Who Will Play Third For the O's in 2011?

Since it seems as though Josh Bell still needs some seasoning in the Minors and the Orioles don't have any other great candidates in-house right now, I'm interested to see who the Orioles will bring in to play third base in 2011 and possibly beyond. They could re-sign Ty Wigginton, but I kind of hope that they don't, at least not to be the everyday starter. I don't have anything against Ty, but the fan base needs a swift kick in the pants, not a love tap on the behind. It's a sad thing, but less people care about the O's each year in Baltimore. I think it's ridiculous to give up on the team, but some might call me a "superfan".

Let's see if you can guess who I think the Orioles are going to end up with...

Mark was a backup catcher in the Majors for 13 seasons from 1986-98 and spent two stints with the Orioles in 1992-93 & again in '96. He only appeared in 57 games over his three seasons with the O's, all but one as acatcher, and he never played third base over his 474 Big League games.

He is currently a manager in the Phillies' farm system and was promoted to the AA Reading Phillies following the 2010 season, so I might try to get his autograph in person at a Baysox game this season.

 

I wrote about Bob last summer and don't have much to add to that, but I will say that he never played third base over the 140 games covering six seasons that he spent in the Majors.

You have any idea where I'm going with this yet?

Mark appeared in 314 games in the Majors over his eight season career, but every single appearance came on the mound. He spent the 1988-89 seasons in Baltimore and had a dismal 3-12 record for the Birds, including an abysmal 1-8 campaign in '88. 

 

I picked up this autograph at the National in August and to avoid repeating myself, you can read what I wrote here. Harold played in 1374 Major League games but never appeared at the hot corner.  

So what the hell am I getting at here? Has anyone figured it out?  

Well, I think the O's will end up trading with the Diamondbacks to obtain Mark Reynolds. See what I did here? A Mark, then a Reynolds, then a Mark, then another Reynolds. That's about as witty as things get around these parts.

When Do You Read Blogs?

I decided to go for something different today, so I'm asking all of my readers when they spend their time reading my blog, as well as any other of the great card blogs out there in the blogo-verse. I know that some people have time to do it at their jobs, others burn the midnight oil to read/write blogs, while some people seem to have most of their free time during weekends. Please take a second to vote in the poll on your left. Thanks!

If you don't vote, Joel "Frankenstein" Bennett will track you down 

and make you take awkward photos together!

Random Saturday Autograph- Jim Dedrick

Jim had a long career in professional baseball and played from 1990-2003 for many different teams and organizations. However, his time in the Majors was very short, lasting about a month and half with the 1995 Orioles. He made it into six games, pitched 7.2 innings, gave up two earned runs including one homer, walked six, and struck out three. He didn't earn a decision, and finished his MLB career with a 2.35 ERA. 

Jim kept plugging away to get back to the show and made it to the AAA level with four other organizations, but could never quite make it back to the Big Leagues. He worked/s as a scout for the Diamondbacks after he finally hung up his spikes following the 2003 season. 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Bob "Rope" Boyd

Bob spent most of his life around the game of baseball and played in the Negro Leagues, MLB, and for a high-ranked semi-pro team in his later years. He played for the Negro Leagues' Memphis Red Sox from 1947-49 before becoming the first black player to appear for the Chicago White Sox in 1951. He struggled to find regular playing time over his five seasons in the White Sox organization and was selected by the Orioles in the 1955 Rule V draft. He became the first modern-era Orioles player to hit over .300 for the season when he accomplished the feat by hitting .311 for the '56 O's and received some MVP votes after the '57 season, also with the Birds.

Bob spent five of his nine MLB seasons playing for the Orioles and was their starting first baseman from 1957-60. He earned the nickname "Rope" for his propensity to hit line drives, which was uncommon for first baseman back then, as it still is today. Most teams want their 1B to hit for power, but Bob was successful regardless.

He passed away on September 7, 2004 in Wichita, Kansas; he was 84 years old. RIP Bob.

What I'm Thankful For

This is going to count as my Thanksgiving post since I'm going to take tomorrow off from the blog. My guess is that I'll be way too lethargic to accomplish much of anything, and I figure that most of you will be asleep on your couches anyway. 

Among many other things, I'm thankful for you, my readers and fellow bloggers. You all provide me with the fuel to continue blogging and sharing my autograph and card collecting stories. So thank you everyone.

