The Great Orioles Autograph Project

Does Anyone Collect These Sets?

2012-01-29T11:12:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to go through some of my older cards/sets that I no longer collect to consolidate space in my "card area". I've pretty well picked all of the Orioles out of these sets, but the other cards I have are available for trade or whatever. I mainly want rid of them. So if anyone out there collects any of these sets and is looking for singles or inventory, I would be happy to send them your way. If you don't have anything to send my way in return, that's fine and I would gladly send them out to anyone who would be willing to cover shipping.

I have a few of these large boxes that I will be going through over the coming weeks, and most of the cards are from the late 80's/early 90's, so if you don't see anything here that jumps out at you, what you're looking for might be in another box.

Here's to hoping that this helps me to free up some space in my man cave!

Bobblehead of the Week- Ryan Zimmerman

2012-01-28T15:58:00.000-05:00

This week, I'm taking a brief respite from my Orioles bobbleheads to show off a Harrisburg Senators bobblehead of current Washington Nationals third baseman, Ryan Zimmerman.

This bobblehead is fairly rare and was given away by the Senators back in 2006. I don't know how many they gave away, but I would venture a guess at 1,000, which is pretty standard for minor league teams. I have two copies of it, so I might be willing to flip one if anyone is very interested.

This is a pretty unique pose for a bobble and I like how it depicts Zimm fielding a ball from his knees and trying to make a quick throw. However, I don't think he's looking at where he is throwing.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Francisco de la Rosa, Oriole #510

2012-01-27T18:48:00.000-05:00

I've already profiled Francisco in an unpossible autograph post about a year ago, but I was recently able to swing a deal to update his autograph in my collection to this orange uniform beauty. Only two Orioles cards were produced of Francisco, and he mostly disappeared after his playing days before dying last year at only 44, so I count myself very lucky to have this autograph in my collection.

Another reason I selected Francisco for today's post is that I now have officially assigned a debut number for each and every one of the 910 players who have appeared in a game for the Orioles. Over the past few months, I have (very slowly) been counting down the players debut from high to low, based on whose autographs I have yet to display on the blog. And I've decided to present my unpossible autographs in a similar method, counting down from more recent Orioles who have passed away all the way back to those who played in 1954.

Francisco made his Orioles (and MLB) debut on September 7, 1991 and appeared in the only two big league games of his career at the end of that season. He has the unfortunate distinction of being the second most recently debuted Orioles player to pass away, after Steve Bechler ('02 debut, Oriole #718), who died during Spring Training 2003 due to the combination of heat and a weight loss drug, and Alan Wiggins ('85 debut, Oriole #402), who passed away from complications of AIDS brought about by intravenous drug abuse.

RIP Francisco, you were way too young.

FanFest Leftovers

2012-01-26T18:15:00.000-05:00

I've already shared all of my in-person autographs as well as my pictures from FanFest, but still have to show off a few additional items that didn't fit into those categories.

Prior to the event, I had worked out a 50/50 with fellow autograph collector Craig. He and I have traded a few items over the past year through the mail but this was the first time we met in person. He was a really nice guy and it was a pleasure meeting him. Anyway, he agreed to help me out with O's reliever, Darren O'Day, who was a late addition to an early sold-out session that I didn't have a ticket for, since he didn't have anything for O'Day to sign. In exchange, I agreed to help him with J.J. Hardy since I already have him on an O's card and didn't need an upgrade.

Here is my awesome O'Day autograph. He's a sidewinding pitcher, which is my favorite kind to watch. If he, Clay Rapada, and Zach Phillips all make the team (which I know is unlikely) I'm in for some serious sidearm viewing.

Once again, I met up with Ryan who writes, O No Another Orioles Blog, and we swapped some unsigned O's cards. He hooked me up with some of his 2011 O's doubles, while I handed off a number of older O's cards.

The highlight for me was this gold bordered 2011 Bowman Vlad Guerrero, which filled a hole in my budding Vlad Orioles card collection.

Last up was a lucky find for my coaches/managers collection. One of the very few card vendors had a small box of signed 8x10s that I decided to flip through for no particular reason. I lucked out, because tucked in between 2 of the signed pictures was this autographed Leo Mazzone Orioles postcard.

Mazzone is a good TTM signer so I had been trying to find an unsigned O's postcard to send his way but wasn't having any luck. But honestly, finding this already signed copy makes things easier in the end.

I hope that you enjoyed my FanFest wrap-up posts. I know that I have enjoyed reading what everyone else has wrote about the event!

2012 FanFest Pictures

2012-01-25T18:15:00.000-05:00

My family and I all took a bunch of pictures at Fanfest. Not too surprisingly, mine were mostly of the players at the autograph stations. Sorry that some of the pictures are blurry but my dad's camera was having problems getting it's focus on.

If only we had a kid with us, we could've gotten free autographs at the kids only station of (l to r) Zach Phillips, Chris Davis, Ryan Flaherty, and Pedro Strop. I'm still trying to add signed O's postcards of Phillips and Strop to my collection, so maybe I should have seen if I card borrow a kid from someone else; anyone have one I could rent for next year?

Here is a picture from yet another station that I didn't have a ticket for. While waiting in line for the 3:20 signing to begin, (l to r) Chris Tillman, Chris Hoiles, and Matt Wieters were still signing for fans from the previous group.

And for my last picture of players whose autographs I didn't get, here are Rick Krivda (l), and Zach Britton leaving the station prior to my next group signing.

Now HERE are some players whose station I went through; (l to r) Jai Miller, Taylor Teagarden, Troy Patton, and JJ Hardy.

A few minutes before the above picture was taken, I got to see Miller and Patton introducing themselves to one another. It was a unique thing to see since frequently teammates know each other prior to being in public. And it's because of this that I know Jai's name is pronounced "Jay", not "Jeye" as I had thought.

And here is some proof that I actually went through the line. First up is me and Miller...

and Teagarden...

and Patton...

Here is my dad helping me out with Brady.

And Kalina with Matt Wieters (lucky Kalina!)

I tried to get a picture of Kalina and Matt Antonelli but only one of them was looking. Guess which one?

Lastly are a few pictures from the previous station I went through. Below are Oliver Drake (l) and Dana Eveland.

And HOFer Jim Palmer. It's pretty cool that he still attends FanFest, but he didn't seem overly personable this year.

Tomorrow will be my last FanFest post, as I still have a few trades and purchases to show off.

My 2012 FanFest Autographs

2012-01-24T18:16:00.000-05:00

So I spent about four hours at Orioles FanFest at the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday and was able to get autographs from almost everyone I wanted, thanks to some major help from Kalina and my parents. I think that everyone in my group had a pretty good time, I know that I sure did! Thanks for your help guys!

Since I added so many autographs to the collection, this will be an information short and scan heavy post.

Probably the coolest autograph that we got all day was this Markakis struck foul ball that my dad snagged at a game late last season.

And he also got Kakes to sign this orange uniform card for me!

I also added signed items of many of the new Orioles to my collection. Since I like to have signed cards as well as postcards of the players, I got both whenever possible.

A few other players had their first Orioles postcards available...

My dad was able to get a few cards personalized to me...

I was able to add a few more autographs of my favorite Oriole...

And I was able to add some trade stock too... the following are all available for trade (minus the Patton minor league card which was obtained for a fellow collector)

I will share some stories, trade items, and pictures tomorrow.

This Week's Orioles Minor League Moves

2012-01-23T18:16:00.000-05:00

My intent was to show off my FanFest pictures today but I ran out of time to scan everything yesterday. Hopefully, I will be displaying my haul tomorrow.

Every few weeks this offseason, I have been trying to list the O's minor league transactions. From what I can tell, here is what the O's have done since I last wrote about these moves.

They once again re-signed a few of their own minor league free agents, re-inking catcher Zach Booker, and pitcher, Will Startup.

I was happy to see they are bringing back Startup who was a fan favorite in Frederick. He also has a very comical, karate-like, leg kick during his delivery (which he was not using at the time the above picture was taken) which makes him one of the more entertaining pitchers to watch in the organization.

The team also re-signed one-time Oriole reliever, Winston Abreu, who appeared in 7 games for the 2006 Birds;

Ross Wolf, who the O's sent to the A's in early 2010 in the infamous (Jake) Fox-Wolf trade;

and Francis Beltran, a member of the 2007 Tides.

They signed a bevy of minor league free agents from other organizations. I know nothing about these guys, but will pass along what I've read. They inked 2B Travis Adair (Rangers), C Allen De San Miguel (Twins), 2B Tom DiBenedetto (Independent), 2B Peter Fatse (Independent), and OF Edgardo Baez (Nationals).

A few better known pitchers also signed with the organization. Armando Galarraga, who nearly threw a perfect game in 2010 for the Tigers, longtime journeyman reliever Dennys Reyes, and sometime Major Leaguer Oscar Villarreal all signed deals.

And as will be the case every year, some of the O's free agents signed with other teams. This week's highlight (or lowlight if you will) was Miguel Abreu's signing a deal with the Phillies.

Miggy has been a favorite of Kalina and mine over our past few years of going to various Orioles' affiliates minor league games. He has spent the majority of the past four years with the hi-A Frederick Keys and AA Bowie Baysox, which are the affiliates whose games we attend the most. He always seemed like a nice guy and never turned down an autograph request. Good luck next year, Miguel!

Jeremy Accardo split the 2011 season between Baltimore and AAA Norfolk, so this only half counts as minor league news, but he signed with the Indians.

Oriole # 758- Jeff Fiorentino

2012-01-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

Jeff's name has come up in a few posts over the years but I've never gone into too much detail about him, so I'll do that today. Not like there is a ton of things to write about him, but I'll cover the basics.

Jeff made his Orioles debut on May 12, 2005, and was very oddly called up to the Big Leagues from hi-A Frederick, having never even played at the AA level before appearing in the Majors. I think this says more about the lack of OF depth the O's had back then than anything else, since he wasn't exactly setting the Carolina League on fire.

To date, he has had two stints with the Orioles, the first in 2005-06 and the second in 2009 (not to mention a third time in the organization in early 2011), but I wouldn't be surprised if he plays for the team again since he always seems to boomerang back to Baltimore.

Since 2008, here is the list of his transactions from Baseball-Reference.com:

And that doesn't even list 2010, which he spent as a member of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan.

So who knows where Jeff will end up next, but good luck to him wherever that may be. And we will probably see you back in Baltimore some day.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Moe Drabowsky, Oriole #226

2012-01-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

This week, I'm combing two of my themed posts, Unpossible Autographs, signifying an Orioles player who has passed away, and Counting Down the Orioles, which chronicles the Orioles debuts. If I like it, I might make it a new thing.

Although this autograph has been in my collection for some time now, I think that I've avoided writing about Moe because I don't feel qualified to do so. I know that I've written many posts about old-school players who I never saw play and don't know much about, but I've heard so many stories about Moe's legendary prankster status, that I have no idea where to begin. But here it goes...

Moe was born in Ozanna, Poland in 1935 and, luckily, his family moved to the U.S. in 1938, ahead of many of the Nazi-era Eastern European atrocities that took place in the ensuing years.

Moe made his Orioles debut on Opening Day, 1966 against the Red Sox. He was the first pitcher out of the bullpen that day and pitched 1.2 innings of relief, allowing two hits, one run, one walk and striking out one.

Over his career, he pitched in the Majors for 17 seasons, including two well-timed stints with the Orioles that allowed him to be a member of their 1966 & '70 World Series winning teams, even though he spent parts of two seasons with the Royals in between the two Championships. In game 1 of the 1966 Series, he set a still-standing World Series record for relief pitchers by mowing down 11 consecutive Dodgers, and tied the single game record with six consecutive strikeouts. Now that's legitimate domination!

Some other interesting items I read about Moe include how he earned the first win in Kansas City Royals history in 1969, gave up Stan Musial's 3,000th career hit in 1958, and was the opposing pitcher when Early Wynn won his 300th game in 1963.

And I can't write about Moe without writing about his love of pranks. It sounds like he was the master of the hotfoot; he even managed to give one to baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn! It sounds like there are countless other pranks that Moe was involved with over the years, and while they mostly sound hilarious, they are are too numerous to list here.

Moe stayed involved with baseball after he retired, and served as a minor league pitching instructor for the White Sox and Orioles for many years. He even served as the AA Bowie Baysox interim manager for a single game in 1996. He passed away in 2006 after a long bout with cancer. RIP Moe.

Orioles Announce 2012 Promo Schedule

2012-01-19T17:49:00.000-05:00

I'm not trying to be a corporate shill for the Orioles, but I always get excited when the team releases it's promo schedule for the upcoming season, and this year is no exception. The highlights for me this year are the Fan's Choice Bobblehead (I'm intrigued to see who the options are and how/when the voting will take place), the monthly replica sculpture giveaways of all the Hall of Fame Orioles, and the Matt Wieters orange (orange uni!!) replica jersey.

What are you excited about?

