Post #1000, Celebrating Some Orioles Debuts

I noticed a few weeks back that I was nearing this milestone number of 1000 posts, a number that I never expected to reach when I began writing about my Orioles autograph collection back in March 2009. Just under three and a half years later, I have reached that crazy number of posts and wanted to take a minute to thank all of the fellow bloggers and my readers who have kept me going all this time. I couldn't have made it this far without all of you. 


I have no idea how long I will keep blogging. I know there are some days that I don't feel like writing while other times the words just flow from my fingertips. I do know that I'm nearing the end of Orioles autographs that I have yet to show off here. I don't like to re-run images too often, so if I ever clear out my scanned autograph folder, that might mark an end of sorts, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Until then, thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to read one of my posts, I really appreciate it!


To celebrate this milestone post, I had been attempting to think of something special to write about and wasn't able to come up with much. But then a trio of players made their Orioles debuts this weekend, including two rather special ones, and my decision was made for me.

Relief pitcher Miguel Socolovich was called up to the Orioles prior to Saturday's game and made his O's and MLB debut in the 10th inning of Saturday's marathon 13 inning game to become Oriole #931. He pitched 1.2 innings and gave up two hits, one run and struck out one.

Miguel had been signed by the Orioles as a minor league free agent this past offseason and had been tearing up the competition at AAA all season long so the call-up was much deserved. It's very possible that he gets sent back to the minors in the coming days to make room for one of the starting pitchers the O's will need, but at least he got his debut out of the way.

At this point in his career, he doesn't have many cards that feature him, including no major set releases yet, but I was lucky and happened to have this Birmingham Barons card of his in my minor league collection. I got it signed on my spring training trip, so I was able to add Miguel's name directly to my have list.

Taylor Teagarden made quite the splash in his Orioles debut, also during Saturday's game. He has been injured all season and was just activated from the DL prior to the game. He came in as a defensive replacement in the 11th inning, after starting catcher Matt Wieters was removed for a pinch-runner in the bottom of the 10th, and he played in the final three innings of the game to become Oriole #932. He had two at-bats in the game and struck out swinging in his first trip to the plate and a few of those swings looked a little uncomfortable.

However, in his second at-bat, he crushed the game winning walk-off home run to seal the 13 inning victory for the O's. From Roch's post on MASNsports.com: "According to Elias, Teagarden was the first Oriole to hit a walk-off home run in his first game with the club. He was the first player in the majors to do it since Joe Randa with the Reds on April 4, 2005." Awesome.

And it provided quite the post-game sound bite for FOX when Teagarden uttered "Oh shit" on the broadcast after receiving three shaving cream pies from his teammates. 

The most significant debut of the weekend, at least from an emotional standpoint, was that of Steve Johnson, Oriole #933. Steve's dad, Dave, pitched for the Orioles from 1989-91, so they join the small fraternity of father-son Orioles combos. On top of that, Steve was born and raised in Maryland, so he joins the equally small group of MD born Orioles. And to top things off, his dad has been involved with various Orioles-related radio and TV broadcasts in recent years, so the fans have had access to Dave's joy and frustration throughout Steve's assent to the big league club. 

Dave is the type of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, and his on-air emotional reaction when the Orioles acquired Steve (along with Josh Bell) from the Dodgers for George Sherrill at the trade deadline in 2009 ranks near the top of recent Orioles broadcasting moments. Dave's frustration with the Orioles repeatedly not calling up Steve, even when it seemed like he was a deserving candidate, were also obvious at times, but I enjoyed the realness of Dave's commentary. He tried to remain objective about it, but you could tell that it ate at him.


Well, the Johnson family had their moment when Steve finally appeared in his first MLB game during Sunday's contest against the Tigers, and it seemed O-so-fitting that his debut would come during a home game in front of the Baltimore crowd. He received a nice ovation from the hometown fans and it made for a nice moment in an otherwise disappointing loss. Steve pitched the final two innings of the game and gave up just one run on a Miguel Cabrera home-run, while walking two and striking out two. Steve was sent back to the minors after the game, but at least he got his MLB debut under his belt.

Minor League Members of the O's 40 Man Roster- Josh Bell

Josh came to the Orioles organization this past season in exchange for George Sherrill in a trade with the Dodgers, who originally selected him in the fourth round of the 2005 draft. I am more optimistic about his future and potential than any of the other Minor Leaguers on the 40 man.



