The O's finally found Lou Montanez

With Nolan Reimold now on the disabled list, the O's decided they could use another outfielder. They wanted to add Lou Montanez, if they could just get him to answer his phone. "I was coming out of a Salsa lesson. They were ringing my phone like crazy and I was in a Salsa lesson, working on my hips. When I got in my car I saw the messages," Montanez said. "They also contacted my agent who was in Greece on vacation. He had to contact someone else, it was like a 50 dollar phone call. It was like a mission all over the world to get in contact with me. "I was in Miami, just relaxing, watching college football. I was surprised, I didn't expect to be here. I haven't swung a bat in like two weeks." Now that the ordeal to reach Montanez ended, so have his Salsa lessons for a while. He returned to the O's clubhouse today. He hasn't played in a game since September 5th with Bowie, so the skills are rather rusty at this point. He had already gone into off-season mode, preparing later for winter ball, not the American League. Montanez has played for five different teams this year. He began the season with Norfolk, hitting .429 in ten games, before the O's called him to the Majors. In 18 games with the O's, he hit .204-1-6, then sufferend torn ligaments in his right thumb. That sent him to the DL and to surgery. Finally, Montanez, still on the DL, returned to play in some minor league injury rehab games. In six contests between the Gulf Coast League O's, Frederick and Bowie, he went 8 for 23 with 5 RBI. But it's been two weeks since his last game. "It's like getting called up but just a little strange that I haven't been playing. I am just going to take the Mark Reynolds approach. Just swing at whatever comes my way and see if I make contact." Montanez said it was strange spending some September time at home in Miami with friends and family. He had time to watch sports on TV and go fishing. He finally found time for those Salsa lessons. He can probably get back to that after October 4th.