Getting Excited for FanFest- Updated

2012-01-18T18:33:00.000-05:00

Image borrowed from Orioles.com

I know that I haven't said too much about it this year, but Orioles FanFest is this Saturday and I'm poised to add autographs of potential future Orioles like Darren O'Day, Dana Eveland, Matt Antonelli, Taylor Teagarden, and Jai Miller to my collection. I know that most fans and collectors would be uninspired by that list, but since I need autographs of everyone who plays for the O's, I prefer to make a preemptive strike while I have the chance. I have no idea what the new guy's signing habits will be like, so I like to get their signatures when I know that I can. Of course to get the autographs of the new players, I'm also in line to get autographs of a few guys named Palmer, Markakis, Hardy, and Wieters, whoever they are (zing).

In the meantime, I've been trying to swing some trades on SportsCollectors.net to add new Orioles players to my collection. So far, I've added signed cards of Teagarden and minor league free agent, Scott Beerer, but I neglected to scan the autographs. I will say that I was very unimpressed by their penmanship, and struggled to make out a single letter in either "signature".

Update- See what I'm saying about these autographs?!? C'mon guys.

Oriole #763- Ramon Nivar

2012-01-17T18:32:00.000-05:00

I profiled Ramon fairly well back in November of 2009, and I don't have too much to add since that time. He has continued to bounce between the affiliated minor leagues and independent league teams, but has yet to return to the Majors since his time with the Orioles in 2005.

What I did discover about Ramon is that he was the 763rd player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he appeared in his first game with the team on June 3, 2005. And I added this sweet York Revolution signed card to my collection.

While Ramon is far from the only Oriole to have played with the Independent, Atlantic League franchise in nearby York, PA (Val Majewski and Matt Riley also comes to mind), he is the only former Oriole player whose signed Rev card is currently in my collection.

(I've mentioned it before and don't like to repeat things too often, but I went to college in York and had my semi-local wedding reception at a Revs game, so the city is full of memories for me.)

The addition of the card above means that this 2003 Leaf Nivar autograph is up for trade. And I don't have much to say for his autograph, but he is very consistent with his signature and the Bible verse inscription.

Orioles' Vlad Card Collection

2012-01-16T22:17:00.001-05:00

Since I decided to collect all of Vladimir Guerrero's Orioles cards back in December, I've picked up a few more cards for the collection. A few were sent to me by fellow collectors, while I picked up a few others online.

These are my current favorites, a Topps 60 relic card and Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor #ed 022/150.

I really like this Kimball Champions mini card.

The Topps Lineage card is cool but the shot is kind of uninspiring.

If any of you have any other of Vlad's Orioles cards, please let me know! I'm in no rush to finish this collection but I'll gladly trade for any other of his O's cards.

Orioles Bobblehead/Figure of the Week- Cal Ripken Jr. McFarlane

2012-01-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, most weeks I try to show off an Orioles bobblehead or figure each Saturday. Many weeks I don't find the time to post something, but this week I'm coming through for you!

A few days after Christmas, I discovered a large box on my front door step. I hadn't purchased anything online, so I immediately got excited about what it could be. I recognized the return address name on the box, but wasn't expecting anything from this person, so I had no idea what I might find inside. It was a bunch of Random Baseball Stuff from Paul. (See what I did there?)

Paul sent me a bunch of Orioles cards and a huge stack of Vladimir Guerrero cards, which I stupidly forgot to scan or at least take a picture of before filing them away. My bad. But suffice it to say, they are greatly appreciated.

The highlight of the box was this great McFarlane Cal Ripken Jr., which I haven't decided if I want to take out of the box yet. So here are some pictures of it in the box.

Close...

Closer...

As you can see, it's pretty realistic, especially compared to some of the bobbleheads I've seen of Cal.

Here's a picture of what it would look like out of the packaging, along with images of the rest of the Hall of Famers in the series.

I'm a big fan of these McFarlane figures (Cal joins 2-3 others around our house) and I can't thank Paul enough for his kindness. Go check out his interesting musings about the Mets, baseball cards, and whatever else he wants to write about at Paul's Random Baseball Stuff.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Frank Kellert

2012-01-13T17:57:00.000-05:00

(Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is a few pennies short of a dollar, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible.")

Finally, here is the third of the three autographs my dad gave me for Christmas. (I already showed off my Lou Jackson and George Brunet autographs.)

Frank Kellert was a member of the inaugural 1954 Orioles, having come east with the franchise from St. Louis where he played with the Browns in 1953. Frank appeared in only 10 games for the Orioles, all in September, and had seven hits, including two doubles, over 34 at-bats. He played in only 122 games over his four seasons in the Majors from 1953-56, and is best known and remembered for being a member of the World Series Champion 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. He was actually the batter when Jackie Robinson famously stole home, a play that Yogi Berra still disputes to this day, which makes him an interesting foot-note in baseball history. He certainly had the best view of the play and I believe I read somewhere that, years later, he agreed with Berra's take that Robinson was out.

Frank enlisted in the Army during World War II and spent over three years serving his country. He even survived a torpedo attack by the Germans when he was aboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea which caused thousands of U.S. soldiers to lose their lives. I can't imagine dealing with a tragedy like that!

After his baseball days were over, Frank returned to his native Oklahoma and became the director of a credit union while also serving on the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. He certainly led an interesting and varied life. He passed away from lymphoma at only 57 in 1976. RIP Frank.

I think that his autograph is so hard to track down because of three reasons.

1) He was a member of a very popular World Series Championship team.

2) He died 35 years ago and was relatively young when he passed away.

3) He was a fairly obscure, part-time player during his career, so likely wasn't hounded for too many autographs.

Frank's only major issue card was his 1956 Topps card, which pictured him with the Cubs. His only Orioles card was the 1991 Crown card, which came out 15 years after he passed away, so he obviously never signed it. So this index card is in my collection for good, and Frank's name is permanently scratched off of my list. I'm very happy to have this PSA/DNA certified copy, even if it's a bit of a pain to store in my binder.

And I have to say that Frank's autograph is amazing. You can make out every single letter and the flourishes on the F and K to start each name really give it some character. However, if I saw that F all alone, I don't think I would guess it was an "f", but rather a strange "g" or maybe a "t". Regardless, his autograph is gorgeous and I'm very excited to have it in my collection, thanks again dad!

Adios Luke

2012-01-12T18:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, free agent DH/LF Luke Scott signed a one year deal, with an option for 2013, with the Tampa Bay Rays.

After a disappointing 2011 that included season-ending shoulder surgery in July, the Orioles declined to offer him salary arbitration. I was on board with that decision since the arbitration process would've netted him a raise from $6.4 million he made in 2011. And I don't think Luke's health and track record should have earned him something in the $8 million range in 2012.

From what I understood, it seemed like the Orioles and Luke were going try to work out a deal to bring him back to Baltimore at a reduced salary, but it seems like those talks never got very far.

I was slightly disappointed to hear that Luke had signed with another team. When Luke was good, he was really good, as proven by his 2010 MVO (Most Valuable Oriole) season. And his relationship with Felix Pie was entertaining to watch over the past three seasons.

LUUUUKE had also been one of the best, most consistent signers on the Orioles over the past four years, as evidenced by this glut of Luke autographs I obtained over his time in Baltimore. It actually got to the point where I no longer pursued his autograph, since I didn't want to get in the way of other fans getting something signed. It is very rare for me to turn down an autograph, so this is really a testament to his signing regularity.

However, Luke was a controversial figure at times and gave a few inflammatory interviews to national news sites during his time in Baltimore. He was a very opinionated guy, especially regarding gun rights and religion, and wasn't afraid to share his beliefs with anyone that would listen.

Here is Luke telling the Topps photographer about his beliefs...

Luke certainly had his ups and downs in Baltimore, but since I'm an autograph collector, one of the chief ways I judge a player is how often he signs for the fans. And I don't honestly think that I saw anyone sign more than Luke over the past four seasons. Heck, I'm still waiting to see Markakis voluntarily sign once at Camden Yards.

Good luck in Tampa, Luke. I know that your bilingual skills will serve you well in Florida. I'd just prefer you be on one of your cold streaks the 18 times you play the O's.

What Are These Cards?

2012-01-12T14:41:00.000-05:00

Can anyone out there tell me what these cards are? They look like 2011 Topps but the backgrounds are all blacked out. I have this single packs-worth and can't remember where or when I got these.

Thanks in advance!

An Overdue Christmas Thank You

2012-01-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

I've somehow neglected to display all of the autographs I received for Christmas, so it seems like I better do it now that as it's already been two and a half weeks since the holiday. So here we go... (Don't worry, Paul, I haven't forgotten about you!)

I've already displayed two of the three unpossible autographs that my dad gave to me, but he also gave me a few other autographs.

I have a small-scale collection of signed Hall of Fame plaque cards, and I specifically try to collect the players and/or executives that have any connection to the Orioles. I don't have them all yet, but I have a majority of the HOFers who have ties to Baltimore.

The only player enshrined as an Oriole who was missing from my collection was Frank Robinson. You might remember that he's not my favorite person, but he was a great player who had some of his greatest years with the Orioles. My dad knew I was still trying to add this plaque card to my collection; it's pretty impressive how he can keep up with my need lists!

He also gave me a few assorted Orioles autographs to add to my collection or trade for something else I need. He knows that it's pretty hard to find any Orioles autographs that I still need. (Bert Hamric anyone?)

There are a very few collectors/bloggers who I have exchanged Christmas cards with over the past few years. Fellow Orioles autograph collector, Pol, is one of those people. This year, I sent him a card with no autographs or cards in it. Big mistake! Because in my card, I found these three signatures.

The highlight of the three was definitely this Bob Feller signed HOF plaque card. I had a similar one of these but this one seems to be a different version or issue of the plaque card, so it's staying in the collection.

He also included this cool Jack Fisher signed black and white photo/postcard deal.

AND an autograph of Tommy John, who I mostly know for having the arm surgery named after him. But it turns that he pitched in the Majors for 26 seasons for six different teams. It certainly seems like the surgery worked for him!

Thank you so much Dad and Pol, I really appreciate the awesome additions to my collection! Merry belated Christmas!

Oriole #764- Eli Marrero

2012-01-10T18:47:00.000-05:00

Eli Marrero made his Orioles debut on June 10, 2005 after a midseason trade brought him to Baltimore from Kansas City. Through the remainder of the season, he appeared in 22 games for the Orioles, mainly playing as a fourth outfielder. Eli provided some power off the bench, hitting 3 home runs in 50 at-bats, but also struck out 20 times over that period.

Eli played for the Cardinals for his first seven years in the Majors before bouncing between five teams over his final three big league seasons. He was only a regular one season, in 2002 during his time with the Cardinals, and spent the rest of his career as a back-up player.

This 2005 Topps Update issue is Eli's only Orioles card (along with some color and chrome variations) and it took me a few years to get it signed. I sent him a TTM request way back in March 2009 that has yet to make it's way back to me, and I doubt that it ever will at this point. In June 2010, I swung a trade to add one of his Cardinals autographed cards to my collection, but you wouldn't believe how hard it can be to track down a specific signed card.

Many of the players I am still trying to upgrade in my collection have had one or two Orioles cards produced of them, and signed copies of those cards seem to be very scarce. In many cases, you can easily find an autograph of just about anyone, but it can be very hard to find the specific autograph you want.

Luckily, Eli was a signer at the 2011 Cardinals Winter Caravan last year, and a fellow collector was able to help me to get my card autographed with whatever chicken-scratch that is that Eli calls his signature. I'm just happy to knock Oriole #764 off of my need list.

Movin' Minor Leaguers

2012-01-09T15:26:00.001-05:00

The Orioles made a few minor league moves over the weekend. They signed left-handed pitcher Ryan Edell, right-handed pitchers Eun Chol Choi, Jon Link and Kyler Newby, and outfielders Lee Cruz and Antoan Richardson.

They re-signed infielder Carlos Rojas, who has been with the organization since 2008, and has bounced between AA Bowie and AAA Norfolk, but is still waiting for his first call-up to Baltimore.

Also re-signing was pitcher, Raul Rivero, who has steadily risen through the organization since signing out of Venezuela in 2005. He has played at every level of the minors for the O's up through AA Bowie, where he spent the entire 2011 season.

A few other former Orioles minor leaguers signed with other organizations as Mike Ballard inked with the Nationals

and Brendan Harris signed with the Rockies.

Thanks Kirk!

2012-01-08T14:03:00.000-05:00

I recently completed a trade with Kirk, a fellow Orioles autograph collector who is behind Eutaw Street Cardboard. Here is my haul...

Not the most exciting autographed card ever of Robbie, but definitely an upgrade over my logos-removed Nabisco autographed card from the early '90s.

