2012 Orioles Postcard Autographs

As is typical, many of the new Orioles' players have team issued postcards produced of them in an Orioles uniform before they receive any cardboard love from Topps. The only notable exception this year is Endy Chavez, who made his way into 2012 Topps Heritage as an Oriole before I saw one of his postcards.

Anyway, here are some of the Orioles postcards that I have obtained so far, either in-person or purchased online.

I'll start with my favorite autograph, Wei-Yin Chen. It's my favorite for two reasons: 1) it was a gift from Kalina, & 2) I'm still not used to the Kanji (I think that's right) signature. It's very cool.

I'm pretty sure that Chen will have his fair share of Orioles cards released in the coming years, but it's nice to have his autograph on an O's postcard for now.

These two are my only in-person postcard successes thus far. I'm surprised to see that both of these guys seem to be solid signers thus far. Many times with veterans, that is not the case. Johnson obviously was nice enough to personalize while Betemit cited the language/alphabet barrier when he opted to not inscribe the autograph to me. 

Since Betemit is signed for two years, I'm betting that he gets an Orioles card or two, but Johnson will need to start hitting soon to stick around long enough to be included in a set as an Oriole. For my collecting purposes, the worst thing is when a player receives an Orioles card after they've left town. 

Hammel has been lights out so far this season, and has been a very nice addition to the club. He will certainly get some cards as an Oriole.

Since Flaherty is a Rule V guy and probably the 25th man on the roster, I doubt that he will be included in any sets as an O. The only factor that might help his inclusion is his rookie status, because we all know that Topps loves rookies!

These four have been claimed by Kalina and include some of her current favorite Orioles, with the notable exception of Nick Markakis.

Here's another Hammel, Strop (with his crazy cockeyed hat), Patton, the team's only lefty reliever, and O'Day who has been excellent so far. And as someone who enjoys wacky pitching motions, I hope to see a lot more of O'Day this season.

And here's the Paulino that I featured yesterday, Endy's second "card" as an Oriole, and another Johnson and Betemit.

Oh, and heres' one more Flaherty.

Obviously there are some duplicates here, as well as a few players whom I don't currently need for the collection, so some of these will be up for trade once I get my act together.