Celebrating a Hot Start

In the off-season, the Orioles officially brought back their orange uniforms and they have started the season much better than anticipated. Coincidence? I think not. Even though I believe they have only rocked the orange unis once so far, there is an obvious correlation between the improved play on the field and the return of the orange. So I'm having an orange uniform party.

Mark Thurmond is here, even though it seems like he has better things to be doing. 

Jeff Robinson is attending too, but he seems a little out of it right now. Give him time. 

Rick Elder showed up, but he's unimpressed with the fiesta. 

 Awww yeah! Chris Fussell is the life of the part, just look at that smile. 

At least someone is happy to be at my orange uniform celebration!

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.