FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-- --For established major league veterans, dodging the long exhibition road trips is one of the rites of spring.
That's why Orioles manager Dave Trembley found it so refreshing when Melvin Mora came into his office last week and asked for permission to make the 130-mile trek down Alligator Alley to play against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla.
"I wasn't taking him on that trip," Trembley said. "He saw Luis Hernandez was on the trip, and he said, 'I'll go to Fort Myers, but I don't want to take the bus. I want to drive myself and take Luis with me so I can talk to him.' "
Hernandez is the leading candidate to start at shortstop this year, but it hasn't been a happy spring. He has struggled with the glove and with the mental challenge of replacing superstar Miguel Tejada in the lineup, which is a lot to think about for a 23-year-old rookie with just 57 days of major league service time. Nice of Mora to notice and help to talk him through it.
"He's done an awful lot," Trembley said.
So, you're probably wondering if this is the same Melvin Mora who looked so glum at times last year. That thought probably crossed a lot of minds after he arrived at Fort Lauderdale Stadium four weeks ago and immediately predicted he would hit 40 homers this season.
Mora says that nothing has changed, other than his health. He missed a chunk of last season with a sprained foot and had to scramble to finish with a respectable .274 batting average. He came back this spring in terrific shape and has been impressing everyone at third base and with the bat.
His approach at the plate has been so impressive that hitting coach Terry Crowley has compared Mora's mechanics this spring to the 2004 season when he hit .340 with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs.
It's not like the guy has gotten three years younger, so you have to wonder if there was some catalytic event that reinvigorated him over the offseason. He says there was not, but there have been whispers all spring that this supposed renaissance has something to do with the absence of Tejada.
"No, it's not that," Mora said yesterday. "I was comfortable with everybody. We had fun together. Every day I had something to say to him, and he had something to say to me. There was no fighting during our [four] years together. ... No disrespect. We miss him."
Still, Mora acknowledged the issues that complicated Tejada's tenure in Baltimore, particularly the widely held notion that there was one set of rules for Miggi and another for everybody else.
"If the manager says to be here at 8:30, and you show up at 8:35, what does that tell the young kids?" Mora said.
The reason he feels better this year, Mora said, is because Trembley runs a highly organized camp, and because the boundaries are clear for everybody. Mora compares it to the example he tries to set for his six children.
"If I curse at home, then my kids are going to learn to do that, and eventually you're going to hear them do that on the street," he said. "It's the same thing with young players. If you see a veteran down, or if you see a veteran show up late, what does that tell you to do?"
Trembley also gives the Tejada issue a wide berth, though other players in the Orioles' clubhouse complained privately about the liberties Tejada took at times over the past three years.
"I think there's one big thing with Melvin," Trembley said. "He doesn't want anybody to feel like they are better than anybody else. That's how I see it."
Mora agrees, which is why he rejects the idea that he is just happy to emerge from Tejada's shadow and assume more of a leadership role in the clubhouse.
"I've never considered myself a leader," Mora said. "I just want everybody to be the same. I know people will treat me with respect because I've been here, but I don't care about that. I want everybody to feel the same.
"When I came to Baltimore, the first person to come over to my locker and welcome me to Baltimore was Cal Ripken Jr. I remember thinking, 'Wow, Cal Ripken just welcomed me to Baltimore.' Why wouldn't I do the same thing?"
That's one of the reasons he took Hernandez on that ride down Alligator Alley.
"I've done that my whole life," Mora said. "I don't look for people to recognize what I do with young players. I want those players to someday see a young player and do exactly the same thing."
peter.schmuck@baltsun.com
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