Yogi Berra had a theory about third base that seemed appropriate for Melvin Mora last month, as he struggled through his adjustment to the hot corner for the Orioles.
"Third ain't so bad," Berra once told Sport magazine, "if nothin' is hit to you."
Mora made seven errors in the first 11 games, leading some to wonder if the Orioles had erred when they handed him the third base position in the first place.
He made the All-Star team last year as a super utility player, a job that required him to play above-average defense all over the field. In 96 games last year, spent mostly in the outfield, he committed just two errors.
"That's the one thing I've been doing my whole career, playing defense," Mora said. "You're going to have a bad week or a bad month. You just need to forget about it."
But the Orioles were unwavering in their confidence, and with the season now in its second month, Mora is starting to play like one of the top offensive third basemen in baseball.
He still holds the major league lead with nine errors, but there are several signs that his defense is improving. And among all third basemen, going into last night, he was first in on-base percentage (.440), second in batting average (.362) and sixth in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.962).
"It's never really been a concern for us," said Orioles vice president Mike Flanagan. "We felt he could handle it. He's played there in the past. He's got the arm, he's got the foot speed, he's got the quickness - all the things that are important tools to play third base."
Flanagan had his own theory about third basemen last season, when he was helping craft the team's blueprint for free agency. Some of the best third basemen, Flanagan said, were at shortstop.
The New York Yankees helped prove this by trading for Alex Rodriguez - the American League's Gold Glove Award winner at shortstop - and moving him to third.
The Orioles had obvious holes at catcher (which they filled with Javy Lopez), shortstop (Miguel Tejada) and first base (Rafael Palmeiro). They also had a void at third base, but they gave the job to Mora, who hadn't played the position on a regular basis since 1994, when he was at Single-A Osceola in the Houston Astros' farm system.
Mora did have 192 games of big league shortstop experience, and Flanagan had seen several players make the move from shortstop to third.
