http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071021&content_id=2274775&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos

This article, says it was Boston who approached MacPhail to invite Millar.

Roch, this is totally unacceptable. It's a dick move to so openly support one of your rivals. Do you see Johnny Damon coming out and showing such obvious love for the Red Sox? No, you don't because the New York media and the fans their would crucify him, and rightfully so. He said way back that he's "a ballplayer, not a cheerleader" but I guess with the Red Sox, he's willing to do whatever. He should apologize to the fans of the Baltimore Orioles and then go and pom pom for the Red Sox all next year. Totally classless.

what's the big deal. it's as close as the orioles are getting to the post season for quite a while.

If the Sox win the WS again right now their fans will be even MORE obnoxious and unbearable next year. Go Rockies!! (Truthfully though I'm just ready for the WS to be over so the signings, trades...oh and the Mitchell report...can get under way)

Yeah, I'm a little irked by Kevin taking place in the ceremonies last night. Like you, Roch, I was fine with him doing the commercial spot..no biggie. But watching him last night on the field in Boston like he had never really left rankled my nerves.

I don't expect him not to still have a soft spot in his heart for a team that so many of his friends are still a part of. But the way I see it, it's sort of like a break up...you'll always still have a little place in your heart for your first love...but if I'm the current girlfriend I'm not going to be real happy if I catch you cuddling up with your ex, that's for darn sure!

I've been going back and forth on this one...I was mad at the Fox promo, and then relaxed a bit and was OK with it...then came the first pitch and all that nonsense and then I think its too much. As a fan it makes me question his wanting to be in B'more, and question his loyalty to a team paying him millions. I think its one thing commiserating with your old team during times like this and then being a stand in mascot which I think it inappropriate.

I'm not ok with it. Send "Cowboy Up" and his .254 avg, 17 hr and 63 rbi hitting butt back to Boston. Not that they need him as a player (who would?), but he would make a cute mascot. It's not like those numbers are hard to come by. The mentality of even THINKING it's ok to do something like that is part of the problem of the past few years, and certainly not part of any solution to changing the losing atmosphere around Camden Yards.

By the way, Roch, your draft post is just inciting gossip... and surprisingly few posters have taken you up on it! I've got my list of names, but I'll keep them to myself. I will share, however, that the "thing with feathers" in my heart has a lot of those names currently wearing pinstripes. At least they would be if they all weren't golfing right now instead of playing more October baseball.

My only comment is "I will never buy another ticket as long as Millar is a member of the Orioles"

I thought Millar was still contracted with the Orioles. What was he doing throwing out the first pitch. If Andy McPhail saw that then Millar can start packing his bags. All I know if one of my players threw out the first pitch for another team I'd start exploring trade options.
y is for why is Kevin Millar turning his back on his current team.

RE: Kevin Millar so-called "Controversy"

BFD!

This is merely a textbook example of a contrived controversy.

Plus, there are a billion Chinese (and another billion denizens of India) to whom this is meaningless.

MacPhail approved it.

According to Millar, the Red Sox first contacted Orioles president Andy MacPhail about the planned ceremony. Only after receiving permission did Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino invite Millar over the phone.

As long as Mr. MacPhail and everybody was OK with it, it's all in fun. I'm throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park."

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071021&content_id=2274775&vkey=ps2007news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Roch, Millar supposedly did get approval to do it, but the bottom line is he should have had enough team pride to decline. If he loves the Sox so much, how can I as a fan guarantee that he is giving 100% out there vs. the Sox? He needs to go, and I encourage fans to let MacPhail know this by signing the petition here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/Millar07/petition.html

No it is not O.K. Millar's act calls into question of who he roots for and when. You say he really wants to beat the Red Sox when the Orioles play them but there will now be a question about that.

Well Roch, it bothered me. My pappy taught me 50 years ago that loyalty and respect towards your employer is a full time commitment. Millar should have kept his emotions in check last night. I won't ever trust him again and will question his strikeout against Boston with no outs and the bases loaded while losing 3-2 - if that situation pops up.