I received these 2008 Topps cards from a blog reader named Justin and I'm now only six cards away from finishing a set that's been out for almost three years. If anyone else can help me finish this set off, I would really appreciate it. All of my 2008 & 2009 set needs are listed at the top left hand corner of the under My Set Needs, or you can just click that link. I'm sure that I can work out a trade for any of those cards, so email me or leave a comment if you can help me out.

And whether or not you have any cards that I need, THANK YOU for reading my blog!

TTM Success- Orlando Pena

Orlando pitched in the Majors for 14 season from 1958-75 and played for eight teams over this career. He spent parts of the 1971 & '73 seasons with the Orioles and had a 1-2 record and a 3.79 ERA over his 16 appearances with the O's. 

Over his career, he had a 56-77 record with a 3.71 ERA. After his playing career ended, he worked as a scout for the Tigers.

Orlando signed and personalized my request in just eight days. His signature is very legible and he even added his number 27 that he wore during his time with the O's. Thanks Orlando!

The Two Signatures of Benny Ayala

I've never come across this before in my Orioles collecting and, while I doubt it's completely unique, I think that the extent of the difference might be. Benny Ayala has two completely different autographs. At first, I thought that I was being duped and one of the 'graphs was a fake. Then I read somewhere that Benny has an "A" and a "B" autograph. 

I know that most players will give you a different autograph if you ask them as they are walking by you at a game, or if they are doing a paid signing of some sort. They will generally take more care with their signature for a signing, when they have both the time and incentive to give their fans what they want. Many autographs that I get at games are rush jobs, where the player is just trying to sign quickly, or sign for a bunch of people to keep everyone happy, so their autograph isn't quite as nice. But check this out. 

 

"A" Signature

 

"B" Signature

There isn't a single similarity between the two autographs, at least to my untrained eye. The B signature looks much more like the pre-printed one on the '80 Topps card, while the A signature looks like some alien scrawling. I just don't know what all the squiggles and lines mean. I might see a B and an A in there, but I think I'm just forcing my eyes to make some sense of that craziness.  

Has anyone else ever come across something like this with another player?  

Does anyone have any more information on why Benny's signatures are so different?

Random Saturday Autograph- Rob Bell

Rob pitched for the Reds, Rangers, Devil Rays, and Orioles during his seven season MLB career. He spent the 2007 season with the Orioles organization and played the first half of the season with the AAA Norfolk Tides before he was promoted to the O's towards the end of June. He was 4-3 with a 5.94 ERA for the O's over thirty games in what would be his last go-round at the Major League level. 

Rob might have the least comprehend-able signature I have ever seen. The only combination of letters that seem to somewhat fit what he signs is Robbie Bell but I can't see it.  I can't make out a single letter in that mess, but it still comes off as a kind of cool looking signature. It's certainly unique at least.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Jim Finigan

Jim played for the Orioles during the 1959 season, which was his final year in the Major Leagues. In addition to the O's, he played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers, and San Francisco Giants during his 6 year big league career from 1954-59.

His rookie season in Philly was his best, he came in 2nd in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, received some MVP votes, and was elected to the All-Star team. He made the All-Star team again the next season, but his numbers quickly went downhill after 1955. By the time Jim reached Baltimore, his main role was to spell the young Brooks Robinson at third base. 

Jim passed away in May of 1981, apparently of a heart attack. He was only 52 years old. RIP Jim.

The Crown Card Back Signing Phenomenon Continues

I've brought this up once or twice, but since Ed Farmer recently returned my TTM request signed on the back of his Crown card, I figured that it was worth bringing up again. Some guys prefer to sign their Crown cards on the back!

 

As you can see, Ed pitched in only one single game for the Orioles during his career. So this is his only Orioles card. And he signed mine on the back because the front is pretty dark, and I guess he didn't want to sign on his face. 

  

Bob Bailor took a different approach. He awkwardly signed the card over his name, even though plenty of light space seemed to be available. (Bob had some glorious mutton-chops too, didn't he?)

  

And then also signed the back for good measure. 

Ken Lehman flipped the card on its side to personalize and sign it.

He might have been able to squeeze his autograph and my name on the front in his chin/neck region, but I guess he didn't want to constrict his signature. I can respect that. 

