Personalized Upgrades

As many of you probably know by this point, my preference is to have the Orioles autographs in my collection personalized to me. I feel as though it adds a personal touch to each autograph, knowing that it was specifically signed for me. It also alleviates some player's concerns that I might try to flip their autograph for a profit, which is not what I do.

I obtain my personalized autographs in a variety of ways, including at Orioles games...

where I was able to get Jason Hammel and Robert Andino to kindly personalize for me,

Orioles Alumni signings...

where I knocked out Dave Ford, Kiko Garcia, Glenn Gulliver, and Jeffrey Hammonds in one shot at a recent signing,

and at minor league games...

where sometimes the instructors like Butch Davis, and players like Rhyne Hughes, are in the O's farm system,

while other times the former O's are members of other team's farm systems, like Scott Erickson and Steve Luebber, who are both pitching coaches in the Hi-A Carolina league.

I have to say thanks to my dad for helping me upgrade the Scott Erickson autograph at a recent Frederick Keys game that we attended together.

Orioles Playoff Memories

With all of this playoff research surrounding my postseason bracket contest, I've become nostalgic about the Orioles' last playoff appearance, way back in 1997, when they went wire-to-wire and won the A.L. East title.

Here are the autographs I have of some of the players on the club...

 Bordick was always great with the glove, and it's nice to still see him around the team as a special instructor

I tend to remember Scott being a little better than it seems he was during his years in Baltimore, but he had a solid '97 season, going 16-7 with a 3.69 ERA

Is this an Orioles or Dbacks card? Believe Beckett says Dbacks, but it's the only one that shows him in an Orioles uni...I'll allow it.

 Where have you gone Jeffrey Hammonds? Your signature is awesome by the way.

  Wait, who? I honestly don't remember Charlie.

Ah, the good old days when Mussina's name didn't bring up such conflicting memories. He was probably the Orioles' last true ace and they sure could use someone new to fill that role.

I can't believe that Arthur Rhodes is still pitching in the Majors. And he's in the playoffs for a second consecutive season, albeit with a different team this year. Ah to be a lefty and know how to throw strikes.

I generally remember Jeff as a Twin, but he was a versatile utility player for the Orioles for three years. 

 

And I don't think I'm alone in remembering Jerome mostly as a Cub. His career peaked early when he took home the Rookie of the Year honor for the Cubbies in 1989.

TTM Success- Scott Klingenbeck

For whatever reason, I tend to think that Scott had a longer Orioles career/baseball career than he actually did. He only pitched in 7 games over two seasons for the O's and only appeared in 39 Major League games over his 4 seasons in the Bigs.
He did help the Orioles for a few years after he left town, as he was traded to the Twins for Scott Erickson, who solidified the Orioles rotation for the next 5 or so seasons.

Scott was nice enough to sign my TTM request in only 10 days. His signature displays a solid "Scott" followed by what appears to be Klg'. I don't really expect a former Big Leaguer to still spell out all 11 letters of his last name, and he personalized my request like I prefer, so I'm happy.

Klingenbeck's last name reminds me of Kalina and my favorite German Christmas song, Kling Glockchen (Kling-e-ling-e-ling). The link goes to a YouTube version of the song, which is a little lame, but you'll get the idea. And that fulfills your German requirement on the blog for 2010. Nice work class.