1993 Orioles Debuts, #524-539

Moving right along with my debut years theme, up today are the new 1993 Orioles players. Here are the past debut years I've featured (2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994).

1993 was a mixed bag of Birdland debuts; there were a few veteran players who only spent a season or two in Baltimore as well as eight players who would make their MLB debut appearances for the O's. Harold Baines and Jeffrey Hammonds were the only two players who had a major impact for the team during their time in Baltimore. 

Harold Reynolds #524, 4/5/93 (1993)

Harold Baines #525, 4/5/93 (1993-95, 97-99, 2000)

Fernando Valenzuela #526, 4/9/93 (1993)

Sherman Obando #527, 4/10/93 (1993, 95)

Besides having one of the cooler names in Orioles history, Sherman didn't contribute much to the team in 47 games he played for them over parts of two seasons. But it turns out that he actually had quite a successful career playing in Japan and consistently had good numbers over the six seasons he played there. In fact, for a few seasons he was the second best player in the league behind only Ichiro. 

He continued to play baseball at least part time through the 2008 season, having been a member of Panama's 2006 World Baseball Classic team, 2007 Baseball World Cup squad, and their 2008 Olympic team. Most recently, he served as the first base coach for the Charleston RiverDogs for at least the 2009 season. 

Brad Pennington #528, 4/17/93 (1993-95)

Brad was a very wild pitcher who averaged well over a walk an inning during the parts of five seasons that he spent in the Majors. He also averaged more than a strikeout per inning, which is probably what kept him the big leagues as long as it did, and he wrapped up his career with a 7.02 ERA over 79 games. 

I am a big fan of his autograph however, it's got so much flair to it that it's hard not to like. 

Damon Buford #529, 5/4/93 (1993-95)

Mark Leonard #530, 5/6/93 (1993)

Jamie Moyer #531, 5/20/93 (1993-95)

What can I say about Jamie Moyer that you likely don't already know? Not much, I'm sure. But when the Orioles signed Moyer to a minor league deal earlier this season, I got excited to think that a player could re-play for the Orioles after an almost 20 year break. That would have been amazing, but sadly the O's released Jamie after a three start minor league trial. I hope that he can catch on somewhere because it's not often that you get to see a 49 year old play at baseball's top level.

I'm also a bit surprised that I had never featured Moyer before today. 

Paul Carey #532, 5/25/93 (1993)

Jeffrey Hammonds #533, 6/25/93 (1993-98)

John O'Donoghue (2) #534, 6/27/93 (1993)

This John O'Donoghue (2) is the son of John O'Donoghue(1) who also pitched for the Orioles, and I've conveniently labeled them 1 & 2 for your reading ease.

2 pitched in 11 games for the '93 Orioles. He kindly signed this card for me during his time with the team and as you can see, I was still learning about how Sharpies interacted with glossy cards. Thanks a million Pinnacle!

Mike Oquist #535, 8/14/93 (1993-95)

I know that I have an autograph of Oquist and I have no idea how it's not scanned. I will get on this ASAP.

Mike Pagliarulo #536, 8/16/93 (1993)

Kevin McGehee #537, 8/23/93 (1993)

Lonnie Smith #538, 9/12/93 (1993-94)

Mike Cook #539, 9/29/93 (1993)

Continuing the Reynolds Trend

Since the Orioles traded for Mark Reynolds this week, I figured that I would show off my newest Reynolds autograph. Nope, it's not Mark. He's been a member of the Orioles for 3+ days and I don't yet have his autograph, which is a travesty, I know, it's something that I hope to rectify that soon. But I finally have Harold Reynolds' autograph on an Orioles card.

 

The early-mid to mid-late '90s were the wheelhouse of my first foray into collecting autographs at baseball games, so I have autographs from many of the players who were Orioles during that time-frame.  Harold was a notable exception, and I didn't have his autograph at all until I picked up a signed Mariners card at the National back in August. If you don't click on that link, I mentioned that not having Harold's autograph in my collection was bothersome as I've seen him on TV on ESPN and now MLB Network for most of the last decade. He was so close, yet so far away as he doesn't seem to sign any TTM requests. At last, I have his signed Orioles card so I can now sleep better at night. No seriously, these are the types of things that keep me awake. I got a fever and the only prescription...is more cowbell Orioles autographs.

Who Will Play Third For the O's in 2011?

Since it seems as though Josh Bell still needs some seasoning in the Minors and the Orioles don't have any other great candidates in-house right now, I'm interested to see who the Orioles will bring in to play third base in 2011 and possibly beyond. They could re-sign Ty Wigginton, but I kind of hope that they don't, at least not to be the everyday starter. I don't have anything against Ty, but the fan base needs a swift kick in the pants, not a love tap on the behind. It's a sad thing, but less people care about the O's each year in Baltimore. I think it's ridiculous to give up on the team, but some might call me a "superfan".

Let's see if you can guess who I think the Orioles are going to end up with...

Mark was a backup catcher in the Majors for 13 seasons from 1986-98 and spent two stints with the Orioles in 1992-93 & again in '96. He only appeared in 57 games over his three seasons with the O's, all but one as acatcher, and he never played third base over his 474 Big League games.

He is currently a manager in the Phillies' farm system and was promoted to the AA Reading Phillies following the 2010 season, so I might try to get his autograph in person at a Baysox game this season.

 

I wrote about Bob last summer and don't have much to add to that, but I will say that he never played third base over the 140 games covering six seasons that he spent in the Majors.

