Here is my story that I entered about Nick Markakis for the Sports Illustrated Kids Kid Reporter Contest.
Although he’s the quietest and shyest Oriole, Nick Markakis is a leader in the Orioles clubhouse. He is the 2nd longest tenured Oriole. Drafted 7th overall in the 2003 draft,Markakis may not be the vocal leader, but when needed, he will always deliver with a key play or hit to put his team in a position to win.
Markakis was born in Glen Cove, New York on November 17, 1983. He attended Woodstock High School in Woodstock, Georgia. He was originally drafted out of high school in 2001 by the Cincinnati Reds, but Markakis chose to attend Young Harris College instead. The Reds again drafted him in 2002, but again Markakis declined and returned to Young Harris.Markakis was widely seen as a pitching prospect whose fastball was clocked at 96 MPH, but the Orioles drafted him in 2003 for his potential as a hitter. With Markakis being of Greek Descent, he was chosen to represent his country on the Greek Olympic Baseball team in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
You never think of Nick Markakis when you think about the Orioles. You probably think of Adam Jones, Chris Davis, or Manny Machado. Personally though, my favorite player is Markakis. He never has the flashy stats that are on the news, but he may be the most consistent player out there. He has a .292 career batting average, along with a .360 on base percentage, and a .441 slugging. Markakis is one of the best at using the whole field when hitting. He uses left field a great amount with those beautiful opposite field hits. He is also a doubles machine, as he is great at finding the gaps. Markakis isn’t known for his power, but has hit more than ten home runs in every season and has 127 career homers. As for his fielding, this may be his best quality. He is known for having one of the best arms as a right fielder. He had 17 outfield assists in 2008, and has had 13 in both 2007 and 2009. He has had a perfect fielding percentage twice in his career and overall is nearly impeccable as he has only made 17 errors total in eight seasons. This is why in 2011 he won the Rawlings Gold Glove award and surely will win more
One thing you always know you are going to get from Markakis is playing time. In five of his eight seasons he has played more than 160 games. Considering there are 162 games in a season, I’d say that’s pretty good. The only year he played less than 140 games was in 2012 when he got hit on the hand by C.C. Sabathia and was out a large amount of time. It was sad to see him sidelined by that injury during the Orioles postseason run, especially since he’s been an Oriole throughout their losing ways.
Markakis is truly a great player and a great guy. His wife Christina and he have 3 children. That may be the reason why you don’t hear much about him. You always hear about the bad guys using performance enhancing drugs and everything they do badly on the news. You rarely hear about the good guys like Markakis. He lives in the Baltimore and is always a big help in the community. No matter how little they talk about him, Markakis will always be my favorite player. I just hope that others who know the game, enjoy and appreciate baseball as much as I do, will see him as I do; a great ballplayer that any team would be lucky to have.