Orioles Envisioning Horn of Plenty

The Baltimore Orioles have heard all the knocks against Sam Horn. Whispers from the Boston Red Sox are that he’s unable to control his weight, can’t hit curveballs and is a defensive liability at first base.

The Orioles might believe these evaluations if they hadn’t heard similar things about Mickey Tettleton, Mike Devereaux, Randy Milligan, Joe Orsulak and a handful of others the past couple of years.

Baseball’s boneyard has become their gold mine and that’s one reason they ignored a lot of negative comments to sign Horn, 26, to a minor league contract this winter. It’s also why, when they went looking for another hitter this week, they decided to recall him from Rochester.

“You have to see for yourself,” Orioles hitting coach Tommy McCraw said. “I’m excited about Horn because I’ve seen him swing. I’ve seen the power he can produce. There may be things he can’t do, but that’s true of almost everyone. We heard some of the same stuff about Milligan, Devereaux and a lot of others. Where would we be without them?”

Horn--all 6-5 and 240 pounds of him--will be in the lineup as a designated hitter for Thursday’s exhibition game against the Atlanta Braves. Manager Frank Robinson said he’d probably play the final four exhibition games and what he won’t say is this: If Horn shows almost anything, he’ll be added to the roster and be in the lineup on opening day Monday in Kansas City.

The Orioles frankly have no idea what he can do. “We’ll just let him play and see what happens,” General Manager Roland Hemond said.

What they do know is that he’s big and strong and that he’s the best solution for an offense that needs power and at least another bat.

The Orioles have inquired about a dozen or more different hitters -- Jay Buhner, Danny Tartabull, Hal Morris, Alvin Davis, Matt Nokes, Frank Stubbs, among others -- since last season ended. But any of the major deals would require them to give up some of their young pitching or a front-line player and they didn’t feel their rebuilding or farm system was far enough along to allow that.

Instead, they’ve settled on released players -- the same type that helped them so often last year.

His presence squeezes someone else out of playing time and the first victim may be Orsulak, who faced a similar situation last year and ended up with 390 at-bats and a team-high .285 batting average.

“Don’t worry about ‘Slak,” Robinson said. “He always gets counted out and he always ends up with his at-bats. It’s a long season and everyone will get a chance to play. Sometimes players today aren’t too good at seeing the big picture.”

Orsulak was scheduled to be the DH this season, while Robinson tried a set outfield of Phil Bradley, Mike Devereaux and Steve Finley.

Finley is hitting .125 this spring. But he’s only 25 and the Orioles believe he may be an outstanding everyday play for a decade or more. Orsulak may eventually move to right field -- perhaps even by opening day -- but Wednesday Robinson seemed to be leaning toward Finley.

Horn is nothing if not interesting. He’s something of a minor league legend since hitting 30 home runs for Pawtucket in 1987, but he never made it in three different tries with the Red Sox. The Orioles say that after one brief tryout in 1987, he never had a chance.

“He gets 158 at-bats one year and hits .278 with 14 home runs,” Robinson said. “After that, he gets 61 at-bats one year and 54 the next. You know those at-bats didn’t all come in a row, so maybe he never got put in there long enough to show what he could do. ... If he can produce, you can accept some shortcomings. I’m intrigued about the presence he can bring to this ballclub.”

Horn, 26, became a six-year minor league free agent, and was anxious to leave the Boston organization.

He chose the Orioles “because of their reputation of giving guys from outside the organization a chance. I talked to Milligan and Devereaux and they were complimentary of the management.”

He left spring training on Monday to be with his mother, who suffered a stroke in San Diego on Sunday. She was taken out of intensive care Wednesday and Horn was scheduled to arrive in Miami late Wednesday night.

“I’m real optimistic about the opportunity,” Horn said. “I want to come in and do well. I can’t say I’m going to be ripping from the start, but I feel like I can contribute. I saw the Orioles as a team that would give me a chance and I want to take advantage of it.”

The Orioles had intended to send him to Rochester for at least the start of the season even though some in the organization -- including McCraw -- had wanted to bring him to the major league camp. But with rosters expanded to 27 players and Horn having finished minor league spring training with five home runs, seven RBI and a .313 average, he’s getting a chance.