Remembering Old Orioles: Kevin Millar

Although he played the majority of his career with the Red Sox and Marlins, Kevin Millar‘s power was undeniable while with the Baltimore Orioles.

Just a little over two years after Millar helped the Red Sox win their first World Series title since 1918, he signed with the Orioles as a free agent on January 12th, 2006. Initially Millar was not an everyday player, but once Dave Trembley took over as manager, he began to play more regularly.

Just like many players who join the Orioles, Millar’s power numbers went up. After hitting only nine home runs in 2005 with the Red Sox, he hit 15 homers in 2006, 17 in 2007, and 20 in 2008. In his 12-year playing career, Millar was not a player who got a lot of hits, but he was a player who always worked the count and got on base.

In his three years in Baltimore, Millar’s batting numbers were:

• 2006: batted .272/.374/.437 with 59 BB and 64 RBI
• 2007: batted .254/.365/.420 with 76 BB  and 63 RBI
• 2008: batted .234/.323/.394 with 71 BB and 72 RBI

Defensively, Millar was a good first baseman. In his three seasons with the team, he never let his fielding percentage dip below .990.

More importantly though, Millar was a leader on the ball club. Just like in Boston, Millar was a guy who his teammates could rally around. The thing that made Millar so likable was his sense of humor. He never took himself too seriously on any particular day. Millar always had a smile on when he was at the ballpark.

No. 15 also understood what Orioles baseball was all about. He embraced the tradition and history of the organization and he even made an “Orioles Magic” music video in 2008 along with some teammates, including Gold Glove center fielder Adam Jones, which can be seen here.