Gordie Sundin went all out and signed right across the center of the back of the card. With that thin pen, he probably could've painted the corners a bit more. 

 

There was definitely some autograph daylight around his neck. 

This Ken Dixon autograph is unique because he signed it for me in person at an Orioles Alumni Autograph signing. If I had noticed in time, I would've asked him to sign the front, but I didn't. 

I also forgot to scan the front of the card, but as you can see from this scan that I stole borrowed from ebay, there is plenty of light colored space to sign around his cap.

That's it for now, but I'm sure that I will get another Crown card that is signed on the back to add to my collection sometime soon.

Random Wednesday Autograph- Brian Williams

Since I was out of town and skipped this past week's Random Saturday Autograph feature, I decided to run it today so as to not disappoint any of my five or ten readers. 

Today, I'm spotlighting Brian Williams, who pitched in the Major Leagues for nine seasons from 1991-97 & '99-00, with a year pitching in Japan separating the two stints. Brian spent five seasons with the Astros, and also pitched for the Padres, Indians, Cubs, Orioles & Tigers. He appeared in all of 13 games for the O's over the '97 season and bounced up and down from AAA Rochester a few times; he had a 3.00 ERA with no decisions during his time in Baltimore. For his career, Brian had a 26-38 record and a 5.37 ERA. 

I believe that I obtained this autograph in a trade on SportsCollectors.Net. His signature isn't bad and reads something like Bi Williams but I really like the way he signs the B and whatever that large swoosh is on his last name. 

Some Recent TTM Successes

After going through a dry spell of sending out TTM requests, I finally sent out a batch to a group of former Orioles who reliably sign autographs by mail. The first few successes have already found their way back to my house.

 

The first success was from Ray Barker, who played a single season for the O's in 1960.  He also played for the Indians and Yankees over his four seasons in the Bigs. With a $5 signing fee, Ray signed and personalized my request and got it back to me in only five days.

 

Steve Reed was my second success; he personalized, signed and returned this card in only seven days, which is pretty amazing as it had to travel from Maryland to Colorado and back.

I had recently traded for a signed Padres card of Steve, but this Orioles card is obviously an upgrade for me.  It's a double bonus card too since Steve is wearing an orange uni and is shown in the middle of his sidearm pitching motion.

 

This card is a perfect representation of the lengths I will go to for my collection. I already had Bob's 1981 Topps card signed, and this Crown card uses the exact same photo as the Topps card. I guess no pictures of Bob in an O's uniform exist since he only played in eight games for the O's in 1979. So even though both cards use the same picture showing Bob, mouth agape, in his Sox hat, I had to have this one signed for my collection since it's his only "Orioles" card.  

Bob returned my card in ten days, but unfortunately didn't personalize it as I requested. 

 

Elliott Maddox kindly personalized and signed my card in eleven days. I added $5 to my request which always helps, but I was happy to add Elliott's only Orioles card to my collection. He played 11 seasons in the Majors for the Tigers, Senators/Rangers, Yankees, Orioles, and Mets. 

 

This card is actually the second TTM request that I sent Rich's way. I normally try to avoid sending multiple requests to the same player, unless they didn't sign the first time, so as to not have the player think I'm greedy and ruin their signing habits for everyone. Yes, I'm looking at those of you who ALWAYS send seven cards to be signed. I think that's a bit excessive.

Anyway, Rich signed and returned my request back in March when I sent a Twins card. At that point, I didn't think any Orioles cards existed of him. Then, about two months ago, a friend of the blog by the name of Riley contacted me about a set of Orioles Hershey cards. They appear to be some sort of giveaway and are approximately the size of an index card. But they're really awesome and the set includes the only Orioles cards I have ever come across for multiple players, including Rich. So I sent this off to him and now it's a part of my collection. 

Have I Mentioned That I Like Signed HOF Plaque Cards?

It's definitely a secondary collection to my Orioles autographs, but as it's becoming increasingly harder to find new Orioles autographs that I don't already have and/or can afford, I occasionally turn my attention to these signed HOF plaques. I don't have a lot of financial resources that I can use for my collecting to begin with, so I don't think I will ever have them all, especially the more famous players or those who have been dead for many years, but I will pick up a cheap signed HOF plaque card here and there when the price is right. 

