Markakis is retiring

[HowAboutThat]

He was solid, he was every day. It seems he didn’t have a lot of range, but I don’t ever remember him throwing the ball away or fumbling it once he got to it. I’ve only been following the team since 2012 But he’s been the best Oriole right fielder I’ve seen. He Was a very class act. I was among those who was willing to let him go, and I was really happy that he had such a nice run with the Braves. I hope they value him as much as we do.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Philip

[Frobby]

18 minutes ago, Philip said:

He was solid, he was every day. It seems he didn’t have a lot of range, but I don’t ever remember him throwing the ball away or fumbling it once he got to it. I’ve only been following the team since 2012 But he’s been the best Oriole right fielder I’ve seen. He Was a very class act. I was among those who was willing to let him go, and I was really happy that he had such a nice run with the Braves. I hope they value him as much as we do.

My impression is that Braves fans feel very similarly to Orioles fans, though maybe less emotionally attached because he was there for less time and didn’t grow up in their system.    

[murph]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Why?    Because he came along in the Orioles' darkest hour, and gave us a ray of hope.   Because he was a lunch pail guy who showed up every day.   Because he gave you a good at bat every single time.    Because was one of those guys who just fit with the city of Baltimore.   Because he never sought to draw attention to himself.    

 

Along of the lines of being that type of guy, this is from the Athletic article today (hope is a small enough blurb to post):

Markakis never drew attention to himself, preferring the lowest of big-league profiles. He never participated in social media and, through much of his career, didn’t have a working email account. There was never going to be a big retirement announcement from Markakis.

 

https://theathletic.com/2444753/2021/03/12/nick-markakis-retiring/?source=dailyemail

 

[Mooreisbetter27]

I thought this was a cool stat:

Markakis had 419 more hits than swings and misses in his career.  2,388 hits, 1,969 swings and misses. 

Loved Nick.  Was my favorite Oriole for many years.

Enjoy Retirement!

[waroriole]

Haven’t posted in a long time, but just wanted to say I’m so glad he was on our team. One of my favorite players to watch. Nick and Adam made baseball fun again for the O’s. Nick was always such a pleasure to watch every day. He just played the game the right way. 

[Ruzious]

58 minutes ago, Frobby said:

My impression is that Braves fans feel very similarly to Orioles fans, though maybe less emotionally attached because he was there for less time and didn’t grow up in their system.    

Correct.  There's far less emotion - and he lasted longer than expected.  It works out real well, because the Braves have a bunch of impressive young OFers they can plug in, and they have to use Ozuna in LF now that it appears certain that the NL will not have a DH.  Acuna slides over to RF, and Pache takes CF.  Next up is Drew Waters, and after him comes Michael Harris.   And they still have Inciarte.     

[spleen1015]

One of the most disappointing days of my O's fandom was when he signed with the Braves. My favorite Oriole post Cal.

 

[thiscat41]

Really gonna miss Nicky

[BRobinsonfan]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

I knew this day was coming, and I've been dreading it.

In my own personal Orioles pantheon, Nick ranks very near the top.   He's not one of the ten greatest Orioles, but he's easily one of my top ten favorites; in fact, top five.

Why?    Because he came along in the Orioles' darkest hour, and gave us a ray of hope.   Because he was a lunch pail guy who showed up every day.   Because he gave you a good at bat every single time.    Because was one of those guys who just fit with the city of Baltimore.   Because he never sought to draw attention to himself.    

My enduring image of Nick will always be the day that the O's clinched the 2014 AL East title, Nick just standing there quietly soaking it in,  his eyes glistening.    He didn't need to say anything, the look on his face said it all.

I look forward to the day Nick is inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame.   Wild horses couldn't keep me away.    In the meantime, I hope he enjoys his retirement.

As usual, very well said Frobby.  I liked him for a lot of the same reasons.  He was just a solid player.  He had his limitations in the field obviously, but he was a consistent hitter, a doubles machine, and he knew how to get on base.  I always enjoyed watching him play and whenever he was at bat in a high leverage spot I always felt like we had a chance.  I hate that injuries and COVID cut his career short.  3000 hits were always going to be a reach, but I'm confident he could have added at least a couple of hundred more but for the aberration of the 2020 season and his last wrist injury.   I look forward to him joining the Orioles HOF.  

[HowAboutThat]

Some thing that just occurred to me, if you rent the best Orioles outfield of the last 10 years, I think you would have to put 2012-2013 McLouth, Jones, and Kakes at the top.

And that would be a very good outfield for any team.

[ScGO's]

Bummer, I was hoping he would be able to make a push for 3000 hits.  If last season isn't shortened he might be around 2500 going into the season.  It was a long shot, but he might have been able to make a run at it.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

Bummer, I was hoping he would be able to make a push for 3000 hits.  If last season isn't shortened he might be around 2500 going into the season.  It was a long shot, but he might have been able to make a run at it.

Uggh, that probably would have been ugly.

I'm not a fan of a guy hanging around just to accumulate stats.

I'm glad he's not bouncing from team to team as a reserve chasing a number.

[bobmc]

13 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Uggh, that probably would have been ugly.

I'm not a fan of a guy hanging around just to accumulate stats.

I'm glad he's not bouncing from team to team as a reserve chasing a number (cough King Felix cough).

FTFY

[HowAboutThat]

26 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

Bummer, I was hoping he would be able to make a push for 3000 hits.  If last season isn't shortened he might be around 2500 going into the season.  It was a long shot, but he might have been able to make a run at it.

He ended at 2388, with a full season last year getting an additional 112 hits in 120 games would’ve been pretty unlikely. And I don’t think he’s the guy Who would be willing to start the season just to amass enough additional hits to retire at an even 2500.

And 2388 is not bad at all.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, waroriole said:

Haven’t posted in a long time, but just wanted to say I’m so glad he was on our team. One of my favorite players to watch. Nick and Adam made baseball fun again for the O’s. 

They really were the ying and yang of the Orioles for a long time.    Opposite in personality and style of play, yet both were key components and they complemented each other very well.   One thing they had in common was their desire to post every day.   Adam said a number of times that he learned from Nick’s example how important that was.