The phone rang and Frank Robinson grumbled. He hates it when the phone rings in the off-season. Never a moment's rest.
But it was general manager Roland Hemond and it was good news this time, better news than Robinson had any right to expect. The Baltimore Orioles had acquired Glenn Davis from the Houston Astros for three young players. The run-production gap that crippled the club in 1990 had been filled. The credibility gap that reopened after the surprising 1989 season had -- in one decisive stroke -- been slammed shut again.
Robinson said he was so excited he had trouble sleeping that night. Finally, opposing pitchers would be staying awake nights, too.
Davis was the second big hitter the Orioles added during the winter, but he was the first real indication that the club was serious about competing for the American League East title. Dwight Evans was a start, but Davis brought the bat the Orioles would need to be there at the finish.
The off-season had brought a change in philosophy for the financially conservative front office, which had banked heavily on its youth movement after the 1989 season. Who could blame the Orioles for thinking things would only get better after the club climbed out of the AL East cellar to take Toronto to the wire?
But youth is unpredictable. Pitchers Jeff Ballard and Bob Milacki, who had combined for 32 victories in '89, managed seven last year. Third baseman Craig Worthington, The Sporting News American League Rookie of the Year after his 70-RBI season in 1989, was a classic victim of the mythical sophomore jinx.
The Orioles, so certain of their direction only a few months earlier, were forced to rethink their organizational concept or risk a dismal final season at Memorial Stadium.
The emphasis on player development has not been abandoned, but the youth movement had to be sidetracked temporarily while the club rebuilt its offensive capability. Evans and Davis should add at least 45 home runs and 150 RBI to a power-hungry Orioles lineup, but their effect on the makeup of the club reaches far beyond their individual statistics.
The acquisition of Davis addressed the most glaring deficiency. The fourth spot is the most important run-production source in any major-league lineup, but Orioles cleanup hitters ranked last in the big leagues in virtually every relevant statistical category. Robinson used six different cleanup hitters last year, and they combined to bat .222 with 16 home runs and 78 RBI. They also had the fewest hits and the lowest slugging percentage in baseball.
Davis is coming off a year in which a rib-cage injury kept him from putting up the kind of numbers he has grown accustomed to. He has averaged 29 home runs and 89 RBI in his five full !! seasons in the major leagues -- much of that time spent in a ballpark (the Astrodome) that home run hitters refer to as "Death Valley."
If Davis cannot solve the Orioles' cleanup problem, no one can, but his presence in the lineup also could solve some problems for the team's other big hitters.
Shortstop Cal Ripken has not had this kind of protection since Eddie Murray was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1988 season. Left fielder Randy Milligan, who was displaced at first base by Davis, should benefit, too. It will be much more difficult for opposing pitchers to concentrate on any one hitter, especially when Robinson is able to put Davis, Ripken, Milligan, Evans and Sam Horn into the same lineup.
"I think now when you look at our lineup, there are some people in there who can really scare you," Milligan said. "You can't say, in a tough situation, 'We're going to pitch around a couple of guys and let the other guys try to beat us.'
Evans is something of an unknown quantity. His run-production skills are unquestioned, but his ability to play on a regular basis remains in doubt. He was restricted to a designated hitter role by a lower-back injury last season and has not played a regular-season game in the outfield since August 1989. The Orioles need him in right field to maximize their offense but recognize that he may not be able to spend significant time there.
Milligan appears to have solved his playing-time problem. He has spent the spring working out in left field, where he must prove that he is not a liability to protect his place in the everyday lineup. The outfield experiment, which also included first-base prospect David Segui at the outset, has gone well enough to warrant Milligan's presence in the Opening Day lineup.
Milligan will bat second in the lineup, so Ripken could be surrounded on all sides by outstanding hitters, which would make it nearly impossible for opposing pitchers to work around him this year.
"When your lineup becomes a force to be reckoned with," Ripken said earlier this spring, "they have to deal with the whole lineup. When your offense is working well as a unit, there is a potential to win in the first five innings. You can't pitch around people and put people on base, or you'll be in danger of getting blown out."
Though a combination of nagging injuries and numbing bus trips has kept Robinson from playing his regular lineup on a consistent basis this spring, the Orioles appear ready to unveil their best offensive club since the mid-1980s.
"It's a pleasure just to sit and watch this lineup and envision what will be out there and envision what we'll be doing," Robinson said.
The individual performances have been strong from top to bottom, so much so that the Orioles set a club scoring record for runs in spring training. Davis hit well despite a nagging muscle pull in his neck. Evans contributed despite the limited playing time. And Ripken was one of the hottest hitters anywhere, batting .448 going into the final week of the exhibition season.
The only major decision facing Robinson as spring training winds down is the choice between Worthington and rookie third baseman Leo Gomez. Both have produced at the plate and both have made a case for the full-time job, but nothing will be announced until the final cut on Sunday.
Center fielder Mike Devereaux (.240, 28 walks in 403 plate appearances in 1990) figures to be at the top of the lineup after an exhibition season in which he was the club's most consistent on-base threat. He opened spring training in competition with Brady Anderson for the leadoff role but was never really challenged in the early weeks of Grapefruit League play.
There is one more pivotal area of uncertainty on the Orioles roster. The trade that sent power-hitting catcher Mickey Tettleton to the Detroit Tigers left the club committed to a major role for promising Chris Hoiles. But Bob Melvin should play much of the time while Hoiles develops into an everyday player, a process that could take a couple of years.
If the Orioles score more runs this season, and there is every indication that they will, it can only help a pitching staff that was starved for support last year. The starting rotation had little margin for error in 1990, a season in which it was difficult enough just fielding five healthy pitchers.
Ballard has come back to take the Grapefruit League by storm, but he still must prove that his arm is healthy enough to allow him another season like 1989. Milacki, hampered by a sore shoulder last year, has not been so effective. He has been hit hard on several occasions, which could delay his first regular-season start, but he should be in the rotation.
Though Dave Johnson was the winningest pitcher on the club last year (13-9), Robinson named Ballard the starter for Monday's opener against the Chicago White Sox.
The makeup of the rotation still is not clear, though Jose Mesa and Johnson will follow Ballard in the three-man rotation that Robinson will use for the first two weeks of the season. Newly acquired Jeff Robinson and Milacki have struggled through the exhibition season.
Right-hander Ben McDonald originally was penciled in as the Opening Day starter, but a sore elbow may force him to start the season on the disabled list, just as he did in 1990.
The bullpen is much easier to figure. Closer Gregg Olson and setup man Mark Williamson don't have to prove anything, and Robinson has indicated that 39-year-old Mike Flanagan and right-hander J.J. Bautista will be the middle men.
The relief picture could get more complicated a few weeks into the season, when veteran left-hander Joe Price becomes eligible to rejoin the major-league club.
Olson remains most important. He set a club record with 37 saves last year, but his effectiveness was diminished by elbow soreness late in the season. In an attempt to avoid a rerun, Robinson has put him on a limited throwing schedule this spring. No sense leaving any good innings in Florida. Williamson also has been on a decelerated program following a 1990 season that began with one injury (hip strain) and ended with another (broken finger).