This card, with it's imperfect autograph, and rather boring posed shot, is almost perfect for my collection based on my feelings about Frank. You can click on my link above to find out how I feel. And if you clink the link to Kirk's site at the top, you can check out his side of the trade.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- George Brunet

2012-01-06T18:21:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, I featured a Lou Jackson autograph that I had received as an early Christmas present from my dad. It was one of the three autographs he gave me at the time that brought me within only one autograph of "completing" my collection. Here is the second autograph he gave me, a signed index card of pitcher George Brunet.

On paper, Brunet has possibly the most interesting career of anyone who has suited up for the Orioles. From Baseball-Reference.com, here is the list of teams that he pitched for over his 33 (thirty-three!!!) year career in professional baseball. He pretty much pitched anywhere and everywhere in North America where professional baseball is played from Vancouver to Veracruz.

George spent only the latter half of 1963 with the O's, going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA over 16 games, but continued to pitch in their farm system until the middle of the 1964 season. His longevity helped him to achieve the all-time minor league strikeout record with 3,175 and he also holds the Mexican League shutouts record with 55. He was even posthumously elected to the Salon de la Fama (Mexican Hall of Fame) in 1999 for his accomplishments south of the border.

So why are copies of George's autograph so scarce? From what I understand, it's because he rarely-to-never returned to the U.S. from Mexico after he began pitching there in 1973. At least one other Orioles collector that I've spoke with even said something along the lines that Brunet dropped off the map in the years after he stopped pitching until shortly before his death in Mexico in 1991. He was only 56 when he passed away. I've seen a few signed Brunet cards for sale but never have had the timing or luck to add one to my collection.

He was featured on a 1964 Topps card as an Oriole (although not in an Orioles uniform, I don't know who ever wore collared shirts under their jersey, but I'm guessing it was the Houston Colt .45s), so theoretically, there might be a few signed copies of that card out there somewhere. He was also included as an Oriole in the 1991 Crown set that came out shortly before he died, but it's pretty unlikely that any of those cards made it to him to sign in Mexico in the months between their release and his death. RIP George.

O's Acquire Jai Miller; Jo-Jo Reyes Signs with Pirates

2012-01-05T18:12:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, the Orioles announced they had acquired Jai Miller from the Athletics for cash considerations. He figures to compete for an outfield spot during Spring Training and must pass through waivers if he is sent to the minors. My feeling is that he is behind Endy Chavez and Nolan Reimold in the current outfield plans, so he will likely provide the team some OF depth at AAA Norfolk. Since Brandon Snyder had been traded to the Rangers the same day Jai was acquired from the A's, Miller simply slides into Snyder's spot on the 40 man roster.

Since 2008, Jai has seen limited Major League action with the Marlins, Royals, and A's, most recently playing in 7 games for the A's in 2011. He has had issues with his strikeout totals throughout his time in organized baseball and will need to continue working on that to become a successful player at the Major League level.

Also on Tuesday, the Pirates announced that they had signed 2011 Oriole Jo-Jo Reyes, #905 on the all-time roster, to a split Major/Minor contract for the 2012 season. I certainly didn't expect him to return to Baltimore since the Orioles had non-tendered him in mid-December, but I held out hope since I was never able to get him to sign a card for me in person. Luckily, I swung a trade on SCN to add his autograph to my collection. Good luck in 2012 Jo-Jo! At least you never had a card produced of you in an Orioles uniform, so no upgrade is needed for my collection.

Adios Brandon

2012-01-04T18:39:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, the Orioles announced they had traded Brandon Snyder, Oriole #885, to the Texas Rangers. I've enjoyed watching Brandon play his way from the Orioles farm system all the way up to Baltimore over the past four seasons and I hope that he finds more staying power at the MLB level in Texas than he did in Baltimore.

Brandon made his Orioles (& MLB) debut on September 10, 2010 but appeared in only ten games for the O's that season and just six in 2011. The team has had a logjam of 1B/3B type players in recent seasons which always limited his opportunities.

He was always a good signer during his time with the Frederick Keys and Bowie Baysox. I also saw him sign a few times during his stints in Baltimore too, so I would imagine that you Rangers fans shouldn't have trouble adding his signature to your collections.

And if you're on Twitter, you can follow Brandon (@BrandonSnyder29). He's pretty responsive to his fans so tweet away.

Good luck in Texas, Brandon!

Upgrading Mickey

2012-01-03T18:48:00.000-05:00

So I'm officially back from my time away from real life and my computer. I enjoyed my holidays and hope that you all did too.

Today's autograph is of Mickey McGuire, who I profiled back in October when I add a signed index card of his to my collection. A long-time friend of the blog sent me this delayed wedding present that happened to arrive just after Christmas, so it seems like a good autograph to use to get back into the swing of posting. It's my very own Mickey McGuire autographed Orioles Crown card! This is Mickey's only Orioles card, and he was one of the very last living players that I was able to add to my collection, so his autograph is hard to find to say the least.

Thank you so much Russell for helping me to completely knock Mickey off my need list! I really appreciate your help with him.

My first real post of 2012 also seems like a good time to share an update on my collection. Of the 910 players who have appeared in a game for Orioles, I only need one autograph to wrap things up. I hope that I will be able to add a Bert Hamric autograph sometime in the next year to "complete" my collection. Of course, I'm still trying to upgrade my autographs of 30 other former O's, and it's likely that 15-25 players will make their Oriole debuts in 2012, so there will almost always be something to keep me collecting.

I hope that you all have a great 2012 and that your card collections grow exponentially.

Hi Everybody

2012-01-02T19:47:00.003-05:00

Hello out there, sorry I've been away for a few days, but I've been on vacation and away from a computer. I should be back to regularly posting this week. I know that I have a few Christmas autographs to show off, if nothing else!

Also, I've been recruited to write for the FanSided Orioles blog "Birds Watcher", so I will be splitting time here and there from now on. I don't anticipate that cutting into my time here too much since it's currently a part-time thing, but check out the other site if you're interested.

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

It seems like I'm in the minority on this one, but I love Christmas and the entire holiday season. So Merry Christmas to all of you out there. I hope you all got baseball cards in your stockings and/or under the tree this year.

Image borrowed from Amazon

Thanks to all of you who helped make collecting fun and enjoyable in 2011.

Orioles Bobblehead(s) of the Week- Earl Weaver & Jim Palmer

2011-12-24T12:01:00.000-05:00

Here is my Earl Weaver/Jim Palmer dual Orioles bobblehead that was given away on July 19th, 2004. I love this bobblehead since it features two Hall of Famers and they both look reasonably like themselves, outside of the lack in height differential at least.

I'm sure that other teams have done dual bobbles but this is certainly the only one the O's have produced.

I don't remember if this bobble was given away in conjunction with anything, and as far as I know it's the only SGA bobble the Orioles have produced for either of these HOFers.

For some reason, my ~~camera~~ phone wasn't cooperating well for the close-ups of their faces, but you get the idea of what they look like.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Unpossible Autograph Friday- An Early Christmas Present

2011-12-23T18:16:00.000-05:00

My dad gave me a Christmas present a little early this year; he has been one of the very few people who have regularly gifted me baseball cards over the years and I always look forward to what he has for me. I was blown away when I opened my gift and it contained three of the four remaining Orioles autographs that I needed for my collection. My need list is down to only 1! I have to spread these bad boys out since I've been searching for them for so long, and I will feature one each week over the next three weeks to savor their awesomeness.

Up first is Lou Jackson since this is only the second example of his autograph I've ever seen and the first I've seen in person. I also think that his signature is the most rare of the trio. The previous autograph of Lou's that I had seen was a signed 1959 Topps Cubs card on ebay that the seller wanted $1000 for, which is significantly out of my price range. If it was his 1964 Topps Orioles card (the only Orioles card of his that was released during his lifetime) I might have considered taking out a second mortgage, but not for the Cubs card.

Lou played in only 34 MLB games over three seasons. 30 of those appearances came with the Cubs in 1958-59, and the other four came for the Orioles in 1964. Lou bounced around the minors after his time in Chicago and he came to Baltimore after the O's selected him from the Milwaukee Braves in the 1963 Rule 5 draft. Following Spring Training, he broke camp with the O's but wasn't able to regularly crack the lineup, so was sent to the AAA Rochester Red Wings in mid-May, spending the ensuing season and a half with them. After the 1965 season ended, Lou signed a deal to play professionally in the Japan for the Sankei Atoms (now the Tokyo Yakult Swallows) and spent the 1966-68 seasons there. He developed some serious health problems while in Japan, possibly due to his alcohol abuse, and died in Tokyo in May 1969 of pancreatitis. He was only 33 years old when he passed away.

Obviously, Lou's passing away at such a young age in a foreign country over forty years ago is the main reason his autograph is so hard to track down. Adding to that issue is that he was only featured on the two cards I mentioned above during his lifetime. He was posthumously featured as an Oriole in this TCMA set and the Orioles Crown set, but he quite obviously, never signed either of them.

RIP Lou.

Thank you dad for this amazing autograph to add to my collection.

Orioles Sign Endy Chavez

2011-12-22T18:21:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, multiple sources reported that the Orioles signed OF Endy Chavez and the team confirmed the transaction in a press release on Tuesday. He inked a one year, $1.5 million deal and could earn another $500k in contract incentives. Endy is a good defensive outfielder and will likely see some playing time in left field in addition to backing up Adam Jones in center-field. The Orioles had been searching for a left-handed, defensively strong outfielder so now they can scratch that off of their shopping list for the 2012 season. He also brings some speed to the base-paths and hits more for average than power. I see Endy as a player in the Felix Pie mold, but hopefully he knows how to take a better routes on fly balls.

Photo Credit to MetsOnline blog

Based on the fact that Endy is best known around baseball for this amazing home run robbing catch of a Scott Rolen blast he made for the Mets in game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, I think he knows what he is doing out there. His throw after the catch also helped to double off Jim Edmonds and end the inning. The Mets went on to lose the game, but they wouldn't have stayed in it as long if it wasn't for Endy's defensive prowess.

Endy has spent ten seasons in the Majors, mostly for the Expos and Mets, and also played for the Royals, Nationals, Phillies, Mariners and Rangers. He spent the 2011 season with Texas and was on their post-season roster, so he at least brings a bit of playoff experience to a relatively inexperienced O's team.

As is the case with most of the players the Orioles sign, I don't have many cards of Endy's, so if you have a few extra cards of his around, please let me know and maybe we can work out a trade.

Oriole #797- Paul Bako

2011-12-21T18:38:00.000-05:00

Throughout the offseason, I'm going to count down Orioles players from more recent years all the way back to #1 in 1954, based on whose autographs I have yet to display on this site. Up today is Oriole #797 Paul Bako. (I got ahead of myself when I listed #790, Fernando Tatis, yesterday. Whoops!)

A month or so ago, I purchased a lot of signed Orioles 8x10s on ebay. I focused on players who either never had an Orioles card produced of them or that I still need a signed Orioles item of, and Paul falls into that latter group. The Orioles back-up catcher during the 2007 season was included in two late season card sets as an Oriole; Topps Update and Upper Deck Series 2. I've tried a few different avenues to get one of those cards signed but I haven't had any success, yet at least.

Paul was a big league catcher for 12 seasons from 1998-2009 and played for 11 different teams during his time in the Majors so could accurately be deemed a journeyman. He only played in more than 81 games three times during his career, in his 1996 rookie season with the Tigers, 2002 for the Brewers, and 2008 for the Reds. In true journeyman fashion, his time with the Orioles lasted only one season; he was behind the plate for 60 games for the O's in 2007.

Way back in March 2009, in only the 9th post I ever wrote, I featured Paul's autographed Old Judge card, along with a few other autographs. (Please forgive my writing style from those days, I was still trying to develop my voice.) That card will remain in my collection, along with this 8x10, until I'm able to add his a signed copy of his Orioles card to my collection.

Oriole #790- Fernando Tatis

2011-12-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

Throughout the offseason, I'm going to continue to count down the Orioles players whose autographs I have yet to write about; up today is Fernando Tatis.

Fernando debuted for the Orioles on July 21, 2006 and went on the play in 28 games for the '06 Orioles. He was a true super-utility player and appeared in at least one game at third base, first base, second base, left field, right field, and also served as the DH.

During the World Series this year, I showed off my signed Rangers card of Fernando, since the Rangers were playing in the Series. I wrote a little bit about him at that time, and will repeat that he is the only player to ever hit two Grand Slams in the same inning of a game which he accomplished against Chan Ho Park and the Dodgers.

I recently added these Orioles signed 8x10 and card to my collection, so he is officially scratched off my list. This 2006 Upper Deck card is the only card that pictures him as an Oriole, so it took me quite a long time to track down a signed copy of it. It's interesting that the card and 8x10 certainly look as if both pictures are from the same at-bat, with the card photo being from an angle slightly closer to home plate and as the pitcher was throwing the ball. But you can see the same red fungo bat, folding chair(s) and trash can in the background, and it also looks as if Fernando is wearing the exact same uniform in both pictures.

The autographed Rangers card of Fernando's is now available for trade, if anyone is interested.