Im not Ok with it. Boston is a division rival, cut your ties with the past until your poor career is over. Cowboy down, get him out of here.

Wait, what happened? He did what? I was stuck in traffic on the Mass. Pike and missed the beginning.

A Boston Globe article says the Sox brass checked it out with McPhail first.

I mean, it's weird, and feels somehow wrong, but at the same time it's just a light hitting first baseman.

According to ESPN, the Red Sox got permission from McPhail before they asked Millar to do the lineup and throw out the first pitch. The bigger thing is before game 5 he apparently taped a rally video for the Boston fans using "we" and "our team" when referring to the Red Sox.

Roch - I think that you are finding that the fans may not necessarily be fine with it though. I know that I am not.

I'll bet you that the Orioles knew nothing of this prior to it happening. If they did, however, and condoned it, I would love to know who made that decision and would like to hear their explanation as to why he felt it was OK for Millar to slap the O's fans in the face the way he did last night.

y is for "y" is Millar still on the roster???

I Can't do it... I can't go along with Millar's BS and for MacPhail to give his blessing irks me even more. Millar is a dayum Oriole.... at least I thought he was. Millar's comment to the press that he doesn't care what people think or say and just lives for the moment is ludicrous. I'm stealing a quote from a poster on another board that fits Millar to a tee.... " He is all for one and one for all as long as that one is Millar ". He nailed it.

According to today's Wash Post, McPhail signed off on it.

Quit with Millar already. He's having fun. Something Os fans don't do much of lately. Maybe we are all just jealous. He is doing no harm to his team. If you ever see him dog it against the Sox, then complain. It's a shame the Sox don't have someone with his personality to announce their own roster, but we have him and I enjoy watching him. He puts in the effort some of his team mates don't. Lets judge him on that.

Come on Roch.... What kind of statement is " I guess I'm OK with it if the Orioles are OK with it ".

Geez... aren't you the free thinker.

Roch, that’s a key point to remember about the Burnett/Lowell no-deal. Lowell appeared to completely bottom out in 2005 and was exactly the type of player the O’s should’ve avoided in that sense (a guy who looks to be about done). That one year in the middle of his other solid years now is an aberration, and he wasn’t in decline for a period of time before 2005. Perhaps that’s something to consider when considering Andruw Jones (not that the O’s should, but any team that will). Sometimes, a bad year is just a bad year and nothing else. This is why good front office personnel is essential—to know more often than not when someone is in decline and when someone has just had a bad year and will recover.

The O’s aren’t going to jettison Trembley for Torre (if he would even come here). It’s just not going to happen unless Trembley does something to merit firing.

How about Steinbrenner’s son laying into Torre? He mentions his dad just about every sentence as he’s taking shots at Torre. It’s comical because it’s the Yankees, but I find it fairly classless and Torre, a guy who seems to be the classiest thing the Yankees have had going for them, deserves better. Say what you will about Torre, but, even with the best talent in the world, it’s difficult to make the playoffs 12 consecutive years, and it’s even more difficult to advance to the World Series (and he did win 4 titles, which is more than the O’s have won in 54 seasons).

While I’m not happy with Boston reaching the World Series, it’s amusing that they made it while the Yankees seem to be going the Orioles’ route with the owner’s sons making stupid decisions, berating former employees, and letting a highly successful manager walk away.

Well am not ok with it....I think it was a slap in the face by Kevin Millar ! ! ! King Peter dumped Jon Miller because he didn't bleed enough orange and black ! You didn't see Johnny Damon there he knew it was wrong to do this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHVKgb5sdcA&NR=1
If he's on the Oriole Roster next year it just goes to show how bad this Organization has become !

Millar should be released. Let him go back to Boston if that is where he wants to be.

I'd be more concerned about Millar if the O's had not just picked up his option for 2008, but I would have felt better if Millar had just retired from baseball and did this. It seems a curious thing for an active player to do.

But, then, you just never know what is going on in Millar's mind.

The thing that bothered me the most was Millar introducing Pedroia with "who leant my #15 to..." That sounded an awful lot like he is thinking of a return engagement.

