Oriole #1023- Drew Stubbs

Wow, sorry about that everyone, I have no idea how I let three plus months go by without a post, although it's become more and more common around here recently. I'm still around, I still collect Orioles autographs, but my priorities in life have just been different as my son is growing up way too quickly.

A recent, unanticipated Christmas gift has motivated me to get my act together for a post. The Orioles added a few veteran players to boost their roster at the end of 2016 and my dad quickly produced Old Man Cards of the trio of Wade Miley, Michael Bourn, and Drew Stubbs. In the few games that we were able to attend towards the end of the season while those guys were on the roster, we unfortunately struck out on getting the cards signed. So my dad took the initiative to send TTM requests to all three guys to see what might happen. I was pessimistic as none of the three seemed to really sign autographs that way, but it never hurts to try.

About a week before we did our family Christmas gift exchange, he got a self addressed envelope back and to his surprise, check out what was inside!

Two signed, personalized Drew Stubbs OMCs! It was a great gift and a truly unexpected surprise to add to my collection. It was nice to knock off another autograph before the end of 2016.

The Orioles selected Drew off of waivers from the Rangers on August 31st, and he went on to appear in 20 games for the O's. He had three hits over 22 at-bats and was mainly used as a late inning defensive replacement or pinch runner. Unfortunately, he didn't make much of an impression in Baltimore and I doubt that he will be brought back in 2017. But thankfully, I don't need to worry about tracking him down with another team to try to get these cards signed.

Thanks for all of your help Old Man. And I hope that you all have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Unpossible Autographs: George Zuverink, Jeff Robinson, & Artie Quirk

Sadly, during my time away from the blog, three former Orioles passed away.

George Zuverink passed away on September 8, 2014 at the age of 90. He kindly signed and personalized this card for me back via a TTM request in October 2011. (Obituary from the Holland, MI Sentinel)

Jeff M. Robinson passed away on October 26, 2014 at just 52 years old, following a seven week battle with an unspecified health issue. That's way too young to go, I just hope he didn't suffer. (Obituary from the Detroit News)

Artie Quirk passed away just a few weeks ago on November 22, 2014. He kindly signed and personalized this card for me via a TTM request I sent in early 2013. (Obituary from The Day (CT))


It's always sad to learn about members of the Orioles family who have passed away, especially as I've said before, when they have taken some of their time to sign cards specifically for me, as Zuverink and Quirk did.



*To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: When I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." I feel like it lightens the mood of an otherwise sad post. 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Earl Robinson & Don Lenhardt

Sadly, today's post brings back the return of Unpossible Autograph Friday. Until today, no former O's had passed away yet in 2014, and as far as I know, Paul Blair was the last former Oriole to pass, back around Christmas 2013.

This past week, two former Orioles players passed away, something that has happened very rarely over the years I've been following the Orioles. Outfielder Earl Robinson died on Friday, July 4, and utility man Don Lenhardt passed away on Wednesday, July 9. I haven't written much about either player on my site so I will try to give them each a decent write-up today.

Earl Robinson played in four MLB seasons between 1958-64; he debuted with the Dodgers in 1958 and played eight games with them, but his remaining 162 big league appearances were all with the Orioles. He hit .268 with 12 HR over 421 Major League at-bats.

While in college at Cal, he starred in baseball and basketball and went on to become a basketball coach after his baseball career ended. He went on to become a college professor and teacher, and was very active in various civic activities in the Oakland area. He was enshrined in both the Cal Hall of Fame and the Pac-10 Hall of Honor for his many achievements over the years.

Earl had been experiencing health problems in recent years, and apparently had a few cardiac events in 2013 that he never fully recovered from. Not knowing this until now, I had actually sent Earl a TTM request earlier this year, but it was returned to sender. I obtained this autograph online about five years ago.

Don Lenhardt played in five MLB seasons from 1950-54 for the St. Louis Browns, White Sox, Red Sox, Tigers, and Orioles. He spent the majority of his career with the Browns/Orioles franchise, as 298 of his 481 MLB games were spent with them. Don hit .271 with 61 homers, and 239 RBI over his time in the bigs. He likely would have had a longer MLB career but had joined the Navy during WWII, thus delaying his time in professional baseball. After his playing career ended, Don served as the Red Sox' Midwest area scout for over 40 years, having retired from that role in 2002.

One interesting story that I read about him is how he earned the nickname "Footsie" from teammates due to his issues finding shoes that fit him properly. However, I don't see a note about whether he had abnormally large or small feet, so that part remains a mystery.

