Luke Scott, 2009 Topps 206 Bronze #152

Goodbyes never get any easier. When a bum shoulder limited Luke Scott to 64 games and a cruddy .220/.301/402 batting line last year, it didn’t bode well for his return in 2012*. He was still arbitration-eligible, so renewing his contract would have cost something close to the $6.4 million he made in 2011. Dan Duquette acted prudently by non-tendering Luke, but I was mildly surprised that he never seemed close to re-signing the 33-year-old power hitter at a lower price. I’m not going to fault the O’s front office for not paying a premium to roll the dice on a hitter of that age coming off of major shoulder surgery, though I did feel a twinge of dread/envy (drenvy?) when I heard that he’d signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. If the most intelligent and innovative team in the division wants Scott, chances are good that a) he’s still got plenty left in the tank and b) he’s not costing them much money. At least he’s not a Yankee.

*As a quick aside, for Luke Scott to be named Most Valuable Oriole in 2010, only to follow up with a shortened and injury-impaired campaign that sealed his departure from the team, just seems so poetic. It’s the recent history of the Orioles in a nutshell.

So here’s one last tip of the cap to LUUUUUKKKKEEEEE!, a Baltimore favorite for the past four years. I wish you would’ve let your bat do all of the talking, but I do respect your right to voice your opinions, no matter how ill-informed I believe them to be. (Check me out, exercising my own freedom of speech!) As time passes, all of that off-field crap will fade into the background and I’ll be left with the memories of your 84 home runs in orange and black and those wonderful weeks and months during every season when you just terrorized opposing pitchers and carried the Oriole offense on your back. Some of my most joyous experiences at Camden Yards involve you and your feats of strength, like your five RBI with two swings of the bat on Matt Wieters Day or the home run you deposited within a few rows of my seat in the bleachers during a nondescript Friday night game against the Nationals. I wish you health and success, but I hope you save the latter for your non-Oriole opponents.