Far From the Iron Man

My posting these days might, MIGHT, be able to be called sporadic, but I continue to try to show off at least a few new Orioles autographs each week. But I am a far cry from my all-time favorite Oriole, and former perennial All-Star, Cal Ripken Jr. 

I imagine that if Cal happened to be an Orioles autograph blogger, that he would somehow find a way to post once a day, every day, week in and week out, year after year, until his hands cramped up and he could blog no more. But I ain't Cal, so a few times a week is what you get!

My collection doesn't currently include an autograph of Cal personalized to me, but this Sal personalized autograph is somewhat close to a nickname that friends have called me over the years, and has been a part of my collection for probably twenty some years.

So while we can all strive to be more Cal-like in our various endeavors, most of us will never quite reach that apex. And that's just fine.

Cal's Statue

Wasn't Thursday fun for so many reasons?

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Cal in Black

I recently swung a trade with fellow Orioles bobblehead collector, Stan, and added a few new Orioles bobbles to my collection. Up first is this SGA Cal bobble that features him in a black jersey, the one-time Orioles home version.

Here's the view from the rear.

And the base of the bobble.

Good stuff, thanks for the trade Stan!

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

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. 

Nachos Grande Autograph Week Questionnaire

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.

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Cal '83 World Series

For the second consecutive week, I'm showing off a Cal Ripken Jr. bobblehead. Believe me, I could show my Cal bobbles for at least a few more weeks, but I'll probably switch it up next week.

You can probably guess why I chose to show this bobblehead today, but if not, it's because it shows my favorite player and commemorates the last time that the O's went to the World Series. I hope that changes in 2011. I'd love to collect the entire set of 2011 Orioles World Series Champion bobbles. Let's Go O's!

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Cal 2131

The picture does all of the work one this one. It depicts my favorite Oriole commemorating my favorite memory from during his long career. Footage of his 2130 & 2131 games still get me, and probably always will.

 

This bobble was given away on at the O's game on July 24, 2007 and was the second of three Ripken bobbles given away that season to celebrate Cal's induction to the Hall of Fame. I'll show off the first giveaway some other time, while the third was only given to season ticket holders and has somehow eluded my collection to this point.

 

The back of the box shows off some of his impressive stats during "The Streak". I wish the O's had another player somewhat like Cal. I still miss knowing that you could always count on seeing him play, every single game of every season. There weren't any off days when you might miss getting to see your favorite player. Ah, when the O's were relevant. Hopefully we are moving back that direction.

Orioles Hall of Fame Week- Cal Ripken Jr.

One reason that I think I have held off on profiling many of the big-name Orioles Hall of Famers is that I don't feel qualified to write about them. I can blog about the Ramon Nivars and Barry Shetrones of the Orioles past all day and feel like I've done a good job, but trying to summarize Cal Ripken Jr. and what he has meant to me and my love of baseball is a whole different monster.

I was born in 1982 and my love of baseball really started to take shape in the late '80s as I was playing tee-ball and later little league. At that time, I honestly felt like I would make it to the Major Leagues. That obviously never happened, not even close, and I had actually stopped playing by the age of 13 or so, but my love of baseball remains to this day. It's my #1 favorite sport by far; I spend a good part of every day thinking, breathing and day-dreaming about baseball. And if you asked me which one player pops into my head at any given time, it would be Cal.

Now I know that most '92 Fleer cards wouldn't be your first choice to get signed, but I love that this card has the date that the streak started and 2130 on it. Outside of any possible Orioles' World Series Championships in the coming years, I don't think anything can rival "The Streak" and 2131 in my baseball memory hierarchy. Seeing video clips of that game gets to me even to this day. The lead up to 2131 was so amazing. Could Cal stay healthy? Would it benefit the team if he took a day off now and then? How would he handle the pressure?

Well, the "Iron Man" obviously passed Lou Gehrig's record of 2130 consecutive games played and extended the record to 2632 straight games played. My dad took me to a bunch of games in the lead up to 2130 & 2131 and we watched the numbers change of the warehouse count up towards those magical numbers. He tried to find tickets to those two games but the cost was astronomical, I think in the thousands. It just wasn't gonna happen, but I appreciate that he tried so hard. Honestly, it was pretty awesome to see it on TV. I didn't know her back then, but my fiance, Kalina, was lucky enough to have some family friends that took her to 2131. She was standing in line for her "I Was There" t-shirt when Cal homered. Cool stuff, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous, but I am glad that one of us got to be there for it. I was lucky enough to have been at the final game of Cal's career on October 6, 2001.

