Oriole Kevin Millar threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Red Sox-Indians deciding game in the American League Championship Series in Boston. A member of the Red Sox 2004 World Series winning team, Millar was cheered wildly by the Boston faithful- he’s a folk hero there. I get that he’s revered in Boston, but isn’t it strange to see an Oriole as a centerpiece of another team’s ceremony? Especially a team in the same division?

Millar also taped an intro to game 5 of the series for the Fox telecast in which he encouraged Red Sox Nation to keep the faith and pull for their team , despite being down 3-games-to-1 in the series. I called Millar on his cell phone to hear from him directly his thoughts on how his Red Sox cheerleading may be perceived in Baltimore (he has not yet called me back).

I’m not sure I’m against Millar’s participation. For the record, the Orioles granted permission to the Red Sox to use Millar after Boston management inquired. On one hand, it’s a slap in the face of O’s fans to see one of their own cheering another team. On the other hand, if you know Millar (and I’ve been around him quite a bit) you know that he’s a baseball fan- first and foremost. I can look at his participation as promoting the game (as much as he may be pumping up Red Sox Nation).

Here’s a question: would Johnny Damon or Doug Mientkiewicz (former Red Sox, now Yankees) be allowed by their team to do what Millar did? No way! But Millar’s an Oriole, and it seems that the downtrodden nature of the O’s franchise somehow makes it no big deal. It’s almost like, “hey, he plays in Baltimore- so it’s cool, nobody cares.” Just my impression. I like Kevin Millar, but he’s wandered into dangerous territory by re-uniting with Red Sox Nation while still a highly paid member of the Orioles. And the O’s may have erred in allowing it to happen.

Posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 3:00 pm.
Categories: Opinion.
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