1992 Orioles Debuts, #513-523

Rolling along with the debut posts because that's my main blogging focus for now, today I'm covering the new O's of 1992. Here are the previous years, if you missed them (2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993).

1992 had the relatively low number of just 11 players making their Orioles debuts during the season, but I don't know why that was, can anyone out there offer any insight? Alan Mills was the only new O to go on the have much of a career with the Birds, but Rick Sutcliffe, who made the first ever start at the brand new Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and Manny Alexander, who had lots of hype, but couldn't back it up, were also notable names around Birdland in '92. 

Rick Sutcliffe #513, 4/6/92 (1992-93)

Mark McLemore #514, 4/8/92 (1992-94)

Alan Mills #515, 4/20/92 (1992-98, 2000-01)

Pat Clements #516, 7/11/92 (1992)

Pat was a relief pitcher for eight seasons between 1985-92 and played for the Angels, Pirates, Yankees, and Padres, in addition to the O's. He spent his last MLB season in the Orioles 'pen and had a very respectable 3.28 ERA over 23 appearances. 

In a strange coincidence, his high school baseball coach was the brother of former Orioles catcher, Clay Dalrymple.

Tommy Shields #517, 7/25/92 (1992)

Mark Parent #518, 7/31/92 (1992-93, 96)

Richie Lewis #519, 7/31/92 (1992, 98)

Jack Voigt #520, 8/3/92 (1992-95)

Jack played parts of four seasons in Baltimore before moving on to play for the Rangers, Brewers, and A's. 

He has stayed active around baseball after his playing career ended, serving as a minor league instructor, coach, and manager; which included a stint with the O's hi-A affiliate Frederick Keys in 2001-02 and as the Orioles base-running and outfield coordinator in 2003, a title that he currently holds in the Mets organization. 

Craig Lefferts #521, 9/6/92 (1992)

Steve Scarsone #522, 9/8/92 (1992)

It's pretty easy to forgot that a guy like Steve played for the Orioles considering that his entire tenure in black and orange was a brief 11 game stint at the tail-end of the '92 season. But it was enough for him to be immortalized on cardboard as an O in the 93 Donruss set; ah the '90s were a great time to find your players on a card as a member of your favorite team. 

Steve also played briefly for the Phillies, Cardinals, and Royals but is likely best remembered for the four seasons he spent with the Giants. Like Voigt, he has also stayed active in baseball after hanging up his spikes and is currently the manager of the A's AA Texas League team, the Midland RockHounds. 

Manny Alexander #523, 9/18/92 (1992-96)

He's the Manny

With the third overall pick in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft the Orioles selected shortstop Manny Machado from Brito Miami Private School. He projects to become a third baseman down the road and has earned many comparisons to his favorite player, Alex Rodriguez. I'm cool if those are only related to A-Rod's play on the field, but I would really prefer that his attitude, demeanor and choice in women be totally the opposite of A-Roid. Also, I don't yet own any Manny Machado cards. These images are "borrowed" from ebay.

I don't know if any of you watched the MLB Network's coverage of the draft last night, but I was forced to deal with Peter Gammons unintentionally calling Matt Wieters "retarded" in the opening segment. After getting over the shock of the harsh words about the O's franchise cornerstone, I knew that the Orioles only had one pick over the first & supplemental rounds, so most of my excitement was over within the first 15 minutes of the draft. It would be nice if teams could trade drafts picks to inject some additional intrigue into the process. Wouldn't it be cool if teams could either trade draft picks for different picks or current players? Now that would make the draft much more watchable.

Since I don't own any Machado cards, let alone an autograph, here is a signature from a former Oriole player also named Manny. I'm hoping that Machado has more success than Alexander ever did, but I will take the longevity. Manny A is still playing professional baseball, albeit in Italy, at the age of 39. Not too shabby considering he debuted for the O's in 1992.