Orioles Non-Tenders

2011-12-18T12:14:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, the Orioles did not offer contracts (non-tendered) to three of their arbitration eligible players; Luke Scott, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Willie Eyre.

I hear that the O's would like to bring Luke back, but didn't want to have to pay whatever the amount (with a raise) would have been over the $6.4 million he made last season. I recently heard that up to ten teams are interested in him though, so I'm skeptical that he will be an Oriole in 2012.

Reyes had a 6.16 ERA during his nine games late in the season, after the O's claimed him off of waivers from the Jays in early August, so I wasn't surprised to see him on this list.

However, Eyre's non-tendering confuses me. Just last week, the Orioles designated him for assignment when they acquired Dana Eveland from the Dodgers. I thought that when a player who didn't have any options was designated, he became a free agent. But I guess not? Can anyone explain this one to me?

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Brooks Robinson

2011-12-17T14:44:00.000-05:00

Up this week is an awesome Brooks Robinson bobblehead that was given away in conjunction with a blood drive held by the Orioles back in 2006. The American Red Cross logo is present on all of these specialized blood drive bobbles the O's gave away.

Here's the back of #5

And a close-up of the face and cap with my favorite old school/current cartoon bird logo

And a side view that partially shows this bobble's coolest feature

Brooks' glove is gold and has the number 16 on it to signify the number of Gold Glove awards he won

And here's the bottom if you are into that kind of thing

I don't remember how many of this bobblehead were given away but I'm thinking it was either 500 or 1000, so they are fairly rare. I'm very happy to have this in my collection.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Harvey Haddix

2011-12-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

(Every Friday I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is a pennies short of a dollar, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible.")

This week's unpossible autograph is of Harvey Haddix, a man who many think threw the best game in Major League history. On May 26, 1959, while pitching for the Pirates, Harvey threw a perfect game for twelve innings, before he gave up a hit and a run in the thirteenth inning and lost the game 1-0. He retired a Major League record 36 consecutive Milwaukee Braves hitters, which was no small feat since the Braves were one of the best hitting teams of the era. His record has stood the test of time and is very unlikely ever to be surpassed since many of today's pitchers can't even last nine innings, let alone twelve. His Pirates teammates felt awful that they hadn't been able to score him a single run to put his perfect game in the record books.

Harvey pitched in the Majors from 1952-65 with the St. Louis Cardinals ('52-'56), Philadelphia Phillies ('56-'57), Cincinnati Redlegs ('58), Pittsburgh Pirates ('59-'63), and Baltimore Orioles ('64-'65). He likely would've began his big league career earlier but he spent 1951 in the military during the Korean War. Over his fourteen season career, Harvey was an All-Star for three consecutive seasons from 1953-'55, won a World Series with the Pirates in 1960, was the Rookie of the Year runner-up in 1953, and won three consecutive Gold Gloves from 1958-'60. He very likely could have won more Gold Gloves but the first year the award was handed out was 1957, almost halfway through his career.

Haddix was exclusively a reliever by the time he arrived in Baltimore in 1964 and pitched well for two seasons before retiring. After his playing days were over, he became a pitching coach for the Mets, Reds, Red Sox, Indians, and Pirates

Early in his career with the Cardinals, he earned the nickname "Kitten" because he looked so much like older teammate Harry "The Cat" Brecheen (who later became the Orioles first pitching coach in 1954 and still held the position when Harvey pitched for the O's in the mid-'60s).

Harvey developed emphysema and passed away in 1994 at the age of 68. Even if it doesn't count as an official perfect game, I would have a hard time arguing that your masterpiece on May 26, 1959 wasn't the greatest game ever thrown. RIP Harvey.

Orioles Minor Moves

2011-12-15T18:35:00.000-05:00

So far this off-season, the Orioles have signed a handful of minor league free agents and had a few of their former minor leaguers sign with other teams. I use BaseballAmerica's amazing minor league free agent tracker to keep up on all the O's transactions. Here's a quick rundown of those moves so far. I'll start with the players that the O's have signed and/or re-signed.

They inked outfielder Scott Beerer to a deal on November 13. Scott has an interesting back story; he pitched in the Rockies farm system from 2000-06 before walking away from the game in 2007-08 and then returned to the Rox system as an outfielder in 2009. He split the 2011 season between AA and AAA and hit .372 over 41 games in the first AAA action of his career.

On November 22, they signed right-handed relief pitcher Miguel Socolovich, who has spent the past four seasons in the White Sox farm system and also split the 2011 season between AA and AAA.

That same day, the team also signed shortstop Steve Tolleson. He played in the Twins farm system from 2005-09 and has spent the past two seasons in the Padres and A's systems. He played 25 games for the A's in 2010 and hit .286 with 1 homer and 4 RBI over 49 at-bats.

The O's re-signed right-handed starter Brandon Erbe on December 5th. He is a local kid and was the team's third round draft pick in 2005. Prior to the 2010 season, the O's placed Erbe on the 40 man roster to protect him for the Rule 5 draft, but he proceeded to go 0-10 at AAA Norfolk in 2010 and has faced multiple injuries as well so his stock has majorly dropped. He was removed from the 40-man late in 2011 but I hope Brandon can get his career back on track in 2012.

Now for the subtractions from the team...

Jake Fox signed with the Pirates

Chris Jakubauskas signed with the Diamondbacks (and I finally learned how to spell his name)

Felix Pie signed with the Indians

Steve Lerud signed with the Phillies

Chorye Spoone (another local guy) signed with the Red Sox

I'm not sure who all is interested in hearing about these updates but I will probably write another update or two about the O's minor league transactions throughout this off-season.

Orioles Sign Tsuyoshi Wada UPDATED

2011-12-14T18:03:00.000-05:00

Many sites are reporting that the Orioles have signed Japanese free agent LHP starter Tsuyoshi Wada to a two year contract for somewhere around $8 million. Wada has pitched professionally in the Japanese Pacific League for the past eight seasons for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 2003-04 and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from 2005-2011. He is a control pitcher best known for his amazing 3.2/1 K/BB ratio, but his fastball often tops out between 84-88 mph so I hope that his left-handed craftiness translates against MLB hitters. He earned the nickname "Dr. K" in Japan and it would be great if that remains applicable for his time in America as well.

Tsuyoshi was the Pacific League Rookie of the Year in 2003 and has made the All-Star team ~~either two or three times (I found conflicting reports)~~. Here is a You Tube video I found of Wada pitching. He seems to have a pretty smooth delivery and appears to somewhat hide the ball until late in his release. A few sites have compared him to Dallas Braden, and I'll be happy with that as long as the perfect game and hatred of the Yankees is included in the deal.

UPDATE- It sounds like Wada was actually an All-Star four times (in 2003, '04, '10, & '11), and was the MVP of the league in 2010. He also pitched in the Olympics in 2004 & '08 and helped Japan win the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.

$8 million is a huge amount of money to us every-men, but it's not a major financial risk in the world of professional baseball. I think this type of relatively low-risk signing is something that Orioles fans are used to by now. I just hope that Wada can hang as a viable pitcher in the A.L. East. It's always difficult to predict how a player will adjust to batters half a world away from who they are used to playing against.

I've got my eye on some of Wada's cards, that hopefully I can get signed at some point down the road, but for now I don't own anything with his image on it. So I'm showing off my autographs from the Orioles previous Japanese signings.

First up is the only Japanese player to play for the Orioles thus far in team history, Koji Uehara. He pitched for the O's from 2009 until a 2011 mid season trade sent him to the Rangers for Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis. When Koji was able to stay healthy, and once he became a full-time reliever, he was very successful for the O's. I've heard that he would like to return to Baltimore for the 2012 season, but I'm not sure if the Orioles will work out a deal to reacquire him.

The only other Japanese pitcher to spend time in the Orioles organization is minor leaguer Ryohei Tanaka. He has pitched mostly with the AA Bowie Baysox over the past three seasons but spent a good chunk of 2011 with the hi-A Frederick Keys. He briefly pitched in the Japanese Pacific League back in 2003 but had been pitching in the Japanese minor leagues when the O's signed him prior to the 2009 season. At this point I think it's safe to say that Ryohei probably won't ever pitch in Baltimore, but he's been a good signer during his time in the farm system.

An Orange Kind of Day

2011-12-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, one of my mini collections is of autographed Orioles cards (as well as those of their affiliates) that picture the player wearing the O's distinctive orange uniform. It's a color that very few teams wear and I like its uniqueness. Most of the cards that depict the O's wearing orange uniforms are from shots taken during the team's exhibition games in Spring Training. But now that the Orioles have officially brought an orange uniform variation back into the regular rotation, I'm expecting to see more orange uniform cards in the coming years.

This collection is kind of a passive thing that I don't like to spend money on, but I will try to obtain signed orange uniform cards in person or via trade. At some point, I might get my "have list" uploaded but doubt I will ever put together a want list.

Here are some current and former Orioles rocking the orange.

Quite a few of Miggy's Orioles cards show him wearing orange

I believe that Kirk, who writes Eutaw Street Cardboard, sent me this Bergy autograph

Melmo is also shown wearing orange in the '05 Donruss set; nice work Donruss!

Unsuccessful Oriole, Bob McCrory, is shown wearing the Tides orange uniform variation

Vern Bickford Joins the Collection, Only Four To Go

2011-12-12T18:22:00.000-05:00

Before last week, I needed five former Orioles' autographs to complete my collection. I had the luck to pick up this signed Vern Bickford image and since he wasn't pictured on any Orioles cards during his lifetime, he is now completely knocked off of my list.

Vern pitched seven seasons in the Major Leagues from 1948-54, mainly for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves. He threw his first big league pitch at the age of 27, and likely would've reached baseball's top level sooner if not for his three years of military service during World War 2. Vern's first four seasons in the Majors were very good but he broke a finger on his pitching hand during the '51 campaign and it never fully recovered. He pitched in a single game for the inaugural 1954 Orioles before a pinched nerve and the subsequent surgery effectively ended his career.

His career highlights include throwing a no-hitter in 1950, making the 1949 National League All-Star team, and leading the N.L. in complete games, innings pitched, and batters faced, also in 1950.

Vern sold cars, worked as a carpenter, and as a traveling salesman after his baseball career ended. He passed away in 1960 from stomach cancer at only 39 years old. He was the third earliest former Oriole to die, following only Howie Fox in 1955, and Tom Gastall in 1956.

Vern was featured on a number of cards that were issued during his lifetime, but is pictured as a member of the Braves on all of them. The only card to show him as an Oriole was the O's Crown set that came out 31 years after his passing, so, obviously, no signed copies of that card exist. His autograph is hard to track down on anything , mainly since he's been dead for over fifty years, so I was very happy to add this signed photo to my collection. I am interested in finding out about what town this was taken in, or what those shops are in the background, but I guess it's pretty unlikely that I will ever figure that out.

RIP Vern.

Oriole # 803- Jamie Walker

2011-12-11T12:34:00.000-05:00

Throughout the offseason, I'm going to continue to count down the Orioles players whose autographs I have yet to display here. Up today is Jamie Walker.

Jamie made his Orioles debut on April 3, 2007, the second game of the '07 season, and his time in Baltimore started off well. He appeared in 81 games during that season (leading the A.L. in appearances) and finished the season with a 3-2 record, 3.23 ERA and seven saves. However, things quickly went downhill in the second two years of his three year contract.

He pitched in 59 games during the 2008 season, but had a 6.87 ERA and the results were consistently ugly for him throughout the season. As an Orioles fan, I didn't want to see Jamie come into a game that year. He improved slightly in 2009 and had a 5.11 ERA in 22 games before the Orioles released him on June 5th. Jamie hasn't pitched in the Majors since his last game with the O's on May 30, 2009.

Jamie is one of the only players who I have ever seen sign a nickname, his is "Cat", in their autograph. Every autograph I have seen of his includes Cat, so I guess it's something he does all the time and it makes his signature pretty unique and different.

In 1994, he played as a replacement player in Spring Training during the strike, so he was excluded from being a member of the Players Association. That, combined with the fact that he was a middle reliever, means that he was only featured on two cards during his ten season career, both as a member of the Tigers in Topps Total sets, so I was pretty limited with what he could sign. Jamie signed the Heritage team card for me in person at an O's game in Washington during the '09 season, and I bought the signed team postcard online recently. Jim at GCRL made me a few custom Jamie Walker Orioles cards last year and Jamie is(or at least was) a good TTM signer, so I might send one of those out to him one day.

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Big Head Matt Wieters

2011-12-10T15:08:00.000-05:00

OK, so I'm a huge Matt Wieters fan and a bobblehead collector to boot, but I'm not a big fan of these "big head" bobbles. They just don't look right to me. Not to mention that the designer somehow chose to use the "Jersey Shore" skin color option on Wieters' face.

But it's still a Wieters bobble, and I'm happy to have it in my collection. It looks a little bit like Matt, but my favorite part is how his legs are in a realistic catching pose.

