Jay

Gibbons

Oriole manager Lee Mazzilli suspects that Gibbons has not fully recovered from a hip flexor injury that sidelined him for two months this season. “I don’t believe he’s healthy. I don’t believe he’s 100 percent. I think he’s playing hurt, and you admire that”, said Mazzilli to reporters yesterday.

It tied a franchise record set in 2002. Now if they can just convert 30 of those into home runs, they may have something there.

So in addtion to dealing with back and hip injuries, Gibbons must learn to hit while wearing contacts. No wonder he is struggling. Stay away from Gibbons for the balance of the season.

He’s also had laser surgery on both eyes in October. “It went really well. My eyes are great now,” he said. “I didn’t realize how blind I was until after I had the surgery.” Gibbons is still in the dark about whether the Orioles will bring him back. That probably won’t be decided until after the team checks out the price tags at the winter meetings. If the Orioles upgrade in right field, they’ll trade or non-tender Gibbons.

Gibbons proclaimed himself healthy last month after recovering from a torn hip flexor, a bulging disc in his back and laser eye surgery. Even if the Orioles are pleased what they see in the examination, they still might non-tender him. It could depend on what happens at the winter meetings.

Gibbons isn’t worth Edwin Jackson, and the Orioles would probably want more than Joel Hanrahan for him. The Dodgers are desperate for a hitter, but Gibbons, who has yet to post an 800 OPS in three major league seasons, probably isn’t worth what it would take to pry him away.

Gibbons said he could have stayed in the game.

Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli told reporters that part of Gibbons’ hitting problems could be attributed to back stiffness the outfielder has experienced the past week. Hopefully, Gibbons is over the worst of it now.

The Orioles were also facing a lefthander. Manager Mike Hargrove took the opportunity to give Carlos Mendez his first major league start.

He has spent the past week rehabbing in the minors, and could be ready to rejoin the Orioles’ logjam in the outfield/DH. Gibbons, who has been out of action since June 29th, will likely infringe on Karim Garcia’s, Larry Bigbie’s and B.J. Surhoff’s playing time.