Yankees general manager Brian Cashman wanted Melvin Mora, a long time ago -- when Mora was hitting .260 instead of .360, when Mora still chased breaking pitches off the outside corner, when Mora had not yet evolved into an American League All-Star. Cashman repeatedly called Syd Thrift, the general manager of the Baltimore Orioles at the time, and asked what Thrift might want in a trade for Mora.

Thrift would chuckle and begin to talk about Mora's value and he would never get around to answering Cashman's question, and Thrift would promise to look into the matter and get back to Cashman. But Thrift would never call back, and Cashman figured Thrift just did not want to make a deal with a division rival.

	Melvin Mora Infielder/Outfielder Baltimore Orioles Profile
	2003 SEASON STATISTICS AB R H RBI OBP AVG 256 53 91 45 .452 .355

Mora's value has gone up significantly since then, of course. He's evolved from a versatile utility player into a on-base percentage machine, the blue-collar method of earning your way onto an All-Star team. He is batting .355 and has drawn 41 walks, accumulating 60 singles among his 91 hits.

Some of the many first-time All-Stars this year are players who have been very good for a long time, such as Seattle pitcher Jamie Moyer, and others are young and explosive talents, like the Cubs' Mark Prior.

Mora, on the other hand, suddenly transformed this season, in the 31st summer of his life, from a role player into a formidable offensive force. He had never batted higher than .275 in any season, and in 2002, Mora hit .233, and now he's a just a few hits removed from Albert Pujols' lonesome .370 neighborhood.

Mora had always demonstrated some patience at the plate, averaging around 3.9 pitches per plate appearance (the major-league average is usually around 3.7 pitches). Mora averaged 3.82 pitches per plate appearance in 2001, 3.95 in 2002, and he had 70 walks in 2002, a respectable total.

But this year, he is averaging 4.18 pitches per plate appearance, picking and choosing a little better, putting himself into better ball-strike counts and exploiting those situations. When he's gotten ahead of the pitcher early in the count, or stayed even, he has been dangerous -- hitting .600 when he jumps on the first pitch, .727 when the count is 1-0, .452 when the count is 2-0, and when the count is 3-2, he's batting .472.

His patience has put him in more hitters' counts, and when he's ahead, Mora has attacked. "His plate coverage is better," said an American League scout. "He's not chasing everything out of the zone. He's fighting off everything they throw inside" -- and this is how pitchers are currently approaching Mora -- "and you can see he's got tremendous confidence.

	Top of the charts
	How Melvin Mora ranks in the AL in select offensive categories:
	BA	.355	1st
	OBP	.452	1st
	SLG	.582	3rd
	OPS	1.034	2nd

"He's locked in right now. He looks like he's going to get a hit every time he comes to the plate. He reminds me of Bret Boone a couple of years ago -- a Boonesque season, without the showmanship. And you can tell the other players on the Orioles really like him, they're pulling for him. You used to get him (out by throwing) up and in, and then sliders down and away, and you can't do that anymore. He's just not hacking away."

Said J.P. Ricciardi, the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays: "He looks a little more selective. He isn't always chase, chase, chase."

Bobby Valentine, an analyst for ESPN's Baseball Tonight, managed Mora when he first came to the big leagues in 1999, and was impressed by the fact that Mora always thrived in winter ball in Venezuela. "If you can be a star there, you can be a star here," said Valentine. "It seems like he's settled in. He's a late bloomer. He basically looks like the same guy to me."

Maybe, Valentine joked, having quintuplets has something to do with it: "He's got those five kids to take care of."

The scout wonders if Mora is a one-hit wonder, locked in for one season before regressing to his previous level. Mike Flanagan, the Baltimore general manager, sees more depth in Mora's approach. Before this season, the Orioles' executives made patience a priority with their hitters, pushing the staff to emphasize that skill with the hitters. Mora has wholly bought into the new philosophy, Flanagan believes.

"I think he had elements of being a patient hitter," said Flanagan. "But in the past, if he had a 3-1 count, then he would try to pull the pitch; that was the pitch he'd try to jerk."

	“	He's locked in right now. He looks like he's going to get a hit every time he comes to the plate. He reminds me of Bret Boone a couple of years ago -- a Boonesque season, without the showmanship. ”
		— An AL scout on Melvin Mora

What Mora has learned this season, Flanagan believes, is that he has the ability to react to and drive any pitch, when he's ahead in the count. If Mora is ahead 2-0 and the pitcher throws a fastball, Mora -- a right-handed hitter -- can slam the ball to right field. If the pitcher throws a changeup, Mora can pull that pitch and keep it in play. "He's using the whole field, and getting more good pitches to hit," said Flanagan.

There is remarkable balance to Mora's production, another clue that he may continue to hit in future seasons. Through Tuesday, Mora is batting .353 against right-handed pitchers, .367 against lefties; he's hitting .378 on the road, .336 at home. He's hitting .364 on artificial surface, .355 on grass. He's batting .362, with a .460 on-base percentage, when no runners are on base, and with runners on base, he's batting .347 with a .444 on-base percentage.

Flanagan and Jim Beattie, the executive team which replaced Thrift in the Orioles' front office during the offseason, will have a decision to make about Mora in the last weeks of July. In many respects, Mora is a classic candidate for a trade: He is still relatively inexpensive, earning $1.725 million, a price tag which may climb exponentially next season; he is an older player having a career year, and his value may never be higher; he would be extremely important for a contender down the stretch, filling holes created by late-season injuries, providing insurance in the infield and outfield.

Flanagan said he has gotten a lot of calls about Mora, "and it's not surprising." Flanagan is surprised that most of the interest in Mora is coming from American League teams; as a player who could play multiple positions, Mora would be quite useful for a National League manager.

Flanagan says he doesn't expect Mora will be traded. "But we'll listen," said Flanagan. "We'll listen to anything. If somebody knocks our socks off, we'll listen."

Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.