2000 Orioles Debuts, Orioles # 656-681

To continue the new posting method that I started last week, I'm going to cover all of the Orioles players who debuted during the 2000 season in this post.

2000 was a big year for player debuts in Baltimore, and 26 different players made their debut in black and orange during the season. This year might also be one of the best examples of why I've opted to start posting so many autographs in a single post. I have very little to say about this group, at least not much that I've not already written about in the past. Let's just say that the 2000 Orioles were a largely forgettable team.

Mike Trombley #656, 4/3/2000 (2000-01)

Mike's only "Orioles" card doesn't picture him in an Orioles uniform so I took the half-step upgrade to this Orioles signed 8x10.

Buddy Groom #657, 4/3/2000 (2000-04)

Buddy pitched out of the bullpen in Baltimore for five seasons and was pretty decent for the most part. One of the most interesting numbers I came across in his Orioles stats was the number of games he appeared in was always divisible by 10 (70, 70, 70, 60, 60). Weird right?

He also holds the major league record of appearances (786) without a single plate appearance.


Chuck McElroy #658, 4/5/2000 (2000-01)

Pat Rapp #659, 4/6/2000 (2000)

Calvin Maduro #660, 4/7/2000 (2000-02)

Tim Worrell #661, 4/7/2000 (2000)

Jose Mercedes #662, 4/9/2000 (2000-01)

It took me quite some time to track down a signed Orioles card of Jose, but I finally did last year. He was still pitching in the Mexican Leagues through last season but I wasn't able to find any stats for him this season, so maybe he has finally hung up his spikes after a 20 year career.

Willie Morales #663, 4/9/2000 (2000)

Greg Myers #664, 4/22/2000 (2000-01)

Mark Lewis #665, 4/27/2000 (2000)

Luis Matos #666, 6/19/2000 (2000-06)

It's pretty sad that Matos is probably the second most "notable" Oriole on this list, as his career was largely disappointing. He always seemed to have the potential to take his game to the next level, but just never was able to do so, mainly due to his propensity to get injured and miss games.

He is still actively playing ball, and has been a member of various Mexican League teams over the past five years.

Darren Holmes #667, 6/29/2000 (2000)

Darren pitched in 557 games for eight different teams over his 13 season MLB career, but only five of those games were with the O's during the 2000 season. His Orioles ERA was 25.07, so suffice it to say, things didn't go well for him in Baltimore.

Ivanon Coffie #668, 7/15/2000 (2000)

John Parrish #669, 7/24/2000 (2000-05, 2007)

Parrish pitched in 153 games for the Orioles, mainly out of the bullpen, over parts of 6 seasons, and wrapped up his Orioles career with a 12-12 and 4.52 ERA. Sadly, what I remember most about him is that he grew up in Lancaster, PA which is near my hometown of Carlisle.

Melvin Mora #670, 7/29/2000 (2000-09)

I've featured a few cards, and a bobblehead, of Melmo over my years of writing this blog, but it appears as though I've never written an in-depth post about him. Now isn't the time, nor place, but it's something that I will have to correct in the near future. He was one of Kalina and my favorite players on the Orioles during the mid to late 2000's.

Ryan Kohlmeier #671, 7/29/2000 (2000-01)

Ryan Kohlmeier led the 2000 Orioles team with 13 saves. A stat like that doesn't give me a good feeling about the makeup of the bullpen.

Brook Fordyce #672, 7/30/2000, (2000-03)

Brook was chiefly a back-up catcher during his 10 year MLB career that he spent with five different teams, Just over half (312) of his 623 appearances came during the three and a half seasons he spent in Baltimore, during which time he occasionally was the starter.

Chris Richard #673, 7/31/2000 (2000-02)

Carlos Casimiro #674, 7/31/2000 (2000)

Trenidad Hubbard #675, 8/2/2000 (2000)

Trenidad played for nine different MLB teams over his ten season big league career, so is a true definition of the word, journeyman. He rarely found regular playing time in the Majors, but was obviously a good enough player for so many different teams to take a chance on him.

He appeared in 31 games for the 2000 O's before moving on, and I actually only discovered that he was pictured as an Oriole on this MLB Showdown card earlier this year. Luckily, a fellow collector alerted me to the card's existence right before someone on SCN was holding a signing with Trenidad, so I quickly bought the card, and got it signed and personalized in a span of only a few weeks. That's an open and shut case in my Orioles autograph world.

