnatural, leaving no room for character development. Additionally, the pacing was inconsistent, with some parts dragging on while others felt rushed. Overall, it felt like the book was trying too hard to create a magical atmosphere but failed to deliver a cohesive and engaging story.

              3. Mark - 1 star: I couldn't get into "Orioles magic feel it happen" at all. The writing was bland and lacked any spark to keep me interested. The characters felt flat and didn't evoke any emotions or connection. The plot was predictable and lacked originality, making it difficult to stay engaged. I was hoping for a magical and captivating read, but unfortunately, this book fell short of my expectations. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a memorable read.

              4. Emily - 2 stars: I found "Orioles magic feel it happen" to be dull and uninteresting. The story had potential but failed to deliver an engaging narrative. The pacing was off, with the plot dragging in some parts and rushing through others. I also felt that the book didn't explore the magical elements enough, leaving me wanting more depth and exploration. Overall, I was disappointed by this book and wouldn't recommend it to others who are looking for a captivating and enchanting read.

              The Story Behind Orioles Magic: Tales of Triumph and Enchantment