260?

A buddy and I went to the ballpark last night to watch a little independent baseball, and I got to see some old familiar faces. As an O's fan there are a lot of our former players in the Atlantic League, like Keith Reed, Jay Gibbons, Eric DuBose, Ivanon Coffie and Val Majewski. Hell, even Long Island's Pete Rose Jr. was an O's farm hand way back in the day.

Last night I got to watch two former O's prospects who were supposed to have been regulars in Baltimore years ago. Pitching for the Rev's was Aaron Rakers and DHing for the Bluefish was none other than Calvin Pickering. Pick was the main reason the O's let Rafael Palmeiro go after the '98 season, with the Birds thinking he was on the way to anchor 1B at Camden Yards for years to come. That was a big mistake, as Palmeiro went on to post numbers of .283 214 HR and 608 RBI in his next five years in Texas, while Pickering just got bigger. Real big, like: have to be cut out of your house or wash yourself with a rag on a stick big.

As he strode to the plate at Sovereign Bank Stadium last night I did a triple take on the program, which lists him at 6'5" 260. Trust me, I know from fat, I am fat and Calvin Pickering hasn't been 260 since the 8th grade. I am 6'1" 270 and I could live comfortably in a pair of Pick's pants. He is every bit of four bills if he's an ounce. This guy's jersey number could be in the 4 digits without wrapping around to the sides. "Now batting, the DH, Number 1163: Calvin Pickering.

Not that Pick's tremendous weight is stopping him from putting up numbers. In 50 games in the Atlantic League he is hitting .266 with 6 dingers, 29 RBI, a 190 Systolic and a 100 Diastolic!

(Thanks to Atlantic League Baseball News for the photo)