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)

Reading Phillies Autographs? I Thought This Was an Orioles Blog

I've made it to Bowie for two Baysox games over the past few weeks, and they were coincidentally playing the Reading Phillies both times. Yesterday's game was a total slug-fest that the Baysox won 17-12 even though they were outhit 22-16. I'm pretty confident that it was the most runs and hits I've ever seen at a game.

The R-Phils playing in Bowie worked out well for me since their Manager and Pitching Coach are both former Orioles, and while I had autographs of both of them in my collection, neither were obtained in-person, so I had a chance to upgrade.

Mark Parent is the team's manager, his first season in that position for the team. He was a two-time Oriole, in '92-93 and again in '96, and played in the Majors for twelve seasons.

Mark signed for me next to the visitor's dugout, and seemed like a nice guy. I asked how the season was going and he didn't seem very happy with how the team was performing, even though their record was over .500 at the time. Maybe he's tough to please, I don't know.

Next up was the Phillies' pitching coach, Bob Milacki, who spent five of his eight seasons in the Majors with the O's.

He was down in the bullpen warming up the starting pitcher, so, not wanting to bother him while he was busy, I sat and watched for a bit. It was almost game time after the pitcher was warm, but I called out to Bob anyway. He quickly shot me down and said he didn't have time to sign. Bummer, but not much I could do about it.

After the game was over, I made my way down the visitor's foul line, figuring I would give one more shot at getting Bob's autograph. This time my request worked, and he came right over. He even remembered me and apologized for not signing before the game. I told him that I completely understood that he was busy and I was just happy he took some time for me. Well played Bob.

 

I had two cards of both Mark & Bob and they kindly signed both for me. So these two are for trade if anyone is interested. 

 

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.