Kyle Hudson's Off the List

Kyle Hudson made his Orioles debut last September, but at the time, only had cards that featured him with assorted Orioles affiliates. He was removed from the 40 man roster this past off-season and the Rangers claimed him off of waivers. And then 2012 Topps came out and just had to include Kyle in the set with his first, and likely only, Orioles card. So I needed to get that card signed to have my collection upgraded properly. 

And here it is...

It's a relief to cross Kyle's name off my need list almost as quickly as it was added. I had sent this card out on consignment to a fellow SCN member, and am very happy with how it turned out. I also have been told by a few fellow O's collectors that Kyle has been signing TTM this spring, but I hadn't wanted to risk it since Kyle's TTM signing habits have been hit-or-miss over the years.

So for the moment, I'm caught up on the current players who have Orioles cards. At least until Endy Chavez makes his debut and I have to get his pesky 2012 Topps Heritage Orioles card signed.

Oriole #909- Kyle Hudson

Kyle Hudson became the 909th player to suit up for the O's when he made his Baltimore (and MLB) debut on September 4th. He is one of only two players that truly qualifies as September call-ups this year; typically the Orioles call up a few more minor leaguers in September but this year they made more late season trades and transactions than they have done in past seasons.

 

After he played baseball and football for the University of Illinois, the O's selected Kyle in the 4th round of the 2008 draft. Since '08, he has appeared at every level of the minor leagues in the Orioles farm system, from the short season A Aberdeen Ironbirds to the AAA Norfolk Tides. One thing that jumps out at me is that Kyle has never hit a home-run in professional baseball. He's mainly a speed guy, but most players would have run into at least one bad pitch over 389 minor league games, but power is just clearly not a part of his game.

Since Kyle has spent a few seasons in the O's farm system, I've had multiple chances to get his autograph. The card at the top of the post is staying in my collection, but if anyone out there is also collecting Orioles autographs, the rest of these are available for trade.

I would describe Kyle's Orioles call-up as a surprise since he started the 2011 season with the hi-A Frederick Keys. He signed a few of these cards for me at an early season Keys' meet the team day. After spending most of April with the Keys, he was promoted to the AA Baysox and played 28 games there before jumping to the Tides, where he played 68 games prior to be called up the Orioles.

Since his debut on September 4th, Kyle has played in 13 games with the Orioles, mainly playing left and center field, but also appearing as a pinch runner. To give you an idea about how fast this guy is, the O's inserted him as a pinch runner against the Tigers over the weekend and he went from first to third on a wild pitch. You don't see that very often!

Kyle has made one previous appearance on my blog, way back in April 2010, when I showed a number of autographs I got at a Keys game. 

His signature leaves a bit to be desired and has gotten slightly worse over the years. The card at the top of the post was signed sometime in late 2009/early 2010 and looks something like K_ H__big loop__ 21. The rest of these autographs are from this year and Kyle dropped the big loop so we're left with pretty much K H 21. At least the K looks cool, I guess.

Good luck Kyle!

Frederick Keys Autographs

In my constant attempt to remain on top of the autographs I get at games, here are the autographs I got at a Frederick Keys game...almost two weeks ago. Hey, I did say attempt.

Former big-leauger Denny Hocking is the Key's new hitting coach. I wasn't sure how he would sign but he was very cool and signed up to seven cards for a few people. That's more than I like to get at one time, but he signed these two for me.



Pitching coach Blaine Beatty also had a cup of coffee in the Majors. I found it interesting that he inscribed the same Bible verse on each card. Sometimes guys will switch it up. But I guess he really likes Phillipians 4:13 which states "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

I don't have my Baseball America Prospect Handbook with me, but I know that these guys all ranked somewhere between 11-30.


I don't know if Brandon had seen this card yet but wasn't happy with the way his pinkie finger was sticking out.



I'm pretty sure that Billy is #30. The former #1 draft pick's stock is definitely slipping.

Now onto the unranked prospects...


Luis spent most of this past Spring Training in the Big League camp so it was nice to get his autograph. He's since been demoted to Delmarva.

Jose Duran was one of the O's selections in the Minor League portion of the 2010 Rule V draft. He had been in the Houston Astros organization but I couldn't find any of his cards.

I really enjoy saying Greg's last name even though I'm not sure if it's My-clat or Me-clat. Either way, it's fun to say.



These are the first two cards I have signed from the 2009 Ironbirds set that I picked up at Orioles Fanfest. The grass background is interesting.



Mariotti and Gleason spent some time with Bowie last year so it's not a good sign that they are back in Frederick.



Wally and Brett are back in Frederick for another season. I don't really have anything else to say about them.