Tradin' with Troll

It's a rare thing for me to post trades, let alone two days in a row, but that's what I'm doing today. I shared my end of a trade with GCRL yesterday and today I'm showing off what the always giving Collective Troll sent my way.

The best part of the box that Troll sent was that he included cards/items for both me and Kalina. She did a guest blogging post to thank him a couple weeks back and now it's my turn. I have to start out with the more surprising and unusual items he included.



Like these two 14 year old starting lineup Orioles figures. My dad and I collected most of the Cal SL figures, but we never expanded to the other Orioles. These two have piqued my interest into possibly collecting all of the Orioles who were featured. But in addition to my bobbleheads, shelf space is a bit tight around the house already so I might need approval from Kalina before I start on this one...

He also threw in a few Cal card "packs" from the heyday of card production when you could buy cards in cans, tins, barrels, coffee mugs, and water bottles. Of course I kid, but only slightly.

Troll also threw in some awesome vintage O's and many of my 2009 Topps & Heritage set needs.

As I mentioned at the top of the post, Kalina already thanked the Troll for her cards, but we didn't have anything scanned at that point.

He included this awesome Nyjer Morgan autograph,

some really nice Carlos Pena cards, including this bat relic, and a HUGE stack of Scott Kazmir cards, including probably 10-15 jersey patches. 

THANK YOU so much Troll. This was an amazing trade package and we have a box with your name on it set to go out, hopefully by this weekend. Oh, and congrats on being a new grandpa! Atlas is a lucky boy!

Recent Alumni Signing Additions

I haven't been doing a very good job this season with showing off my Orioles Alumni Autographs. I've been busier than most years and this has just fallen by the wayside. But today, I'm catching up (mostly)! Here are the players that have signed at the Orioles Alumni booth on Eutaw Street over the past 2 months or so.

In no particular order...
Jackie Brandt was a first time signer at the booth. He has a MD address, and I know that he's been to games, since he has been featured on the Jumbotron, so I've been hoping that he would show up. This was my first in person autograph of his and of course it came the week after

I bought this guy on the bay. Oh well, now I'm double covered. This one is now up for trade if anyone is interested.


This was also Mike Boddicker's first time to be lined up for a signing. Since he is working for MASN this year, it seemed like only a matter of time before he would be a guest signer.



These three guys are regular signers at the booth and I think I'm now officially out of cards for the three of them to sign.



Ron added the 1960 AL ROY inscription at my request since the card has the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy so prominently featured on it.

I could always buy some more unsigned cards for these guys to sign, but I probably have 3-5 autographs from each of them now, and I don't think I need any more than that. Until I start another new autograph project at least...

Post #200-My Christmas Gifts

I apologize for the delay with this post but I wanted it to be something special and a little different since it is number 200. I know that at some point these mini milestones don't mean as much but for now they still do to me. So I figured that this would be the perfect place to showcase my baseball related Christmas gifts from my awesome girlfriend and parents.

First off is a sweet photo tab card notebook that Kalina made for me that I can use for my Orioles' team set.
I first saw one of these when Zach, from the excellent Autographed Cards blog, was in town for an Orioles game. But this wasn't on my list, Kalina came up with the idea on her own. I'm freaking lucky to have a girlfriend who supports my auto habits so much! In the past, I have always used the clear plastic containers which forced me to flip quickly through and miss players at times. Now, I shouldn't have that problem!

Kalina also got me some sweet Mike Gonzalez cards to get signed this season.

And she even knows enough about autographs to get the low gloss cards!

My mom and dad (mainly my dad) hooked me up with a few new autographs for my collection, including a deceased HOFer.

Hoyt Wilhelm 1958-62 (died 2002)

I don't even know where to start with Hoyt, there's so much to say about him. He was elected to the HOF in 1985, he made five All-Star teams, he's regarded as one of the best knuckleballers of all time which led to his being the first pitcher to appear in over 1,000 games (he made it to 1,070), he won 124 games as a reliever (a record that is still standing), and he pitched in the Majors until he was almost 49 years old.

I could really say so much more about Hoyt's time with the other 8 other teams he pitched for over his other 16 years in MLB but I am going to focus on the 4+ seasons that he spent with the O's.

The Orioles selected him off of waivers from the Indians on August 23, 1958 which led to one of the best stretches of his career. On September 20th of that year, he no-hit the Yankees while pitching against Don Larsen, which was no small feat. He led the American league with a 2.19 ERA and made the All-Star team in 1959. He also made the All-Star teams in 1961 &'62, and received MVP votes for his dominating 1961 season. Interestingly, Hoyt made 43 of his 52 career starts with the O's. On January 14, 1963 he was traded along with former ROY Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the White Sox for another future HOFer, Luis Aparicio, and Al Smith.