One other negative for me is that Wieters is pictured wearing his #15 jersey, which was necessitated by Jamie Walker's 2009 usage of Matt's preferred # 32.

As far as I can remember, this was a Christmas gift to me last year by someone who must know me pretty well. Orioles? Check. Matt Wieters? Check. Bobblehead? Check. It's a triple-whammy present bonus.

Overall, the details on the bobble are pretty good, but it's just hard for me to get past Matt's gigantic noggin and orange skin color. Still one of my top ten favorite bobbles, but those things keep it out of my top five.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Hank Majeski

2011-12-09T18:39:00.000-05:00

Hank was a third baseman in the Major Leagues for 13 seasons from 1939-55: he missed out on three years of his career due to his service in the military during World War II. He spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Athletics and Cleveland Indians but also briefly played for the Boston Braves, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Baltimore Orioles.

He was known mostly for his glove and was one of the premier fielding third baseman of his era. His .988 fielding percentage at the position in 1947 is still the Major League single season record. He also holds the record for most doubles in a doubleheader with the six he hit in a game in 1948.

After his playing career, he stayed involved with baseball as a minor league manager, college coach, and scout.

Hank's Orioles career lasted only 15 games after a mid-season trade from the Cleveland Indians at the tail-end of his career in 1955. The only card that shows Hank as an Oriole is his inclusion in the Orioles Crown set that was issued in four sets over the 1991 season, commemorating the last season of the O's playing at Memorial Stadium.

Hank passed away on August 9, 1991. Two days later, on August 11, the third Crown set was issued, which is the one that included Hank, so he obviously never signed a copy of this card.

Which means that my Indians signed card above is a permanent member of my collection. RIP Hank.

Orioles Winter Meeting Moves

2011-12-08T16:08:00.000-05:00

The Orioles didn't make a big splash at the winter meetings; in fact they barely made a ripple, but I have to say that the few moves they made does make the team a little better off for the 2012 season.

The O's "big move" was acquiring LHP Dana Eveland from the Dodgers for minor leaguers Jarrett Martin and Tyler Henson.

Eveland has bounced around the Majors over the seven seasons he has spent in the big leagues. He made his MLB debut with the Brewers in 2005 and has since pitched for the Diamondbacks, A's, Blue Jays, Pirates, and Dodgers. At this point in his career, Dana is best known for the 2008-09 seasons he spent in Oakland and 42 of his 100 career appearances were with the A's. In limited September 2011 action with the Dodgers, he pitched well (3-2 record with a 3.03 ERA over five starts) so I hope that he can keep that positive momentum going into 2012.

Martin is a lefty pitcher who went 5-12 with the lo-A Delmarva Shorebirds in 2011 and was drafted by the O's in the 18th round of the 2009 draft. I don't believe I ever saw Martin pitch since he only spent two seasons in the Orioles organization and played for Bluefield and Delmarva, which are the two furthest affiliates from where I live. I don't have any autographs of his so you get a double dose of Henson.

Henson was a 5th round pick in the 2006 draft and spent the entire 2011 season with the AAA Norfolk Tides. He spent part of Spring Training in 2011 with the Orioles but finished the year with a relatively disappointing stat line in his first AAA action. Tyler has played at every level of the Orioles farm system over the past six seasons, and I enjoyed watching him play for the hi-A Frederick Keys and AA Bowie Baysox during the 2009-2010 seasons. He was one of Kalina's favorite minor leaguers, so she might need some time to recover from this trade.

If you are a twitterer, both Martin (@JarretMartin) and Henson (@hendog4) have accounts so you can follow them if you are into that kind of thing.

To clear room for Eveland on the 40 man roster, the O's designated reliever Willie Eyre for assignment. Eyre pitched well for the Birds in 2011, (2-2, 3.44 ERA in 19 games) and I thought he did well enough to be brought back for the 2012 season, but what do I know?

In other Orioles news, they announced that infielder Greg Miclat is the player to be named later in the Taylor Teagarden trade with the Rangers that was announced last week. Greg was the Orioles 5th round pick in the 2008 draft and had been steadily rising through the farm system. He spent the entire 2011 season with the Baysox and was probably the Orioles system's best base-stealer, as he swiped 50 bases in 53 attempts last year alone. Giving up Randy Henry and Miclat seems like a steep price for backup catcher, but again, I'm obviously not the one calling the shots and the team needed someone to fill-in for Wieters.

The Rule 5 draft wrapped up the 2011 Winter Meetings and the Orioles selected three players, one in each round of the draft. In the Major League phase, the team picked Ryan Flaherty from the Cubs, who had spent last year with the AAA Iowa Cubs and will compete for the 3B/utility infielder spot in spring training. In the AAA phase, the O's plucked LHP Andrew Loomis from the Phillies system, and in the AA phase they selected 3B Matt Sweeney from the Rays. Sweeney had been part of the Angels-Rays Scott Kazmir trade a few years back and is from Maryland. The O's were one of only two teams to make a selection in the AA phase and had none of their players selected in any phase of the draft, so take that for whatever it's worth.

I hope that some of you made it all the way down one of my longer posts in recent memory. Can you imagine how much I would have written if the team had signed Pujols?!?

Vladdy's Orioles Cards

2011-12-07T19:05:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I was a fan of Vladimir Guerrero before the Orioles signed him prior to the 2011 season. I've followed Vladdy's career since his time with the Harrisburg Senators, at the time my local minor league team, in the mid-90's and was thrilled when the Orioles signed him. His numbers weren't great last year, and it seems unlikely that the O's will re-sign him for the 2012 season, but I really enjoyed having my favorite (formerly) non-Orioles player come to play for my favorite team, even if it was just for one season.

I've passively collected Vlad's cards over the years, but never have put too much focus on it, since my collection already takes up more space than it should. But when Ryan, the man behind the '"O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog, showed off his copy of this awesome 2011 Topps Lineage Giants Vladdy G card a few weeks back, I knew that it was time I officially threw my hat in the ring to collect Vlad's Orioles cards. So if anyone out there has any cards of Vlad as an Oriole to trade, please let me know!

(I couldn't wait to obtain a copy of this Lineage Giants card, so I already have this one in my collection)

Adios Pedro

2011-12-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

Pedro Florimon, Oriole #910, who was the last player to debut for the O's during the 2011 season, was claimed on waivers by the Minnesota Twins today. He played in only 4 games for the Orioles but still has a lot of potential for a nice career if he can improve his fielding.

He spent six seasons in the O's minor league system and I enjoyed watching him play with the hi-A Frederick Keys and AA Bowie Baysox over the past three seasons.

Good luck with the Twins, Ped-Flo!

Oriole #805- Jaret Wright

2011-12-04T12:56:00.000-05:00

Jaret Wright pitched in the Major Leagues from 1997-2007 and is best remembered for the six seasons he spent in Cleveland at the start of his career. He made his MLB debut at only 21 years old with the '97 Indians and almost immediately appeared in the national spotlight due to the Indians postseason runs in '97-'98. After his time in Cleveland, he bounced from the Padres to the Braves and then to the Yankees. On November 12, 2006, the Yankees traded him to the Orioles for reliever Chris Britton.

Jaret made his Orioles debut on April 4, 2007 in a start against the Twins but his time in Baltimore was very short. He made only two more starts before being shut down for the season with shoulder problems. And unfortunately, the Orioles lost all three of his starts, so Jaret's career line as an Oriole is 0-3 with a 6.97 ERA. He began a minor league rehab assignment towards the end of the season to attempt to work his way back to Baltimore but wasn't able to stay healthy.

Jaret's three games as an Orioles pitcher are commemorated by three cards that picture him as an Oriole. He was included in three 2007 sets as an O; Topps, Topps Heritage and Upper Deck series 2, but I have yet to track down a signed copy of any of the three. Can anyone out there help me out?

Until then, this 97 Fleer rookie card showing him with the Indians will stay in my collection.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Vern Stephens

2011-12-02T18:09:00.000-05:00

Vern Stephens is likely one of the most accomplished former Orioles that you might not know much about. He played between 1941-55 for the St. Louis Browns, Red Sox, Orioles, and White Sox and is one of the best hitting shortstops of all-time. Between 1942-51 while playing with the Browns and Red Sox, Stephens was a seven time All-Star and placed in the top ten for MVP ballots six times. He led the American League in RBI three times (in 1944, 49-50) and home runs once (in 1945). You can argue that the competition might have been somewhat diminished during some of those years because of the number of players who fought in World War II but it wasn't Vern's fault that a knee injury kept him from passing his army physical.

While Vern's greatest success came in St. Louis and Boston, he spent a season plus in Baltimore towards the end of his career and was one of the original 1954 Orioles. Interestingly, he was the only Orioles player who had also been a member of the 1944 Browns, who made the only World Series appearance by that team during their time in St. Louis.

After his baseball career ended, Vern became a very successful amateur golfer. He passed away from a heart attack in 1968 at only 48 years old.

Vern still holds the record for most RBI in a season by a shortstop with the 159 he knocked in during the 1949 season. His leading the league three times in RBI at the SS position also matches Honus Wagner for the most in baseball history. He was included on the Veteran's Committee HOF ballot in 2008 that was comprised of only players who debuted prior to 1943, but he received less than 25% of the votes, so it's unlikely he will ever be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but it still gives you an idea about how highly he is regarded still today.

Vern was featured as an Oriole on only one card that was issued during his life time, this 1954 Topps card (this image is borrowed from COMC.com). I have seen a signed copy of this for sale online but it went for much more than I was willing to pay. I hope to find another for sale sometime in the future, but for now, my signed index card will stay in my collection.

RIP Vern.

The Orioles Acquire Taylor Teagarden

2011-12-01T15:38:00.001-05:00

In what feels like about the twentieth Orioles-Rangers trade in the past year, multiple news sources are reporting that the Orioles acquired catcher Taylor Teagarden from the Rangers today in return for minor league pitcher Randy Henry and a player to be named later, which many times means that money will change hands at some point down the road.

Teagarden was the Rangers' 3rd round pick in the 2005 draft and has represented the United States in the 2004 & '08 Olympics. He has played sparingly for the Rangers over the past four seasons, totaling 118 games, and has a .220 average with a .703 OPS to date. He hit a home run in his first MLB at-bat in 2008; even better, it was in the sixth inning and broke up a no-hitter by the Twins' Scott Baker in a game the Rangers went on to win 1-0. That's a pretty awesome way to debut, but unfortunately Taylor hasn't been able to live up to the high expectations that surrounded him early in his career.

I'm still pretty excited about the trade, because Teagarden represents an upgrade to me over the Craig Tatums and Chad Moellers that have filled the O's backup catcher role over the past few seasons. He's still relatively young and I feel like there is some unexplored offensive potential to boot. Matt Wieters, coming off his Gold Glove winning 2011 season, is beyond the point of needing a tutor, and I think it's worth a roll of the dice to see what Taylor can do. I still expect the Orioles to sign another catcher, possibly a minor league free agent, to compete with him, but as of today, I'm a fan of the trade.

Since I don't have an autograph of Teagarden (yet) here is my autograph of Randy Henry, who the O's had to give up to swing the trade.

Randy was the O's 4th round pick in the 2009 draft and has spent the past two seasons with the O's three class A level teams, the short season Aberdeen Ironbirds, lo-A Delmarva Shorebirds, and hi-A Frederick Keys. My first meeting with Henry came during Spring Training this past year at the O's minor league complex in Sarasota. At the time, I wrote:

"Randy Henry was probably the nicest player I've ever come across during my 'graphing exploits. He was talkative and personable and spoke with me like I was his friend, not just some random person getting autographs. He told me how his Spring Training was going and that he had only pitched one inning to that point, but was happy with how it went. I think I have a new favorite O's Minor Leaguer. Good luck this year Randy!"

Thanks to Randy for that memory, and good luck in the Rangers' organization!

To make room on the 40 man roster for Teagarden, the O's designated Pedro Viola for assignment. I can't say that I'm too surprised, as I considered Pedro to be about the 39th/40th player on the 40 man. He pitched very sparingly with the O's over the past two seasons and the results weren't pretty; he had a 10.80 ERA over six games pitched.

Pedro spent most of the past two seasons with the AA Bowie Baysox and he was nice enough to sign a number of autographs for me over his time in Bowie, including my favorite autograph of the 2011 season. I gave him a small stack of these Orioles cards in return and he really seemed to enjoy them. Good luck with your future Pedro.

Oriole #810- Jay Payton

2011-11-30T19:15:00.000-05:00

Jay Payton played 12 seasons in the Major Leagues with six different teams between 1998-2010. He made his Orioles debut on April 21, 2007 and appeared in 258 games with the O's over the 2007-08 seasons at which point his career was definitely in a decline. In my opinion, his two years in Baltimore were the two worst years of his career. He was a fiery presence around the team, but unfortunately, his play could no longer match his attitude.

