Jerry Crasnick's "Starting 9" is a useless space-filler on ESPN.com. This week's was 9 midseason acquisitions that paid "big dividends" in August, September, and October for World Series teams. You know, how guys like Jeff Weaver (who was poor in August and September) and Geoff Blum (who hit one home run in a series that would have almost definitely been won anyway, in a game that might have been won anyway) were major pickups.
Then we get to Mike Bordick. The Orioles traded him to the Mets in 2000 to replace Rey Ordonez.
The payoff: Bordick homers in his first at-bat as a Met and hits .324 in August, but slumps in September and October. After he's benched by manager Bobby Valentine in the finale of the Mets' World Series loss to the Yankees, it's revealed that Bordick has been playing with a broken thumb. His tenure with the Mets is brief, and he re-signs with Baltimore as a free agent in December 2000.
So.....this paid off because he hit a homer sometime in August and had a fluky .324 before having 2 horrible months? I missed the part where he helped his team get to the World Series.
Anyway....this isn't the part that bothers me. This one is.
"If we had nine Mike Bordicks, we would be in contention today,'' Syd Thrift, the Orioles' vice president of baseball operations, tells the Baltimore Sun.
The vice president of the Baltimore Orioles.
Believes.
That if they have 9 Mike Bordicks play every day, they would be way better and in contention.
Fact 1: The Orioles are not in contention right now.
Fact 2: The Orioles score 4.44 runs per game.
Fact 3: The Orioles allow 4.43 runs per game.
Fact 4: Nine Mike Bordicks score 3.92 runs per game, somewhere between the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates.
So, Syd Thrift, in re: 9 Mike Bordicks will put us into contention, no, no it/they would not.
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