By Craig Heist 

Young Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis was born in Glen Cove, N.Y., on Long Island which would indicate he was a Mets or Yankees fan as a child.

Not so.

(Photos: Mitch Stringer/PressBox)

From the time he was 4 years old and started playing tee-ball, Markakis grew up as a fan of the Boston Red Sox. 

"Everyone on my dad's side of the family was Red Sox fans," Markakis said. "My father's brothers all grew up in Boston. It was tough, people asking you all the time how did you grow up on Long Island and you aren't a Yankees fan but a Red Sox fan?"

He laughs about it now, but that may have been one reason why Markakis never went to many baseball games growing up. He loved the sport, but went to only one game with his uncle at Yankee Stadium, when the Yankees played the Twins.

Why not the Red Sox?

"Nope, it probably wouldn't have been pretty," he said.

What has been pretty is his rise to the major leagues and now Markakis, at 24, seems poised to become a star for the Orioles for many seasons to come. His clutch hitting ability and defensive prowess in the outfield have him pointed in an All-Star direction for a struggling team that thirsts for new heroes.

Some have even gone so far as to tab Markakis as the "next great Oriole," which would put him in elite company.

Markakis attended and graduated from Woodstock High School in Georgia. He then attended Young Harris Junior College, where he was named Junior College Player of the Year by Baseball America in 2002. In his final year he hit .439 with 21 home runs, 92 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 20 attempts.

Markakis was a pitcher in both high school and college; in fact, he was drafted as a pitcher by the Cincinnati Reds in both 2001 and 2002 but never signed. In 2003, he was taken by the Orioles with the seventh pick in the first round. 

"In '03, I was swinging the bat pretty well in junior college," he said. "And they wanted me to be a hitter and I said, 'Sure, I'll give it a shot' and here I am now."

The journey has been a quick one for Markakis, but not without a lot of hard work along the way.

Orioles bullpen coach Dave Trembley remembers having Markakis in his first major league camp in 2003 and he says it was obvious from the start he was destined for the big leagues, that it was only a matter of when he would get there.

"Everybody could see right away that he had bat speed and Nick was very mature when he first came out," Trembley said. "I have always said the thing about Nick is the more you challenge him, the better he gets. He seems to play better at the higher level and I thought he was going to get a chance to go through the minor leagues real quick because he seemed to respond to situations the better they were."

Trembley was right. 

Markakis' first stop in the O's organization was at Aberdeen. While he didn't have eye-popping numbers, there were signs of what it takes to be a good hitter. He hit .283 in 206 at-bats, and while he only had one home run, there were extra-base hits aplenty with 14 doubles and three triples. Markakis also started to show he had a pretty good eye at the plate, walking 22 times in 124 plate appearances in August.

"It was definitely a big adjustment, coming from college to the professional level," Markakis said. "I had what you would call a college swing when I came in and the organization and myself did a great job of fine-tuning the swing and making the adjustments and that's what you have to do to be successful."

"You have to keep it real simple with him, because Nick is real sophisticated, real sharp. I think you just give little cues and little suggestions to him," Trembley said.

Markakis took those cues and suggestions to the next level at Delmarva. With the Shorebirds, he gave fans a hint of what his first season in the majors would be like. He hit .239 through the end of May but then .345 with 18 doubles and 36 RBIs the rest of the year. 

During the 2004 season, Markakis was named the Organizational Player of the Month for June after hitting .375 and followed that up by hitting .325 in July. At the end of the year, Markakis got a chance to do something he credits with getting him as ready as possible for the major leagues.

"I was in A-ball and then had the opportunity to go over and play in the Olympics," he said. "It was against major league type, Triple-A competition and I think that helped me out a little bit. It definitely woke me up and made me realize what it's all about."

He led the Greek team in the Athens Olympics with a .346 average and six RBIs. He also pitched 2.1 innings, allowing one earned run.

"Besides being in the big leagues, that Olympic experience was probably one of the best experiences in baseball that I have had," Markakis said. "It was an honor to be there and a great experience."

In 2005, Markakis put his stamp on his fast-track trip to the major leagues. He split time between Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie and combined to hit .310 with 41 doubles, three triples, 15 homers and 92 RBIs. It was good enough to earn him the Brooks Robinson Award as the Orioles' Minor League Player of the Year.

In an organization that has had trouble over the past two decades developing its own talent, the Orioles felt like they had a gem on their hands and the questions started to surface about whether or not Markakis could be the next great Oriole. His development through the system was fast, his numbers were good enough, and now all that was left to do was prove he belonged at the major league level.

Last year, Markakis made the big league team out of spring training and his ascent wasn't a surprise to him.

"It took a lot of time and hard work and a lot of adjustments," he said. "The organization and the guys who have helped me, they did a great job and I was real happy with the way things turned out. To get the chance to come up here and work with [batting coach] Terry Crowley is just an unbelievable experience."

The rookie wound up hitting .291 for the year with 16 homers and 62 RBIs. He had 25 doubles, three triples and a .448 slugging percentage. There were some great stretches along the way. He hit a combined .366 in the months of June, July and August, which led all major league players. He also hit 12 of his 16 home runs during that three-month span.

But, it was what happened throughout the entire year that is the real story. Markakis struggled the first two months of the season, batting just .223 with two homers and 10 RBIs. He credits Crowley with turning his season around and keeping him in the big leagues.

"I don't think personally you could get a better hitting coach than Crow," Markakis said. "He's always putting positive things in your head. He's always willing to work with you. You could go out there and go 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a broken-bat groundout and he will pick out the positives in that at-bat. You will never hear anything negative coming from him."