I have shown this card on my site one other time, way back in my first month of blogging in 2009. Don was one of the first people I had sent a TTM request to, and he was kind enough to sign this and send it back to me in just eight days. It looks like Don was still signing for fans as recently as late 2013, so he seems to have really cared about the people who wrote to him.

RIP Earl & Don. The Orioles family will miss you!


*To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

Oriole #75- Angie Dagres

Almost exactly five years ago, I very briefly wrote about Angie Dagres. Not that there is a ton to say about him from a baseball perspective, as he appeared in just eight games for the Orioles during the 1955 season. But since he was nice enough to sign and personalize my recent TTM request, I figured I would dig a little deeper about his time in baseball.

Angie was one of the bonus babies the Orioles signed in 1955, and while I still don't exactly understand the process completely, more or less you could sign a handful of amateur players for a large signing fee with the stipulation that they had to immediately join the MLB club. It was clearly not a good idea and I think the process was only used in a single season before being changed. Essentially, he was signed right out of college and was on the field the same day he signed. Can you imagine if that's how the MLB draft was done these days?!?

So Angie signed with the Orioles and made his debut for the team on September 11, 1955 to become the 75th player to appear in a game for the Orioles. Over the following two weeks, he went on to appear in a total of eight games for the O's, and had four hits over fifteen at-bats. Apparently, Angie had some attitude problems, from what I read "uncoachable" seems like a good way to describe him, which led to his demotion to the minors in 1956. That only further soured his attitude and he apparently also began to drink too much, a combination of which kept him from ever returning to the Majors. After seven seasons in the minors, Angie was out of baseball by 1962.

The Baltimore Sun caught up with him in 2010 for a more in-depth article about him if you want to learn any more about him.

Thanks for signing Angie, and at least you had a cup of coffee for the O's!

Oriole #202- Ike Delock, TTM Success!

As my TTM requests continue to roll in, I am going to keep trying to write some more about many former Orioles whom I might have glossed over a bit in the past.

Up today is Ike Delock, who pitched eleven seasons in the Majors between 1952-63. The first ten plus seasons of his career were spent with the Boston Red Sox, for whom he appeared in 322 games, including 147 starts amassing a 83-72 record and a 4.01 ERA. He was struggling for the Sawx early in the '63 season and was released on June 9, and the O's signed him that very same day.

Ike made his Orioles debut on June 11, 1963 to become the 202nd played to appear in a game for the Birds. He was a member of the Orioles for just over a month as his struggles continued and was released by the team on July 19, effectively ending his baseball career. Over his seven games with the O's, including five starts, he had a 1-3 record with a 5.04 ERA.

Mr. Delock very kindly signed my TTM request and even added the inscription "My Pal", which is a nice addition to the signature. This Orioles Crown card is his only O's card, although he doesn't appear to be wearing an Orioles uniform in the image.

Thanks for signing Ike!

Oriole #224- Ed Barnowski

As I highlight some of my recent TTM autograph additions to my collection, I'm trying to devote a post to some former Orioles that I might not have written much, or anything, about over the time I've been writing this blog. 

Today's focus is Ed Barnowski, who made his Orioles, and MLB, debut on September 8, 1965 to become the 224th player to wear the O's uniform in a game. Ed was kind enough to sign and personalize my TTM request earlier this year. 

Ed had a brief MLB career, which consisted of 6 appearances for the Orioles, 4 in 1965, and 2 in '66, all out of the bullpen. He had a 0-0 record and 2.45 ERA over 7.1 IP with 8 walks along with 8 strikeouts.

Over 7 seasons in the minor leagues between 1963-69, he had a 54-38 record with a 3.12 ERA over 165 games, including 129 starts. In 1965, he threw a no-hitter during his time with the Elmira Pioneers, then the AA Orioles affiliate. He also won 17 games in 1966 for the AAA Rochester Red Wings, so it's easy to see how Ed earned his promotion to the Orioles.

After his playing career ended, Ed worked in the front office of the Red Wings for a few seasons, before moving on to a career as a sporting goods dealer. That sounds like a pretty appropriate job for a former player.

TTM Successes Rolling In

As I mentioned in a post the other day, I have recently put a renewed focus on sending TTM requests as a cheap way to add personalized autographs to my collection. Since I already have autographs of all these players I am sending requests to, when I get a personalized card back, the un-personalized cards immediately join my trade list. So if you want to swing a deal with me, please keep checking the list!

All of the links below will send you to a past post where I discussed each of these players more in depth.

