He’s Happy With What He Left in Baltimore

CLEVELAND —  It has been almost two years since Edward Bennett Williams, the late owner of the Baltimore Orioles, swept out his front office.

For most of those two years, Hank Peters, the chief victim of Williams’ purge, has been trying to turn the Cleveland Indians into a pennant contender.

But Peters can’t help wondering a little what might have been had he remained the chief operating officer of the Orioles.

“Too many years there we had to win today and say the heck with tomorrow,” the Cleveland president reflected.

“That’s the way the circumstances were with the owner. That’s the way he wanted it and that’s the way it was done. If he were still there, I think the policies would still be the same.”

As does everyone else in baseball, Peters salutes the achievements of the current Orioles and says, “They should be very proud of themselves. They have far exceeded everybody’s expectations, including their own. It’s great for the club, and the fans have been tremendous.”

But, even if the Orioles win the American League East, he seriously doubts the shock waves will continue in 1990.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘Can they repeat this next year?’ And you have to say to yourself, ‘No way,’ ” he said. “They’re having one of those dream years. Unfortunately, the ability to keep it up is questionable.”

Many of the components of the surprising Orioles were collected by Peters and his farm director, Tom Giordano, who is in the Dominican Republic on a scouting trip and was unavailable for comment.

Bob Milacki. Pete Harnisch. Jeff Ballard. The Ripken brothers. Craig Worthington. Larry Sheets. All farm system products from the former regime.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Roland (Hemond),” said Peters. “He has done an excellent job of making a lot of minor deals to get pieces, but directly or indirectly, almost every player they have is a result of what was already there,” said Peters. “It’s nice to know that maybe what we were doing wasn’t all wrong.

“You look at Keith Moreland for Brian Dubois, Dave Johnson for Carl Nichols, Mark Williamson in the Terry Kennedy trade (for Storm Davis). All those guys that were traded were in the system.

“The list goes on an on. Now, all of a sudden everybody wants these players we had.”

Williams wanted action. Peters wanted patience. The friction soon became unbearable for both and Peters said he “was relieved to be relieved” when he was dismissed the day after the 1987 season ended.

“A huge element in all of this (the Orioles’ big turnaround) is luck,” said Peters. “We’re not all that smart. Some guys in baseball border on journeymen and then all of a sudden, they break through.

“Brad Komminsk is like that for us. He was rated the best prospect in the minors and never made it (with Atlanta). We sign him as a minor-league free agent and he’s hitting over .290 and playing a great center field.

“There is a great amount of luck involved in moves. Sometimes, it smiles on you as it has the Orioles.”

The Indians’ problems center on a too-long infertile farm system and, “‘If you don’t have a flow,’ as Ed Williams would say, ‘you’re not going to be any good,”’ said Peters.

And, at the major-league level, the Indians have suffered from sub-par offensive years by several of their regulars, including Cory Snyder, Andy Allanson and Oddibe McDowell (before he was dealt to Atlanta).

They are next-to-last in the league in batting average and battling feeble Detroit for last in runs scored. Respectable pitching and defense simply haven’t been enough.

Indians Manager Doc Edwards believes the secret of the Orioles’ success lies in the outfielders’ ability to chase down drives that used to fall for doubles and triples.

“And everything they do (player moves) turns to gold,” he said. “I said back in spring training they were going to be a hell of a lot better. The outfield speed is the big difference. Defensive RBIs are hard to come by and they get them.”

Indians pitching coach Mark Wiley left Baltimore about a month after the purge although he was invited back to Cal Ripken’s staff. He worked with a number of the current Orioles pitchers in the minors.

He agrees with Edwards that the defense “can make pitchers look terrible and they’re running down everything now.