Recently, I added two deceased former Orioles who didn't enter the Hall as Orioles, but were tied to the team nonetheless. 

 

I picked this Wilhelm up from a trusted dealer at a local flea market last weekend. He's got a number of other signed plaque cards, and the prices are all reasonable, but I added Hoyt this time around since he played for the O's. He chose to wear a Giants cap on his plaque although he played for the White Sox for more years; in my opinion, the best stretch of his career came during his five season stint with the O's.

 

I came across this Kell autograph on ebay, and at only five bucks for a PSA encapsulated signature, the price was most definitely right. George spent the final two seasons of his Hall of Fame career playing for the Orioles, but the seven seasons he spent with the Tigers were certainly the best stretch of his career, so it makes sense that he chose to wear a Tigers cap. 

If anyone has any of these plaque cards to trade, let me know and I hope we can work something out!

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Valmy Thomas

2010 continues to be a very bad year for former Orioles as Valmy Thomas became the 11th former O to die during this calendar year.  He passed away on October 16th in his native US Virgin Islands. 

Valmy played in the Majors from 1957-61 and is the only player in baseball history to play five seasons in five different cities.  He played for the New York Giants ('57), San Francisco Giants ('58), Philadelphia Phillies ('59), Orioles ('60), and Cleveland Indians ('61).

Valmy was actually shot by another man when they were both competing for the same woman and almost died in 1962 but luckily survived the shooting.

RIP Valmy.

TTM Success- Don Leppert

Don was nice enough to sign my TTM request, and answer the question in my letter about his playing career in only 22 days last fall. I asked him what it was like when he played for the O's and he said it was "Fantastic! So many Hall-o-Famers during my time-Mantle-Ted Williams-Bob Feller-Yogi Berra-Whitey Ford-Don Larsen-(Willie Mays in Spring Training)".

He played 40 games for the O's in 1955 and had 8 hits over 81 at-bats.  There was actually another Don Leppert who played in the Majors from 1961-64.  What's the likelihood that there would have been two big leauguers who played in the same time period with the same, seemingly unique, name?  Crazy stuff.

Don was included in the 17 player trade (the largest in baseball history) between the Orioles & Yankees on December 17, 1954.

Thanks for signing Don!

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

On Tuesday, the Orioles announced that righty reliever Jim Hoey was added to their 40 man roster, presumably to protect him from the Rule V draft. Jim pitched for the O's in parts of the 2006-07 seasons and has been fighting his way through various injuries since then. I would certainly expect that there will be more additions and subtractions to the O's 40 man over the coming weeks and my guess is that Matt Albers, Armando Gabino, Chorye Spoone, Pedro Viola, Pedro Florimon and Rhyne Hughes are the most likely to be removed, but time will tell. 

The O's also allowed a number of players to become Minor League free agents, including...

 Mike Hinckley

 Chris George

 Joel Guzman

 Scott Moore

and Dennis Sarfate.

Hinckley, George, and Guzman were all signed as Minor League free agents before the 2010 season and never made it to Baltimore.  

Moore and Sarfate both played for the Orioles at times over the past three seasons.  

None of these moves surprised me besides letting Sarfate go. The O's have a pretty deep bullpen and he didn't crack the 2010 Major League roster but he saved 20 games and had a 2.73 ERA for the AAA Tides. 

Willie Greene

A couple (or eight) months ago, Kirk over at Eutaw Street Cardboard posted a few cards that his brother, Todd, had sent him for his Orioles autograph collection. Apparently Todd collected autographs some years back, and they're now just taking up space at his place, so he sent some former Orioles Kirk's way. One of those former Birds was Willie Greene, and Todd just happened to have an extra Willie auto and sent it my way for a few bucks.

So here's my Willie Greene autograph. Willie played nine seasons in the Majors from 1992-2000, spending the first six and a half seasons with the Reds before jumping from the Orioles to the Blue Jays to the Cubbies at the end of his big league career. He played in all of 24 games for the O's at the end of the '98 season, typically coming in as a late inning defensive replacement. 

Thanks for the trade Kirk & Todd!

Andy Van Slyke Private Signing

Recently, a fellow autograph collector on Sportscollectors.net hosted a signing with Andy at a golf tournament and I was very happy to knock him off of my need list. If you're an autograph collector and you've never checked out SCN, you are missing out. They don't pay me anything to say this, but it's my favorite site for researching TTM information, trading with fellow collectors, and learning about private signings that are being held around the country. So click the link, and then come back to finish reading my post!

