Markakis is retiring

[DrungoHazewood]

13 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of nitpicking a great career, but for me I thought he should have been a better power guy.  16 homers, 23 homers, 20 homers in his first 3 years...and never cracked 20 again.  Never really came close after hitting 18 in 2009.

I never thought he should routinely hit 35+ but I thought he was going to turn into a guy who was routinely in the high 20s, low 30s.  

I think injuries are as much to blame for that as anything.  His rookie year he hit three homers in a game.  In 2015 he hit three homers.

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Nick had some injuries in the 2011-13 period, including the Sabathia HBP, that really changed him as a player.  Took away his power.  And I think he really was hurt by the transition to the current all power/all power pitcher game.  bb-ref says he had an OPS 80 points higher against finesse pitchers than power pitchers.  I don't know what the typical split is, but I see Nick as a guy who in an earlier era could have been a Paul Waner or maybe even a George Brett kind of player who hit .330 or .350 with 50 doubles.  But in 2015 facing wall to wall power pitchers and LOOGYs with an average 9 K/9 nobody hits like that any more.  In a full season nobody's hit .350 in 11 years.

True...Nick did always struggle with the top fastballs.  
 

He was one of the better off speed hitters I have seen.

[jabba72]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Nick had some injuries in the 2011-13 period, including the Sabathia HBP, that really changed him as a player.  Took away his power.  And I think he really was hurt by the transition to the current all power/all power pitcher game.  bb-ref says he had an OPS 80 points higher against finesse pitchers than power pitchers.  I don't know what the typical split is, but I see Nick as a guy who in an earlier era could have been a Paul Waner or maybe even a George Brett kind of player who hit .330 or .350 with 50 doubles.  But in 2015 facing wall to wall power pitchers and LOOGYs with an average 9 K/9 nobody hits like that any more.  In a full season nobody's hit .350 in 11 years.

In the old days when pitchers fastball was 85mph maybe he could have hit .350, but definitely not in his era. I remember he was struggling his rookie year and scouts were saying his bat speed wasnt elite, but Nick adjusted and the rest is history. 

[Can_of_corn]

9 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I think injuries are as much to blame for that as anything.  His rookie year he hit three homers in a game.  In 2015 he hit three homers.

Sam Horn hit three homers in a game.

[wildcard]

I for one am not going to find fault with Markakis.  He was great on and off the field IMO.    Great person.  Team leader by example.  Played his heart out.   I enjoyed watching him from beginning to the end of his O's career.  Class Act.  I always had confident he would hold up his end.  At bat or in the field.

[NashLumber]

I was relieved it was not anything to do with The Pesky Pole. 

 

7 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I thought you were going to post the Fenway Fondle at bat.

 

7 hours ago, Frobby said:

I’d never heard of that before.    
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wys_JmrK5e4&feature=youtu.be

 

[Just Regular]

His final hit in NLCS Game 6 was a triple.

We need more like him.

[Frobby]

https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/featured/the-best-of-nick-markakis

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

6 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Sam Horn hit three homers in a game.

Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hit three homers on opening day for the Cubs in 1994. He ended up with 13 home runs total for his career. 

[yark14]

Interesting stat I'm doing some research on: how many players have had 43+ doubles for 4 consecutive seasons?  So far all I can find is Tris Speaker and Markakis.

Edited March 13, 2021 by yark14
correction

[HowAboutThat]

10 hours ago, yark14 said:

Interesting stat I'm doing some research on: how many players have had 43+ doubles for 4 consecutive seasons?  So far all I can find is Tris Speaker and Markakis.

Would you rather have 40 doubles or 20 homers? I’d rather have the doubles.

[Teddy OBP]

Loved watching him play. Loved the ridiculous Kinkajou nickname that popped up in the threads.

 I wonder if they would’ve gotten through the Yankees in the playoffs if he hadn’t gotten hurt - I like to believe he’d have gotten an extra hit or made an extra play to make a difference. 

Watching Buck put his arm around him in the dugout was crushing. 

[Frobby]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Orioles/status/1370552509425713153

[O's84]

I'm not going to lie, I shed a few tears when I heard news.  One of my 5 favorite Orioles! (in no particular order): Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts, Cal Ripken, Melvin Mora and Adam Jones.

Thanks for the memories Nick, you were class on and off the field.

[HowAboutThat]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Orioles/status/1370552509425713153

 

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Orioles/status/1370552509425713153

I have a wonderful skill for balancing life. I do not know the source of the quote, but someone once said that the greatest blessing to have enough money to do as you choose and to have it young enough to do as you choose. God bless Nick and his family, I hope he uses his wisdom and his wealth for the good of the people around him.

I would not mind at all if he came back and showed the guys how to take a walk.