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Growing Pains for Young Orioles
Adam Loewen is 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA this season. "We're still confident he's going to be the player he's touted to be," Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo said.
(By Kathy Willens -- Associated Press)
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"It seems like every time I go out there, I'm one pitch away from having a good outing," Loewen said after the game. "It's a very fine margin of error."
That's something Markakis learned earlier, while Loewen was still in Class AA. Markakis called Loewen constantly, checking on his progress at Bowie. He wanted somebody to chat with, and he also wanted his buddy to pitch well enough to join him in the majors.
"He didn't really have any guys to hang out with," Loewen said.
He does now. When the Orioles called up Loewen, he immediately moved into Markakis's place in Baltimore, just like in the minors, when they lived together for two years. Markakis said having Loewen around made playing easier.
Loewen and Markakis live like any 22-year-olds would. They play video games, mostly older ones like RBI Baseball and Tetris, and golf together.
Markakis recently got hooked on gas-powered, remote-controlled cars, ones that cost $500 and zoom around at 50 miles an hour. Before one game, he raced his car around the warning track at Camden Yards with Loewen looking on until field personnel put a stop to the fun.
"The grounds crew didn't like it at all," Loewen said. "They called it 'a hazard to the baseball diamond.' "
Loewen laughed when he relayed the story, which reflects both his and Markakis's attitude. While success hasn't poured in for them, they couldn't be happier to be where they are, just where they wanted to be.
"This is what we've always hoped for, what we've talked about the last couple years," Loewen said. "This is what we signed to do. We've progressed at the same level at each level. He's done a little bit better than I have, but hopefully I can catch up to him."