Clay Dalrymple was a a catcher who was mainly know for his throwing arm and defense

(Also, if you click on that link, my stance on charging for TTM autographs has changed over the past four years, I'm just happy if they sign)

Andy Etchebarren was a two time All-Star and was a member of the '66 & '70 Baltimore World Series Championship teams.

Jim Gentile was a big-time slugger in the early to mid 1960s', hitting 160 homers from '60-65 and was a three-time All-Star during that stretch.

Hank Foiles who backed up Gus Triandos on the '61 Orioles squad

Jeff Manto whose 89 games he played for the '95 O's were far and away the most he ever played for any team during a single season.

Stu Miller saved 100 games and had a 2.37 ERA in 297 games with the Birds.

I hope that you enjoyed these TTMs, more (a lot more, hopefully) will be coming soon!

The Recent Focus of My Collection

I'm extremely happy that I've been able to maintain my collection at 100% of autographs of all the players who have appeared in a game for the Orioles over their 60 year history. While I'm still pursuing upgrades of a handful of former Orioles, I have at least some sort of signature from everyone to wear the Orioles uniform in a game, and that makes me very happy.

However, the collector in me still insists on collecting something, in some way. And space is an issue at my house, so I've avoided purchasing cards from various new sets. Instead, what I've focused on is "upgrading" the autographs in my collection to be personalized to me. I've said it before and I'll repeat it now that my signed cards mean a little bit more to me when they are personalized to me. It certainly doesn't make the autographs as desirable to others, but that's not why I collect my autographs.

I have already written about many of the players whose autographs I've been able to get personalized, so I don't have much more to say about them, but I will add links to my original posts in case anyone cares to read about them. A few others I've never written about and will cover more in-depth. But that's pretty much what I will be writing about here in the foreseeable future. I hope you all enjoy it!

All of these autographs were obtained by sending out TTMs (through the mail) requests. So these guys graciously spend some of their time responding to fans. Great work guys.


Don Buford...made the 1971 All-Star team and received MVP votes in three of his five seasons with the O's.

Wally Bunker...was a key part of the Orioles 1966 World Series sweep of the Dodgers.

Foster Castleman...played the last of his five professional seasons for the O's in 1958

He was also nice enough to thank me for sending him my letter. And added a second signature!

Unpossible Autograph- George Werley

Recently, I read the unfortunate news online that another former Oriole has passed away; pitcher George Werley died on November 21.

I wrote about my first autograph of George back in 2011, but had obtained this personalized TTM autograph just this past April, and had yet to post it here. He very kindly signed the front and back of the card, and I'm glad that I sent it out when I did. Sometimes I wait around to do things and then, in situations like this, the opportunity can pass me by, but luckily I found the motivation to send the card out, and George was kind enough to sign it for me.

I found this extensive write-up about Mr. Werley's brief Major League career, and I feel like it does a much better job than I could do of summarizing his time in baseball, so give it a read if you would like to learn more about George's short time with the Orioles.

RIP George. 

An Interview with former Oriole, Tom Patton

A few years back, I sent a TTM request to Tom Patton, a former catcher who appeared in just a single MLB game (for the 1957 Orioles) during his professional career. If you don't feeling like clicking on the link and searching for my autograph of Tom, here it is:

And along with the autograph, he included this nice note:

So I decided to write him back and ask him a few questions about his time around the Orioles team. I don't really recall when I sent the letter to him, but I received it back sometime over the past few months while I was in the process of moving, so that also means that I don't honestly know exactly when it made it back to me. Anyway, he was nice enough to not only answer my questions but also included this cool signed picture along with his responses. 

Without further ado, here is my "interview" with Tom...(I apologize for my sorry penmanship. But it is what it is.)

And there you have it. In retrospect, I wish I had asked a few more/different questions, and maybe I'll get around to that one day. So check back here in 2018 for part two of this interview!

Plugging a Hug(h)e(s) Hole in the Collection

I like to think that I'm pretty on top of my Orioles autograph collection in regards to which players have been featured on Orioles cards, and who hasn't, so I know what autograph should be in my collection. I always prefer signed O's cards whenever possible. 

Of the 942 players who have appeared in a game for the Orioles, I would like to think that I'm aware of the Orioles card status of all of them. But every now and then something seems to slip through the cracks. One of these issues occurred recently when I came across this autograph in my collection. 

This signed Phillies card of Keith Hughes might not seem to be an issue, but I knew that Keith was also included in the Orioles Crown set, which means I was essentially "missing" an autograph that I hadn't even known that I needed for my collection.

The good news is that Keith is a great TTM signer, and he nicely signed and personalized his only Orioles card for me. Crisis averted. And my collection was once again, relatively complete.

