Brian Roberts, the little second baseman who seems intent on erasing all the single-season records of both Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb in the same season, began the Baltimore Orioles' homestand Friday night with a scorching single to left off Hideo Nomo.
Melvin Mora, whose .310 batting average is only the fifth best in the starting lineup of a team with a .303 mark, beat out a bunt to third. Miguel Tejada, the 215-pound shortstop who may be the best all-around player in baseball, demolished a 414-foot home run over the center field fence. Three batters. Three hits. Three runs.
As the pregame song on the PA system proclaimed, "The boys are back in town."
Still due up, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, both headed to the Hall of Fame and the only two 500-home run players ever to be teammates. After them, all-star catcher Javy Lopez, muscleman Jay Gibbons, who had 100 RBI in '03, Luis Matos, who is hitting .339 and -- relegated to batting ninth -- 6-foot-4 outfielder Larry Bigbie, who may look more like a statue of The Perfect Ballplayer than anybody on the club.
They are a lovely load, this nine. Nobody, not the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Cardinals, puts a significantly more charismatic and potent offense on the field than the Orioles. By the time southpaw Erik Bedard, a typical fledgling Orioles pitcher with obvious but unproven talent, went back to the Baltimore mound you could almost see the tears of gratitude in his eyes.
In just one month, the Orioles have done a remarkable job of erasing seven years of bad memories. Much more work remains to be done. But what a start to the job! A novel concept seems to have energized the Orioles: competition.
Perhaps it's only coincidence, but as soon as the too-long dormant Orioles were pressed by the new Washington Nationals for the affection of millions of local fans, the franchise has responded in classic free-market fashion. The Orioles have spent to add equipment (the new Sosa cleanup engine), instituted new efficiency procedures (fleshing out a bullpen that is now one of the deepest in baseball) and emphasized better employee morale (produce or return to Aruba).
As a result, the Orioles have suddenly brought a much-improved product to market. It's about time. Consumer satisfaction has been a dismally low priority for the Orioles of late. But, if it took the arrival of the nearby Nationals to prod the Orioles into a 15-7 start and a three-game lead in the American League East, then that's how the system is supposed to work.
The Orioles returned to Camden Yards Friday with a unique opportunity to capitalize. After beating the Yankees five times in six games and splitting four games with the Red Sox, Baltimore suddenly finds itself facing one of the softest sections of its schedule: 12 games in 13 days against Tampa Bay, Toronto, Kansas City and Minnesota. What a wide-open window.
Instead of wondering how far they will finish behind their New York and Boston nemesis, the Orioles might actually build a significant division lead. "You can't win it in April, but you can sure bury yourself. It's nice not to be buried," says veteran B.J. Surhoff, who has attended too many of those early Oriole internments. "It's better to have the fans excited than pessimistic."
That job, of reversing public perception, has been done so suddenly that the team itself is still digesting its early success. When the Orioles look at their scoring pace that would generate 940 runs for an entire season, they have obvious reason for optimism. When you add promising young pitching, plus the emergence of the diminutive Roberts, whose combination of seven homers and nine steals have the league buzzing, then the Orioles look like what they were for so long -- a threat to win 90 games.
However, that's only half the picture. Every time Curt Schilling, David Wells or Jaret Wright goes on the disabled list, every time Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown or Randy Johnson perform like the age on their birth certificates rather than the stats on the back of their baseball cards, the more the Orioles look like they have a future.
"They're falling apart," Palmeiro says of the wave of injuries that have hit both the Yankees and Red Sox.
"I don't wish that on anybody," he quickly adds.
Oh, of course not. Why would you? In a moment of mischief, however, someone makes a list of the elderly Yankees pitchers whose statistics this spring all show the symptoms of extreme baseball age. "How great is that," blurted out one Oriole.
Meanwhile, the Orioles have added important pieces, especially Sosa, whose iconic presence makes an excellent batting order truly scary. "Historically, Sammy has been a slow starter. I don't know if this is a 'slow start,' " says Manager Lee Mazzilli of Sosa, who is hitting .295 with four homers and 11 RBI, a pace for 30 homers and 85 RBI. "But if this is 'slow,' that's good."
Also, having Sosa bat cleanup gets a few more decent pitches for Tejada, who began the night with 25 RBI in 21 games. So, were those 150 RBI last year some kind of a new in-his-prime Miggy norm, rather than a career year?
In what may stand as a fair appraisal of Tejada at age 28 as any, Palmeiro says, "Miguel is always incredible."
In time, starting pitching will probably bring the Orioles back toward earth. Daniel Cabrera is still wild. Bruce Chen is still a teasing soft tosser. Sidney Ponson has a 6.85 ERA and still must prove he can bring order to any part of his life.
That said, the Orioles are eye candy in April and a breath of fresh air in a division that needs a new plot twist. Beyond that, they are an excellent compliment to the Nationals. Fans finally have a choice that is worth making. Of course, those who are gluttons for pleasure can simply refuse to choose. When it comes to baseball tastes, the current Nats and O's definitely come from opposite sides of the menu. Which means you're allowed to order from both.
While the Nationals revel in a town that craves them, the Orioles are basking in the beginnings of a regained respect.
"It's been different. It's been fun," says Gibbons. As he's talking, hitting coach Terry Crowley interrupts. "No, don't break it up," says Gibbons. "This is my first non-Brian Roberts interview of the year."
They're laughing again at Camden Yards. By the fourth inning, Gibbons had hit his home run for the night. Doesn't every Oriole, every night? Oh, the boys are back in town. And if they leave, after a dozen home games, as happy as they arrived, they may soon have a shocking division lead, undreamed in Boston or New York, that could last until the weather is quite warm.
