With her quintuplets riding as passengers, single-file, Gisel Mora arrived at Camden Yards recently with a one-of-its-kind baby stroller.
The five babies, all healthy and happy, had come to see where Daddy worked. Melvin Mora emerged from the Orioles' clubhouse and smiled. What a difference a year makes, he thought.
There were times last season when Melvin would fall asleep in the batting cage from sheer exhaustion. He would go straight from the ballpark to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where Gisel was treated during a most complicated pregnancy.
He'd go home, sleep two or three hours, and return to the hospital with breakfast for Gisel "because," Mora said, "you know how the hospital food is."
When it came time to do his job, Melvin was tired, and his performance suffered.
His batting average with the Orioles sagged 41 points from the 2000 season, when he arrived in a trade from the New York Mets and hit .291.
It was a sometimes agonizing year for the Moras, who learned in mid-March that Gisel was pregnant with quintuplets. On July 28, while Melvin was in California with the Orioles, Gisel gave birth three months prematurely.
Along the way, there were several anxious moments, but the Mora Mobile provided proof of how far they've all come. Genesis, the first baby born and smallest of the bunch, now weighs 12 pounds. Jada weighs 13 pounds, Rebecca 15, Matthew 16 and Christian 17.
They will be 9 months old next Sunday, but as preemies, their progress gets measured as if they were approaching the 6-month mark.
"Overall, they're doing well," Gisel said. "They're growing. The doctors are really happy with their progress. We still have some preemie issues, but we're over the worst of it."
Melvin can rest a little easier these days, and it shows.
Possibly the Orioles' most valuable player through the first three weeks, Mora entered this weekend's series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays batting .311 with 14 walks and seven stolen bases.
He has started at four positions, nearly one for every new baby - left field, center field, second base and shortstop - and committed just two errors.
"Melvin," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said, "is a special player."
Gisel just wishes her husband would relax more.
"He's a worrywart," she said lovingly this week.
When Melvin is home, he tries letting Gisel get some much-deserved rest. He gets up with the babies. He takes Gisel's oldest daughter, Tatiana, to school.