This autograph was one of the first I got when I re-entered the autograph game in 2008 and the results obviously weren't the best. Back then, I neglected to prep my cards or use a marker that would "stick" to glossy surfaces so this bubbly mess is the result of my lack of preparation. I got this card signed at an Orioles away game in Tampa Bay during my first visit to the ~~giant spaceship~~ Trop. I'm happy to have an in person signature from Jay, and it's great that he was nice enough to sign for the Orioles fans in Tampa.

I also have to note that it doesn't seem like Jay's signature has looked like the pre-printed version on the Topps card since before his certified autographs were included in some mid to late '90s sets, so I kind of wonder where he might have signed that version of his autograph.

Oriole #811- Jon Leicester

2011-11-29T18:05:00.000-05:00

Just like in yesterday's Tike Redman post, Jon was included in the signed Orioles 8x10s that I picked up recently since he was never pictured on a card as an Oriole. I'm pretty sure that this picture is from Spring Training in 2007 or 2008. Jon pitched in ten games for the O's during the 2007 season, and the results weren't particularly good.

Another similarity to yesterday's Redman post is that I have written about Jon once before, also back in November 2009. At that time, Jon was pitching in Japan for the Orix Buffaloes, and it looks like he also pitched from them in 2010. He was back stateside in 2011 and spent the season with the AAA Tucson Padres.

Jon was included in the 2007 Norfolk Tides team set, but I only have one copy of the card, so while I want to get the card signed, I don't want to send it out if I won't get it back. Maybe one day.

Oriole #817- Tike Redman

2011-11-28T18:21:00.000-05:00

About two years ago I wrote a post about Tike, and not too much has changed with him since then, but I have upgraded my autographs of him and want to show them off. Back then, I was not writing specific Orioles debut posts, so I want to make sure that Tike gets his due as well.

To fill some gaps in my collection, I recently picked up a small batch of signed 8x10s that show players in an Orioles uniform who were never included as an Oriole in a card set. Tike was one of those, and I would guess this picture is from Tike's time with the Orioles during Spring Training in 2008.

Tike's inclusion in the 2007 AAA Norfolk Tides team set is the closest he got to being pictured on a card as an Oriole, so this card is also a part of my collection.

It appears that Tike has played mostly in the Mexican League over the past two seasons, but he hasn't hung up his spikes just yet. Good luck with everything Tike.

Oriole #838- Juan Castro

2011-11-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

I bet you didn't know that Juan Castro played at least one game in the Major Leagues for 17 consecutive seasons; his career spanning from 1995-2011. Castro was rarely an everyday player and averaged 64 appearances a year for his career, so I really can't feel too bad that I had no idea he had played in the Majors for that long.

Juan was part of the Orioles revolving door at shortstop during the 2008 season, but his 54 games were the most games played at that position out of the five guys the O's had at short over that season. He was always known as a glove-man and never found much success at the plate; he hit just .229 and 36 home runs over his 2,627 big league ABs.

I'm a big fan of Juan's 2009 Topps card as it's both an accurate representation of the O's 2008 season (Sizemore was clearly safe as Juan is about four feet from second base) and a unique shot for a card. Like I said above, Juan was a much better fielder than batter so it makes sense to show him on the field. And I feel like a shot of a middle infielder reaching up to catch a high throw (from first?) isn't something you see everyday.

Juan retired from the Majors in the middle of the 2011 season when the Dodgers designated him for assignment for a second time in under a year. He immediately became a special assistant to the Dodgers' General Manager and it looks like Juan's time around the game is far from over.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Hoot Evers

2011-11-25T12:46:00.000-05:00

While I was going through my autographs for yesterday's Thanksgiving posts, I was looking for a name that I could tie-in with turkey, like duck or chicken. And then I decided to appropriately roast Sidney Ponson as the turkey I've always heard that he was during his time in Baltimore.

Walter "Hoot" Evers name did jump out at me however for it's connection with Hoot & Owl. I dunno, it's a bit of a stretch but it works for me. Hoot earned his nickname due to his childhood love of cowboy movies, specifically ones that starred Hoot Gibson. So my bird connection is very thing, but whatever, I'm going to run with it.

Hoot played in the Majors between 1941-56 and had a very interestesting start to his career. He played in one game for the '41 Tigers before the start of WWII and spent the next four years in the Army Air Corps. After the war ended, he returned to the Tigers and spent the next six plus seasons in Detroit, and had the most success of his career that was highlighted by All-Star appearances in 1948 & '50. The second half of Hoot's career saw him bounce around from Boston, to New York, back to Detroit, on to Baltimore, to Cleveland, and he ended his career back in Baltimore in 1956. He played in 108 games for the O's during his parts of two seasons in Birdland but wasn't able to match the success he had at the start of his career.

After his playing career was over, Hoot stayed around the game and spent time in the Indians and Tigers front offices. Hoot passed away in January 1991, likely of complications from a recent heart attack. He was 69 years old. RIP Hoot and thanks for your service.

Another reason I chose to highlight Hoot today is that I recently figured out that he passed away before his only Orioles card, this card from the Crown set, was ever released, so he obviously never signed the card, hence making my above Tigers autograph a permanent addition to my collection. I don't know why it took my so long to put that all together, but what can I say? I was pleased to officially scratch Hoot's name off of my need list.

Also, I have to say that every time I see this card, I'm reminded of Will Ferrell's impression of Harry Caray from Saturday Night Live. Tell me that you can't see it....

I guess it's mainly the chin/neck/mouth area, but I will always tie these together.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

2011-11-24T12:37:00.000-05:00

From one of the "biggest" "turkey's" to have ever played for the Orioles.

And I hope that you all have a great day with your families and friends.

O's Sign Antonelli

2011-11-23T17:19:00.000-05:00

The Orioles have signed their first free agent of the 2011-12 offseason, and he's a fellow blogger! Infielder Matt Antonelli has been blogging about his baseball and life experiences since 2009 at www.MatthewAntonelli.com and often provides interesting insights about life "behind the scenes" for a baseball player.

The 26 year old played in 21 games for the Padres in 2008 and has since spent some time in the Nats system. He will likely be competing for the O's 2B/utility infielder position in Spring Training and I certainly look forward to read his take on how everything is going.

As was the case when Darren O'Day was selected off waivers from the Rangers a few weeks ago, I need to add some unsigned cards of Antonelli's so I can try to get them signed next year. I didn't get much response to my O'Day post, but hopefully there is someone out there who has a bunch of Antonelli's cards for trade. Please let me know if that's you!

Oriole #862- David Hernandez

2011-11-22T17:53:00.000-05:00

I know that this is a large jump in my debut numbers, but I'm highlighting specific autographs that haven't yet been posted here.

Up today is Oriole #862, David Hernandez, who made his Orioles and MLB debut on May 28, 2009. He was traded to the Diamondbacks, along with Kam Mickolio, before the 2011 season for Mark Reynolds.

The story behind these autographs is kind of interesting. Although I prefer my autographs personalized, I'm not the Ryan that David signed these cards to, but I ended up trading for them with another Orioles autograph collecting Ryan. And now, I happily have two personalized Hernandez autographs, even if they weren't personalized to me, per se.

Oliver Drake Added to O's 40 Man Roster

2011-11-21T18:16:00.000-05:00

Friday was the deadline for teams to protect their minor leaguers from the upcoming Rule V draft and the Orioles added only one player to their 40-man roster this year, 24 year old pitcher Oliver Drake.

He mainly split the 2011 season with the class A Frederick Keys and AA Bowie Baysox but also pitched in one game for the AAA Norfolk Tides. He was a 43rd round pick by the O's in the 2008 draft, but a main reason he was selected so late was because of eligibility concerns since he attended the Naval Academy and some teams believed he would have to spend time in the service before being able to continue his baseball career. Somewhat surprisingly, the O's draft department was able to sift through all the information and realized Drake didn't have to spend time in the Navy before pitching.

MASNsports.com blogger Roch Kubatko did the leg work in figuring out the Orioles Minor Leaguers who will be exposed to the Rule V draft:

Among the minor leaguers who will be exposed to the draft are position players Buck Britton, Tyler Henson, John Hester, Caleb Joseph, Greg Miclat, Billy Rowell, Brandon Waring, Ronnie Welty and Robbie Widlansky, and pitchers Tim Bascom, Brandon Cooney, Pat Egan, Eddie Gamboa, Sean Gleason, Steve Johnson, Cole McCurry, Wynn Pelzer and Rick Zagone.

The players who I think might get selected by other teams are Miclat, Bascom, and McCurry. In 2010, Pedro Beato was selected and kept by the Mets & Egan was selected and returned by the Brewers in the Major League round and Johnson was selected and returned by the Dodgers in the AAA round. I never like to lose any of the players who I've been following over the years, but it also means that the O's farm system isn't as bad as some people say it is.

Oriole #878- Rhyne Hughes

2011-11-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

Rhyne Hughes made his Orioles, and MLB, debut on April 24, 2010, and was the last player to debut before I started to specifically write posts about each new player to appear for the O's. (Oriole #879 Frank Mata debuted almost a month later and became the subject of my first O's debut post)

I've written about Rhyne a few other times, including this feature highlighting him as minor leaguer on the O's 40 man roster back in February 2010, but didn't have a signed Orioles card of his until recently.

These offerings from Bowman and Topps are likely the only two O's cards he will be featured on since his time in the organization is likely over. I really waffled about which card to keep in my collection: the picture on the Topps card is far superior while the autograph on the Bowman cards stands out much better. I ended up going with the Topps card since the image is pretty unique and Hughes had more room to stretch out his signature.

Good luck with your future, wherever that may be, Rhyne!

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Nick Markakis Baysox Bobble

2011-11-19T14:02:00.000-05:00

After skipping the past few weeks, the Orioles Bobblehead of the Week feature is back! I know that it was missed horribly.

This time around, I've picked a Nick Markakis bobblehead to honor his winning the first ever American League left field Gold Glove. This bobble was given away in 2007 by the Orioles' AA affiliate Bowie Baysox.

A few of you might remember this post from July, when I highlighted my '07 Baysox bobblehead of Chris Ray. It was one of three the Baysox gave away that year and, at the time, was the only one I had. Since July, I have been able to complete the trio and am very happy to have all three for my collection.

Oh, and the best part of this bobblehead? It's signed! Sometimes it really pays off to have some inside connections with the local minor league teams. I've written this a number of times, but Nick is a tough signature to get, so it makes this bobblehead even more awesome.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Buddy Peterson

2011-11-18T19:28:00.000-05:00

Buddy Peterson played professional baseball from 1947-60 but was only to crack a major league roster for two brief stints over his career. He played in six games for the 1955 White Sox and seven for the 1957 O's.

For once, I can't blame whoever put the Orioles Crown set for not being able to find a picture of a player wearing an Orioles cap as there doesn't seem to be many pictures from Buddy's playing days. It's hard for me to believe that players ever wore glasses like those on the field, but I guess it was the style back in the day.

After his playing career ended, he was a minor league manager for six seasons in the Mets, Royals, and A's farm systems. He passed away in 2006 of complications from a stroke. RIP Buddy.

VandenHurk Tides Card

2011-11-17T19:31:00.000-05:00

I've displayed a few of Rick's autographs over the past few years, but he was included in the AAA Norfolk Tides team set this year in what will likely be the only card from his time in the Orioles organization. As a bonus, the picture shows him in the Tides' orange uniform color variation. I had some help getting this card signed in Norfolk since Rick's time with the O's was limited to only four games this season. His results weren't nearly as good as they were in 2010, so I would guess that Orioles #884's time around Birdland is probably over.

Counting Down the Orioles

2011-11-16T19:04:00.000-05:00

One of my projects this offseason is to assign a debut number to every player who has spent time with the Orioles. So I will be counting down from 910-1. If multiple players debut in the field in the same game, I use the 1-9 position numbers as a tiebreaker. I will be blogging about the scans I have of any of the players starting with the more recent debuts. This should give me some specific ideas about what to blog about on the days when any Orioles news is lacking.

The player whose debut came most recently that I still have a card I haven't shown here before is Oriole #899, Blake Davis, who debuted this past June 22.

I don't know if Blake is in the Orioles plans for 2012 and it's unlikely that the 25 games the 27 year old backup infielder appeared in will get him included in any major issue card sets, so this will probably be the card that stays in my collection for the long haul. However. he was featured on an Orioles postcard that I would like to get signed at some point.

New Bird Logo Unveiled

2011-11-15T18:11:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures I took of the new Orioles logos when I stopped by the Camden Yards Orioles store at lunch today. I didn't buy anything (yet, at least) because the prices are predictably high.

At some point, I might need to get one of these hats, although I have the throwback white & orange paneled cartoon bird hats already.

Although the new item I most likely will end up with is one of these orange jerseys, since the O's orange look is my favorite.

And I know a certain wife that has a thing for hoodies that might like this new design.

I mostly took these pictures to show the Camden Yards 20th Anniversary patches on the right sleeves. I guess the Baltimore script logo is updated as well, but it's a pretty subtle change.

