Rest of the FanFest Autographs

Wow, look at me go. It's my 5th post of the month (my most since last August), and I'm showing off the rest of my Orioles Fanfest autographs, within three weeks of obtaining them. I'm on a freaking roll here. Maybe I'll get this blog back up to full steam one of these days. But for now, I'm pretty pleased to just be moving along at a medium pace.

FYI- This is probably the most scans that I've ever had in a single post. At times in the past, I would have split this into a few different segments, but I'd rather just knock them all out at once. So that's how I'm gonna do it.

Also, my scanner got a little weird while scanning some of the postcards, but whatever. It has a mind of it's own.

This first group of cards are joining my collection. Mainly for the orange uniforms, but I was really happy to finish off the Davis/McLouth celebration card too. McLouth signed it for me during Spring Training last year, so it got carried around for quite some time before it got signed. And, I can't seem to bring myself to tradeaway any of my Wieters' autographs.

 

 

These cards are all extras that I got signed and are available for trade. If you see something you like, let me know and maybe we can work something out!

 

These postcards are available for trade too...

I got this group signed for some other collectors, so they are already spoken for, but I wanted to show them off anyway, if for no other reason than to prove that I got them signed. Or something like that. 

Finally, Liam Hendriks get his own grouping in the "we-hardly-knew-you category". Liam was DFA'ed to make room on the roster for the exciting free agent signing of Ubaldo Jimenez. But the Blue Jays selected him off of waivers from the O's, so the likelihood of his appearing in a game for the Orioles, at least in the near future, took a major hit, so these Orioles autographs become somewhat of an unneeded item. No complaints here though as Jimenez is certainly an upgrade.

First FanFest Follow-Up

The other day, I briefly wrote about all of the autographs that I got at Fanfest. Well starting today, I'm going to go into a bit more detail about the cards that I got signed and their places in my collection. 

I'm going to start out with the three autographs that I got that are going directly into my collection. All three are personalized upgrades I got from guys who had already made their Orioles debuts. I got a number of autographs from players who are new to the O's organization, but until they make their debut, they don't belong in this post. 

This was my first in-person autograph from Bigbie (well technically my dad went through this line and got this signed, but you know what I mean); the card that had been in my collection was a certified Bowman autograph that is now available for trade. During Bigbie's time in Baltimore, I wasn't actively getting autographs, so I missed him during his playing days. But I was very happy to see him brought in as a different member of the alumni group. 

This was also my first in-person Clevenger autograph. I never got a chance to get him during the end of last season, and this will replace his Cubs certified signature in my collection. Steve seems like a really nice guy, and with his local connection, I hope that he has success with the O's. This OMC is also Steve's first and only Orioles card at this point, and as a back-up catcher, I don't anticipate his being included in any sets in the near future. 

"Hammering Hank" as Roch has been known to call him, and my dad picked up on for this OMC, got a chuckle out of signing this card for us (Urrutia was at the station with Bigbie, so my dad took care of this one too). I got him to sign a few different Old Man Cards in spring training last year, but his English wasn't nearly as good as it is now, and he didn't understand my request. 

As always, thanks to my dad for producing these awesome OMCs that we enjoy getting signed and many of the players really seem to enjoy seeing. 

Quick FanFest Post

I'm sure that everyone has been waiting with bated breath for my take on this year's Orioles Fanfest, and here is quick rundown of my day, a mere four days after it occurred. But let's face it, you don't check my site for it's timeliness on current events. Without further ado...

I had purchased five autograph stations throughout the day and got a total of 48 autographs. Not too shabby! I caught a few guys walking around and picked up a few more autographs at each station, but overall, these were the guys who I was after for the day. I took care of pretty much all of the new guys in attendance and got some help from my buddy Aaron with Bud Norris, and Wayne Kirby, which would bring my total up to 50. That's not a bad day at all! 

Some of these are heading to other collectors but most are staying in my collection, and I hope to break these down over the next week or so. Here's a quick rundown:

17 Old Man Cards

9 Personalizations

3 Cards going straight into collection (Bigbie, Clevenger, Urrutia personalized)

6 New Players, who will be added after their debuts

12 Postcards

All in all, I had a great time, and I hope that you all did too. I have to thank Kalina, my dad, and my mom for their help over the course of the day. We spent a vast majority of the day at the convention center, and I think that we were all pretty tired by the end of it. And thanks again to my dad for his awesome homemade Orioles cards that I love adding to my collection!

I know that we are all certainly now ready for some baseball!

Leave me some comments about your experiences at Fanfest!

Killer B's

Larry Bigbie (01-05)
I always liked Larry when he was an Oriole, he even tossed one of my friends a ball in the front row of the OF stands after making a nice catch to end an inning. He just never really lived up to lofty expectations (he was a first round pick) and is now possibly the biggest pariah to play for the O's. He threw B-Rob under the steroids bus during the messy Mitchell Report investigation and I'm pretty sure has been black-listed by MLB since. The last I heard he was playing in Japan.


Kurt Birkins (06-07)
Kurt was a middle reliever for the O's, and I remember we lost him on waivers to the Rays. I do love these Topps 52 cards though.


Paul Blair (64-76)
Paul is probably the greatest Oriole CF of all time and was known for his tremendous speed. He was on 2 World Series champion clubs, won 8 Gold Gloves and played in 2 All-Star games during his tenure with the Orange and Black. Not too shabby! He is to be at the O's Fan Fest this Saturday so I'm hoping to get a personalized autograph from him.

Bobby Bonilla (95-96) (Auto on Pirates card)
As a Pirates fan growing up, I was psyched when I heard that Bobby Bo was going to be an O! He and Barry Bonds* were part of the Killer B's, hence the name of the post. And since Bonds was so easy to dislike, it made Bobby even more likable to me as a kid. He only played for the O's for a brief time and seemed to be pretty "confident" of his abilities by that point but still, it's hard to hold much against a player that I liked most of my life. Also to get him from the Mets, the Orioles only had to give up Damon Buford and Alex Ochoa.


Dan/Danny Boone (90)
Outside of having probably the funniest/coolest/Coonskin-cap wearingest name of any Orioles player, I know that he only pitched in 4 games for the O's so I feel lucky that he has a card wearing an O's uni and that I have that card signed. He also seems a little old to be a "Rookie Prospect", as he was 36 in 1990.


Rich Bordi (86)
He was a pretty decent reliever for the O's in '86. Another guy I don't remember much about and I'm not sure what to say about. Kind of a funny name in my opinion.