Tejada's Return

[Mad Mark]

I will be there Thursday night. I will stand and applaud for his first at bat. I will hope he makes outs in every at bat that night.

And almost about everybody in baseball used, or is using, some kind of PED. Some are legal, some aren't. It is what it is. Get over it.

[orayole]

If I was there I would not boo him but I would not give him a standing O either. Maybe a small clap to drown out the boos.

[Moose Milligan]

In just four years here he put up numbers that are among all time Os greats. He played with passion and energy. I'll keep rooting for him.

Everyone fails to give him credit for this.

It's not his fault the team didn't win while he was here. I really don't get what people have against him.

[blueberryale77]

I don't think he's owed anything in terms of a standing ovation. Our team offered him the most money for his services and he came here and provided those services for a few years. He wasn't a homegrown O and didn't do particularly much for the city of Baltimore off the field. He deserves respect for the quality of play he provided, but whether fans love him or not is entirely up to them. I will be very disappointed in Orioles fans if more than a few drunk idiots boo him, but if they remain silent when he's introduced just like they do when every other Astro is announced, I have no problem with that. If I were going to be at any of the games, I'd clap when he comes up but not stand up or be vocal unless it were needed to drown out boos. Of course it's a nice bonus if people want to go crazy cheering for him, but I don't think it should be thought of as an obligation on the part of fans to do so.

[YardBirds13]

I had planned to go to this game since the day we made the trade, but work has made that impossible.

I hope Miggy gets an extended standing ovation from the crowd. People forget how good this guy was for us.

HE HAD 150 RBI!!!! Hello!!! That's unreal!!!

He was a great player and loved the game. He hustled his ass off when he first got here, and the team told him they'd go all out to compete.

That didn't happen, and sure, he moped a little bit. But really no more than anyone else. He got all kinds of crap here he didn't deserve, and honestly, I'd love to see him homer and make a couple diving plays as a little slap in the face to the people who thought he was done.

(Of course, I hope we are up like 9-0 when this happens.)

[WillieHarrisRox]

I will absolutely give Miggy a Standing-O. He gave it his all while here in Baltimore and while many free agents won't come to Baltimore it seems, he obviously did. I miss him but I do think it's for the better we split ways and came away with some good talent from trade. Also, he hasn't said one bad thing about Baltimore since he left. In fact, he said "If they boo me or don't boo me, they are still one of the best clubs to play for, and I really appreciate the time I had there," Miguel Tejada said of the Orioles in a recent article on MLB.com. Whether he truely belives that, I don't know, but he isn't throwing us under the bus.

[The Rick]

I'll give Miggy a nice cheer, possibly a standing O. For me it's about the memories. I remember the HR derby like it was yesterday. I remember him dancing around in the dugout on a regular basis, energizing his teammates. I remember him being an all-star and representing the Orioles nicely.

He was the best SS to play for the O's since Cal, give him a break guys. No one's perfect.

[RageATM]

OMG... How could anyone cheer for Tejada, or anyone else that "used" while they were in Baltimore. He's almost as big an embarrassment as Rafael Palmeiro. We've had too many players that put up MVP numbers somewhere else and then come to B-more and suck the place up. On top of that, he cheated and lied about his age. I hope he gets plunked right in the head... it might just know some sense into him. Then, I'll cheer!

[YardBirds13]

OMG... How could anyone cheer for Tejada, or anyone else that "used" while they were in Baltimore. He's almost as big an embarrassment as Rafael Palmeiro. We've had too many players that put up MVP numbers somewhere else and then come to B-more and suck the place up. On top of that, he cheated and lied about his age. I hope he gets plunked right in the head... it might just know some sense into him. Then, I'll cheer!

Wow.

That's about all I can say.

Oh, so I guess you aren't a big Brian Roberts fan either, eh?

[AndrewG52]

I can't wait to go to Camden Yards and boo Tejada!

[blueberryale77]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-tejada616,0,315038.story

Here's Kevin Millar's contribution to this discussion...

"This guy was a tremendous teammate, a tremendous human being," Millar said. "This town should not think of him any other way. We all have faults in our life. We all made mistakes. That has nothing to do with how Miggy was as an Oriole. This guy should get a standing ovation."

and Brian Roberts...

"For me, it was hard to hear sometimes, the criticism from the media and the fans," said Roberts, who remains close friends with Tejada. "I thought that they gave him a harder time than he deserved. He liked being here, loved the team, loved the city. He just didn't like losing. I would think fans would appreciate that."

Also, Roberts on Miggi's legacy in general...

"I think when people look back on it, they'll realize that he was probably the first big piece of this puzzle that will hopefully get this organization back where it wants to be," Roberts said. "I look at him signing here as the first step. He was a marquee free agent at the time, and then a couple of years later to bring back what he brought back in a trade, I think those are two big points to this whole process."

Also some interesting insight from Juan Samuel...

"Some of the guys were quiet and moody at times last year, but I started seeing a difference in spring training," said Orioles third base coach Juan Samuel. "I think when you have guys like Tejada on the club, guys had a tendency not to go over him and deservedly so. But this year, there's been a lot of guys taking charge, not just one."

I don't think the issue was that Tejada was a bad guy, it was just too much focus on one guy instead of the whole team being treated equally. Tejada had to go because he was the most visible part of a poorly built team, not because he himself was evil. O's fans can cheer him or ignore him... the one thing I really don't want to see them do is take out all their frustration with everyone from Luis Hernandez to Jim Duquette to Peter Angelos to Bud Selig on one guy.

[YardBirds13]

I can't wait to go to Camden Yards and boo Tejada!

Why exactly would you boo him?

[AndrewG52]

Why exactly would you boo him?

He ruined the Orioles by himself with the steroid disaster. He wanted out of the town and asked to be traded. Why would i cheer for him? He's not an oriole anymore.

[YardBirds13]

He ruined the Orioles by himself with the steroid disaster. He wanted out of the town and asked to be traded. Why would i cheer for him? He's not an oriole anymore.

He ruined the Orioles by himself?? How exactly?? That's absurd.

He wanted out of town and asked to be traded because the Front Office didn't followe through on waht they told him they were gonna do. I don't blame him for wanting to play for a good team.

And you cheer for him because for 4 years he was one of the best Orioles ever.

[Big Mac]

He ruined the Orioles by himself with the steroid disaster. He wanted out of the town and asked to be traded. Why would i cheer for him? He's not an oriole anymore.

Again he made a mistake that tons of players made.

We sucked for all 4 years he was here, why wouldn't he want to leave?

Maybe you should cheer him because he was a great player for us for 4 years and gave his all to this team, if you're too ignorant to realize all of this then that is your problem.