Leslie Brea #676, 8/13/2000 (2000-01)

Jay Spurgeon #677, 8/15/2000 (2000)

Apparently, I've never scanned my autograph of Jay, and that has me questioning if I even have one, although I'm fairly certain that I do. To be continued on this one...

UPDATE: I found my, and took a picture of, my Spurgeon autograph. We can all rest well now.

Mike Kinkade #678, 8/23/2000 (2000-01)

The highlight of Mike's baseball career was likely being a member of the Gold Medal winning baseball team during the 2000 Olympics. He played parts of six seasons in the Majors from 1998-2003, but rarely received regular playing time.

He was a super utility player and appeared at six different positions, including catcher, during the 2001 season for the O's.

Fernando Lunar #679, 8/29/2000 (2000-02)

Karim Garcia #680, 9/6/2000 (2000, 2004)

Luis Rivera #681, 9/20/2000 (2000)

More Cards From the National- Non Orioles Cards Edition

Yesterday's post got a little long, so today I will try to keep the write ups to a minimum.  A short blurb about the player's Orioles days and maybe another interesting fact should do it.

HR was only an Oriole for the 1993 season, but that was right in my wheelhouse of beginning to be a seriously dedicated O's fan.  That was the second to last season of his MLB career, but he was the O's everyday second baseman; I watched a bunch of games that year, so I guess that's why I feel like he was in Baltimore for more than one season. He spent 10 of his 12  MLB seasons with the Mariners, and he won three Gold Gloves and was elected to 2 All-Star games over his tenure in Seattle.

Obtaining HR's autograph has been a thorn in my side.  I've seen him on TV almost daily since the mid-90s as he has covered baseball for ESPN and now the MLB Network, but he doesn't sign TTM requests.  So I know where he is, just not how to get him to sign an Orioles card for me.  This Mariners card will have to do for now.

Mike is another player who I've been trying to track down for some time.  He was an Oriole during the 1988 season so is pictured in an Orioles uniform in a few 1989 sets.  I've found them for sale online, but only as part of a large lot.  I don't particularly want to buy 30 signed cards when 29 would be doubles.  So I'm holding out hope to find Mike's signature on an Orioles card someday. He went 1-6 with a 5.43 ERA during his only season with the Birds.

He played 22 seasons in the Majors for 12(!) different franchises which is the current MLB record.  It makes sense as that's almost half of the teams that he could have played for.  His career spanned 4 decades, which is also pretty impressive.

Keith "Zonk" Moreland played for the Orioles during the 1989 season, the last of his 12 year career in the Bigs.  He is pictured on a few cards in an O's uniform, so I would like to upgrade his autograph to an O's card.  Keith appeared almost exclusively as a DH during his season in Birdland, and his stat line wasn't much to talk about .215/1/10.

However, Zonk did have some better years on the diamond.  He won a World Series with the Phillies in 1980, a College World Series Championship with the Texas Longhorns in 1975, received MVP votes for his 1985 season with the Cubs, and had his Longhorn number 3 retired earlier this year. 

Juan spent 8 of his 10 MLB seasons with the Blue Jays, so his autograph is the easiest to find on Jays' cards.  He has a few cards that depict him in an O's uniform, so I'll keep my eyes open for an upgrade.  But this auto fills a spot for now.

Juan's career started out with a bang; he was second in the 1991 A.L. ROY vote, was an All-Star and World Series Champion his second season, and received Cy Young votes and won another WS during his third year.  Things would never get that good for Juan again, but that's an awesome way to start things out.  He pitched approximately 1 full season for the O's, split between the '98 & '99 seasons, and went 9-13 with a 4.20 ERA over 32 starts.  The Orioles traded him to Cincinnati at the '99 trade deadline and got BJ Ryan in return, so that's one trade that worked out for the late '90s O's.

As was the case with the previous four players, Dwight has an Orioles card, but doesn't sign TTM, so this Cubs autograph will have to work for now.  I read that he used to sing the National Anthem before some games during his time in Wrigleyville, which was either very cool or very funny. 

Dwight spent the second half of the 1994 season with the O's and was mainly used as a backup outfielder.  He was a member of the '95 Braves World Series Champs and finished second in the '89 N.L. ROY race to...

Yep, Jerome Walton.  Another former Cub who played for the O's later in his career (and has at least one card showing him in an O's uni...GRRR...what an awful running theme of this post).