You have any idea where I'm going with this yet?

Mark appeared in 314 games in the Majors over his eight season career, but every single appearance came on the mound. He spent the 1988-89 seasons in Baltimore and had a dismal 3-12 record for the Birds, including an abysmal 1-8 campaign in '88. 

 

I picked up this autograph at the National in August and to avoid repeating myself, you can read what I wrote here. Harold played in 1374 Major League games but never appeared at the hot corner.  

So what the hell am I getting at here? Has anyone figured it out?  

Well, I think the O's will end up trading with the Diamondbacks to obtain Mark Reynolds. See what I did here? A Mark, then a Reynolds, then a Mark, then another Reynolds. That's about as witty as things get around these parts.

More Cards From the National- Non Orioles Cards Edition

Yesterday's post got a little long, so today I will try to keep the write ups to a minimum.  A short blurb about the player's Orioles days and maybe another interesting fact should do it.

HR was only an Oriole for the 1993 season, but that was right in my wheelhouse of beginning to be a seriously dedicated O's fan.  That was the second to last season of his MLB career, but he was the O's everyday second baseman; I watched a bunch of games that year, so I guess that's why I feel like he was in Baltimore for more than one season. He spent 10 of his 12  MLB seasons with the Mariners, and he won three Gold Gloves and was elected to 2 All-Star games over his tenure in Seattle.

Obtaining HR's autograph has been a thorn in my side.  I've seen him on TV almost daily since the mid-90s as he has covered baseball for ESPN and now the MLB Network, but he doesn't sign TTM requests.  So I know where he is, just not how to get him to sign an Orioles card for me.  This Mariners card will have to do for now.

Mike is another player who I've been trying to track down for some time.  He was an Oriole during the 1988 season so is pictured in an Orioles uniform in a few 1989 sets.  I've found them for sale online, but only as part of a large lot.  I don't particularly want to buy 30 signed cards when 29 would be doubles.  So I'm holding out hope to find Mike's signature on an Orioles card someday. He went 1-6 with a 5.43 ERA during his only season with the Birds.

He played 22 seasons in the Majors for 12(!) different franchises which is the current MLB record.  It makes sense as that's almost half of the teams that he could have played for.  His career spanned 4 decades, which is also pretty impressive.

Keith "Zonk" Moreland played for the Orioles during the 1989 season, the last of his 12 year career in the Bigs.  He is pictured on a few cards in an O's uniform, so I would like to upgrade his autograph to an O's card.  Keith appeared almost exclusively as a DH during his season in Birdland, and his stat line wasn't much to talk about .215/1/10.

However, Zonk did have some better years on the diamond.  He won a World Series with the Phillies in 1980, a College World Series Championship with the Texas Longhorns in 1975, received MVP votes for his 1985 season with the Cubs, and had his Longhorn number 3 retired earlier this year. 

Juan spent 8 of his 10 MLB seasons with the Blue Jays, so his autograph is the easiest to find on Jays' cards.  He has a few cards that depict him in an O's uniform, so I'll keep my eyes open for an upgrade.  But this auto fills a spot for now.

Juan's career started out with a bang; he was second in the 1991 A.L. ROY vote, was an All-Star and World Series Champion his second season, and received Cy Young votes and won another WS during his third year.  Things would never get that good for Juan again, but that's an awesome way to start things out.  He pitched approximately 1 full season for the O's, split between the '98 & '99 seasons, and went 9-13 with a 4.20 ERA over 32 starts.  The Orioles traded him to Cincinnati at the '99 trade deadline and got BJ Ryan in return, so that's one trade that worked out for the late '90s O's.

As was the case with the previous four players, Dwight has an Orioles card, but doesn't sign TTM, so this Cubs autograph will have to work for now.  I read that he used to sing the National Anthem before some games during his time in Wrigleyville, which was either very cool or very funny. 

Dwight spent the second half of the 1994 season with the O's and was mainly used as a backup outfielder.  He was a member of the '95 Braves World Series Champs and finished second in the '89 N.L. ROY race to...

Yep, Jerome Walton.  Another former Cub who played for the O's later in his career (and has at least one card showing him in an O's uni...GRRR...what an awful running theme of this post).

After his great rookie year, Jerome was used mostly as a backup for the rest of his 10 seasons in the Majors.  He appeared in 26 games for the Orioles during the '97 season, his second to last in MLB.



We're FINALLY to a few players who don't have cards that show them in an O's uniform, so these will stay in my collection.  

This is kind of an O's card, right?  It says Orioles and all.

Mike was an extremely durable reliever over his 11 MLB seasons, averaging 64 appearances a year, topped by the 77 appearances he made for the '98 Twins.  He pitched in Minnesota for 9 of his 11 seasons, but pitched in Baltimore from 2000-01.  The man appeared in 125 games in just under 2 seasons in Baltimore, and he didn't get an Orioles card.  Relievers get no baseball card love.  The O's flipped him to the Dodgers at the '01 trade deadline for Kris Foster and Geronimo Gil.

Lyle Mouton (the crouton) was a reserve OF/DH over much of his 8 seasons in the Majors.  He spent the first half of the 1998 season with the O's before having his contract purchased by the Yakult Swallows of Japan's Central League.

He had more success during his college baseball career and was a star for the LSU Tigers for 1989-91 and was a leader for the Tigers' College World Series team in 1991.