Eugene Kingsale did not have the number of appearances in 2000 to be automatically included in the Yearbook, but since he played nearly every day in September, we’ve included a look at his numbers, as small a sample as they might be. Kingsale has had a rocky minor-league career with the O’s. One of the "Aruba Mafia" that the O’s found upon tapping into the players on that equatorial home of casinos and wind-bent trees, Kingsale’s progress has been halted at every turn by injury. In the last four seasons, he has actually missed the equivalent of nearly 2 ½ with various serious setbacks.

The key to his continued presence in the organization was his age. Luckily, even though he has missed a lot of traditional developmental opportunity, he’s still only 24 years old. So, what did the Orioles and O’s fans see in September?

They saw some raw talent. Excellent speed in both the field and on the basepaths, though it was achingly apparent that he does not have an understanding of how to harness it. In terms of fielding, his tracking of fly balls, well, shall we say, at this point was very Ralph Garr-like; every fly to center was an adventure, though, thanks to his speed, more often than not ended up in his glove somehow.

He was a lot more Herb Washington than Rickey Henderson on the bathpaths. And when hitting, he was more 1989 Brady Anderson than the O’s would have liked.

Still, there were glimpses. Great speed. Good attitude. It’s a pity he lost so much time, but there’s nothing to be done about it. For Eugene and the Birds, 2001 will be a pivotal season. Eugene is out of options, so it's now or never with the O's. Our money is on never.

TO CONTRIBUTE IN 2001, KINGSALE MUST:

Work on his defense, particularly tracking fly balls.

Develop some patience at the plate and draw some walks.

Work with coaches to develop baserunning skills.

Develop a more consistent batting approach.