Though he can’t toss a 90 mph fastball or help fill out a miserable starting rotation, so much of the Orioles’ future and credibility rests with signing hot free agent and local talent Mark Teixeira. Right now, it looks like Teixeira is destined to make something close to Alex Rodriquez money somewhere, but when teams like the California Angels have dropped out of the bidding and the Yankees, who surely could use an upgrade at first base, aren’t playing, that says something.
The current news is the Red Sox are hanging in there. The National press, read this as ESPN talking heads, say, it’s the Washington Nationals, go figure, but then what’s left are the Baltimore Orioles. Mark Teixeira, born in Annapolis, Maryland, grew up in Severna Park attending southwest Baltimore’s Catholic school perennial sports hot spot, St. Joseph’s High School, so his hometown lineage is darn near as pure as Cal Ripken’s assent to stardom from Harford County. In times past, the Baltimore/Annapolis corridor was Baltimore country plain and simple, but Annapolis and southwestern Anne Arundel County is becoming more and more in the orbit of Washington, DC.
Still, Mark Teixeira grew up an Orioles fan and went to a Baltimore school. There was no team in Washington until he was already in the major leagues so while playing for the Washington Nationals would put him less than an hour from his boyhood roots, if he truly yearns to be the hometown idol, Baltimore is the choice. Besides that, if one can ignore the last decade, Baltimore has a rich baseball tradition. Washington, no matter how you work in the history of the teams that would become the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers and the former Montreal Expos have almost nothing. For the years that the Senators that would become the Rangers played in RFK Stadium from its opening until 1971, the one historical feat most folks still talk about is a long Frank Howard home run to the upper decks that is nothing compared to the Frank Robinson blast that cleared the left field bleachers and landed in the parking lot of old Memorial Stadium.
Could Mark Teixeira be the first player to hit a home run that hits the B&O Warehouse at Camden Yards, why not?
How good is Mark Teixeira so far? He’d more or less be an upgrade over Boog Powell but fairly consistent with Eddie Murray or Raphael Palmeiro. He is almost a sure bet to play every day and finish the year with over 30 homeruns and 100 RBI’s. He’s the kind of hitter every team’s offense craves to have hitting in the #3 or #4 spot. For the Orioles, batting 4th after Nick Martakis with possibly Aubrey Huff batting 5th, makes for a scary fat part of the lineup especially with a leadoff hitter like Brian Roberts and a couple of good possibilities at #2 like Melvin Mora.
If the Orioles are going to ever become part of the AL East’s story with the Yankees and Red Sox, they must have those kinds of possibilities in their lineup. Even with the Nationals a short train ride from downtown Baltimore, there’s no reason Camden Yards can’t again be filled with fans if there’s a good team on the field wearing home jerseys.
No matter how exciting the prospects of Mark Teixeira being a possible Oriole might be, it does nothing to address the team’s greatest problem, only one major league quality starting pitcher, Jeremy Guthrie. Help is on the way down on the farm, but these players were just starting to prove themselves at the Double A level with the Bowie Baysox. The constant parade up the Chesapeake Bay from Triple A, Norfolk, provided a bunch of rag-tag might-have-been’s and castoffs who were marginal playing in the International League much less having to face contenders in the American League.
The Orioles do look like they have a competent though not superstar shortstop with acquiring Cesar Izturis. They sent Ramon Hernandez packing to make way for Matt Wieters behind the plate; however, the switch-hitting stellar catching prospect still has not played a single game at the Triple A level despite marching right through Single A at Fredrick en route to even greater fortunes in Bowie. To provide a little bit of backup, the Orioles selected C Lou Palmisano from the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 Draft.
Still, there are no rumbles of any starting pitchers on their way.
The current news is the Red Sox are hanging in there. The National press, read this as ESPN talking heads, say, it’s the Washington Nationals, go figure, but then what’s left are the Baltimore Orioles. Mark Teixeira, born in Annapolis, Maryland, grew up in Severna Park attending southwest Baltimore’s Catholic school perennial sports hot spot, St. Joseph’s High School, so his hometown lineage is darn near as pure as Cal Ripken’s assent to stardom from Harford County. In times past, the Baltimore/Annapolis corridor was Baltimore country plain and simple, but Annapolis and southwestern Anne Arundel County is becoming more and more in the orbit of Washington, DC.
Still, Mark Teixeira grew up an Orioles fan and went to a Baltimore school. There was no team in Washington until he was already in the major leagues so while playing for the Washington Nationals would put him less than an hour from his boyhood roots, if he truly yearns to be the hometown idol, Baltimore is the choice. Besides that, if one can ignore the last decade, Baltimore has a rich baseball tradition. Washington, no matter how you work in the history of the teams that would become the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers and the former Montreal Expos have almost nothing. For the years that the Senators that would become the Rangers played in RFK Stadium from its opening until 1971, the one historical feat most folks still talk about is a long Frank Howard home run to the upper decks that is nothing compared to the Frank Robinson blast that cleared the left field bleachers and landed in the parking lot of old Memorial Stadium.
Could Mark Teixeira be the first player to hit a home run that hits the B&O Warehouse at Camden Yards, why not?
How good is Mark Teixeira so far? He’d more or less be an upgrade over Boog Powell but fairly consistent with Eddie Murray or Raphael Palmeiro. He is almost a sure bet to play every day and finish the year with over 30 homeruns and 100 RBI’s. He’s the kind of hitter every team’s offense craves to have hitting in the #3 or #4 spot. For the Orioles, batting 4th after Nick Martakis with possibly Aubrey Huff batting 5th, makes for a scary fat part of the lineup especially with a leadoff hitter like Brian Roberts and a couple of good possibilities at #2 like Melvin Mora.
If the Orioles are going to ever become part of the AL East’s story with the Yankees and Red Sox, they must have those kinds of possibilities in their lineup. Even with the Nationals a short train ride from downtown Baltimore, there’s no reason Camden Yards can’t again be filled with fans if there’s a good team on the field wearing home jerseys.
No matter how exciting the prospects of Mark Teixeira being a possible Oriole might be, it does nothing to address the team’s greatest problem, only one major league quality starting pitcher, Jeremy Guthrie. Help is on the way down on the farm, but these players were just starting to prove themselves at the Double A level with the Bowie Baysox. The constant parade up the Chesapeake Bay from Triple A, Norfolk, provided a bunch of rag-tag might-have-been’s and castoffs who were marginal playing in the International League much less having to face contenders in the American League.
The Orioles do look like they have a competent though not superstar shortstop with acquiring Cesar Izturis. They sent Ramon Hernandez packing to make way for Matt Wieters behind the plate; however, the switch-hitting stellar catching prospect still has not played a single game at the Triple A level despite marching right through Single A at Fredrick en route to even greater fortunes in Bowie. To provide a little bit of backup, the Orioles selected C Lou Palmisano from the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 Draft.
Still, there are no rumbles of any starting pitchers on their way.
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