Ten players that you forgot played for the Norfolk Tides
*Cover Photo Credit: Skylar Prieto, Norfolk Tides
You just never know who is going to roll through the Triple-A level. In the case of the Norfolk Tides, they have had quite a list of players in the past two decades suit up for the team and play baseball on the friendly confines of Harbor Park. They could be consencus top prospects like Jackson Holliday or Gunnar Henderson. Perhaps they are players rehabbing from injuries just like Jordan Westburg and John Means have done in recent years. In many cases, it could be a big league name that you might not expect to be there in Triple-A, but they are.
This list of ten players takes us down memory lane as we break down some former Norfolk Tides that you may have forgotten once suited up for them. It has less to do with the Orioles' star prospects that we knew would reach the Tides at some point. Many of these names are now either fully-blossomed big league veterans or long-time big leaguers who resorted to Triple-A to revive their careers in a last-chance effort. Do you remember thes Norfolk Tides? Let's see if you do!
Nicknamed "El Torro" (Spanish for "The Bull"), Alvarez was a former No. 2 overall pick out of Vanderbilt University by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a mainstay in the Bucs infield for the better portion of six seasons, mashing 131 home runs with the Pirates while making the National League All-Star team in 2013. In 2016, he got into 109 games with the Orioles, slugging .504 and hitting 22 bombs. As was the case his entire career, swings and misses and defensive struggles plagued him, and he would spend the next two years trying to get his career back on track at Triple-A. He would end up having a decent run with the Tides as in 181 total games, he slugged .495 while mashing 34 home runs, collecting 121 RBI, and posting a .797 OPS. His best season with the Tides came in 2017 where in 138 games, he led the team in home runs (26), RBI (86), and runs (60). Alvarez was granted his release by the Orioles in the middle of the 2018 season, and he has not taken a big league field since.
OF Julio Borbon
Prior to being a Minor League Rule 5 pick of the Orioles in December 2013, the speedy Mississippi-born outfielder enjoyed a nice 4-year tenure with the Texas Rangers, twice being a member of their World Series teams. He was a .283 lifetime hitter with Texas with 40 stolen bags and just 8 errors on defense in the outfield. As the left-handed hitter tried to make it back to the Major Leagues in the Orioles' organization, he spent two seasons from 2014 to 2015 with the Tides (and parts of 2016 with the Bowie Baysox). As a Tide, he hit .256, collected 277 total bases, and put his speed on full display with 57 stolen bases. Borbon made it back to the Majors with the Orioles in 2016 where he went 4-for-15 (.308) in 6 games. That was the last time that he took a Major League field and after spending the next three seasons in the Independent and Mexican Professional Leagues, he retired in 2019.
LHP Sean Gilmartin
The southpaw tallied 78.1 innings over the course of three seasons with the New York Mets prior to joining the Orioles organization in 2018. He actually posted decent numbers for the Birds in 2018 (3.00 ERA, 1.259 WHIP, 44.7% GB) but still traveled back-and-forth from AAA-ball and the big leagues for the next two seasons. Gilmartin saw the most action with the Tides in 2019. In 32 games (3 starts), he amassed 66 innings while posting a decent 3.95 ERA and a good 1.167 WHIP. He averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings and just 3.1 walks per nine innings. It wasn't a bad run for Gilmartin as a Tide as he only allowed 34 earned runs over 80.1 career Tides innings. He spent the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with the Rays and then floated around in the Twins' Minor League system in 2021. He has not appeared in affiliated baseball since then.
IF Bill Hall
The Mississippian was once a mainstay power hitter in the Milwaukee Brewers' lineup from 2002 to 2009. First, how could anyone forget his TV appearance on "The Young and The Restless"? Aside from that, a 35-homer, 85-RBI season in 2006 stands out as one of his most notable accomplishments, and he managed to accumilate 440 RBI and a .744 OPS over 11 big league seasons with six big league teams. This included a 7-game stint with the Orioles in 2012 after he signed a Minor League contract with the Birds in April of that year. Hall was a Norfolk Tide the same year, and he fit in well on a Tides roster that featured tons of veteran big league experience. In 90 games, he mashed 15 home runs, collected 45 RBI, and slugged .430 while also collecting 147 total bases. Hall was a major source of power for the Tides, as 15 home runs in 90 games would mean that a full Minor League season could equate to 30-plus home runs. Hall retired on a one-day contract with the Brewers in 2019.