Crowley has been a major league hitting coach for 21 years and has served the Orioles in that capacity since 1998. He liked what he saw out of Markakis from the first time they worked together.

"He's got a good eye at the plate," Crowley said. "He's got a quick bat. He has size and power and he has the ability to hit the ball to all fields."

That is specifically what he and Markakis worked on throughout the year -- refining those skills.

"When he got here last year, the only thing that was really lacking was experience," Crowley said. "He played about five or six weeks of Double-A baseball and he joined us right out of spring training. It took him two months or so to get his feet on the ground at the big league level. Once he got the hang of what we were trying to do and settle down a little bit and actually got a little more aggressive.

"I honestly feel had he had a little more experience to start the season, he had a good chance to win Rookie of the Year. Well into the season he was hitting .218 and right before the season ended he got over .300 and ended up in the .290s, so he did a real good job."

Markakis admits the season, as successful as it was, became a day-in and day-out grind, but it made him tougher mentally and able to handle almost anything that comes his way now.

"Last year, my first year, was very tough," he said. "The mental process, I don't think was there. But my teammates and the coaching staff, they kept putting me out there and it kept building up my confidence and from the mental standpoint, it's definitely a lot stronger this year. I am a lot more comfortable, feeling good and I feel like I belong here now."

Markakis got a chance to stay with the big club despite his struggles early on. An injury to Jay Gibbons got him more playing time in an everyday role in right field. It gave the youngster and Crowley a chance to keep working on what was wrong and straighten it out.

"I guess that made it easier to make the correct decision," Crowley said. "The front office and I talked about it and I knew he was making progress. His average might have said .216 to .218 but I knew two months into the season he was a much better hitter than in spring training. The experience was only going to help him. Staying with us was only going to help him.

"I felt down deep he was going to do just fine as the season went along but I also felt there would be no benefit to us to send him out. He could have gone back down to Triple-A and had a good year, but then we would be back to where we were in spring training this year. It worked out pretty good for us. He is doing pretty well to start this season and he is going to be fine."

For a hitting coach, Crowley says there is no better feeling than seeing hard work pay off with a young player like Markakis.

"It's tremendous," he said. "You feel real good. That's what we do it for, and in all honesty, it couldn't happen to a nicer young man. The time we spent together was somewhat enjoyable even though we worked our tails off to get it right, but it was a nice situation. He's a deserving young man and he is going to be a real good ballplayer."

When asked about whether he could see Markakis becoming the next great Oriole, Crowley said, "I don't like to do that to any young guy but the answer to your question is yes. Let's leave it at that. The answer is absolutely yes but there is no need to talk about it any more than that." 

There are certain things that have happened with Markakis already this year which make Crowley feel this way. Last Friday night, for example, Markakis won a game for the Orioles with a big hit in the 10th inning with the bases loaded against the Cleveland Indians.

"I was very happy to get him up there in the 10th inning because there are some things there in his favor," Crowley said. "Number 1, even though he is a young player, he is going to make the pitcher throw a strike. Number 2, if the pitcher threw a strike, I knew he was going to be level-headed, calm and relaxed and put a good swing on it. Whether he popped it up or hit it right at somebody, that doesn't matter to me. I knew he was going to give us a good chance to win the ballgame like he did."

Former first baseman and Oriole legend Boog Powell knows a thing or two about hitting and Powell says he can see Markakis becoming the next great one to wear the black and orange.

"He's got power everywhere and one of the things I was most impressed with is his ability to hit the ball to left field," Powell said. "If you have that, you can hit home runs to the opposite field and you can fly, gosh. He looks like he's a nice outfielder with a good arm. It seems like he has a good attitude. It appears he has all the tools to do it. It's just a matter of putting it all together and not being too impatient, and hopefully the Orioles won't be too impatient with him and expect too much too soon."

Ask any of the coaches, the manager and the player himself and they will all say that making adjustments day in and day out are the keys to being successful at this level.

"He does that as well as anybody right now," Crowley said. "You know, last year we talked about it a little more and this year he is finding his own way a lot easier. Once in a while I will tell him something about what I like or didn't like about the night before and he's good with it. He understands, he's a smart kid and usually I don't have to repeat myself to him. As long as he knows what you are talking about, you don't have to repeat yourself too often."

Manager Sam Perlozzo feels Markakis has gotten better because he is a more confident player after going through his first big league season.

"He feels like he belongs," Perlozzo said. "Now he knows he can do it and last year at the start of the season I am not sure he felt that way, but now he does. He goes out and his head is much more into it and he is a more mature player. It was nice to get someone out of your minor league system to step up, even if you had to struggle with him for a while before he actually became a force."

As far as the next great Oriole question is concerned, Perlozzo also doesn't want to get too far ahead.

"I'll let you know in September," he said. "It would be wrong to put an expectation on a young kid like that. If he does this year anything like he did last year, then I think you have a shot at saying he is going to be one heck of a player."

Markakis may just have a chance to meet his childhood idol later this year with Roger Clemens has now re-signing with the Yankees.

"That's why I wear No. 21," he said. "Growing up, I was a pitcher and I just loved the way he pitched. Nothing bothered him out there and he always had control of the game.

"I remember watching one game where the opposing team hit one of his players and he went back out and hit one of theirs and got a warning. He walked up to the umpire and said, 'That's not going to stop me from throwing inside.' Just the way he pitches and the way he approaches the game. He is fearless on the mound and that what I like about him."

If Markakis takes the same approach to the game as Clemens always has, he may indeed eventually be the next great Oriole.

Issue 2.19: May 10, 2007