Orioles 2003 Top 10 prospects

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Werth had 20 homers in four years in the O's system, then 20 homers his first year in the Jays' system. The Orioles were 180 degrees out from today, they were today's Royals and Werth was the Ryan O'Hearn.

True that. Now, I will say this about Werth, he was getting hitting advice from his uncle from what I remember and kept hitting off his front foot. I still remember Andy Etchebarren telling me that until he stops doing that, he's never going to hit for the power that he's capable of. I also remember Andy telling me he was never going to be catcher in the major leagues. Say what you want about the old school guys, Andy was rarely wrong with his evaluations. 

Actually Etchebarren was one of the guys I eventually won over. I can remember him not wanting much to do with me as some internet guy running a website, but I guess the more we talked the more he opened up. Towards the end of his time with the Orioles, by God he was downright friendly with me. And if anyone has met him, that's a feat I'm proud of!

 

[now]

Funny reading these reports now, what pops for me is the evergreen promise that Markakis's gap power would someday turn into home runs. Never happened (peak of 23, averaged 14).

[truespectra]

Syd Thrift and the Orioles “confederate money”

[Jim'sKid26]

On 12/15/2023 at 11:55 AM, Tony-OH said:

True that. Now, I will say this about Werth, he was getting hitting advice from his uncle from what I remember and kept hitting off his front foot. I still remember Andy Etchebarren telling me that until he stops doing that, he's never going to hit for the power that he's capable of. I also remember Andy telling me he was never going to be catcher in the major leagues. Say what you want about the old school guys, Andy was rarely wrong with his evaluations. 

Actually Etchebarren was one of the guys I eventually won over. I can remember him not wanting much to do with me as some internet guy running a website, but I guess the more we talked the more he opened up. Towards the end of his time with the Orioles, by God he was downright friendly with me. And if anyone has met him, that's a feat I'm proud of!

 

Etch was hard. I got to know him when he was with the Angels during my high school years. Long story, but suffice it to say he's originally from Whittier, Ca which is very close to where I grew up. He was not known to pull punches and rarely sugar-coated his opinions to seem "politically correct." If he liked you and treated you well, you must have done something right.