RHP Edwin Jackson
Who didn't Edwin Jackson pitch for? During his 17-year big league career, the German-born right-hander suited up for 14 different teams and put up a career 4.76 ERA with 1,508 career strikeouts. His biggest accomplishment is a no-hitter that he threw with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. Jackson inked a Minors pact with the Orioles in April of 2017 and went straight to Norfolk, where he worked primarily as a reliever while trying to climb back to the big leagues. Aside from an elavated 1.475 WHIP and 4.4 walks per nine, he posted solid numbers overall with a 3.10 ERA and 17 punchouts. He eventually got called up to the Orioles in early June, though that stint did not go well as he was tagged for 11 hits and 4 earned runs in 5 innings for the Birds. Soon, Jackson was out of Birdland and back to the Nationals organization, where he pitched in 2012. In 2022, he retired from professional baseball.
OF Nate McLouth
The 2008 All-Star with Pittsburgh became a popular Oriole during his one and a half seasons in Baltimore. All he was, however, was a Minor League signing in June 2012 and before he arrived in Baltimore, he played 47 games for the Tides. McLouth's time as a Tide was brief but it went well, as he posted a respectable .786 OPS while cranking 10 home runs, collecting 33 RBI, stealing 5 bases, and scoring 29 runs. He eventually got his contract selected by the Orioles and he never returned to the Tides after that. After establishing himself as Buck Showalter's trusted leadoff hitter, he was a .261 hitter for the Orioles overall and he stole 42 bags in 201 games in Oriole orange. McLouth departed for the Nationals following the 2013 season and last appeared in the Majors in 2014. When it is all said and done, it is neat to say that McLouth's popular and successful baseball career included that brief pit stop in Norfolk.
LHP Jamie Moyer
The well-traveled southpaw was 49 and still pumping on the bump when he suited up for the Tides in 2012. By this point, he had pitched in 686 big league games and had ammassed over 4,000 big league innings while winning the 2008 World Series with the Phillies. He also had a previous stint with the Orioles from 1993 to 1995. His time with the Tides was brief as he just three starts before being granted his release. However, his three starts went well as he posted a 1.69 ERA and struck out 16 batters while walking none. After being released, Moyer suited up one last time in the big leagues for the Rockies, appearing in 10 games for them and then retiring after the 2013. It is cool to associate Moyer's colorful pitching career with an Orioles' Minor League affiliate and the Orioles organization as a whole. Moyer, now 62, was the definition of a baseball pioneer.
IF Jean Segura
The two-time All-Star had once been a top 10 middle infielder in the National League. He has ammassed 1,545 career hits and two trips to the All-Star Game, and he narrowly missed a World Series championship with the Phillies in 2022. After a poor performance with the Miami Marlins in 2023, Segura found himself back in the minors trying to climb back up to big league glory again. The Orioles gave him a shot with Norfolk via a minors pact late last summer. His time in Norfolk did not go particularly well, as he hit just .137 with a .446 OPS in 14 games. He drove in just three runs. By September, the Orioles had released him to clear space as more prospect depth made their way up from Double-A. He remains on the free agent market.
The 2002 AL MVP was chomping for a return to the Majors when he returned to the Orioles organization for a third time in 2012. That return was via a Minor League contract with the Birds, whom he had spent four previous big league seasons with, and an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. At the ripe age of 38, Tejada suited up for 38 games with the Tides and hit .259 with a .621 OPS, 18 RBI, and a meager .296 SLG. The potent power hitter who slugged 304 big league home runs by this point did not get a single one for the Tides. He eventually returned to the Majors in 2013 with the Kansas City Royals, though that comeback bid was swiftly ended with a 105-game PED suspension.
RHP Suk-min Yoon
The Orioles made an international free agent splash with the 2014 signing of Yoon, a then-27-year-old righty from South Korea who completely ate hitters alive in the Korean Baseball Organization (949 strikeouts before signing with the Orioles). Signed to a 3-year $5.5 million deal by the Birds, Yoon was expected to compete and secure a spot in the starting rotation. He did not make the Opening Day roster and ended up spending 2014 with the Tides. He posted an unappealing 5.74 ERA and an elavated 1.578 WHIP in 23 games for Norfolk, and his 67 strikeouts were only good enough for an underwhelming 6.3 K/9. Yoon was outrighted off the 40-man roster in August of 2014, and he was released by the Orioles the following season. He spent three more seasons pitching in the KBO after leaving Birdland.
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