After his great rookie year, Jerome was used mostly as a backup for the rest of his 10 seasons in the Majors.  He appeared in 26 games for the Orioles during the '97 season, his second to last in MLB.



We're FINALLY to a few players who don't have cards that show them in an O's uniform, so these will stay in my collection.  

This is kind of an O's card, right?  It says Orioles and all.

Mike was an extremely durable reliever over his 11 MLB seasons, averaging 64 appearances a year, topped by the 77 appearances he made for the '98 Twins.  He pitched in Minnesota for 9 of his 11 seasons, but pitched in Baltimore from 2000-01.  The man appeared in 125 games in just under 2 seasons in Baltimore, and he didn't get an Orioles card.  Relievers get no baseball card love.  The O's flipped him to the Dodgers at the '01 trade deadline for Kris Foster and Geronimo Gil.

Lyle Mouton (the crouton) was a reserve OF/DH over much of his 8 seasons in the Majors.  He spent the first half of the 1998 season with the O's before having his contract purchased by the Yakult Swallows of Japan's Central League.

He had more success during his college baseball career and was a star for the LSU Tigers for 1989-91 and was a leader for the Tigers' College World Series team in 1991. 

Fun with Ebay in June & July

Since I want to build my collection mainly through trades, TTMs, and getting guys to sign for me at games; I try to avoid buying anything. But try as I may, I come across some cards every month that can help my collection and the Ebay listings draw me in either due to their low price or scarcity.

Here are those cards from the last two months:

Stick with me as I am ramping up from the peons to the big guns...

Kris Foster 2001

Here is a guy that I do not remember at all. He pitched 7 games for the 2001 edition of the Birds, and I am really happy the he even has a card in an Orioles uni. He came to the Orioles from the Dodgers on 7/31/01 with Geronimo Gil in exchange for Mike Trombley. And if you're a footnote in the Gil-Trombley blockbuster, I wouldn't say that's a good thing.

Rocky Cherry 2007-08

Beyond having one of the greatest, most ice-cream-sounding names ever, Rocky didn't contribute much else to the Orioles. The Cubs traded him and Scott Moore to the Orioles in exchange for Steve Trachsel at the end of August 2007, presumably so that the human rain delay (Trachsel) could somehow stall for them to make the playoffs. The Mets took him from the O's in the Rule 5 draft after the 08 season and consequently released him after the O's decided they did not need him back. He's currently in the Red Sox system. Do you notice how I avoided telling you about his 0-3 record and 7.02 ERA for the Birds....whoops I was trying to avoid those stats...that's why this card was only fifty cents!

Steve Stone 1979-81

This guy has some interesting stats. If you take away his 1980 Cy Young season (in which he threw more than 50% of his pitches as curveballs, reportedly) he had a sub .500 career record. But somehow, in one magical season, he went 25-7 with a .781 winning percentage and pitched 9 complete games. He is easily the most forgettable O's Cy Young winner, as he was out of baseball a year after he won the award and only pitched for the O's for 2.5 seasons. Sadly, he is also the last Orioles pitcher to win the Cy Young.

He has been a broadcaster for the Cubs and White Sox since his playing career ended and also posed for Playgirl. Now that's a great visual!

Dwight "Dewey" Evans 1991

Dwight is mainly known for his 19 stellar seasons with the Boston Red Sox, during which he won 8 Gold Gloves, appeared on 3 All-Star teams, and finished in the top 11 in MVP votes 5 times. He is the only player to hit at least 20 HR's every season from 1980-89 and hit 256 homers during the '80s, more than any other player. I'm not entirely sure why he left the Sox at the end of his career to play one season with the O's. Does anyone know?

Luis Aparicio 1963-67

Now here is a famous Oriole, one that's in the HOF even!

Luis, a slick-fielding Venezuelan shortstop, had an amazing career that started when he won the 1956 AL ROY with the White Sox. Throughout his 18 season in the Majors that spanned 3 decades, he was a 10 time All Star, a 9 time Gold Glove winner, and received MVP votes 10 times! He also was on the '66 Orioles World Series championship team and was the first player from South America elected into the Hall of Fame.

A few other facts about Luis that jumped out at me were that he led the AL in stolen bases for 9 consecutive seasons to start his career, and when he retired he held records for most games played, assists and double plays as a shortstop. That is quite an amazing career.


So there you have it, from Kris Foster to Luis Aparicio, my recent Ebay acquisitions. That is also the only time in the history of baseball that those two guys will be mentioned in the same sentence.