More on Loewen
This is how team president Andy MacPhail delivered the news to us concerning Adam Loewen – to a room full of reporters who were braced for it, but still felt its impact:
“Most of you know, are well aware, of Adam's circumstance and we haven't really given you the news yet until we could go through all the medical checkpoints that we felt we had to touch before we got here, but the news isn't really, on some levels, very good at all. Adam has re-suffered a bone fracture in his elbow to the extent that if he were to pitch again, it's going to be a year and a half before he could have any reasonable expectation about getting on the mound again. Now, obviously, Adam's here to speak for himself, but he's indicated to us that he really has zero interest in going down that path again, particularly when there's really nothing assured to him, so that is the very bad news.“The good news is that we have a player here that, as an amateur, is very much a hitting prospect as well, and he has assured me that he can still hit and wants to hit, so the club is prepared to embark on that path with him. And once this season is over, we will start career No. 2 Adam Loewen, which will be in the outfield somewhere in the Baltimore Orioles’ system, provided we can sort through a number of obstacles and technicalities that we have to agree upon to sort of get this career re-started again in the outfield.
“I wish there was someone else up here delivering the bad portion of this news, but we are very fortunate that, in this case, it's not that hard of a decision, because based on the news that we're getting from the medical people, it's not something that you're going to be wondering that you took the right path or not. I think its pretty clear, based on the future that they described, that this is the right course and we're extraordinarily fortunate where we have an athlete that is capable of pursuing a career as a position player, which is not unprecedented in our game that we would have somebody come off the mound and have a career that could potentially be productive as a position player.”Loewen plans on contacting Rick Ankiel, who went from pitcher to productive outfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals. Of course, Ankiel had plenty of chances to bat while also pitching in the National League. Loewen knows he’ll be rusty and this transformation is going to take time.
Here’s a portion of Loewen’s interview:“They believe that the only reason that my arm feels the way it does is strictly from throwing off the mound at a high intensity. So if I was playing first base or outfield or just having time in between throws, not throwing 90-93 off a mound, then my arm's going to be fine, it's not going to bother me swinging the bat and I won't have to have surgery. If I did choose the other path of pitching, it would be a long road with no clear ending. This is not a simple decision, but it's right there in front of me and it was easy to make for me.
“It was devastating news, but I've always had a backup plan, so I'm sure I didn't take it as hard as anybody else would. And as much as I love pitching and love playing for the Orioles, I still have a chance to do that. It's going to be a long and tough road, but I did it one time. Hopefully, I can do it again. I know what to expect and I think I'm mature enough where I can do this and I'm still young enough to where I can do this.”Asked if he’ll be rusty, Loewen said, “Absolutely. It's been six years, probably, five or six years since I've hit competitively in college where I did hit. It's going to take time, it's going to be a real challenge, but Rick Ankiel did it, so at least I have somebody before me that did it that I can relate to.”
Asked if he wished that he could have been a two-way player after being drafted, Loewen said, “In a perfect world, I would have done both, for sure, but I'm 6-6 and I throw left handed, so it was kind of, my path was chosen for me. I didn't have a choice. I probably would have done both, and my second choice would probably have been to hit, so I just love to do both. I'm always going to be a pitcher, there's no doubt about that. I love to do it, I've been doing it ever since I was 9 years old, so it's going to be tough to let it go. But God has a special plan for me and I'm going to be faithful and follow it.”
And more from Loewen: “I don’t feel any pain when I’m just sitting here, but I anticipate some pain if I picked up a bat right now. It’s only been two weeks since I felt what I did on the mound. I just don’t anticipate that feeling now. The goal right now is instructional league. I think it would be a smart thing to make sure this time that I will be ready. I’m so sick of being a Band-Aid, going on the DL and that kind of stuff. It’s challenging and I don’t want to do it anymore. I think we’re going to take the conservative road and just shoot for the instructional league.”
Comments
Quote: "I don't understand why any sane person would put Mora higher than 7th in the lineup."
Dave Trembley's sanity? Check.
Loewen can do this! It'll take time, but he can do it.
Seems like if both sides agreed to void the contract it would be do-able. I wonder if he would seek another Major League call-up guarantee in any new pact.
Posted by: Dave T. | July 19, 2008 8:31 PM
I wish Loewen well, but hitting .350 with one homer in junior college does not make you Rick Ankiel. It's nice for Crow to say if he had three weeks with the guy he'd make him a ML hitter and for Palmer to say he might be the best power hitting prospect in the O's organization, but that's all very wishful thinking at this point. I hope Loewen does it, but the odds are he'll go down as one of the most disappointing top draft picks in our history. It's not his fault; and, he won't be the first guy to succumb to injury and never become the superstar he was expected to be. It's a real shame.
In the meantime, you have to love the fight in the O's. These guys could be in Little Italy by now, but instead the game isn't half over. If Cabrera wasn't such a knucklehead, we might even win this game. If we can get to double digits, we might win in spite of him.
Posted by: terpfan | July 19, 2008 8:32 PM
Hmmm ... forgot about waivers ... that could be sticky ...
Posted by: Dave T. | July 19, 2008 8:45 PM
I wish him good luck. But now it hurts much more that we took him instead of Kazmir or Hamels.
But if he could hit as well as Ankiel. Not talking power. then we might have a pretty solid OF for the near future.
But I know he is on a ML contract so what do they have to do to get him to the minors as a hitter?
Posted by: Shawn | July 19, 2008 8:52 PM
I hope Adam can pull a Ankiel. It's a shame to see this happen. I'm going to ask a question that no one wants to ask: Did the Orioles rush to get him back to the mound? What was the hurry? After all, he was less than a year removed from a serious surgery.
Sure, in the spring he said he felt 100%, but what if they had waited until now before bringing him back? Yeah, I know it's one of those "what if" questions and they consulted sports doctors before making the decision, but I'm thinking they may have goofed. On the other hand, Adam might have been fated either way.
Wild game tonight, with bad Daniel and good Daniel both making appearances and the Orioles hitting like it's batting practice!
D-Cab needs to use all three pitches. As soon as he did that, he settled down. His fielding is still horrendous, as Jim Palmer noted on tonight's telecast, but I think that the team is largrly to blame for not forcing him to finish his delivery in a position to fielding his position.
Palmer, with his four Gold Gloves, would be the logical mentor. D-Cab still follows through like he's trying to throw the ball 100 mph, and the violence that motion carries him so far towards first that his glove is completely behind him. He'd never be able to field a sharp ball hit right back at him. No wonder he flinches, he's defenseless!
Posted by: Ken Francis | July 19, 2008 9:05 PM
So Trembley pulls out his flawed blueprint again and we blow another one of our comeback efforts. Hey Dave, Sarfate cannot do the set up job. Wake the the f**** up!
Posted by: terpfan | July 19, 2008 9:16 PM
can we stop pinch hitting for fahey? i know we don't have a shortstop but he has been by far the best this season and had some nice hits. and when we pinch hit for him they don't ever seem to deliver. i know its no guarantee when he hits, but i'd prefer him hitting over payton. i do feel as if he at least gives us a better chance to deliver some runs
Posted by: chris | July 19, 2008 9:47 PM
Palmer, with his four Gold Gloves, would be the logical mentor.
Ken, I think that's why Palmer was jumping on his so much tonight - Jim has TRIED to help Daniel, and he's not responding, and Jim's taking it as an insult.
Posted by: Bill on da Shore | July 19, 2008 11:56 PM