Mills’ Time Is Over in a Flash

Having had some time to brush up on his photography skills, Alan Mills returned to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Mills rejoined the Baltimore bullpen after serving a two-game suspension for punching Darryl Strawberry during a May 19 brawl between the New York Yankees and Orioles. He used the time off to enjoy a hobby he practiced years ago.

The right-hander positioned himself in the photographer’s well Saturday night at Camden Yards as Baltimore faced Texas and took some shots of his teammates.

They, in turn, took shots at him Sunday.

After seeing Mills on ESPN with camera in hand, Doug Drabek yelled across the clubhouse,

“You’re on TV, dude. You’re busted, caught, fined!”

Mills wasn’t sure whether the suspension allowed him on the field with a camera instead of a glove, but he did it anyway.

“I still don’t know if it’s something I’m supposed to do, but I wasn’t in the dugout and I wasn’t in uniform so I don’t see any rules that I broke,” he said.

“I just used the day for my advantage. I never have a chance to take a picture at a big-league ballgame, even though I see them all the time.”

Mills became interested in photography as a teenager, but drifted away from the hobby after someone stole his first camera. He used a rather expensive camera of his own Saturday.

“I tried to get a picture of a double play being turned but it never happened,” he said.

Minutes later, Mills turned to shortstop Mike Bordick and said, “I tried to get you but you wouldn’t do anything.”

Bordick smiled and replied, “Every time I looked up and saw you I stood at attention.”