I remember when former Oriole Melvin Mora and his wife, Gisele, became the parents of quintuplets on July 28, 2001. The various struggles I dealt with when my son and daughter were born (nearly six years apart) made me simply shake my head in wonder and ask the question that many did — how would they handle five (actually, six, they already had a girl) at once.
Somehow, they did. And they did it very well.
Mora was a very popular member of the Orioles during his time here from 2000-2009. He always wore a smile, never gave anything less than his best and was a perfect fit for the fans in this town, especially during a time when the team was, well, quite bad most of the time.
And the quintuplets — three girls, two boys — were also a source of conversation with Mora, who talked about them with pride in the locker room or in public.
Times have changed since Mora last played for the Orioles in 2009. The Orioles now have the best record in the major leagues, those quintuplets of his will be 16 this summer, and even better for Mora, he just became a U.S. citizen this week.
Mora always loved his home country of Venezuela, but now he lives in Harford County while still doing things at times back where he came from, according to a report in The Sun on Wednesday.
The news that Mora became an American citizen is good. It’s a fine goal to achieve. The picture I saw of Mora earlier this week showed me a man who is very happy with what he’s done. He always seemed to be that way when I would see him in the locker room, a smile usually on his face, win or lose.
His cheerfulness made me shake my head all the time. But not quite as much as wondering how they raised quintuplets, plus one more. I would love to know the answer to that one.
Jeff Seidel is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
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