Overall, I'm a big fan of the reincorporation of the cartoon bird logo and a huge proponent of officially bringing back the orange uniforms, so it was a good day in Birdland.

Unveiling the Bird

2011-11-14T18:45:00.000-05:00

About a week and a half ago, I wrote about how the Orioles were going to reincorporate the cartoon bird logo onto their hats and uniforms for the 2012 season.

Well today, the team put out an announcement that the unveiling is going to be tomorrow at 9:30am on Orioles.com.

Personally, I can't wait to see how the "new" logos look but I'm hoping they haven't been changed much from the 1980's version, modeled below by short-time Oriole Tom Dodd.

...Unless they go with the black version of the hat with the orange front panel. But keep the cartoon bird the same.

Oriole #752- Aaron Rakers

2011-11-13T13:12:00.000-05:00

Aaron made his Orioles and MLB debut on September 8, 2004 against the Twins in Baltimore. He pitched an inning and gave up four hits and two earned runs. Probably not as he had always hoped that it would go.

He appeared in 13 games for the O's over the 2004-05 season, ending his time in Baltimore with a 1-0 record, 3.50 ERA and two games finished. He has bounced around after his time in Birdland, and appeared in only one additional MLB game for the 2007 Padres. He has since pitched in the Independent Atlantic League and spent the 2009-10 seasons pitching for the La New Bears in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. It doesn't appear that Aaron pitched in 2011, so he has possibly hung up his spikes.

I wasn't actively collecting Orioles autographs when Aaron was in town, but I'm pretty happy with this card. It's a sticker autograph, but you can hardly see it and the design of the card is pretty nice.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Mike Reinbach

2011-11-11T18:36:00.000-05:00

Mike Reinbach was the Orioles first round draft pick in 1970 and played in 12 games for the Orioles in first half of the 1974 season. He finished out the '75 season in the minors and then went on to play in Japan. In his twenty big league at bats, Mike had 5 hits, scored two runs, and drove in 2.

Mike died under somewhat suspicious circumstances in 1989, seemingly haven driven his car off of a cliff in his native state of California. I recall reading somewhere that he had seemed OK before then and that there was some question about the situation, but of course I can't locate that information now so can't back-up that statement.

Mike was featured on two cards that came out during his lifetime; a 1975 TCMA International League All-Star card listing him with the O's AAA affiliate Rochester Red Wings, and was included in a 1979 TCMA Japanese set.

His only Orioles card is this inclusion in the 1991 Crown set that came out after his death, so he obviously never signed any of these. There are a few pictures of Mike in an Orioles uniform that he could have signed and the 1975 TCMA card pictures him in a non descript O's uniform, so I can hold out hope to one day upgrade my index card to that, but for now, I'm just happy to have Mike's autograph at all.

RIP Mike.

Looking for Darren O'Day Cards

2011-11-10T18:18:00.000-05:00

Last week, the O's yet again dipped into the Rangers organization when they selected pitcher Darren O'Day off of waivers. I'm pretty excited because O'Day is a submarine style pitcher, which is absolutely my favorite thing to see in a baseball game. I hope the Orioles keep Clay Rapada around so that the two can form an amazing righty/lefty sidearm duo of confusion. And yes, I miss Chad Bradford.

I found this amazing picture combination on Boston Wolverine's Flickr page. Can't wait to see this in person.

Well, the point of this post is that I need some of Darren's cards to get signed. In addition to a few random minor league issues, his only cards in major release sets are in Upper Deck's 2008 & 2010 sets. So if anyone has any extras of his cards around, please let me know and we can work out a trade. Thanks in advance!

Nachos Grande Autograph Week Questionnaire

2011-11-09T18:57:00.000-05:00

Nachos Grande is having an autograph week to highlight all the signatures in his collection. Since this is a blog that's almost exclusively about autographs, this seems like a perfect topic for me to chime in on. And since I've been having some issues coming up with post ideas on my own this week, I figured that this is a perfect opportunity for me to try to come up with something interesting to write about.

1. What is the best autograph you own?

This one is really tough for me, and I honestly don't even know where to begin. I really like all of my Orioles autographs and there are probably 20-30 that I would put on top of my favorites list. Here are a few of them.

Cal is my favorite Oriole, and Kalina gave me this card so that's double the reason to like it.

There are many others that I really like due to their scarcity like...

and

Tom Gastall who died in a 1956 plane crash

and

Fox's autograph is tough to find as he died in 1955 and was a gift from my dad,

so it's another double good whammy

2. What is the best autograph that you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?

Hands down, Scott Moore, since this is the only Orioles autograph I've ever pulled from a pack. I ended up trading my copy away for other autographs I needed and I had gotten his autograph in person a few times, but no doubt that this was my best pull.

3. What is the worst autograph you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?
I don't really think there are any bad autographs. That being said, I've pulled a few crappy looking sticker autographs including one that looks a lot like this.

It seems that Michel had a hard time staying inside the lines, but I blame Tristar for throwing this crap in the pack as is.

4. Do you try to get autographs through the mail? If so, what sort of success (or failure) stories do you have?
Ha, yes, I've dabbled. Probably sent out something like 500 over the course of my life. My best success ever was probably Nolan Ryan way back in the early '90s. I would suggest sending to older players, as they are much more likely to sign than current guys.

5. Who was the subject of your first ever autograph?
Now there's a great idea for a post. It was Miguel Garcia on a Senators card in either the very late '80s or early '90s.

6. Do you actively collect any autographs (certain players, teams, brands, etc)?
If you're reading this on my blog, I think you already know the answer to this one. Orioles autographs are kind of my thing.

7. Which is better: Autographs or Relics?
Again, my answer is rather obvious. Autographs are king for me.

8. What do you think of cut autos?
I could do without them, but I'm fine with them if they can fill a hole in my collection.

9. What is your favorite autograph design (say in the last 5 years)?
Not sure, but absolutely prefer on card autographs. I do recall liking some sort of a stained glass looking autograph set I've seen, but don't remember what it's called.

10. If you could get the autograph of any five people (dead or alive) who would you want a signature from (and why)?
Vern Bickford, George Brunet, Bert Hamric, Lou Jackson and Frank Kellert are the only five Orioles players who I don't have autographs of, so it would definitely be them.

Thanks for the great post idea Chris! And if you haven't checked out Nachos Grande, I suggest you head over there now.

Happy Birthday Dwight Smith

2011-11-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

When I struggle to think of something to write, I generally check to see if any former Orioles are celebrating a birthday. And today happens to be Dwight Smith's 48th birthday, so happy birthday Dwight.

It took me a long time to track down Dwight's autograph on an Orioles card. I picked up a signed Cubs card of his back at the 2010 National in Baltimore, and finding signed Cubs' cards of Dwight is relatively easy, but he played for the Orioles late in his career and was only featured on four cards in an Orioles uniform, so the challenge was much greater. Luckily, a fellow SCN user let me know he had this autograph available and we were able to work out a trade. If anyone is looking for Dwight's autograph on a Cubs card, mine is now available for trade.

A New GM

2011-11-07T18:45:00.000-05:00

So the Orioles finally have a new General Manager/President of Baseball Operations/whatever they call him now that Dan Duquette is officially in the fold.

I don't know how excited to be about Duquette, but I'm very happy that the awful, embarrassing hiring process is over. To see how many candidates denied the Orioles the chance to even meet about the position might have been one of the toughest things I've seen over my years as an Orioles fan, and that's saying something. I guess that it says something about how the organization is viewed throughout baseball.

Let's hope that Duquette can turn things around, but I won't be holding my breath, for now at least.

Oriole # 717- Ed Rogers

2011-11-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

Ed Rogers made his Orioles & MLB debut on September 5, 2002. He played in 30 total games for the Orioles in 02 and 05-06 and appeared in at least one game at second, short, third, and both corner outfield spots. He had only 29 at-bats over his 30 games, and hit .207 with little power. Most O's fans might recall him for a play he tried to make in left field that ended with the ball in the back of his jersey.

He has bounced around from the Red Sox' to the Nationals' to the Diamondbacks' organizations after his time in Baltimore, but he has yet to make it back to the Majors. He was still in the D'backs system at some point in 2011, so he isn't ready to hang up his spikes just yet. Good luck Ed, hope to see you back in the Bigs one day.

Orioles Bobbleheads of the Week- Brian Roberts & Melvin Mora

2011-11-05T16:46:00.000-04:00

It's been a bad week around Birdland due to the GM search, so here's a throwback bobblehead duo from 2006 to cheer me you up.

These bobbles of third baseman Melvin Mora and second baseman Brian Roberts were handed out on two dates during the 2006 season. When put together, they interlocked to display the elaborate post-game handshake that the two did after Orioles wins.

Back in 2006, the Roberts bobblehead created quite a stir when the 20,000 bobbles that arrived in Baltimore featured a much darker skinned version of B-Rob. As I understand it, he appeared more purple than anything, but the O's were forced to return and/or destroy them and had to hand out vouchers. It's things like this that makes the organization look bad, well, in addition to the losing of course.

I was able to get Mora to sign the bobblehead during the 06 season, as you can barely see in the top two pictures. For some reason I didn't think to take a picture of it when I snapped these other shots.

And here is an older picture I have of B-Rob with the box; the picture shows Mora & Roberts doing their handshake.

2006 doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but thinking about these bobbleheads and that season makes me nostalgic for some reason.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Mickey Scott

2011-11-04T15:14:00.000-04:00

The Orioles family lost another member this past week when Mickey Scott passed away on Sunday in Binghamton, New York. He was only 64 years old.

Mickey was traded to the Orioles from the White Sox in September 1970 for Mickey McGuire, in one of the only double Mickey trades in baseball history. He pitched for the Orioles in 1972-73 and later played for the Expos and Angels. He pitched in 133 games over his five seasons in the Majors and had an 8-7 record with a 3.72 ERA.

After his big league career was over, he owned and operated Mickey's Mound, a bar in his hometown of Binghamton, and one of his regulars was no other than the infamous Billy Martin.

Mickey was nice enough to have signed this card for me back in 2009; I got the card back in under two weeks, so you know that Mickey still cared about his fans.

RIP Mickey.

Bringing Back the Cartoon Bird

2011-11-03T18:23:00.000-04:00

Over the last week, multiple Baltimore area media outlets have reported that the Orioles are bringing back the cartoon bird logo to their hats and jerseys. No images or designs have been released yet, but the word is that the bird will be a mash-up of the ones worn from 1966-74 & 1975-88.

Here's Woody Held modeling the older version of the cartoon bird...

and Mike Morgan and Dickie Noles showing the newer version of the bird.

If you can't tell the differences from the cards, here are the up-close versions of both from Chris Creamer's Sports Logos.net

1966-74 Version

1975-88 Version

While this is a small, aesthetic change, it's something that most Orioles fans are sure to like, as the cartoon bird was and is very popular around Baltimore. In addition to adding the Baltimore road jerseys a few seasons back, it's nice to see that the Orioles are keeping track of what their fans want to see.

Now if we can just do something about that pesky losing thing...

Golden

2011-11-02T18:49:00.000-04:00

Here's to the Orioles two 2011 Rawlings Gold Glove winners, Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis, who are both first time winners of the award. JJ Hardy was also nominated but lost out to Erick Aybar of the Angels.

I know I'm quite biased on the issue, but I think Wieters is the best catcher I've ever seen play. He's so fundamentally sound behind the plate and also is forced to catch about 30 different pitchers every year due to the O's revolving door on the mound. Wiety is the first O's backstop to win the award, and the team has now won a Gold Glove at every position on the field.

It's about time that Nick won one of these things; he's been the games' best right fielder for years now, but was always hurt in the voting by having to compete with center-fielders for the award. He has a cannon for an arm: Kalina and I are determined to come up with a new stats category to reflect the number of runners he holds because they don't want to be thrown out, but he still racked up 15 assists. I really like how MLB finally wised up and created separate awards for all three OF positions because I don't think it's fair to compare left and right fielders to their counterparts in center, since it was almost always three center-fielders who took home the hardware.

Although the program wasn't that exciting, I enjoyed ESPN2's broadcast of the award show and it was nice to see Paul Blair announce Nick's award. I wish that the start of the show hadn't been delayed for thirty minutes so ESPN could wrap up it's ridiculously high scoring college football game that not many people cared about anyway, but anytime I can watch some off-season baseball programming, especially when it has an Orioles flavor, I'm a happy person.

Makin' Moves

2011-11-01T19:13:00.000-04:00

While the Orioles are still trying to decide who their next General Manager/President of Baseball Operations will be, it hasn't stopped them from making a few small moves.

Here's what we know so far...

~~Bench~~ Third Base Coach Willie Randolph will not be back next year. I don't really know why, but heard something about Willie wanting to be a manager again.