Kalina gave me this awesome card. 

It didn't scan well because it's in a screw-down case and I was too lazy to take it out for the scan.

Most of you know that Cal was the 1982 AL ROY, won the AL MVP in 1983 & '91, caught the final out in the O's '83 World Series victory, made 19 All-Star teams, won 2 Gold Gloves, 8 Silver Sluggers, was the All-Star Game MVP in 1991 & 2001, and won the '91 Home Run Derby. He has won countless other awards and honors over his illustrious career, too many to list.

Cal's #8 was retired by the O's in 2001 and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility. Thanks for everything Cal!

I have to plug my HOF week contest. Some of you have been earning a bunch of bonus entries. I won't comment on how you can earn them, but there are some clues in previous posts.

Tradin' with Troll

It's a rare thing for me to post trades, let alone two days in a row, but that's what I'm doing today. I shared my end of a trade with GCRL yesterday and today I'm showing off what the always giving Collective Troll sent my way.

The best part of the box that Troll sent was that he included cards/items for both me and Kalina. She did a guest blogging post to thank him a couple weeks back and now it's my turn. I have to start out with the more surprising and unusual items he included.



Like these two 14 year old starting lineup Orioles figures. My dad and I collected most of the Cal SL figures, but we never expanded to the other Orioles. These two have piqued my interest into possibly collecting all of the Orioles who were featured. But in addition to my bobbleheads, shelf space is a bit tight around the house already so I might need approval from Kalina before I start on this one...

He also threw in a few Cal card "packs" from the heyday of card production when you could buy cards in cans, tins, barrels, coffee mugs, and water bottles. Of course I kid, but only slightly.

Troll also threw in some awesome vintage O's and many of my 2009 Topps & Heritage set needs.

As I mentioned at the top of the post, Kalina already thanked the Troll for her cards, but we didn't have anything scanned at that point.

He included this awesome Nyjer Morgan autograph,

some really nice Carlos Pena cards, including this bat relic, and a HUGE stack of Scott Kazmir cards, including probably 10-15 jersey patches. 

THANK YOU so much Troll. This was an amazing trade package and we have a box with your name on it set to go out, hopefully by this weekend. Oh, and congrats on being a new grandpa! Atlas is a lucky boy!

Trade with GCRL

I've been on the receiving end of a few really great trades over the past few days and am excited to show off the newest additions to my collection!

The first trade that came my way is from Jim who writes an awesome Dodger blog called Garvey Cey Russell Lopes which highlights the Dodger's infield of his youth. But who am I kidding, if you are reading my blog, chances are that you've already come across GCRL. But if you haven't, click the link! Jim is truly dedicated to cards and even writes another blog called oh my o-pee-chee which covers, well obviously, o-pee-chee cards and how they are similar to or different from the Topps versions.

Jim sent me a bunch of Orioles cards, some of my set needs from 2009 Heritage and a few amazing custom cards that we he and I had discussed. I'm most excited about the customs, but am going to wait until the end to show them off.

 

Here's a small sampling of the Orioles that he sent my way, including some awesome vintage cards, an oddball Cal card, a few guys who you might have forgotten/never known wore the black and orange, a very skinny pre-roids David Segui, and a few cards from a very cool All-Time Classic set that I've never seen before. I'm pretty sure that's my first George Sisler card. 

  

I wasn't able to narrow my new stack-O-O's down to only nine cards to show off, so here's a few more. There's a really young B-Rob, a '93 Topps Flanny that I've somehow never seen, supercool sidewinder Todd Frohwirth in action, and a few newer B-Rob and Markakis cards that I didn't have in the collection.

And now, here's the highlight of our trade, in my opinion at least:

Jamie Walker's 2007, '08, & '09 Topps cards!