Chris Brock, Finally

In my experience collecting Orioles autographs, some of the more difficult autographs to obtain are of somewhat recent players who were featured on a single card as an Oriole. When you are trying to get one specific card signed, it severely diminishes the chances that you will just happen across a signed copy of that card. It's not particularly difficult to find some sort of autograph of this type of player, but finding that signed Orioles card can be nearly impossible at times. 

Until recently, such was the case with Chris Brock, who is featured as an Oriole on just one card, itself in a relatively obscure set, 2002 Upper Deck 40-Man. In fact, this is the only card that pictured Chris with a MLB team, although he was also included in some relatively plentiful minor league sets. 

Well, I did some internet sleuthing, and was lucky enough to track down Chris online through his current semi-pro team. The team put me in touch with the man himself, and he was kind enough to get back to me with his address. He signed, and personalized, his one and only Orioles card for me. Unfortunately, the marker he was using had pretty well faded by the time he got to his signature, but after searching for a signed copy of this card for about five years, I'm not gonna complain.

Thanks for taking the time to sign for me Chris!

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Ken Rowe & Chuck Diering

The Orioles family unfortunately lost two players last week, as both Ken Rowe and Chuck Diering passed away on Thanksgiving and Black Friday respectively. This is one of the few times I can recall that two former O's players died in the very same week.

Ken Rowe passed away on Thanksgiving day due to complications of pneumonia; he was 78 years old. 

He briefly pitched in the Majors between 1963-65 with the Dodgers & Orioles (he became the 217th player to appear in a game with the O's when he debuted on 9/14/64) before moving on to a long post-playing career as coach. He stayed involved with the game, mainly as a pitching coach, from the late 1960's through the 2010 season, including a stint as the O's pitching coach in 1985-86. 

I obtained this autograph of Ken's in a trade, and had always intended on sending him a TTM request as he was a consistently great signer of mail requests. It's too late now, but it's nice to know that he was so responsive to his fans. RIP Ken.

The second player to pass away last week was one of the original 1954 Orioles, outfielder Chuck Diering. He was the 12th player to debut with the O's when he appeared in the second game of the team's existence on April 14, 1954. He was selected as the 1954 "Most Valuable Oriole" which he cited as the highlight of his playing career when I sent him a TTM request. 

Chuck was also a very accommodating responder to fan mail requests and signed this card and business card for me when I sent him a request earlier this year. He owned a car dealership for a number of years after his playing career ended and it seems as though he typically included a copy of his signed business card when people sent him a request.

Chuck apparently fell in his house either sometime late on Thanksgiving or early Friday and hit his head, which sadly caused his death. It seems as though his son found his unresponsive dad, and was able to get him medical care, but Chuck passed away a few hours later in the hospital.

Thank you for signing for me Chuck. Rest in Peace.



To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Joe Ginsberg, Oriole #98

Sadly, another former Oriole passed away last week, when catcher Joe Ginsberg died at a nursing home  in Florida. I believe that he had been ill for at least a year because I received this response when I sent him a TTM request almost exactly one year ago. 

Joe had been a great TTM signer for many years, so his autographs are widely available online if you are still looking for one for your collection. I always prefer my signatures to be personalized, so I was attempting to replace the autograph at the top of the post, but it just wasn't meant to be.

He was a major league catcher for 13 seasons between 1948-62, and mostly worked in the backup role.  He played for seven teams over that time, most notably the Tigers and Orioles, with whom he spent five seasons each. Joe made his O's debut on August 19, 1956 during the second season of the team's existence, and was the 98th player to don the Oriole uniform. He played for the Orioles through the middle of the 1960 season and appeared in 240 games for the Birds.

His career highlight was likely having been the catcher for one of Virgil "Fire" Trucks no-hitters in 1952 during his time with the Tigers.

Prior to the start of his MLB career, he spent two years in the military during WWII. I wish that I could have thanked Joe for his service. Rest in Peace, Mr. Ginsberg.


To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Bob Hale, Oriole #68

Former Orioles infielder Bob Hale passed away on September 8th, which unfortunately necessitates another unpossible autograph post. He played 376 major league games from 1955-61, and spent the first five years of his career with the Orioles before he wrapping up his time in the bigs with the Indians and Yankees. Bob became the 68th player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he made his MLB debut with them on July 4, 1955. 