Hank Foiles 1961
I really like that Bird logo on his left arm!

Hank backed up Gus Triandos on the '61 Orioles squad and played in 43 games during his only season with the O's. The Birds took him in the 1960 Rule V draft from the Tigers.

Overall, he spent 11 seasons in the Majors and played for 7 different teams, highlighted by his 1957 All-Star appearance while playing for the Pirates.

Unpossible Autograph: Al Smith

Al Smith 1963 (d. 2002)

Al Smith is probably best remembered in Orioles lore as being one of the players involved in a trade of HOF players between the O's and White Sox than for anything he did on the field for the Birds. He came to the Orioles along with Luis Aparicio on January 14th, 1963 in return for Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward.

Don't get me wrong, he was no throw-in in the trade though. He had received MVP votes in the previous three years, including a 6th place finish in 1960; he was also an All-Star for the second time in his career that season. His best season had been 1955 when he led the league in games, plate appearances and runs which earned him a third place MVP finish .

He appeared in 120 games for Baltimore, mostly in RF, and batted .272 with 17 doubles, 10 HRs, 45 runs and 39 RBI. He played in only that one season for the O's and it was definitely the twilight of his career as he only lasted one more season in the Big Leagues after it.

Al is arguably most famous for a picture that was taken during the 1959 World Series when his White Sox were taking on the Dodgers. As he tracked a ball to the outfield wall that ended up sailing out of the field of play, a fan who was going for the ball accidentally spilled his beer all over Al. It was a lot different than the intentional dousing that Shane Victorino received this past season at Wrigley Field but it was a lasting memory for him nonetheless. Al estimated that he signed that picture around 200,000 times in his life.

Finishing off my TTMs

Here are the last three TTM autos I have to show for now. I recently sent out a bunch more requests so I hope to have some new returns soon.

Chuck Estrada 1960-64

Chuck chose to sign this card at an interesting spot, didn't he? He gave himself a little handlebar-looking mustache when he personalized this card to me. Good stuff Chuck.

He was a member of the Orioles' Kiddie Korps pitching staff in the early '60s and had an amazing rookie season in 1960, when he tied for the league lead in Wins with 18 and had a very respectable 3.58 ERA. He was rewarded by being named to the All-Star team, receiving MVP votes and coming in 2nd place in ROY balloting. (Side note-3 Orioles players received all of the 1960 AL ROY votes; Ron Hansen won the award, and Estrada and Jim Gentile tied for second place with 1 vote each. Maybe the 2009 or 2010 O's can sweep the ROY voting again!)

Estrada always had some control problems (think Daniel Cabrera) and things started to unravel for him quickly after his great rookie season. He was among the league leaders in wild pitches, walks and hit batters in 1961 & 62 and led the AL with 17 losses in 1962.

Chuck was out of baseball by age 29 in 1967 , but served as a pitching coach for the Rangers (1973) and Indians (1983) since his playing days ended.

Don Ferrarese 1955-57

Don played for 5 different organizations over 8 seasons in the Majors. He pitched in 183 games, and made 50 starts. He played for the Orioles for 3 seasons, his most with any franchise, and went 5-11 with a 4.85 over 50 games.

Since his playing career ended, he has started the Don Ferrarese Charitable Foundation which helps California youths obtain school scholarships. Way to be, Don.

Tito Francona 1956-57

Tito was another Orioles rookie who nearly nabbed the AL ROY; he came in second behind eventual Oriole, Luis Aparicio. He played for 9 teams over 15 seasons and made the All-Star team in 1961 and came in 5th in MVP voting in 1959.

He is the father of current Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

A Few More Orioles Alumni Autos & a SCN trade

Here are a few autographs that somehow slipped through the cracks when I last posted about my O's Alumni autographs with a bonus SCN trade if you make it to the end of the post!


HOFer Dick Williams has definitely been the highlight of the year. Also, from what I hear he normally charges like $35 an auto so getting it for free was awesome.

1960 AL ROY Ron Hansen has also been a nice addition to the collection.

Fruit Loops! Yes, people brought boxes of the cereal for him to sign. Baltimore doesn't forget.

I have too many Krivda autos, does anybody want or need any?

Bob Bailor 1975-76

This auto came to me in a SportsCollectors.Net trade with user cook4888. Even though it's not on an Orioles card, I didn't have Bob's auto so I was happy.