Why is this so exciting? Well, as some of you probably know, Jamie wasn't included in any of those Topps sets and has very few cards considering he pitched 10 seasons in the Majors. It's probably because he was a "replacement" player during Spring Training in 1994, so he isn't in the MLBPA, but so was Kevin Millar and he appeared on many more cards, so it's more likely because the card companies don't like to produce cards of relief pitchers. Jamie pitched in 162 games for the O's from 2007-09, including a league high 81 in '07, so I felt like he deserved an Orioles card. 

A little ways back, Jim asked if anyone was interested in custom cards being made for them, and I quickly submitted Jamie's name to him. Not only was Jamie a key member of the bullpen during my re-immersion in Orioles baseball, but he's also a great TTM signer, so I would like to upgrade my signed Orioles team card to a card of his own. Jim came through in a big way and sent these three customs to me, and let me say, I'm totally blow away! Outside of being on photo paper instead of card stock and lacking the pre-printed signatures, which only get in the way of autographs anyway, you can't even tell that these cards weren't in the set. Jim did an amazing job and I can't wait to send one of these to Jamie, I just don't know which one to send! 

Thank you so much Jim! I really appreciate the cards, and especially your customs. I will hopefully be sending your cards out by the weekend, but I'm afraid I can't match the wow-factor of what you sent my way.

Trade with Crinkly Wrappers

About a month ago, Crinkly Wrappers posted a Cal Ripken Jr. card I wanted. It's one of the three possible cards you could pull from those Topps Wal-Mart value packs. I bought one at my local Wal-Mart and got the Babe Ruth, not what I was shooting for; I mean he is one of the greatest players of all time, but he's still a Yankee so he's not in my collect-o-sphere. 

 

Anyway, Ted  had apparently bought three of the value packs and pulled two Cals, so he offered the double up for trade. I jumped at the opportunity. My dad and I used to collect Cal pretty hard-core; I would say that we have a near complete collection of everything Cal from his first cards through the mid to late '90s.  Our collecting slowed/stopped as it seemed like there was 500 new cards produced every year and it got somewhat overwhelming. I was also entering that awkward teenage break away from baseball stage but I'm glad that I'm over that now!  

Anyway, we worked out a trade.  I sent him a bunch of Blue Jays cards, and he sent me the Cal,

 

a couple awesome '76 O's cards, 

and some of my set needs from '08 Topps, '08 Topps U&H, and '09 Topps.

I can't believe I still need cards from those sets, but I do.  If anyone else can help me scratch a few off my list, I would really appreciate it!  

Thanks for the awesome trade Ted!  If you've never checked out Crinkly Wrappers, I suggest you head over there immediately. 

The Collective Troll is Awesome

But you probably already knew that since he's one of the best traders/all-around good bloggers that I have come across in my 15 months in the blogoverse.


He recently displayed these Markakis and Battle of Trenton Cabinet cards on his blog and I got in touch with him quickly. You can't tell here, but these puppies are huge! I don't have the measurements but I would guess that are 10" by 6" or something like that.

Even though I'm not a Markakis collector per se, that card was too great to pass up. It looks like he is swinging his bat trying to ward off the coming apocalypse or something.


The Battle of Trenton card is for Kalina since she's a social studies teacher and likes that kind of thing. I have to admit, George Washington was a pretty awesome guy.


He also threw in this postcard sized Cal from his current group break. Troll's break isn't over yet, but since he was already sending me some other over-sized cards, he smartly took the opportunity to include this guy. Cal really was a Master of the Game. I miss him, and those Orioles teams he played on. If you look at the back of this card, which I didn't scan (facepalm), it seems to indicate that it is actually a postcard, not like I would put this through the USPS gauntlet.

And to top everything off, he threw in two giant stacks of Scott Kazmir cards for Kalina. She always gets so excited whenever she gets cards, so this package was double awesome! Here are some of her favorites:


Thanks again Troll for the awesome cards. If you haven't checked out his site, click one of this links in this post. He's all about the Rays, and is a great guy/blogger.

HOF TTM Success: Robin Roberts

Robin Roberts 1962-65 (HOF 1976)

I recently realized that my site is severely lacking in regards to some of the most famous former Orioles. Very little action on Cal, Eddie, Brooks, Frank etc. But the problem is that I don't have any of their autographs scanned as of today. So today, I share with you my Robin Roberts autograph. Robin is nice enough to sign TTM for a small fee ($10 for cards, not sure the cost for other items) and he signed my card this past fall and also included a nice signed HOF Induction card as well.