As suspected, both Vladimir Guerrero and Cesar Izturis declared free agency. I don't suspect that either will be back with the club in 2012 but their veteran leadership will be missed. I've heard rumblings that Izturis could become a coach or instructor for the team if he decides to hang up his spikes. And I'll miss having Vlad around since he's always been one of my favorite players, but realistically, he didn't make the 2011 Orioles much better than the 2010 squad.

Jeremy Accardo, Chris Jakubauskas, and Jake Fox were all outrighted to triple A, but all elected to test the free agent waters instead. Of the three, "Jak" is the only one who I think might come back into the fold, possibly signing another minor league deal with the O's, just as he did prior to last season.

And the Astros claimed Craig Tatum off of waivers which almost caused me to tear up. In actuality, I won't miss the extremely un-fan-friendly "Tater" at all. He was one of the toughest autographs on the team and never seemed like a very nice person.

I don't expect the O's to make any more moves before they hire their new GM/VP Baseball Ops, and I hope they make a decision soon. Many teams are already swinging trades, extending their own players, and/or making waiver claims, but I don't expect the Orioles to do any of those things without a new top dog in place. If they wait much longer to make a decision, they could fall even further behind to eight ball in the battle to rediscover relevance in 2012.

We Have A Winner

2011-10-31T17:52:00.000-04:00

And then there was one.

Congrats to Matt, whose faith in the Cardinals was rewarded with a win in the 2011 postseason bracket contest.

Matt- get in touch with me and we can start working out your winnings.

Thanks to everyone who played, and better luck next year to everyone else!

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Surprise Contest

2011-10-29T22:35:00.001-04:00

Some of you have unknowingly entered yourselves into a contest within a contest. Since my post on the playoff contest being closed on September 30, I have been keeping track of every comment left on my posts. For each comment you might have left, you earned an entry into my "Commenter Appreciation Contest".

I will now randomize the list of commenters and the winner will get to pick one of these four bobbleheads to add to their collection.

And the winner is...

Congrats to Paul. Just let me know which bobblehead you want and I'll get it in the mail.

Thanks to those of you who commented, I always enjoy reading everyone's thoughts and opinions about the things I write. And if you didn't comment, maybe you now wish that you had. It's possible that I might do something like this again down the road. I'm just saying...

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Joe Taylor

2011-10-28T18:24:00.000-04:00

Joe Taylor was one of the six former Orioles whose autographs I still needed before my dad let me know about this index card that was recently listed on ebay. As hard as I try to stay on top of any listings of the players I still need for my collection, sometimes these autographs slip past me, so I have to yet again thank my dad for helping me out!

Joe played in the Major Leagues for parts of four seasons in the 1950s, and spent his last season plus of big league action in Baltimore in 1958-59. Prior to playing in the Majors, Joe had spent some time in the Negro Leagues. Overall, he played in 119 games for the Philadelphia A's, Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals and Orioles; 50 of those games were as a member of the Orioles during which time he played all three outfield positions and also frequently appeared as a pinch hitter.

Joe was featured on only one card during his playing career, a 1958 Topps card that pictures him as a Cardinal. He was included in the Orioles Crown set that came out in mid 1991, shortly before his death in March of 1993. I've never seen either card signed, in fact, this 3x5 was the first autograph of his I've ever seen, but I've heard he was a good signer, so I'm holding out hope that I can track down a signed copy of his Crown card one day.

RIP Joe, thanks for the memories.

The Time is Right

2011-10-27T19:28:00.000-04:00

Today seemed like an appropriate time to show off the three remaining autographs in my collection that picture players wearing Cardinals or Rangers uniforms.

I need to start with Orlando Sanchez since this is the only Orioles card of the trio and because I'm rooting for the Cardinals to come back and win the series.

I guess no one thought to get a picture of Orlando in an Orioles uniform during his four game stint with the O's in 1984. He played parts of the 1981-83 seasons for the Cardinals and saw his last big league action in Baltimore; he appeared in 73 total games over his four years in the Majors.

Rick Helling spent eight of his 12 MLB seasons with the Rangers, and is one of only three players to have won 20 games in a season for them, which he accomplished in 1998 when he went 20-7.

He spent part of the 2003 season with the Orioles and was largely unsuccessful pitching for the Birds, but certainly wasn't the only pitcher from that period of time who couldn't find success in Baltimore. He is pictured on a few cards as an Oriole, so I'm hoping to upgrade to one of those some day soon.

Last up is Fernando Tatis, who began his big league career with the Rangers in the late '90s. He is best remembered for being the only player to hit two grand slams in one inning, a feat he accomplished off of Chan Ho Park during his time with the Cardinals in 1999. He appropriately also holds the record for most RBI in one inning.

Tatis played for the Orioles in 2006 and also was featured on a card in an Orioles uniform, so one day I would like to upgrade this signature as well.

Oriole #750

2011-10-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

Val Majewski became the 750th player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he made his MLB debut with the Birds on August 20, 2004. To date, his MLB career lasted only 9 games over the last month of the '04 season. He played centerfield and right field while also appearing as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. He had 2 hits, including a double, over thirteen at bats, and also scored three runs while driving in another.

While he has yet to make it back to the Majors, Val was still playing affiliated baseball in 2011. He stayed in the Orioles organization through 2007 and has since spent time in the Astros, Angels, A's, & Rangers farm systems while also mixing in a few stints in the independent Atlantic League.

Keep at it Val, here's to hoping that you can make it back to the Bigs at some point down the road!

My Favorite Autograph of 2011

2011-10-25T18:49:00.000-04:00

Pedro Viola, who has appeared in a grand total of six games for the Orioles over the past two seasons, provided me with my favorite autograph obtained in 2011.

He spent the majority of the season with the AA Bowie Baysox, who play only about 20 miles from my house, so I made it to about 10 of their games this season. Pedro wasn't always the most accessible signer, but when he started signing, he would typically do so for everyone who wanted his signature.

He was with the Orioles during 2011 Spring Training, so was included in the major league section of the Orioles Yearbook. The minor leaguers are also included in the yearbook so I brought it along to a few late season Baysox games.

And that's when this happened...

You see, Pedro speaks very little English, so there is a communication barrier with him at times. I like to think that I can speak Spanish, but realistically I can throw a few nouns into a sentence, and have problems with my verb usage. So I probably come off sounding like a little kid who is still working on how to use full sentences.

I asked Pedro to sign his yearbook page, and he obviously obliged. I'm not sure if he asked me where to sign and I said anywhere (or maybe everywhere), but it's certainly a uniquely signed item. I almost started to pull it away after the first signature, but he just kept going.

He was also kind enough to sign his 2011 Baysox card, which will likely be his only cardboard issue in the Orioles organization, so it's heading for my collection as well.

Thank you Pedro for the great memories, and signatures too!

Getting Back Into the TTM Game

2011-10-24T18:33:00.000-04:00

Since I began to officially collect autographs of the Orioles managers and coaches, I've started to send out some TTM requests once again. While they are slightly time consuming to prepare and send out, getting that little white SASE back in the mailbox is one of my favorite things to find when I get home from work. It's an immediate pick me up and seems to say "forget that silly BS that happened at the office, the evening is going to be better", or something like that.

Well, over the past week or so, I have received two of those little white envelopes in my mailbox. And I can now scratch Tom McCraw and Marv Foley off of my coaches need list.

Sending out these TTM requests for coaches has motivated me to start sending to some Orioles players who I could use upgrades for in my collection. So I hope to find a lot more of those little white envelopes in my mailbox over the coming months.

Numbering the Orioles

2011-10-23T16:34:00.000-04:00

One of my offseason projects is to attempt to assign a debut number to everyone who has played for the Orioles, from 1-910. I'm counting down from 2011-1954, since I already had the Oriole # for the players from the past few years.

I like how all three players on this card are known as Orioles

I'm guessing that you probably didn't know that Carlos Mendez is Oriole #726 and made his Orioles (and MLB) debut on May 22, 2003. It's possible that Carlos Mendez might have been the only person who knew that information before today, but it's possible that he didn't even know his Oriole #! Well, I kind of just made up the term Oriole #, so it's not fair to expect anyone else to know what it is.

Carlos played 26 games for the Orioles that year and hit .222 over 45 at-bats and that was the extent of his MLB career. Most recently, he spent 2011 as a coach for the class A Rome Braves.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Eddie Lopat

2011-10-21T19:13:00.000-04:00

Ed pitched in the Majors from 1944-55, and is best remembered for being a member of the Yankees starting rotation that won five consecutive World Series from 1949-53. He earned the nicknames "Steady Eddie" and "The Junkman" during his career, but now-a-days, the "Steady Eddie" moniker has been usurped by another former Oriole.

Eddie earned his keep by being a junkballer; he could never throw the ball particularly fast but kept the hitters guessing. I found this Casey Stengel quote about him particularly amusing: "Lopat looks like he is throwing wads of tissue paper." I guess that gives you a decent idea about how hard he must have been to hit against.

Ed spent the latter half of the 1955 season, the last of his career, with the Orioles and was 3-4 with a 4.22 ERA over ten games with the Birds. Over his 12 season career, Lopat had a 166-112 record with a 3.21 ERA. He led the A.L. with a 2.42 ERA in 1953, made the 1951 All-Star team, and received MVP votes four times. After his playing career, he was a pitching coach for the Yankees, Twins and KC A's, and managed the A's during the 1962-63 seasons.

My autograph of The Junkman obviously depicts him as the A's manager. Any of his signed Yankees cards are significantly more expensive since they are what Yankee collectors want for their collections. But it works for me since I don't want any stupid Yankees cards in my collection anyway, if it's avoidable of course.

For me Orioles Autographs > Other teams autographs > Yankees/Red Sox autographs > No Autograph

Eddie's only Orioles card was his inclusion in the Orioles Crown set. The set was released over the course of the 1991 season, and Eddie passed away in June of 1992, so there wasn't much time between it's release and his passing for him to have signed any of these cards. I certainly have never seen one, but I'm holding out hope that there might be one (or more) out there.

RIP Ed.

The 1983 World Series Champs

2011-10-20T19:17:00.000-04:00

As I'm watching yet another Orioles-free World Series, I thought it might be a good time to look back at the most recent O's team that was able to win the championship. It has sadly been 28 seasons since the Orioles last played in and won a World Series. While that accomplishment occurred within my lifetime, I was sadly much too young to understand, appreciate or celebrate the victory at that time.

Since the Orioles have played in a World Series game, 24 different teams have made it to the October Classic, and 18 teams have won it (with the Rangers possibly becoming the 19th if they win this year).

The other teams who haven't played in the World Series since at least 1983 are the Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Cubs. A few of those teams (Mariners, Nats/Expos, & Brewers) have never made it to the World Series, and as most of you know, the Cubs haven't won it since 1908, so I guess the Orioles have it better than those teams, but it's still frustrating. The Brewers and Cubs have made the playoffs in recent years, so they at least have that going for them.

We all should agree that parity is alive and well in baseball, especially if you don't like any of those six teams.

Without further ado, here are some random never-before-seen-on-my-blog scans of autographs from the '83 Orioles World Series Champs.

"Whacko" was the long-time Orioles second baseman who, like many who play the position, was known more for his glove than his bat. He still holds two A.L. single season fielding records for the position; 86 consecutive errorless games and 425 straight errorless chances, both of which he set in 1978.

Tito's 10th inning home run in the 4th game of the ALCS propelled the O's past the White Sox and into the Series. He appeared in three World Series game as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement but didn't have any plate appearances during the Series.

Sammy was the only middle reliever that the O's needed during the series (ahem Tony LaRussa) and pitched five total innings over three games of the series, allowing zero runs while striking out six. These days, he is much better remembered for his drug use and subsequent jail-time.

Joe was the O's back-up catcher and went hitless in two at-bats during the series. Ah 1983, when backup catchers were included in card sets.

Mike Kinnunen- Major League Record Holder

2011-10-19T19:11:00.000-04:00

There are some rather obscure former Orioles whose autographs are pretty tough to track down. Sometimes it's because the player doesn't like to sign autographs, others it's because no one has a current address for them, and sometimes players just seem to disappear.

I'm not exactly sure why Mike Kinnunen's autograph is so hard to track down, but it sure is tough to find. I was finally able to add this signed Crown card to my collection about a month ago, and was very happy to scratch Mike's name off of my want list. Mike seems to be living and working in Puerto Rico, so that probably contributes to why his autographs are so scarce.

Once again, the Orioles Crown card set comes to the rescue for my autograph purposes, as this is Mike's only inclusion in a Major League set, which obviously makes this his only Orioles card as well.

In doing a little bit of research on Mike for this post, I discovered that he holds the all-time Major League record for most pitching appearances (48) without a decision of any kind (win, loss, save). That's pretty wild stuff, and from that information, I can figure out that Mike pitched in the middle-late innings of games that weren't particularly close. So I guess he was somewhat of a mop-up guy.

He pitched parts of three seasons with the 1980 Twins and '86-87 Orioles, had a 5.23 ERA, and finished 18 of the 48 games he pitched in.