But I agree with Roch - if it is OK with the O's.... However, the O's I'm really interested in hearing from are his teammates.

I'm absolutely not okay with it and I suspect I'm not the only fan who feels this way. If the front office did sign off on this, it just shows how out of touch they are with a significant segment of their fan base. I go to somewhere between 10-20 games a year at Camden Yards and if Millar is still on the roster next season I plan on booing him prior to his at bats.

at least he felt like a winner for a change

MacPhail signed off on it.

Are they still playing baseball?

Athletes are so fake these days, I find it refreshing that someone like Millar is showing his true colors. He loved being on the Red Sox but was not good enough to remain on their roster. The Orioles made a solid decision to pick him up. He has lived up to his end of the bargain. Many of you are suggesting that in his brief time here he should cut off his past associations because we are his current employers. Are we going to ignore the fact that he publicly states that he loves Baltimore, he plays hard, and has a great attitude throughout the entire season. I respect the man for supporting his former friends and colleagues. He loves the game and we are lucky to have him. Am I glad he is our everyday first baseman given his limited power? No, but that's a separate issue.

My basic point is that I am much more comfortable having extremely social guys who play hard and miss their friends than a bunch of underperforming malcontents, but that's just me.

I also don't get why someone would tell another blogger to stop writing as David did to Jennifer. Even when I disagree with someone as I do now and again with some of the regulars, I still respect where they are coming from. Isn't that the point of this forum--to have different viewpoints to increase your perspective of baseball on and off the field?

I'm fine with it. Millar's appearance at Fenway is the closest the Orioles have come to making the playoffs in 10 years.

Perhaps next year's media guide will even refer to it as an "Orioles playoff appearance."

I think it was a slap in the face to his current teammates & us fans of the O's so I guess I have a problem with it.
My problem started with the reading of the lineup for TV. Throw out the first pitch, for the fans, the history of what he was a part of, OK, grudgingly OK, BUT to go a big step further with the lineup reading on national TV? IF he had an O's cap on while doing it, OK, otherwise... he went too far. Release him or trade him back to Bahston for a case of lobsters... PLENTY of guys are part of this or that ,but do you see them return to former teams , WHILE still playing, & do this?

Y for Y in the h#ll did he feel compelled to do that?

"Borrowing my number 15 jersey, Dustin Pedroia"

1. It's inexcusable to even joke that you have a jersey on hold in a locker room of a division rival!

2. I think Boston likes their new number 15 better.

3. This is completely inexcusable and just adds to the inferiority complex we have towards Boston & New York. Our team leader can't be throwing out first pitches in rival parks! I agree that the promo was fine, but this was just over the line

What Kevin Millar did has no tangible effect on anything: he's a gamer no matter who he's playing for and a guy who is not going to be a part of the Orioles when they are respectable again. However, this is a franchise that is , results-wise, arguably the worse run team in all of North American sports. His actions tell the rest of the world that even it's own players have little respect for the pride of the franchise and further remind everyone of the chasm between the Orioles and baseball's more successful teams. We didn't see Johnny Damon out there, we saw an Oriole and many people, including me, feel that no other team would have a player who would even THINK about doing something like that...let alone one of it's "team leaders." If the Sox still wanted him, he'd be there wouldn't he? Yet his burning desire to be a part of this year's success isn't tempered by that fact that BOS let him walk away, and that his present team values him more than his old one does.

It's more symbolic than practical, but Millar has told us all that we need to know about him, and more than we needed to know about how O's players feel about this franchise.

edit: I now see that the O's gave permission. That's ridiculous. MacPhail is cluless about what this means to the fans.

I dont need to Daves reaction to tell you that it was tacky. Put what ever spin you want but this fan is TV only till he is gone. To bad I was looking foward to Lauderdale and Wrigley but as a fan of this team I have to draw the line somewhere.

hey, who cares if Millar threw out the first pitch for last night's game? and why would anyone have a problem with it? It's pretty obvious his heart's still with the Red Sox, being one of the original Idiots who won a World Series. He plays 100% all the time because he's a competitor, regardless of the team he's on, but you cna't think Millah doesn't wish they had the same team they had in Boston in '04.

