Orioles #961-963, Morse, Clevenger, & Johnson

Wow, I can't believe that it's been an entire month since I have posted. I'm slightly embarrassed, but what can I say? Life just gets in the way of the fun stuff sometimes, and honestly, I've been a pretty bad "blogger" for most of this summer. I don't even have that much time to write today, but I wanted to just re-touch base with the Orioles Autograph "World" out there, just to let everyone know that I haven't completely gone away.

One issue with today's three subjects is that I don't have an autograph of any of the trio, so this will be a non-visual post. I will hopefully rectify the new holes in my collection in the near future, but for now, these three all go on my need list.

Oriole #961- Michael Morse, debuted 9/1 against Yankees

Morse was acquired from the Mariners for OF prospect, Xavier Avery, back on August 30th, just ahead of the waiver deadline, which means he was passed through waivers before he was eligible to be traded, and can still be on the O's 25 man postseason roster. Although, since he currently only has hit three singles in 24 ABs and is playing only part-time, I would be surprised if he was included, should the O's force their way into the October baseball picture. So far, this trade is a bust, and since Morse is a free agent at the end of the year, it's becoming more and more unlikely that he will make any impact for the team, although I suppose that could change with one timely swing of the bat.

At an Orioles-Nationals game that I attended with some friends years back, I heckled Michael by yelling "Morse Code" (not my best effort, but I'm not much of a heckler) and one of my buddies still reminds me of that to this day.

Oriole #962- Steve Clevenger, debuted 9/13 against Blue Jays

I mentioned Clevenger's name in the post I wrote about the trade that hinged on Scott Feldman's arrival from the Cubs. Steve was included in the deal since the Orioles needed some catching depth in their system, and it's a cool story since he grew up in the Baltimore area and was/is an Orioles fan. Although he has appeared in games for the Cubs over the past three seasons, it was probably a lifelong dream-come-true to get into a game for the Orioles.

He has appeared in just that one game to this point, but he was a major reason the Orioles came out on top in that game, as he hit a 2 RBI double to tie the game after the O's had been trailing the Jays 3-1 in the 7th inning. The Orioles continued the comeback to win 5-3, and Clevenger is 1-4, with that double and 2 RBI in his Baltimore career. Currently, he has been a better contributor, and much cheaper, to the team than Morse has been.

Oriole #963- Dan Johnson, debuted 9/14 against Blue Jays

I have to admit something about Dan Johnson, something that hasn't happened to me in years. I had no idea that he was even in the Orioles' farm system until I heard he was being called up. And I'm the kind of fool that keeps track of all 60 of the players who the O's invite to Spring Training every year, so this was somewhat of a big deal to me, and a true sign that I'm off my Orioles autograph game.

Anyway, Dan has a single Orioles at-bat to his name so far, when he appeared as a pinch-hitter to lead off the 9th inning against the Blue Jays. He struck out swinging, and the O's lost 4-3. I wouldn't be completely surprised if that is the extent of Dan's career in the black and orange. Which gives me an idea for a future post, one at-bat O's. At my current rate of posting, I will write that up in 2020.



For those of you out there who are working with me on trades, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, but I just need to find time to process everything. And I hope that this isn't my only post for the next month, but time will tell!