Mar 24, 2008 4:31 pm US/Eastern
Millar Embraces Current Job With The Orioles
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) ―
Every time Kevin Millar steps to the plate, dozens of fans shout, "Cowboy Up!"
It's a phrase Millar made famous during Boston's run to the 2004 world championship. Although he's now with the Baltimore Orioles, no one seems to have forgotten Millar's glory days with the Red Sox.
"I'm a fan of the game, I love baseball, and that's something that people relate to me. We won a World Series," he said. "I'm not a great player, but people know me for other things. Yeah, he's the Cowboy Up guy. It's fun. Little kids say it."
Millar is proud of his three-year run in Boston, but now he's got the word "Orioles" on the front of his baseball uniform. This will be his third season with Baltimore, and the first baseman cares as much about this organization as he did the Red Sox -- even if he hasn't been able to come up with a nifty new battle cry.
"I've played here as long as I played with Boston. I feel like I'm part of the organization now. I'm an Oriole, period," Millar said.
Millar created a bit of a stir around Baltimore last October when he threw out the first pitch in the World Series at Fenway Park. He was signing autographs as Fort Lauderdale Stadium this spring when an irate Orioles fan accused Millar of selling out.
"He said you disrespected the fans of Baltimore for throwing the first pitch out. I said, 'Sir, let me explain something to you. No matter what you say, that was part of my life. I was a World Series champion in 2004 and I was representing the '04 team. It had nothing to do with the '07 team.
"I don't root for the Boston Red Sox. I'm an Oriole. But the Red Sox are part of my life, the Marlins are part of my life. If I'm here to worry about your feelings and opinions, I can't please everybody."'
Truth is, Millar initially rejected Boston's request. He was in Houston for a wedding when the phone call came, and his loyalty to the Orioles compelled him to say no.
But Red Sox officials got permission from owner Peter Angelos and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, then called Millar back. He dialed up MacPhail and began the conversation with the words, "I know it sounds crazy, but..."
And then Kevin Millar threw out the first pitch.
"It was an honor to be asked. They were trying to get that old mojo back," Millar said. "If you understand the situation, then you can take an opinion."
All that aside, Millar is currently a key component of the 2008 Orioles. He will begin the season as the cleanup hitter on a rebuilding team with very little power, and while he isn't guaranteeing 35 home runs, Millar can promise a productive at-bat every time he steps to the plate.
Last year, Millar hit .254 with 17 homers. He set a team record by reaching base safely in 52 straight games from June 21 to Aug. 25, but he batted only .227 in September.
"That's the thing that I was disappointed with myself last year," he said. "After August, we started going through some rough times as a group, getting beaten a lot and badly. We played a lot of defense, and those last two at-bats sometimes I got lackadaisical mentally. Not that you weren't trying, but the mental grind of not knowing what to do. Do you try to hit a home run, do you try to take a pitch?"
One thing that comes naturally to Millar is being a leader in the clubhouse. He wasn't the top player in the Boston lineup, but he kept the players loose and, after all, came up with the perfect motto for an underdog looking to contend for a title.
In Baltimore, he's a 36-year-old veteran among a bunch of kids, a jokester in a place where humor is absolutely necessary over the course of a grueling six-month season.
"He's someone every clubhouse needs. He brings a lot of energy, a lot of fun," Orioles designated hitter Jay Gibbons said. "When you come here day after day doing the same thing, the off-the-field stuff can get repetitive. But he keeps everything fresh and fun, for certain."
Said Millar: "I like laughing, ragging on guys. It keeps things loose. I remember when I was young, I'd come here and not say a word. I would just learn and listen. You look at a lot of guys here, you try to make it comfortable for them. It's baseball. It's supposed to be fun."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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