Anyway, Andy is only about a 1% TTM signer and never returned the request I sent him in April 2009, so I don't think that one will ever come back. At the time I sent it, Andy was in his fourth season as the Detroit Tigers first base coach. I also tried to get his autograph when the Tigers were in Baltimore for a series during that season, but even though Andy was standing next to the left field wall at one point during batting practice, he didn't sign for me, or anyone else. 

I was a big fan of the Pirates growing up, which I know isn't very common for older O's fans who experienced the Orioles heart-breaking World Series losses to the Bucs in 1971 & '77, but that was before my time, and since Sid Bream was from my hometown of Carlisle, PA, I was a Pirates fan back then.  Besides Sid, Andy was one of my favorite players on the the team and I still have a cracked bat of Andy's that I bought at a Pittsburgh collectors store back in the day.

Andy played in the Major Leagues for 13 season with the Cardinals, Pirates, Orioles & Phillies and is best remembered for his 1988-93 seasons during which Andy was a three time All-Star, five time Gold Glove winner, three time MVP vote getter, and two time Silver Slugger. He also had one of the most powerful arms in all of baseball, and supposedly could reach 100 mph from the mound during batting practice. 

His time in Baltimore was very short; he only played in 17 games at the start of the '95 season before being traded to the Phillies, but he was a big enough star that there are four or five cards that depict him in a Orioles uniform. And now his autograph is a part of my collection, after all of those years, I'd say it's about time.

Random Saturday Autograph- Tony Arnold

Tony's smiling(?) face has been staring at me from my scanned cards folder for about a year now, but I've just never had much to say about him. Thank you Random Saturday Autograph feature for being the perfect outlet for a player like Tony. 

Tony pitched for the O's in 1986-87 and appeared in 38 games out of the bullpen. He finished 13 games during that span but never recorded a save. And that was it for Tony's time in the Majors; he finished with a 0-2 record and a 5.06 ERA.  

He has been a Minor League pitching coach for the past 20 season, including the last 17 in the Indians farm system, and filled that role for the Hi-A Kinston Indians during the 2010 season.  I went to at least one  Frederick Keys-Indians game this past season and normally I check to see if any of the coaches are former Orioles, but I overlooked Tony somehow. 

I'm pretty sure that I got this card in a trade with fellow Orioles autograph collector, Pol, who sent me a ton of autographs last year. Tony signs pretty well TTM too but was never included in a major release, so this Crown card is his only non-minor league card. His signature is absolute crap, I can't really even tell which end is his first name.  No offense Tony, but I don't feel like you've signed THAT many autographs over the years.    

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Jim Hardin

Jim's death is one of the more tragic stories in Orioles history. He was only 48 at the time of his death on March 9, 1991 when the propeller failed on the plane he was flying and the plane crashed. From what I could find about the crash, it sounds as though Jim steered the plane away from a baseball field where kids were playing and instead crash landed in an unoccupied construction site. He is at least the second Oriole to die in a plane crash, the other was Tom Gastall in 1956. Jim's family does a great job of keeping his memory alive by maintaining a tribute website about his life and career. 

Jim pitched in the Major Leagues from 1967-72 and was with the Orioles from '67-mid '71. He was a member of the 1970 World Series Championship O's but didn't appear in a game during the series. Over his five seasons in Baltimore, he went 38-28 with a 2.95 ERA, and won a career high 18 games during the '68 season.

As far as this card goes, it looks like Jim had a pretty clear signature, and really accentuated the J & H at the start of his name. Unfortunately, the pen Jim signed with was running out of ink, but I'm just happy to have his autograph at all.

RIP Jim.

TTM Success- Joe Price

 

Joe Price signed my TTM request in 215 days. It was nice to get my card back; sometimes I doubt I will get anything back past the 100 day mark. Unfortunately, when Joe personalized my card my name got smeared a bit, but I'm just happy that he signed for me.

Joe was a relief pitcher from 1980-90 with the Reds, Giants, Red Sox, and finished up his time in the bigs with the O's. He spent his first seven seasons with the Reds, so most people might remember him for his years in Cincy. During his one season in Baltimore, he had a 3-4 record with a 3.58 ERA in 50 games pitched.  Those stats would have made him one of the best relievers on the 2010 Orioles, but I digress.  

