Melvin Mora Retires: Longtime Oriole Should Be Remembered Fondly

After 13 seasons in the MLB, former New York Met, Baltimore Oriole, Colorado Rockie and Arizona Diamondback Melvin Mora announced his retirement today on this Dec. 29, 2011.

Anyone who will be reading this article knows Mora's story: Utility man with the Mets before being traded to the O's in 2000, played some center, and eventually became the O's everyday third baseman up until the Birds let him walk after the 2009 season.

The father of quintuplets—yes, that's five children from the same pregnancy—had a fairly notable career with the Orioles, making two All-Star appearances, one in 2003 and the other in 2005, and winning a Silver Slugger as a third baseman during his career year in 2004, a season in which he his .340 with 27 homers, 104 RBI, 111 runs scored and 41 doubles, all of which happen to be career highs.

He also was no slouch at the hot corner, regularly making fantastic plays. He's second on the Orioles all-time list of games played at third base (behind Brooks Robinson, of course), and in 2009, he posted the best range factor of all starting third baseman in the majors at 3.14.

But this piece isn't about Mora's career details and accomplishments. It's about making sure he gets the due praise he deserves.

Mora was the kind of player that would do anything that was asked of him from the coaches. He'd try for a steal, he'd bunt a guy over, he'd play other positions. Anything that was asked of him, he'd do, because he just wanted to help his team win and enjoy the success of winning with his teammates.

Yes, there were those times where Mora would swing at a third strike breaking ball going down and out of the zone, or where he'd make a bone-headed decision, but I think he got more hate for those instances than he deserved. All ballplayers make mistakes. It's part of the game. That's why there's an "error" column on the scoreboard.

Regardless, Mora gave the best years of his career to the city of Baltimore and the Orioles organization, and I can tell you that even though he never won a World Series with them, nor at any other point during his career, he doesn't regret it for a second, because he loves Baltimore and the fans of the Orioles. It shows by the charity work he does, as well as his family residing in Fallston, Md.

His career stats—both hitting and fielding—rank him in notable position in their respective categories in the Orioles franchise leaderboard. He hit the third-most home runs and drove in the third-most RBI for a third baseman in Orioles history and ranks 11th all-time for home runs and 12th all-time for RBI by an Oriole. His career .280 average with the club isn't too shabby, either.

Someday, he should end up in the Orioles Hall of Fame. He was one of the more well-rounded and most loyal players the Orioles have ever had the privilege of putting on the field, and it's too bad he never got to win a championship with them.

Seeing the article that announced his retirement filled me with a combination of happiness for him, as he had closed the door on a successful career, and sorrow, as seeing him retire really made it hit me that no, he no longer plays for the Baltimore Orioles, and he will never get to win himself a ring.

Remember Mora fondly, Orioles fans, because he's going to remember all of us fondly.

Growing up, my dad's favorite player was Brooks Robinson. Brooks was his guy. Brooks was his third baseman, as he was to every other Oriole fan out there.

When I became old enough to follow the MLB, Melvin Mora was the third baseman of the Orioles.

Melvin Mora is my third baseman.