MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
Barry Bonds and the Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t the only ones to stage a homecoming reunion over the weekend, as Nick Markakis, too, returned to his original big-league home to join Terry Crowley and the late Dick Bowie as the Class of 2024 of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame Saturday afternoon at Oriole Park.
Markakis was the Orioles’ right-fielder for nine seasons, winning Gold Gloves in 2011 and 2014. He was the Orioles’ top draft pick in 2003 and joined the team three years later, hitting a career .290 for the club with 1,547 hits, seventh most in team history.
Markakis was the best player on some bad Orioles teams in the early 21st century but shrewd trades and drafting by general manager Andy MacPhail brought the likes of Adam Jones, J.J. Hardy, Chris Davis and Matt Wieters, most of whom attended the Hall of Fame ceremonies over the weekend, and the Orioles began to click.
Along with center fielder Jones, Markakis was immensely popular with Orioles fans and in their final five years together they anchored one of the best outfields in the American League.
In 2012, the Orioles qualified for the postseason for the first time since 1997, but Markakis was unable to play because the Yankees’ CC Sabathia broke his thumb with a pitch in September (but the Orioles were probably throwing at them that night). In 2014, the Orioles won the American League East, and Markakis would finally play in the postseason.
That’s when things began to feel too good to be true for Orioles fans, which, during the reign of ownership terror of Peter Angelos, generally foreshadowed darker times. Under manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles were as good as any team in the American League and were built with a solid core of veterans who were not too young and not too old.
The future was promising, but slugging left-fielder Nelson Cruz, ace reliever Andrew Miller and Markakis were free agents, and while Miller was looking for a two-year extension, Cruz and Markakis, one of the two most popular players on the team, were seeking four-year deals.
In the tradition of John Lowenstein, Jon Miller, Davey Johnson and Mike Mussina, Angelos ownership once more delivered on being the killjoy, offering both Cruz, who had belted 40 homers and knocked in 108 in 2014, and Markakis three-year deals, which neither player accepted.
In what proved to be one of the true numbskull moments of the GM Dan Duquette/Angelos era of mismanagement, Duquette said the club did not believe either Cruz or Markakis would be able to hold up physically over the course of four years, even though the only time Markakis played fewer than the 147 games he played in his rookie year was in 2012 when Sabathia ended his season at 102, with the brittle Markakis coming back to play 160 and 155 games the following two seasons.
Markakis, who is from Georgia, signed a four-year deal with the Atlanta Braves and played six more seasons, hit .288 and continued to play a great right field. Cruz also signed a four-year deal with the Seattle Mariners and hit 44, 43, 39 and 37 home runs in those four seasons; then, naturally, played six more seasons after that and continued to hit home runs and drive in runs.
Meanwhile, masterminds Duquette and Angelos bid against themselves and overpaid Davis to a long-term contract the current Orioles are still paying. And, oh, yes, they replaced Markakis on the cheap with the very forgettable Travis Snider, who lasted all of 69 games in Baltimore, and Orioles fans once more were left to wonder what could have been.
Of all the players the Angelos Orioles let walk, Markakis was the most surprising, because it was believed, because of Markakis’ Greek heritage, he had become the owner’s favorite player. In fact, Markakis played on the Greek Olympic baseball team in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, with the Greek national team having been established by none other than Peter Angelos, provided the players’ great-grandfathers had Greek origins.
The truth is, Nick Markakis should have finished his career in Baltimore with the Orioles. He was one of the most popular Orioles players of his generation and one of the very best Orioles players of his generation. Steady and reliable as they come, he rarely said a word. He just showed up every day to do his work, which he did better than most of the players in the league.
When he played in Baltimore, he lived year-round in Baltimore.
“I think that’s a big thing I learned coming to Baltimore, the fans, the city, how loyal everybody is,” Markakis said. “This was great for a 22-year-old kid. This was a great organization to come up and be a part of. I think the commitment, the determination, the loyalty that the city shows to their sporting events here is above and beyond a lot of other places I’ve been.”
Certainly, by the fans’ reaction on Saturday, the only two people who didn’t mind seeing Markakis leave 10 years ago were the then-owner and the then-general manager.
“It’s here in Baltimore and I’m clearly comfortable being here with the fans and everybody in this organization,” Markakis said. “I’m enjoying it. It’s been an experience so far. It’s been awesome.”
It should have been even more awesome.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @MikeBurkeMDT