Robin had an amazing career; his achievements and accomplishments are numerous and impressive. I'm going to share some of them with you, but can't come close to including everything. Most of his greatest accomplishments came during his time with the Phillies from 1948-61. He was inducted to the HOF in 1976 and received 86.86% of the vote.

Robin went to 7 consecutive All-Star games from 1950-56 and also received MVP votes in all of those seasons. He led the NL in wins 4 times, games started 6 times, complete games & innings pitched 5 times, strikeouts 2 times, and shutouts once. With all of those games and innings pitched he also led his league in some not so good categories such as hits & HR allowed 5 times, earned runs 3 times and losses 2 times. With the good comes the bad I suppose but his positives far outweighed the negatives.

During his three and a half seasons with the Orioles, he was 42-36 with a 3.09 ERA in 113 games (109 starts).

His career record is 286-245 with a 3.41 ERA in 676 games totaling 4688 innings pitched.


Here are some random, interesting facts about him that I found:

-He allowed 505 HRs, the most in MLB history

-The Phillies retired his #36 in 1962, while he was still an active player, it was the Phils' first retired number, and the first time an active player had his number retired since the Yankees did it with Babe Ruth

-He coached the USF Bulls baseball team from 1977-85 and led them to their first NCAA tournament appearance

-July 21 is Robin Roberts Day in Vermont- an honor he received since he played there in the Minor Leagues in the 1940s

-Has the 27th most Wins in baseball history

-Has written two books about his baseball experiences

-His hometown of Springfield, IL named their baseball stadium after him





Matt, an eagle-eyed reader of this site, brought up that Robin was not listed either on my have or need lists. I obviously have his autograph but have to thank Matt for helping me to keep my lists as updated as possible. Anytime you see something that needs fixed, please let me know. I seem to have a hard time keeping up with what I have!

An Interesting Card-Less Valuable Once Signed

Bobby Bonner 1980-83
Jeff Schneider 1981

I think that this is the only autographed card that I own that is worth considerably less because it's signed. I have a few autographed Vladimir Guerrero rookie cards that this could apply to as well, but not to the extent as with this card.

As most of you probably know, this is Cal's rookie card, and while it's not as rare as his '82 Topps Traded card, is still considered his de facto RC. I remember when my dad and I first got this card in the late '80s or early '90s: it went in one of those extremely thick top loaders and was worth $100+ dollars; not that I cared about that part. I had my favorite player's rookie card!

Now, this card might be worth near it's current book value of $40 if Cal had at least completed the triple auto, but since it's only signed by Bonner & Schneider, I don't imagine it's worth much. However, since I do this blog for the autographs and not for the value of anything, I present to you my Bobby Bonner & Jeff Schneider autographed card. I'm pretty sure that my dad gave me this card, which was very nice of him.

Bobby played with the O's for four seasons 1980-83 but only appeared in 61 games over that stretch. He retired from baseball after the '83 season and along with his wife became a missionary, traveling to Africa to spread his faith. It appears as though he's currently running a youth baseball league.

Jeff appeared in relief in 11 games over the 1981 season. He earned one save and had a 4.88 ERA over those games, his only action in the Majors. The O's took him from the Phillies in the 1978 Rule V draft and he was traded to the Angels in January 1982 along with Doug Decinces for "Disco" Dan Ford.

Harold Baines O's HOF induction pictures

I apologize for the crappy quality of these pictures but all I had with me was my cell phone so they're better than nothing. And no, this isn't where I sat for the game. I just snuck down there for the ceremony and autographs.



While we knew Harold was going to be around, we were quite surprised to see who he brought along with him.

Cal made an appearance for at least the second time this season.

Kalina was excited to see Chris Hoiles in Birdland

And there is the hero of the day, Mr. Harold Baines in the green dress shirt.
A lot of the former players were excited to talk to Harold & Cal

Watching his montage of highlights and waiting to make his speech

Greeting the crowd and walking toward his podium

Jim Hunter congratulating Harold as Roland Hemond stands by. Harold seemed to really admire and look up to Hemond, even calling him "my second father" or something very close to that.
Nice green jacket Harold, welcome to the OHOF!