Who I'm Rooting For

As a diehard Orioles fan, I get a little bit sad come playoff time every season that the O's don't make it. But let's face it, I'm used to them missing the playoffs by now; Baltimore baseball has been ending at the beginning of October for what feels like forever. The Rays have been a nice fallback option for me in recent years, and I know that it's strange to like two teams in the same division, but the Rays, and specifically a Scott Kazmir jersey t-shirt, brought me and my now fiance together, so the team holds a special place in our relationship.  Now that the Rays have been eliminated from playoff contention, it wasn't too hard for me to pick out the remaining teams that I am rooting for. I hate hate hate the Yankees and I'm tired of the Phillies being the best team in National League. So I'm pulling for a Rangers-Giants World Series. I know it's unlikely, but I can hope right?

To show my support, here are a couple cards representing both teams.

 

Although not a Rangers card and having shown this card previously, Ron Washington, the Rangers' manager, is a perfect representation for his team. Ron took over the helm for the Rangers in November 2006 and the team has improved in each of his four seasons. His tenure is obviously highlighted by this year's playoff appearance and the first Rangers' playoff series win in team history, dating back almost 50 years to when the organization was still the Washington Senators. 

Ron is a great TTM signer, and this is his only Orioles card, so I was thrilled to get it back in only 22 days last August. I'm not really sure what's going on with his signature is though; as best as I can tell its an R W--g t--.

Jim Brower is my Giants representative because this is the only Giants card I have scanned right now. He spent two and a half seasons of his 9 year MLB career with the Giants from 2003-05.  2004 was his best year in the Majors when he led the league with 89 relief appearances while maintaining a 3.29 ERA and finishing with a 7-7 record. He briefly (and disastrously) pitched for the Orioles in early 2006, appearing in 12 games and allowing opponents to put up crooked numbers in 8 of those games, which worked out to a 13.86 ERA. Ugly. 

Jim pitched for 8 teams over his 9 MLB seasons, with his last big league appearance coming with the Yankees in 2007. He is apparently still pitching and spent the 2010 season with Italian Serie A1 team, Rimini, with whom he threw an Opening Day no-hitter against Grosseto. I honestly had no idea that Italy had a baseball league, I thought it was all about soccer futbol over there, but I'm glad that Jim has found some success. He has a fairly legible autograph, and you can almost make out every letter in his name. 

GO RANGERS & GIANTS!

TTM Success-Ron Washington

I've showcased Ron once before when I got a signed Twins card of his in a trade. But I didn't get too in depth since I was sharing multiple cards in that post. This time, Ron is getting a post of his own.

Ron's time with the Orioles lasted all of 26 games during the 1987 season. He played most of those games at third base but was a utility player. Luckily for me, the Crown set came through again and features Ron on his only Orioles card. He is currently the manager of the Texas Rangers and signed from the team address this past season. I was psyched since he is one of the few current players or coaches who actually personalized my card as I requested. He coached in the Mets & A's organizations before getting a shot at managing and was featured in the book "Moneyball" while with the A's. He is considered an old-school type of manager.

I'm Halfway there!!

Today is a great day for my little blog; it is the day that I was able to push past the 50% mark for my project! I'm sure that the 434 Orioles player autographs I have now were the easy ones, so this next part will be the real challenge. And of course it doesn't help me that the Orioles seem to add 10-15 new players every season, but that's not going to bother me today. It's all downhill from here!!!

I was able to push past the 50% mark with a nice trade with Tom T. who I met through the Yahoo autograph collection group I'm in. If you didn't get a chance to check it out the last time I linked it and you collect autographs, you are missing out. I have come across a few great collectors who have been able to help me and I was able to return the favor more often than not.
So check it out! And thanks again Tom.

Also, I am going to be on vacation for the next week so won't be posting again until Sunday or Monday. I am going on a family trip but will be checking out two Minor League games en route; tonight's Aberdeen Ironbirds vs. Staten Island Yankees game in Aberdeen (with added bonus of a crab feast) and Saturday's Northwest Arkansas Naturals vs Arkansas Travelers game in Springdale, Arkansas(with added bonus of a Vance Wilson bobblehead). I hope to have many pictures and autographs to share when I'm back.

Here are the cards Tom sent me:

Ed Farmer 1977

Pat Hentgen 2001-03

Craig Lefferts 1992


Gary Matthews Jr. 02-03


Derrick May 1999


Bob Molinaro 1979


Matt Nokes 1995


Roy Smith 1991


Ron Washington 1987


Ernie Whitt 1991


Esteban Yan 1996-97

Funny time on the Yan auto, I just got a TTM I sent to him back last week.

Have a nice week everyone, I will be blogging again soon.