Oriole #1034- Miguel Castro

Well, hey there. Remember me? I'm the guy who used to regularly blog about Orioles autographs.

This site will never be what it once was, but I'm reinvesting myself to it in an attempt to at least post about all of the Orioles debuts that have occurred to this point and into the future. The way the 2018 season is going, I wouldn't be surprised if there end up being about 50 debuts this season alone.

To get back into things, I'm going to start where I left off last year. As far as I can tell, Miguel Castro's mid-May 2017 debut was the first one that I didn't post about at that point. So here we go, let's see if I remember how to do this...

Miguel Castro made his Orioles debut on May 17, 2017 and has been a relatively important middle reliever for the team over most of the past year. He was a nice surprise for the team through most of last season before fading in September but still ended the year with a 3-3 record covering 66.1 innings over 39 games. He's been similarly effective in 2018, and has a 1-2 record with 3.00 ERA over 36 innings in 23 games. Frankly, it's amazing that any pitcher for the 2018 Orioles has a respectable ERA considering the way the season has gone so far.

One thing that really surprises me about Miguel is that he's still only 23 years old; it feels like he's been around for such a long time. He made his MLB debut with a short stint as the Blue Jays closer  in 2015. Later that summer he was sent to the Rockies as part of the (at the time) mega-trade sending Jose Reyes to Colorado with Troy Tulowitzki heading to Toronto.

Miguel struggled in Colorado over the 2015-16 seasons and the Orioles acquired him via a trade with the Rockies in April 2017. They acquired him for virtually nothing since the minor leaguer they sent to Colorado in the trade retired from baseball. The O's got Brad Brach from the Padres in similar fashion, so it's good to know they can make some good moves to combat some horrible big money contracts. (cough Chris Davis cough)

I always like to throw in a big thank you to my dad for creating this Old Man Card (OMC) for Miguel to sign. Miguel graciously signed for me during a stint with Bowie last season, and he still seems to be a good signer even during his time in Baltimore.

It's good to write a post after such a long hiatus and hopefully this won't be the last one!

Oriole # 1029- Alec Asher

Moving along through this season's debuts, I've finally pushed past the guys who debuted on Opening Day and am ready to move along to the guys who made their O's debuts as the season got under way.

The first non-Opening Day debut was a bit of a surprising one. Alec Asher only came into the Orioles organization at the tail-end of Spring Training, as he was traded from the Phillies to the Orioles on March 28 for cash considerations. To the best of my recollection, he appeared in just one Spring Training game, but there was still some talk that he could break camp with the team. That didn't end up being the case, but it didn't take long for Asher to make his first appearance in Birdland.

He was recalled from AAA Norfolk on April 15th, and made his O's debut the same day. He started the game against the Blue Jays and was great; he lasted 6.1 innings, and only gave up 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 5. Now the 2017 Jays' team doesn't exactly seem like a powerhouse but it was still a promising debut.

Since that game, he has made one more start, and is generally being used out of the bullpen as the right-handed long reliever. He is also one of the about seven relievers riding the Baltimore-Norfolk carousel, and has already bounced back and forth twice. Buck Showalter really does love optionable guys in the 'pen.

Alec was kind enough to sign this card for me at one of the Orioles games that I was able to make it so far this year. It was the same game that I finally was able to get Wade Miley's autograph as well, so it was a pretty exciting day for me, autograph-wise. And I'm quite confident that I'm the only person around with a signed Alec Asher Orioles card, as usual thanks to my Dad for making it happen.

Good luck in Baltimore Alec!

Oriole #997- Cesar Cabral

We are getting closer and closer to the magical number for Oriole #1000; who will it be? Since I posed the question back in April, six players from the Tides have made their debuts, and now we are just three away. Maybe it's time to revisit the question. But today's focus is on the 997th player to appear in a game for the O's, Cesar Cabral.

Now most of you probably are probably aware that I don't much care for having signed Yankees cards in my collection, but for the time being, this is Cesar's only card in major sets. And, I certainly prioritize having any sort of autograph over my dislike of signed Yanks cards, so for now, this is in my collection.

Cesar has quite the interesting transaction history, most of it occurring with the teams of the AL East. He was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox back in 2005; the Rays then selected him in the 2010 Rule V draft. Over the course of 2 weeks during spring training 2011, he was picked up on waivers by the Blue Jays, then the Rays again, and eventually returned to the Red Sox. After the 2011 season, he was again taken in the Rule V draft, this time by the Royals, and then was purchased by the Yankees. Got all that?

He eventually made his MLB debut with the Yankees in September 2013, and would pitch a total of twelve games with the Evil Empire over the '13-14 seasons, ending up with a 7.71 ERA over 4.2 IP, so he's definitely a LOOGY (lefty one one guy).

The Orioles signed him to a minor league contract this past January, and he actually never even pitched for the big league club during spring training, so it's a pretty impressive feat for him to be off the radar in March and now pitching for the team in June. But that is what having a 0.00 ERA and 25 K's split between 21 games at AA Bowie(2) and then AAA Norfolk(19) will do for a guy. And he's been good with the O's so far too, with two hitless/scoreless appearances totaling an inning of work.

Keep up the good work Cesar!

David Wells Won't Sign Orioles Cards

Nor cards picturing him with the Tigers, Reds, Yankees, White Sox, Padres, Red Sox, or Dodgers. He will only sign Blue Jays cards for some reason.

He spent time with all of those other teams during his 21 year MLB career (and I'm making the assumption that cards were produced picturing him with all of them), but he has some variety of long-standing policy against signing baseball cards that picture him with any team besides the Blue Jays. I have seen a few scattered autographed cards of him with the Tigers, Yankees, and Padres; apparently if you catch him in the right mood, he is willing to break his own rule, but 99% of the time it's Blue  Jays cards only. And this actually holds true for his paid signings as well. The man will turn down money from fans just because he only wants to sign Blue Jays cards.

Now, I know that Boomer seems like an interesting character, and that sure comes through on his TV appearances, but I have never heard a reason behind why he only signs Jays cards. Between his various TV appearances, a number of charity golf outings, and a paid signing here or there, he is accessible enough, but until he lifts this embargo, I'm stuck with having this signed Blue Jays card in my collection. Hopefully one day I will track down a signed copy of any one of his Orioles issues: 1996 Flair, Fleer Update, Ultra, Upper Deck Update, 1997 Fleer, Score, Topps.

But here's the strangest part of this whole deal to me; David will sign 8x10's that picture him as an Oriole.

I recently obtained this one and know that there are a few other examples for sale out there. So what gives? It doesn't seem to be a bias against the team, but maybe the card companies didn't properly compensate him except during his time in Toronto? That doesn't really add up to me, but there has to be some reasoning behind all of this, doesn't there?

Oriole #745- Chad Mottola

On June 30, 2004, Chad became the 745th player to suit up for the Orioles. He spent only one week with the Orioles, but appeared in six games over that time, accruing 2 hits, including a homer, over 14 at-bats.

Chad's career began promisingly, as he was the Reds' first round pick (fifth overall) in the 1992 draft, but he was never able to regularly crack a Major League lineup and appeared in just 59 MLB games for four different franchises during the 16 years he played professionally. Once he hung up his spikes after the 2007 season, he became a coach in the Blue Jays system and most recently has spent time as the hitting coach for their AAA affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.