I think all of Oriole nation will be in disgust over "Cowboy Up".It's one thing for him to admit to "being one of the idiots". It's another when he thinks that we fall in that category.

That episode made me sick to my stomach. And on top of that he has to annouce their lineup? Traitor. Here's an idea: Slip on your little cowboy boots and ride on out of town cuz as far as I'm concerned I won't welcome you back to the yard!

Roch, I heard on ESPN radio this morning that permission from Andy McPhail was granted for Millar to throw out the first pitch. Maybe email Andy to. Although it was really bizarre for me to see Millar throwing the first pitch and giving roll call, I'm okay with it. At least it gives ppl a feeling that the O's are a classy organization to let him do that. Plus a little PR (public relations) never hurts. And it's also a good trade from all those Boston fans that come to Baltimore and fill up those seats and spend money here in Maryland. Without them were under 20,000 people in attendance.

If the Orioles' team OPS was equal to Millar's, then the Orioles would have made the playoffs. Millar has tons of friends on the Red Sox, and I don't blame him for what he did.

To his credit, Millar played great baseball and gave tremendous effort for the six months after the Orioles dropped out of contention in 2007.

this was an embarrassment to himself, all parties involved, and the fans of the team he is currently under contract with. the fact that the Orioles APPROVED this fiasco further embarrasses the current title holder for most pathetic organization in baseball.

look, i never liked Millar on the O's to begin with. he's a washed-up goofball media-whore. but somewhere in the warehouse someone had to stop and think "i wonder how Orioles fans are going to take this?". then again, maybe not, since all they care about is selling out Camden Yards when Boston or the Yankees visit, they saw it as a further marketing ploy to Boston fans. "Hey Boston fans, come see Red Sox mascot Kevin Millar play first base for the division 'rival' Baltimore Orioles!!!"

cause that's what he's been reduced to: Red Sox Mascot Kevin Millar.

i just don't understand how this was allowed to happen.

You're okay with it if the Orioles are okay with it? Since when are you okay with something just because this lousy organization does it? I think you need a new roll model.

Eh, just posted to Ordine's blog by mistake.

But it is not just about how Millar plays when he's on the field. He's an employee of the Orioles. He shouldn't be publicly promoting one of their direct competitors.

He had no business on the field or in the clubhouse last night. His clubhouse presence is practically all that he has to offer any more. He shouldn't be lending it out free to a team that is going to be trying to beat his own team in a few months

Be happy you got to see an Orioles player throw a pitch in the playoffs.

It hasn't happened in a while, and it may be another decade or two before it happens again.

I'm ok with him rooting for the Sux. He has friends on the team. That is understandable.
To celebrate and participate was probably inappropriate. It really has nothing to do with why the O's suck. Millar has always performed as expected on the field and does not need to feel guilty about cashing his check. How many others can say that on this team?
Four?
Five?

The Red Sox asked permission from Andy MacPhail before asking Millar to throw out the first pitch (http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/10/22/as_usual_millar_provides_shot_of_comic_relief/).

Does this organization have any pride left? Would the Yankees ever allow Johnny Damon to do the same thing? Would any other team allow one of their players to do something like this?

I was angry enough that Millar wanted to do this while under contract with the Orioles, but the fact that the Orioles do not have a problem with a current member of this team openly supporting a rival team is unacceptable. As far as I am concerned, you can put Millar and MacPhail on the next train out of town. It is obvious that neither one of them have their hearts with the Orioles. I will forever question MacPhail's judgment if he would give his blessing to something like this and I will forever question Millar's loyalty to the Orioles when he has to play against the Red Sox.

The Orioles never cease to find ways to let their fans down.

I can't say it bothers me. Kevin Millar's play speaks for itself...this is his offseason, and he can root for whoever he wants to...but when he steps on the field in March or April, I have no doubts that he's giving everything for the Orioles.