He's a legit power-hitting third base prospect who could be in Baltimore by Opening Day 2011 if not sooner. I had the pleasure to see him play for the Baysox a few times at the end of the season and I can say that his power is RIDICULOUS. The ball flies off of his bat and he sent a few balls into the Bowie night that have yet to come down. In the 33 games he played for AA Bowie at the end of the '09 season, he hit 9 homers, amassed 24 RBI, had a slugging % of .570 and an OPS (on-base % + slugging %) of .917. Let's just say that those numbers are pretty solid. Recently, he was ranked by Baseball America as the O's #2 prospect and was named the #5 prospect in the Arizona Fall League following last season's action.

Josh will probably start the 2010 season at AAA Norfolk since there are still some concerns about his switch-hitting (almost all of his power comes when he bats lefty) but he should make it to Baltimore soon!

Goodbye Steve!

The Giants took Steve Johnson in the Major League part of today's Rule V draft, so for now he is out of the Orioles system. I'm sure that his dad, former Orioles pitcher and current 105.7 broadcaster, Dave is pretty upset today. I remember listening to the radio when the Sherrill trade was anounced and Dave found out that Steve was coming to the Orioles organization. The way I recall it, Dave broke down in tears on-air, so I can only assume that he is even more upset this morning.

Steve pitched the final two months of the '09 season for the Baysox and went 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 7 starts. That's pretty good but the one start of his that I got to see didn't go so well.

It's likely that Steve will eventually make his way back to the Orioles since the Giants have to keep him on their 25 man roster all season or offer him back to the O's for $25k, or half of what it cost to draft him. If you want to learn more about the Rule V draft you can check out this link. It's kind of confusing and would take forever for me to try to type up. Also, I get mixed up about all of the situations that come up so I would probably just confuse everyone anyway. But I do know that a majority of the players taken are eventually offered back to their old teams because they just aren't ready to play at the Major League level.

Either way, good luck in the future Steve. You seem like a great guy!

This Guy Has a Cool Name

Ramon Nivar 2005

Say it with me now....Ramon Nivar. Try rolling the r's with a Spanish flair. Isn't it fun? I really enjoy Ramon's name for whatever reason. I also seem to remember his career for more than what it seems to have been. Between 2003-05 Ramon only appeared in 42 games with the Rangers and the O's. He hasn't appeared in a Major League game since his seven game stint with the Birds in 2005. Where have you gone Ramon Nivar?

Turns out that he has kicked around the Minor Leagues for the Cardinals, Padres, Dodgers and a few independent leagues since his time with the Orioles. In an interesting O's tie-in, Ramon played for the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Dodgers' AA affiliate, this past season with Josh Bell before Bell came to the O's organization in the George Sherrill trade.

Ramon continues to put up some good numbers at the Minor League level so I hope that he can get back to the Bigs someday. Until then, I will continue to say his name with a smile on my face while my tongue is rolling the R's!

Orioles Autograph Year in Review: The Good Signers

I noticed all of these players sign frequently throughout their time with the O's.


George was consistently a good signer over his time with the O's. I know that I have mentioned that the relief pitchers all stay in the dugout and then walk out to the bullpen together prior to games but the closer typically does his own thing. So if he's a cool guy like George, you have a good shot at an autograph.

I know one loyal reader who will be excited to see George in a post. We just pulled his Dodgers card from the 09 Topps U&H set and it was kind of bittersweet. We miss you George!



The Cla was another reliever who seemed to sign pretty well. He was only on the O's for half of the season but I got his autograph at least twice. Cla was fairly reliable out of the 'pen and I hope he's on the team again next season. You can never have enough submarine style pitchers. That's according to my theory on maximizing the number of submarining players on the team. I tried to convert Melmo to try throwing submarine style on plays at third but he wanted no part of that. (Kidding)



Berky was a great signer. I was at his MLB debut game and he was actually signing before he warmed up. That's amazing! I had never even seen a starter do that in the minors, let alone at the Major League level. He seems like a nice guy, but I hope that he has more success on the mound going forward.



This was the first Orioles card that I got of Hendrickson, so I was pumped when he signed it for me. He signed a little more frequently when he was a starter as opposed to a reliever but he was pretty good about it either way. I should try to find a basketball card for him to sign if he's on the team again next year.



Another one of Kalina's favorite players was a good signer when he wasn't hurt. I just read that he is pitching in the Mexican Winter League to get some more innings since he was out for such a long time this season. But every time I found another Sarfate card, it would be signed soon enough.



