masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgEvery day now we are getting a variation of the same question from our readers that Baltimore sports talk-show hosts are getting from callers to their shows.

How much longer can the Orioles go with Luke Scott?

I don’t know what answer we can be expected to give. What if we said 50 at bats, but not 75. Or 100 at bats, but not 150.’

Scott is a streak hitter in a bad streak. He did hit 25 homers last year with a better slugging percentage and OPS than Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Brian…Every day now we are getting a variation of the same question from our readers that Baltimore sports talk-show hosts are getting from callers to their shows.

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How much longer can the Orioles go with Luke Scott?

I don’t know what answer we can be expected to give. What if we said 50 at bats, but not 75. Or 100 at bats, but not 150.’

Scott is a streak hitter in a bad streak. He did hit 25 homers last year with a better slugging percentage and OPS than Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Brian Roberts.

Think about that for a minute.

I say that not to defend Scott, necessarily, but just to point out that we have to give it more time. Too often the message board crowd is willing to give a player, oh say, a week. Get it done or get moving somewhere else.

The sport really doesn’t work that way.

How many of the fans wanting Scott out now were dissing Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Berken and Ty Wigginton before this year?

Who thought Felix Pie, after his start last year, would finish well and hit for the cycle?

The same applies to Garrett Atkins, who did get two hits last night. Yes, Rhyne Hughes deserves the spot at first right now, but Atkins may be heard from later too.

A month from now, he may the club’s hottest hitter.

Go ahead and laugh at that thought, but no one nominated Wigginton to be the club’s HR and RBI leader and among the top sluggers in the AL at this point either.

How many more chances should Scott get?

I don’t know, but I’ll bet he gets at least a few.