I just want you to know that I am sorry about how I did not appreciate your time in Baltimore. I am sorry that I truly did not understand your value as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. The funny thing is that I started to appreciate you as a ballplayer when you were in Atlanta. Now, you are retiring from baseball. So, I think it is time I let you know that your career should be appreciated and saluted.
Nick, looking back on your time in Baltimore, I believe my apathy for your career began because you started off so well. You debuted in 2006 and finished 6th in the Rookie of the Year voting. Then, the next two years Nick you looked like there was a possibility you could be the O's next homegrown star. It seemed like you would be a 20 plus homer guy with 45 doubles who would hit .300, draw walks, drive in and score 100 runs a year while playing Gold Glove defense in right field for a decade.
Well, that did not happen Nick. Instead, you settled into a good, solid dependable player. You did win three Gold Gloves, finished your career as a .288 hitter with a career .357 on-base percentage. But you never ripped 20 homers, hit .300 or drove in or scored 100 runs again. You were only an All-Star once and never finished in the Top 10 in MVP voting.
To be honest, that disappointed me. I was expecting excellence and got pretty good. It was a downer Nick. Pretty good, solid and dependable are honorable traits. But when you were expecting an All-Star, be a Corvette and you became a Toyota Camry.
When you left as a free agent after the 2014 season and signed with the Atlanta Braves, I did not think it was going to be a big deal to replace your solid, dependable production. Well, the Orioles replaced you with Travis Snider. Like I have said before, it might as well had been Dee Snider. I have lost track of how many players have started games in right field since you left Baltimore.
Watching you in Atlanta Nick is when I started to get you. The things you were excellent at are not measured by stats. You were fantastic at showing up. You played in at least 145 games all but three of your 15 years in the league. Through aches, pains and injuries your name was always in the line-up card. After watching you drag yourself onto the field day after day, do you think another guy in that clubhouse would take a game off with a broken fingernail?
Leadership does not have a stat. You helped the Orioles go from basement dweller to snapping a fifteen-season play-off drought. Right after you showed up in Atlanta, the Braves started rebuilding. With the help of your stoic leadership, four years later the Braves started a three-year post-season run. You taught young players how to be pros. How to grind through a season without getting too high or too low.
You ended your career with almost 2,400 hits, those three Gold Gloves, four trips to the play-offs and countless players in two organizations who will always rave about your leadership. Numbers do not tell the story of how good a career you had.
By the way, the solid, dependable Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in America for 14 consecutive years.
Congrats to you Nick Markakis for a full baseball life. And please accept my apology for not recognizing your value sooner.
