Delino DeShields was coming off his best offensive year in several seasons in 2001, in the process becoming the Orioles MVP as voted by the writers. He had a .368 OBP, drove in 82 runs, and .296 while hitting mostly in the #3 hole for the Orioles. He had even developed a means to overcome his previous aversion to lefthanders, learning to go more with the pitch. Nevertheless, considering the sorry overall state of the Orioles in mid-season 2000, DeShields was expected by many to be traded for prospects prior to the deadline, especially since Jerry Hairston, who was injured, was expected to play second base in 2001.

DeShields was not moved, however, and was pencilled in as the starting left fielder on the Orioles. He had played respectively there upon the return of Hairston and the trade of left fielder B.J. Surhoff to Atlanta. He had virtually no throwing arm, but persued angles and used his speed well.

In 2001, however, a different story was to unfold for DeShields, and the Orioles. It was as if both DeShields and teammate Brady Anderson had totally forgotten everything they ever learned about hitting. DeShields hit .224 in April, a problem compounded by the hitting woes of Cal Ripken, Brady Anderson, Brook Fordyce, and Mike Bordick. Mike Hargrove stuck with DeShields, despite the slow start. Since Delino was in the last year of his contract, the Orioles hoped he could regain his stroke so that he could still salvage something for the Orioles in trade.

It didn’t work. DeShields was even worse, hitting .181 in May, and .121 in the first two weeks of June. The Orioles had seen enough, and released him, figuring that even if he did recover, his trade value was now nil. He hit .197 for the Orioles.

The Cubs picked him up, and he actually played pretty well for them, managing a .276/.380/.405 for them in 68 games. They resigned him to play for them in the 2002 season.

Delino DeShields, a Delaware native, had wanted nothing more than to finish his career with the team he had rooted on as a young man, but it was not to be. His star-crossed tenure with the Orioles resulted in one solid year framed by two disastrous ones, the final legacy of the ill-fated GM reign of Frank Wren.

Notes: Hit .183 off lefthanders, returning to his negative stats of the past…actually batted 24 times as a DH for the Orioles in 2001, "hitting" .125…but had 7 hits in 17 AB as a pinch hitter…went 0-for-16 against the Red Sox…hit .350 against the Tigers in 7 games, while slugging .700 and reaching base with a .536…hit .314 in 35 AB against the Pirates, but, in typical Oriole form, only .231 in 52 AB against the Devil Rays.