It's also nice to see that we're not the only team with an incompetent 3B coach. Of course, if Juan Samuel were in the coaches' box last night, he would not only have sent Lofton to score the tying run, he would have waved in Gutierrez from first.

Did you see the promo he did before game 5? I was rolling on the floor laughing, it was clasic Millar. Any idea where one might find a copy of it on the web so those who missed it can see it?

Who cares??? This should be problem #6,493 on the list of things the Orioles need to be worrying about. Find some pitchers/hitters/new team!

That's a cop out Roch. Why don't you try going to another paper and give a motivational speech. Will the Sun frown upon it?

I know that professional players are not fans. They don't carry the baggage associated with the franchise’s past, nor are they generally tied to the community. Millar probably never thought twice about what he did. His teammates probably don't care, heck, it's tough to know if any of them (besides Guthrie) give a damn about the Orioles other than as a vehicle to collect a paycheck.

The problem is again the front office. The fans are tired of the Orioles being an embarrassment. Watching the team mocked in the press is a daily fact of life. The feeling is compounded every time the Red Sox and Yankee fans overwhelm the stadium because the O's are too pathetic to draw a crowd. The average fan is probably beyond paying attention to the O’s. But I suspect those who care are offended that a current team member is rooting for a division rival that the fans are just sick and tired of seeing and hearing about. The players are in a specialized fraternity and I doubt it affects them. But how can the front office be so clueless as to not realize this wouldn’t go over well with the poor slobs called the home town fans? The Oriole’s PR machine once again gets a failing grade. More embarrassment for the O’s fans, whether the disassociated front office and players realize it or even care.

I thought this was all supposed to change.

Ken Francis - the operative word in your most recent post on signing Wood is "if he is healthy enough...."

That, as they say is the 64,000 question.

I agree that, if he is healthy, Wood could be a quality addition in the bullpen and/or as a 5th starter. My problem, however, is after Benson, Wright, Ainsworth and others, we might not want to be making that big a gamble.

If the pitching were in better over-all shape it would be worth adding a pitcher like Wood and even waiting an extra year for him to be ready to pitch in the big leagues.

But we just went through a season with almost all of the good pitchers hurt and young guys like Liz and Olson needing work. The resources Wood might reuire would be better spent on the young guys and making sure the 2006 injured guys are 100%.

Wood could be another Guthrie but he could also be another Wright - he is too much of an unknown right now.

To those who are not bothered by this...

The whole stupid bushwa with Red Sox Nation/Cowboy Up/2004 Mystique/yada yada is just money in the bank for the Red Sox, and Millar was helping to perpetuate it.

Money in the bank for the Red Sox just adds to their competitive advantage. As if it's not big enough.

If MacPhail really did sign off on this then I am really disappointed in his judgment.

Count me in as someone who's not OK with it.

Why wouldn't Johnny Damon do something like this? Why didn't they get Trot Nixon to come out of the Indians dugout and throw out the first pitch if there is nothing wrong with this? Because it would be inappropriate. They compete with the Red Sox and they shouldn't be openly rooting for Boston, right?

Guess what Kevin. You're not playing on a chuch league softball team. You play for the Baltimore Orioles, whose fans and management pays your salary. We also compete with the Boston Red Sox and we don't like being made to feel like some kind of rebound team while you still pine for the team that dumped you.

And shame on Orioles management if they OK'd this. Mel Proctor and Jon Miller weren't rah rah enough for Angelos. We need to know that our players actually want us to win too.

I think the Orioles brass needs to dump Millar immediately. I am going to Boo him the entire rest of his time in an Orioles uniform.

