1986 Orioles Debuts, #409-420

Man, 1986 was a fairly blah year in regards to the players who debuted with the Birds. Not a single one of the twelve new players played more than three seasons in Baltimore and I would be hard pressed to list a star in the bunch. A few guys had decent big league careers, but not due to their brief stints in Birdland.

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)


Jackie Gutierrez #409, 4/7/86 (1986-87)

Rich Bordi #410, 4/7/86 (1986)

Juan Bonilla #411, 4/7/86 (1986)

Juan played six seasons in the Majors between 1981-87, most notably spending the first three seasons of his career with the Padres; he came in 4th in the 1981 National League Rookie of the Year balloting for them.

He mostly played second base, but played a fair amount at third in his single season with the Orioles. Overall, he played in 102 games and hit .243 during his stint in Baltimore.

Juan Beniquez #412, 4/9/86 (1986)

Rex Hudler #413, 5/15/86 (1986)

Odell Jones #414, 7/8/86 (1986)

Tom Dodd #415, 7/25/86 MLB Debut (1986)

Tony Arnold #416, 8/9/86 MLB Debut (1986-87)

Ricky Jones #417, 9/3/86 MLB Debut (1986)

Ken Gerhart #418, 9/14/86 MLB Debut (1986-88)

Carl Nichols #419, 9/14/86 MLB Debut (1986-88)

Mike Kinnunen #420, 9/15/86 (1986-87)

TTM Success- Rex Hudler

Rex "Wonder Dog" Hudler

1986

The Yankees traded Rex and Rich Bordi to the Orioles on Decemeber 12, 1985 in return for Gary Roenicke and Leo Hernandez. He played in just 14 games for the Orioles, all of them during the 1986 season, and was used almost exclusively as a late-inning defensive replacement or pinch-runner. He only had one at-bat over those 14 games, but luckily there is this Orioles Crown card to confirm that he spent time with the O's.

Rex played for 6 Major League teams over a 13 season career in the Majors but played in 100 games just once while on the '91 Cardinals. He was primarily a second basemen but spent time at every position besides pitcher and catcher.

For the past ten seasons, Rex was the color commentator for the Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim. His contract was not renewed by the Angels & FSN West after last year so Rex is currently a broadcasting free agent.

He signed my TTM request in 37 days and I really like the "Go Hard" inscription. It's always nice to see something unexpected and different with someone's autograph. Thanks for signing Rex!