Bob only played in 14 games for the Birds over the '75 & '76 seasons, so there isn't much to say about his time in Baltimore. He was blocked by a few players you might have heard of; Brooks, the Blade, and Bobby Grich. Understandably, Bob wasn't going to displace any of those guys.

He was a utility player (as you can see by the card broadly listing his position as "infield-outfield"), and stuck around the Majors for 11 seasons. As the Blue Jays first selection in the 1976 expansion draft, Bob made his way into the Jays' record books by hitting the first leadoff HR in team history.

Bobby B. was also regarded as being very tough to strike out, as evidenced by him only whiffing 164 times in 3206 plate appearances: Bob only struck out in 5% of his at-bats! I think he could teach a thing or two to the Mark Reynolds and Ryan Howards of the world who seem to strike out 75% of the time.

After his playing career was over, Bob became a Minor League manager in the Blue Jays system and eventually was a coach on the Blue Jays from 92-95, earning World Series rings in '92 & '93.

6/11 O's Alumni autos & Mariners/O's autos

Yesterday turned out to be a really good autograph day for me. I had to fight through some periods of heavy rain (which ruined a few autographs & sharpies) but I eventually triumphed on the autographs that were important to me for their Orioles ties. I got two brand new additions to my Orioles collection (John Miller & Guillermo Quiroz), and got another for the first time in person (Milt Pappas).

The Orioles Alumni signing yesterday were Milt Pappas, Ron Hansen & John Miller (l to r).

As I feel like this picture shows, Ron Hansen again proved to be a very nice guy. This was his second time appearing for the Alumni series this season, but the first time for Pappas & Miller.
I only had two cards for Hansen and since he is part of the only Crown set I don't have at this point, number 2 of 4, I only got one of his signed index cards. I had 2 cards for Miller and one Crown card of Pappas however.

John Miller 1962-67

Milt Pappas 1957-65
who also threw out the first pitch

I was able to get a few Mariners autographs but the highlight was Guillermo Qurioz, the O's backup catcher from last year. Since the tarp was on the field the Mariners were taking BP in the O's indoor cages so most of the team was walking back into their dugout when I got down to the field. I noticed a few pitchers with bats too which I thought was strange until I remembered that interleague play starts today. I saw Guillermo coming my way and got past the three Mariners fans near the railing (who weren't calling anyone over, I think they were all waiting for Griffey and/or Ichiro) and got his attention. I think that he did a double-take to make sure someone was calling him over, you know I was!, and he came right over to sign my card. Quiroz success and I was able to cross another one of my list!

Guillermo Quiroz 2008

The other Mariners who signed for me were:

Unfortunately it was pouring when Aardsma & Batista signed for me so my sharpies either didn't work (Batista) or worked & got smeared (Aardsma) C'est la vie!

At least I know have the autograph of the first player listed alphabetically in baseball history.

Jarrod Washburn signed after the rain.

On the O's side, only the 2009 "Best Signer of the Year" leading candidate, Luke Scott, took the time to sign for the hometown fans. I think Andino might have signed one or two, but Luke again proved why autograph fans everywhere love him. This is the third time he has signed for me this year.


And finally, with Koji Uehara facing Ichiro for the first time on US soil, there was a large contingent of both Japanese media and fans at the game. To show you the extent of this coverage here is a picture of two Japanese cameras and two Asian fans following his every move as he searched for a drink in the dugout beverage cooler. Wouldn't want to miss this earth-shattering moment right?

It's cool to see the extreme following though.

Monday's O's Alumni Autos

Hoiles, Etchebarren & Hansen

First and foremost, I am glad that I was prepared with my Ron Hansen cards for Monday's autograph session. As he was on the list of players scheduled to appear, I had two of his cards with the rest of the potential signers with me so I would be ready. Ron was very nice and was shaking everyone's hand that walked by in line.

Kalina even charmed him into personalizing one for me!

I wanted to start with my upbeat paragraph about my successful Ron Hansen autograph before I got into my issue with last night's signing. Chris Hoiles and Andy Etchebarren were the other two O's alumni, which is totally awesome, but as they weren't listed as possible candidates to appear, I didn't have their cards! So I got these postcards signed instead...
These aren't bad but since I have a multitude of Hoiles cards and at least a couple Etch cards at my house, I would have much preferred to have them sign my cards than these over-sized postcards. Oh man, I was kind of disappointed since the information is never released as to who will be signing on any given day and I was caught with my pants down!

It is good to know that some additional players will be signing over the course of the season than those originally listed, but it would be even better to know who would be signing every week. I hate when I'm not prepared for these things; I know it's not a big deal but it's one of those things that gets to me for some reason.