The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Sammy
By Tim Watson
It was 1998. Sammy and Mark. Mark and Sammy. It seemed like the whole country was watching. People who had sworn off baseball were being lured back in by this record chase. While Mark McGuire seem uncomfortable with the whole thing, Sammy Sosa was just eating it up. He made Mark McGuire a likeable guy to most of us. Sammy didn't praise himself. He praised Mark. He praised the fans. He praised the Cub fans.
The Cub fans, in turn, praised Sammy. When he would run out to his place in right field at Wrigley, the fans would bow in homage to him.
Now, it's 2005. During the Cubs Convention, they played a video commemorating the 2004 season. Each time Sammy appeared, the Cub fans...yes, those same Cub fans...booed. Less than a month later, Sammy was standing at a podium with a big smile on his face talking about how excited he was to be playing for the Baltimore Orioles.
This is one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He will be a first ballot Hall of Famer. He was to Chicago, as Jordan, Ditka, or Banks was to Chicago. When he retires, he will be one of the top five home run hitters of all time. He helped save the game of baseball.
Now, he is an Oriole.
He is not a Yankee. He is not a Red Sox. He is not a Met. He is not a Dodger. He is not a Ranger (Mr. Hicks and all his money.)
After it seemed like everything was going against the Orioles this winter, the Orioles fell into getting a player who hit more home runs than anyone else on their entire 2004 team. All it is costing the Orioles is about 7 million dollars...With the Cubs picking up a good chunk of Sammy's salary for 2005 and the Orioles saving money on trading Jerry Hairston.
He just fell into the Orioles lap, and the Orioles are lapping it up. Ticket sales are up. There is a buzz about the Orioles again. People are talking about the Birds.
Does this mean that the Orioles are going to win it all this year? Probably not, but it will make the Orioles exciting to watch. If Sammy has an average year, Tejada, Mora, Roberts have a similar year to last year, and Palmeiro and Gibbons return to form, we could have the Charm City Bombers in Baltimore this year.
As for Sammy, at the press conference where he was introduced as an Oriole, he was doing a lot of praising. He praised Tejada. He praised Mazilli. He praised Camden Yards.
Will the fans praise him back? Will they bow in homage to him? Keep an eye on right field.
Read more from Tim Watson on the Baltimore Fan blog "Flying Orioles" at http://orioles.mostvaluablenetwork.com/