I hope that Chris can revert to his 2005-07 form soon. A 7.27 ERA in 40+ games isn't pretty. But at least he's a good signer! He went down the entire right field line at the last Sunday game of the year and honestly must have signed around 500-700 autographs. Nice work Chris.

Farewell Flat Breezy

I have to address something awful that occurred yesterday. Kalina's favorite Oriole (well, he was at least tied with Nolan Reimold), George "Brim Reaper/Flat Breezy/Peril" Sherrill was traded to the Dodgers for a few prospects.


Now, I am smart enough to know that this current Orioles roster isn't going to win anything and that the organization has been building to compete next year and beyond, it is still hard to lose such a popular player. He was a awesome competitor who had ice water running in his veins. He was the type of guy who craved the ball in the 9th inning, specifically with a one-run lead on the road. He loved the pressure.


The game that epitomizes Sherrill's reign in Baltimore was against the Cubs in Chicago last season. The O's had a one- or two-run lead and brought in the Brim Reaper to close the game, but he walked the bases loaded. However, he then promptly struck out the side to finish off the win. His saves, especially last season, were like a high-wire act but he got the job done more often than not.


My favorite memory of George was being at the first home game after the All-Star break last season when the Orioles congratulated George for his three-inning stellar performance in the 2008 All-Star game.






Goodbye George and good luck in LA. While you seem to be more of a country guy than a city boy, I hope things go well for you and that you win a World Series. We will see you in Washington at a Nats game September 22-24.

Bye bye Brim Reaper.

Tuesday O's autos

I went to Tuesday's O's-Mets game in the hopes of getting the two current Mets players who are former Orioles. Anyone know who they are? They aren't very big names, more backup types. They both are Hispanic. Any guesses yet?

They are Omir Santos and Fernando Tatis, and I was hoping that they would sign a card for me, but had no luck. In fact, I only saw Brian Schneider & Livan Hernandez sign for a handful of people while the rest of the Mets avoided the throng of their fans at OPACY.

Especially in the case of Santos, I have two of his 08 Tides cards, one of which I sent to the Mets AAA affiliate the week he was called up so that card is in limbo, while the other is still in my possession. But I am now reluctant to send that one out since I would prefer to avoid buying another complete 08 set just for him. And that is my thought and concern that goes into obtaining a backup catcher's autograph. Hey, it's a collection not an obsession, right?

Well anyway, on the Orioles side of the field I had much better luck. I saw George Sherrill, (2 games signing in a row!?! attaboy Brim Reaper!!) Rich Hill, and Brad Bergesen signing but narrowly missed out on them. I did have better luck with Dave Trembley,

This one's available for trade if you still need him

Dennis Sarfate,


and Ty Wigginton!!!

This was my first time getting Ty to sign and he was the last member of the '09 Opening Day lineup that I did not yet have an autograph of.

Ty commented that Topps was nice enough to misspell his last name on this card. I hadn't even noticed even though this card has been with my set all season. But that is pretty funny, it would be even funnier if he signed his card "Wiggington".

Autos from O's-Braves series

This was a pretty successful series for me. I got my first George Sherill autograph on a card, my first Mark Hendrickson on an O's card, and my first in-person Alberto Castillo. I narrowly missed out on Koji too, I swear I will get him one of these days!

Sherrill was nice enough to also sign a card for Kalina, who missed the game due to illness

I went to Friday's game so I got to see Tommy Hanson pitch, even though the Orioles continued to suck, but I also made it to Sunday's shellacking that featured the O's best offensive explosion of 2009. 1-1, especially with the rare Sunday win made for a nice weekend. And I think the O's turned it up a notch on Sunday since they knew my parents came to the game with me.

Nick wearing an inappropriate shirt (click on picture for larger view)

Derek Lowe preparing to get rocked!

The Braves seemed to be a pretty good signing team too. I was able to get Gregor Blanco, Jeff Francouer and Mike Gonzalez to sign. Their fans were also very cool about passing along my cards up to the guys to get them to sign, this isn't something I normally see, so nice form Braves fans! I saw Gonzalez signing on Friday & Sunday but only had the one card of his. An added bonus were that these 3 were on '09 Heritage cards, which are awesome for autos.

I also saw Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Nate McClouth and Terry Pendleton signing but wasn't able to get to them.