This is totally unacceptable. He should be released to ASAP.

how funny is it that anyone cares? The owner of this team lies to its fans annually. LIES. He says he will do anything and does nothing. He says the word "win" but thinks it means the same as "make a profit" He laughs all the way to the bank. He runs the most inept organization in major sports. And the fans care about this??? Too funny. The owner has chosen to live up to he team's St Louis Browns legacy rather than its Baltimore Oriole legacy. But apparently we will be renting players to the Sawx instead of the Yanks as the Browns did. During Angelos' tenure, I have gone from having a full season tix package to a mere 13 game package to having not set foot in Camden Yards since the strike ended to not having watched more than an inning or two at a time during the entire playoffs this year. THAT is the legacy of Peter Angelos. Baseball? I remember that. Didnt the native Americans used to play that game way back in our country's early history? Good for Millar for having the chance to get away from the Orioles if only for a night and remember what baseball is outside the black hole that is Angelos' Orioles..

Perhaps MacPhail gave Millar his okay, because he plans on shipping him out of town anyway?

It's inexcusable for Millar to be back in an O's uniform next year.

Wow - it's not just MacPhail who misjudged fan reaction, because I never would have predicted this level of hysteria. But then again I never got worked up over what name was on the road uniforms, either.

"Why not get Johnny Damon to do it?" Well, Damon plays for the Yankees, and as the world knows the Yankees and the Red Sox have been heated rivals for a century. It's not the same with the O's and the Sox.

Our rivals aren't the Yankees and the Red Sox, they are the Devil Rays and the Blue Jays. When was the last time we finished closer to first than last? And our fans get bent out of shape because a guy that has been on our team for two years got asked back for a light-hearted promo?

God forbid we should trade Millar for Manny Ramirez because all our players should think it's the end of the world if we don't make the World Series. It doesn't matter if he hit .400 with four homers in the playoffs - if he doesn't feel his life is worthless if they lose then he's a bum.

For the record, I hate the Yankees and the Red Sox are getting pretty close to that level now also. But I like Kevin Millar and the attitude he brings to the game, to the clubhouse, and to life.

Get a life everyone. There's people dieing in Iraq everyday! Leave Millar alone. He's only having fun!!

Why is MacPhail signing off on it? What's he thinking?

I think a lot of O's fans are projecting their anger over the bandwagoning Red Soxers that descend on Camden Yards like starlings at a birdfeeder.

Larry Lucchino, (long time connection to Baltimore) called McPhail & asked permission, received permission & then invited Millar. Dave Roberts was also invited and allowed to attend but couldn't make it with such short notice. The Mets said "no" concerning Pedro Martinez. At first Millar hedged until he was told Bill Mueller (active with the Dodgers F.O.) threw out the ball the night before.

The "pep talk" from Millar, that 20 sec. "come on folks, get off the bridge, quit your bitching & support your team" is comical considering the fans ate it up. My 6 year old asked if he was making fun of the fans and in a way he was.

Players are traded faster than their baseball card and to them, they are competitors & colleagues and more often than not, former teammates. Baseball wives & families spend a lot of time with each other via charity stuff so the ties formed go deeper than a uniform.

If it makes Orioles fans feel better, remember we clinched the pennant for the Red Sox by beating the Yankees.

Roch, a good luck charm is exactly what he is to them. He was the only one that never lost faith. We could use that type of faith. And it gives us something to gossip about because baseball is, in the end, entertainment.

When it comes to playing for the Orioles Millar gives it all every time. And more so against the Red Sox.

I want to remind fellow Bird fans that it was Millar who hit the 2 rbi single at Fenway in 2006, which not only won the game for the Orioles but dropped the Red Sox into 3rd place. And it was Millar's 3-rbi home run this season that took the series from the Sox at Camden.

We will see this occurance become commonplace over time.

I don't really see the big deal here. There's a huge difference between the Red Sox asking Trot Nixon to do something like this and asking Kevin Millar, which is the fact that the Orioles' season is over. It's absolutely irrelevant to the Baltimore Orioles if Kevin Millar supports the Boston Red Sox during the postseason. And that's why the Orioles gave their permission for him to take part in the ceremony. If the Orioles don't want Millar to root for the Sox during the postseason, then they need to get off their butts and improve their roster so they can PLAY the Red Sox in October next year. As for dumping him, Millar plays hard and works hard every day, hit better than league average and fields his position well. The guys the Orioles need to get rid of are the ones who didn't do those things.