Thanks for signing Joe!

Congrats to the Giants & Mike McCormick

Outside of my contest, I haven't really covered the World Series. It's mainly because I was fine with either team winning; I didn't have a dog in the fight. As an O's fan, I'm pretty much used to not rooting for my own team in the playoffs, so I choose a team to cheer for (this year it was the Rays, and that didn't work out) and I can root against the team's I don't really like such as the Yankees, Red Sox & Phillies. Neither the Rangers nor Giants had won a World Series in my lifetime, so I was gonna be alright with the result either way. Now if Barry had still be on the Giants, then I would've been behind the Rangers 100%. 

Anyway, I just wanted to say congrats to the Giants and all of their players and fans. I was watching the World Series parade on the MLB Network today and I'm a little bit jealous, but it looks like a great time. I can't wait til Baltimore has to shut down the city for an Orioles parade again one day.

To salute the Giants, here's Mike McCormick, one of their greatest pitchers of all time, and the only San Francisco Giant who had won a Cy Young award until Tim Lincecum did it in 2008 & '09.

Mike pitched a total of 11 seasons with the Giants over two stints during his 16 season MLB career.  During his years with the Giants, in New York and then San Francisco, he was a two time All-Star in 1960 & '61, won the '67 N.L. Cy Young, led the league with a 2.70 ERA in '60, and wins (22) in '67.  Pretty impressive stuff. 

Mike pitched for the Orioles for two seasons, in 1963 & '64, between his two stints with the Giants.  He wasn't very effective, going 6-10 with a 4.40 ERA, and was actually demoted to AAA Rochester for most of 1964.  The San Francisco air must have helped Mike on the mound or something.

Congratulations Giants!

Playoff Contest Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so it will probably become a yearly thing around these parts.

Without further ado,  I present to you the winner of the inaugural Great Orioles Autograph Project Playoff Bracket Pick 'Em Contest:

 
Brian, of  Play at the Plate fame, pulled off the win based on his tie-breaker selection of the series going 6 games. As a Rangers fan, I'm sure that he would have preferred to have his team actually win the World Series, but I hope that winning my contest is somewhat of a minor consolation prize for him. And since Night Owl only lost based on the tie-breakers, I plan to send him some cards for coming so close.  Based on his post today, I don't think Greg really cared for the result of the World Series either.

Brian-email me so I can get your address and an idea of what I can send you to cheer you up.  Greg-I have some cards put aside for you already that we had emailed back and forth about a couple months ago, so they will finally be heading your way.

Thanks again to everyone who entered!

Orioles Autograph Year in Review- The Best Signers

This will wrap up my review of the 2010 O's signing habits, which I started just about two weeks ago. Last year I included 8 players in this best signers group; this year it's down to 7, but it's still about 15% of the players who played for the O's this year which isn't bad. 

Luke is once again the player who signed the most over the course of the season. I'm pretty much at the point where I try to let other fans get his autograph since I've got his signature so many times. He always seems like a nice guy and talks to the fans while he's signing. I listed Luke in this category last season too, but he really deserves his own category. 


The following three relief pitchers signed almost every Sunday during the season (Sunday's are the day pitchers can warm up on the field since there's no batting practice).

Albers has been inconsistent on the mound over his time in Baltimore, but he's typically been a good signer at least.

I put Hendrickson in the good signers category last year, but this year he took his signing to the next level.

Ohman was sent to the Marlins at the trade deadline, but he signed very frequently before being sent to Miami. I think he signed every card I had of him before the trade, so I was fine with it.

I've heard that some other people had trouble getting Cesar's autograph this year, but not me. He was always the first player to come back to the dugout after B.P. and would normally sign early on. Cesar really upped his signing game this season; I listed him in the kinda-good category last year.      

 

Dino only spent the last month of the season in Baltimore, but he signed enough over that time to get listed here. He was in this category last year too, making him the second back-to-back best signer.  

 

Bergy was the rare Orioles starting pitcher who signed regularly this season. He would sign on some Sundays and in between his starts too.  

I hope that everyone enjoyed the review and I will now get back to my regular blogging schedule, whatever that might be.