Machado: First Orioles 3rd Baseman Since Melvin Mora ......

[OFFNY]

o

Last night, Manny Machado became the first Orioles 3rd baseman since Melvin Mora to hit at least 10 or more home runs in at least 3 consecutive seasons.

Mora did it for the Orioles in 5 consecutive years, between 2004 and 2008.

https://twitter.com/masnroch O (Roch Kubatko)

[25 Nuggets]

Ah, Melvin. 2002-2005, he put up 19.3 rWAR, had two All Star appearances and a Silver Slugger. One of the best Orioles during the lean years.

[Frobby]

That seems like a pretty silly stat.

2009 - Mora was still our 3B

2010 - Tejada was our 3B most of the year until we traded him.

2011 - Reynolds was our 3B

2012 - Reynolds was our 3B most of the first 4 months, then Manny took over.

It's hard to have the same 3B hit 10 HR three years in a row when you don't have the same 3B three years in a row any time in that time span.

I just hope Manny stays here long enough to do it about 15 years in a row.

[OFFNY]

That seems like a pretty silly stat.

2009 - Mora was still our 3B

2010 - Tejada was our 3B most of the year until we traded him.

2011 - Reynolds was our 3B

2012 - Reynolds was our 3B most of the first 4 months, then Manny took over.

It's hard to have the same 3B hit 10 HR three years in a row when you don't have the same 3B three years in a row any time in that time span.

I just hope Manny stays here long enough to do it about 15 years in a row.

That's true.

But maybe that same dubious statistic is significant for another reason ...... stability at the 3rd base position.

Mora was the Orioles' regular 3rd baseman for 6 consecutive years, from 2004-2009.

It is currently 3-plus years and counting so far for Machado as the Orioles' regular 3rd baseman.

And as you stated, if all things go well (Machado's health holds up, contract negotiations to keep Machado here to avoid having him sign with another team as a free agent go well), I hope that Machado does it for about 14, 15, or 16 years in a row.

[mrpennybags]

Mora might be my favorite Oriole of all time. Great guy and very good player.

[Tx Oriole]

Ah, Melvin. 2002-2005, he put up 19.3 rWAR, had two All Star appearances and a Silver Slugger. One of the best Orioles during the lean years.

I always liked Mora.

[Frobby]

That's true.

But maybe that same dubious statistic is significant for another reason ...... stability at the 3rd base position.

Mora was the Orioles' regular 3rd baseman for 6 consecutive years, from 2004-2009.

It is currently 3-plus years and counting so far for Machado as the Orioles' regular 3rd baseman.

And as you stated, if all things go well (Machado's health holds up, contract negotiations to keep Machado here to avoid having him sign with another team as a free agent go well), I hope that Machado does it for about 14, 15, or 16 years in a row.

I wonder how long it will be before we have the same RF three years in a row. We had the same one for nine years, now it looks like we will have instability in both corner OF spots for a while. I'm hoping we'll have some stability at 2B/SS/3B if Schoop can stay healthy.

[sportsfan8703]

Mora was an OBP machine. He could hit for power, drop a bunt down, steal a base, big time arm, play everywhere. But like every player from that era there are suspicions.

[Scrat1]

Watching Melvin More and Luke Scott systematically dismantle the Tigers was a a big highlight from the MacPhail era.

[OFFNY]

sportsfan8703 said:

 

Mora was an OBP machine. He could hit for power, drop a bunt down, steal a base, big time arm, play everywhere. But like every player from that era there are suspicions.

 

o

 

This was probably the most emotionally charged (and emotionally-satisfying) sports event that I have ever been to (as a fan.)

September 28th of 2007: The Yankees led us 9-6 going into the bottom of the 9th. They brought in Mariano Rivera in. Game over, right ? Wrong !

We loaded the bases with 2 outs. It looked like curtains, except ......... Jay Payton drilled a bases-clearing triple into the gap in right-centerfield to tie the game !!! A lot of Yankee fans that were sitting near me were angrily screaming "choke" at their beloved team. :laughlol:

In the top of the 10th, the Yanks hit a lead-off double, and it looked like our storybook ending would go down in flames. Not on this night. We managed to get out of the inning without being scored upon.

In the bottom of the 10th, we again had the bases loaded and 2 outs. On the first pitch, Melvin Mora laid down a bunt, taking the Yankees by surprise. Tike Redman raced home, and the Orioles all mobbed each other on the field.

With that win, the Orioles eliminated the Yankees from the A.L. East division title. They still got the wild card ... but good enough.

 

 

 

o

[El Gordo]

Me too. Extremely underrated. One of my favorite Orioles.

Great story. Grew up in the mean streets of Agua Negro Venezuela. Saw his father and uncle shot, became a boxer, played soccer, then baseball in Japan before he made it to the ML. Some tough determined dude.

[OFFNY]

o

 

Another thing that I liked a lot about Mora was that he truly liked playing for the Oriole ...... no matter how bad the team was.

The Orioles' front office never even bothered to try to trade him when his value was high because he had a no-trade clause, and they KNEW that he would have exorcised that clause if they tried to. From everything that I can remember, Mora made it known that he would have done so, even if the trade proposal was to a 1st-place team. Indeed, just the fact that he insisted that a no-trade clause be inserted into his contract in the first place while playing for a team that was so bad (at that time) would tend to attest to that.

 

o

[Three Run Homer]

That seems like a pretty silly stat.

2009 - Mora was still our 3B

2010 - Tejada was our 3B most of the year until we traded him.

2011 - Reynolds was our 3B

2012 - Reynolds was our 3B most of the first 4 months, then Manny took over.

It's hard to have the same 3B hit 10 HR three years in a row when you don't have the same 3B three years in a row any time in that time span.

I just hope Manny stays here long enough to do it about 15 years in a row.

I agree with you, this was a silly thing for Roch to mention. I love having Manny on the team and I was a fan of Mora too, but Mora was too recent to use him as a benchmark for "The first since!" comparisons, and in any case what's the big deal about 10 home runs?

[EagleOriole]

Machado continues to draw walks at a good pace for him. 20 BBs in 230 ABs and he did a real good job extending at-bats last night. Excited to see his growth as a player.

[DrungoHazewood]

That seems like a pretty silly stat.

2009 - Mora was still our 3B

2010 - Tejada was our 3B most of the year until we traded him.

2011 - Reynolds was our 3B

2012 - Reynolds was our 3B most of the first 4 months, then Manny took over.

It's hard to have the same 3B hit 10 HR three years in a row when you don't have the same 3B three years in a row any time in that time span.

I just hope Manny stays here long enough to do it about 15 years in a row.

When you have terabytes of data collected someone will notice little things like this. The Elias Bureau seems really good at this, this is what they've always done. In the 1980s they saw Bill James doing analysis and kind of tried to take over and do the same thing in a centralized, monetized way. They used to be the ones with all the information and the only ones who noticed these bits of trivia. Since everyone has the data now their main purpose in life seems to be employing a lot of people who constantly run bb-ref play index searches.

I think it's fine as long as they preface it with "this is kind of meaningless, but cool too..." That never seems to happen. But I also am in the ~2% of fans who constantly point out to my family that RISP numbers over the last six games are about as meaningful as which side of the cat box the cat used last time.