November 06, 2024
Sports Column

Bordick uncertain of future

Winterport’s Mike Bordick hasn’t made any decisions about his future after this season.

But there is bound to be interest in the record-setting Baltimore Orioles shortstop and former University of Maine star.

Entering Tuesday night’s game against Texas, the 37-year-old Bordick had extended his major league record for consecutive errorless chances by a shortstop to 451.

He hadn’t made an error since April 10 and that was his only error of the season in 478 chances.

Tuesday night’s game was his 94th as he had been sidelined for 30 games with a hairline fracture in his right kneecap. He returned to the lineup two weeks ago.

Bordick said Tuesday afternoon that the record is a nice accomplishment.

“It feels good to be able to come back from an injury and do that,” said Bordick. “Whenever you have a record like that, there is some luck involved.”

He said players sometimes catch a break on a scorekeeper’s decision “and it helps having a good first baseman who can dig out some of your [low] throws.”

Bordick said fielders get into a comfort zone just like hitters who are in hitting streaks.

“That comes with repetition. You go out there and take ground balls and prepare yourself the same way [every day]. When game time comes, things just happen. You don’t think about anything,” said Bordick.

Bordick suffered a separated throwing shoulder last season and had surgery a little over a year ago to repair it.

He speculated that the shoulder surgery may actually have helped his throwing accuracy.

“I concentrated a little more on being fundamentally sound throwing the ball because I wasn’t sure how the arm would respond to the surgery,” said Bordick. “Hopefully, I can keep it going.”

His record-setting chance came on a grounder by Toronto’s Shannon Stewart.

“He was the first hitter of the game. I had thought about it a little bit because it had been in the newspaper the day before. I was glad to get it out of the way,” said Bordick, who had the accomplishment noted on the scoreboard between innings and got to take a little curtain call.

“It was nice. I went out and waved to the crowd a little bit,” said Bordick, who had made 132 errors in 1607 career games.

Now he would like to get his bat going.

The career .260 hitter is hitting .235 this season with six homers and 29 runs batted in.

He has struggled since his return.

“Hopefully, I’ll get things back on track this last month,” said Bordick.

This is the last year on his contract and his future is uncertain.

“I’ll see how I’ll feel at the end of the season. I’ll talk things over with my family. I don’t know if I’ll pursue things other than Baltimore. If they want me to come back, I’ll think about that,” said Bordick, who signed a free agent contract with Oakland after his junior year at Maine.

“I still love going out there and playing. The travel is hard when you have a family,” said the father of four.

He has had a memorable season but says, “I wish I was doing a little more offensively. I’d like to be more consistent, especially in this day and age with the production from the shortstop position. I just want to stay consistent and finish the last month strong.”

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231 or 1-800-310-8600 or e-mail at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net


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