Baltimore Orioles Big and Small
Author’s picture from FanFest 2014
Guess what day it is! Hey, hey … Baltimore Orioles fan … what day is it? That’s right. FanFest! And beyond that it is January 31st. Tomorrow is the first day of the month in which players report for spring training! FanFest is a sort of baseball hump day!
A lot of you who are our daily readers are likely headed to FanFest, or you are catching up with us later after getting home. Circumstances have conspired against me to be there with you this year, and I’ll miss it.
If I ever get to be President of the USA, I want Dan Duquette as Press Secretary
Hopefully everyone makes nice with Dan Duquette. Even though I won’t witness it and I’m writing this hours before the event begins, I know that DD had a perfectly-worded, politically-correct comment about all that transpired over the past couple months with the pitiful Blue Jays and their pursuit of him. If I ever get elected as President of the USA, DD will be my Press Secretary – nobody is better. And I’m not mocking him … really, at least not this time. It is a great talent and I respect his ability.
As I reflect on FanFests of the past, a couple of memories stick out. One is to see how truly close the guys in this clubhouse are to one another in this era of Buck Showalter’s leadership. And it is a great day filled with candid and awesome one-liners by many of the players and management.
The other impression is to see just how big, or how small, certain players are in real life when up close and on the same level. It is sometimes difficult to judge from the stands or on TV, although there is no venue where, say, Dustin Pedroia does not look like a smurf.
Years ago I lived in Dallas where I went to graduate school. My business on the side was in the area of swimming pool maintenance. Among my clients were two Cowboys football players: wide receivers Drew Pearson and Tony Hill. When watching them on TV, they looked like toothpicks and a pair of skinny cross country distance runners who didn’t belong on a football field. But when standing next to them in their back yard by the pool, these were two very big and stacked human beings.
At FanFest over the years, two Orioles players that always stood out in this fashion were Matt Wieters and Jim Johnson. I think they are both 6-5 along with being pretty put together. On the other hand, I have at times been surprised at how some players did not look anywhere near as large as I imagined from seeing them so frequently on TV. In particular it was Mark Reynolds who, though listed at 6-2 and 220 pounds did not look anywhere near that size in street clothes.
So who are the biggest and smallest Orioles players?
If Mark Hendrickson makes the team, he will certainly be the tallest. But on the current 40-man roster it is a three-way tie between Brad Brach, Mike Wright and Ryan Webb – all of them standing 6-6. Webb has 30 pounds on the other two, weighing 245.
The heaviest of the Orioles is no surprise to anyone who would sit and think about it for a moment. Tommy Hunter is 260 pounds on a frame that is 6-3. Some might have guessed Delmon Young, who is the same height as Hunter, but 20 pounds lighter.
On the opposite end of the scale, it is Miguel Gonzalez who is the lightest of the Birds at 170 pounds. He does stand at 6-1.
A total of only four of the 40 players are under six feet tall. Steve Pearce, David Lough, and Wesley Wright are 5-11, whereas Rey Navarro is the shortest at 5-10. Combining small stature and low weight is Lough at 5-10, 180, though he may be the most fit and chiseled of all the Orioles players.
Years ago there was a particularly small shortstop for the KC Royals named Freddie Patek. He was asked once what it felt like to be the smallest player in baseball. And his answer was that it felt was better than being the biggest guy in the minor leagues. Good answer!