Mike Burke
Miggy has returned, presumably sans B12 briefcase, and from the looks of things he returns with the approval of the people. Overwhelmingly the fan opinion polls — in Baltimore and here on www.times-news.com — have read in Miguel Tejada’s favor. Heck, yeah, hon, Bawlmer wants his bat back in the O’s lineup, if not his lack of lateral movement and range in the field.
Ah, but that’s been taken care of, soft of. For Miggy, once the All-Star shortstop, is now the one-year stopgap at third base, which, if he had agreed to do two years ago might not have ever had to leave Baltimore, a place he says he loves and has always loved.
A change, though, was needed — for Tejada and for Baltimore. Besides, if he hadn’t been traded to Houston, Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third-base prospect Michael Costanzo would have never come this way for the restocking of the Baltimore system. Of course Sarfate, the right-hander who is clocked in the mid-to-upper 90s when healthy, is likely history as the Orioles, to make room on the 40-man roster for Tejada, designated Sarfate for assignment, meaning the club has 10 days to trade him, release him or put him on waivers.
Tejada, who signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the Orioles, will begin to learn to play third base in spring training, something he has never done in the big leagues. Whether or not he makes the move as seemlessly as Cal Ripken Jr. and Alex Rodriguez did remains to be seen, but it’s impossible to believe he could ever be as big a liability to the Orioles at third base as he was at shortstop for much of his previous time here. One thing Orioles fans did not miss seeing last season with Cesar Izturis playing shortstop? Painfully slow-moving rollers — wormkillers as Coach Red Blow of the New York Knights would call them — seemingly taking forever to roll into center field for single after single that consistently put opposing runners at first and third, because Tejada could not get to the middle of the diamond in time, or get his glove all the way down when he was able to arrive on time.
Whether it was the B12 briefcase or something else, Tejada never seemed to be quite as flexible in the field here as he seemed to be with Oakland. But then, we didn’t see him play every day when he was in Oakland either.
As for Tejada’s bat, there’s no reason to believe he still can’t rake it. He led the National League in doubles last year, and batted .313, eighth-highest in the league. He also drove in 86 runs last year for the Astros. Guy can still hit, even if his power isn’t going to be what it had been previously.
And for what it’s worth, the Orioles themselves — the actual guys in uniform — are delighted Mighty Miggy has returned. Brian Roberts is ecstatic; Nick Markakis is thrilled. These guys swear to Tejada’s great leadership skills, which is not for us to question since we’re not there with them 24/7 eight months out of the year. Plus, with the lineup Captain Kirk can put out just about any night, the Orioles could actually score some runs this season, although they still have not had a clean-up hitter, the bopper in the middle of the lineup who makes amends for everybody else’s mistakes with one swing, since a Mr. Eddie Murray. But when the weak link in your batting order appears to be Izturis, who is actually a pretty decent hitter batting ninth, you’ve got yourself a pretty good lineup.
A one year flier on Miguel Tejada? As they used to say around Charm City during that splendid summer of 1989, Why Not?
Wait a minute ... Don’t hold your breath for another Why Not season. Those puppies are too hard to come by to actually anticipate one occurring again. That summer of Orioles Magic took place 21 years ago, yet it remains so vivid in memory, so wonderful and sublime, it seems as though it took place just a couple of years ago.
But you know what? There’s no such thing as a bad summer; or bad baseball, even when it’s played poorly.
Pitchers and catchers report in 19 days. Ain’t the beer cold ...
Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.
