Couch: Orioles Should Do Right by Jim Gentile

Rivers of his memory…ever Gentile on Couch’s mind. (BTW…great idea here!)

So I called Jim Gentile to hear his story and to congratulate him on winning the American League RBI title this week.

“Yeah, I saw that,” he said. “My son called me this morning and told me. It caught me off-guard. But it’ll be something my kids and grandkids can look back on and see I did something.

...After that, he negotiated a new deal with Baltimore general manager Lee MacPhail, doubling his salary to $30,000.

“We argued over the contract,” Gentile said. “I remember MacPhail, at the time I signed the contract, said that if I had led the league in RBIs, it would have been worth $5,000 more.”

...I would like to make a suggestion here: How about if the Orioles hold a day to honor their new RBI king, a guy who did have a role in a major moment in baseball history, but one that was lost for nearly half a century.

How about they give him that $5,000 while they’re at it? Or use it to set up a college fund for his grandkids? Or maybe just give a $5,000 donation in his name to a charity of his choice?

Come on, Orioles. Just do it.