He was truly a great TTM signer and I, accidentally, sent him two separate requests over recent years. I somehow had misfiled the first cards he signed for me and thought that I still needed his autograph for my collection, so I fired off another request. He dutifully signed all the cards I sent his way, and I truly appreciate each card he signed for me. Thank you for being so great to your fans, Bob! RIP, you will be missed.


To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Les Moss, Oriole #26

Unfortunately, my weekly Unpossible Autograph feature has already returned after just a one week break. As I mentioned in my U.A. post two weeks ago, I had run out of autographs from Orioles who had passed away. That changed when Les Moss passed away on August 29; I didn't hear about his passing until early this week, so am playing catch up.

Les spent the better part of a half century playing, scouting, coaching, and/or managing around the game of baseball. He was chiefly a back-up catcher over the thirteen seasons he played in the Majors from 1946-58 and he spent time with the Red Sox, White Sox, and Orioles, but played most of his career for the St. Louis Browns. Overall, he appeared in 824 games and hit .247 with 63 homers. 

1954 was his only season in Baltimore and he became the 26th player to don the Orioles uniform in his Birdland debut on April 29, 1954. He played in 29 games for the Orioles before being traded to the White Sox in early June. This Orioles Crown card and a '54 Bowman are the only two cards that pictured Les as an Oriole during his short time in town.

After his playing career ended, Les stayed involved around the game of baseball in many different capacities, highlighted by short stints as the manager of the 1968 White Sox and 1979 Tigers. He also served as the pitching coach for the 1981 Cubs and filled that role for the Astros from 1982-89. He officially retired from baseball in 1995, over five decades after his professional career began with the 1942 Americus Pioneers in the Georgia-Florida League. 

By all indications, Les was a great TTM signer until late in his life. When I attempted to send him a request in 2009, I got this very nice letter back from his daughter, informing me of his health problems. I had hoped to upgrade my autograph to a personalized version but truly appreciate the time that Sandy took to write back to me and I was very sad to hear about Les's passing. 

Thanks for taking care of your fans for so many years, Les. Rest in peace, it sounds like you were a great man.



To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

1999 Orioles Debuts, Orioles # 634-655

1999 was yet another season with quite a bit of turnover in Baltimore, and 22 different players made their Orioles debuts that year. Unlike the 2000 & 2001 reviews that I've done, this list features a number of big name veteran players, although none of them are best remembered for playing for the O's.

Also, I will unofficially declare that Opening Day 1999, April 5, was likely the single day with the most Orioles player debuts, at least outside of the first game in franchise history in 1954. In that 1999 game, the O's had a new catcher, first baseman, right fielder, designated hitter, second base defensive replacement, and four relief pitchers all make their black and orange debuts in a span of nine innings.

To put that in perspective, there are nine full seasons in franchise history that saw fewer debuts than the nine that occurred in that single game.

Charles Johnson #634, 4/5/99 (1999-00)

Will Clark #635, 4/5/99 (1999-00)

Albert Belle #636, 4/5/99 (1999-00)

Jeff Conine #637, 4/5/99 (1999-03, 06)

Ricky Bones #638, 4/5/99 (1999)

Mike Fetters #639, 4/5/99 (1999)

Jesse Garcia #640, 4/5/99 (1999-00)

Jesse played in 31 games for the Orioles, split between the '99 & '00 seasons before being traded to the Braves. He ended up playing sparingly in the Majors every season through 2005, but never received regular playing time. 

Also, I'm a huge fan of the orange background of this Fleer Tradition card. It's something that card companies should do more often.

Heathcliff Slocumb #641, 4/5/99 (1999)

Heathcliff pitched in the Majors from 1991-2000, spending time with eight different teams. His best seasons were 1994 & 1995 during his stint with the Phillies, and he earned the only All-Star berth during his career in '95.

He is best remembered around baseball as being part of one of the most lop-sided trades in history when the Red Sox sent him to the Mariners at the 1997 trade deadline in return for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek, who would go on to help the Sawx win the World Series in 2004 while Heathcliff was on the decline of his career.

This Orioles signed 8x10 is holding a place in my collection until he (hopefully) signs his one-and-only Orioles card during an upcoming private signing.

Mike Timlin #642, 4/5/99 (1999-00)

Rich Amaral #643, 4/8/99 (1999-00)

Doug Linton #644, 4/11/99 (1999)

Delino Deshields #645, 4/11/99 (1999-01)

Gabe Molina #646, 5/1/99 (1999-00)

Gabe pitched in 29, rather ineffective, games for the Orioles during parts of two seasons in Baltimore to the tune of a 1-2 record and a 7.50 ERA. He went on to play in a handful of games for the Braves and Cardinals.


Tommy Davis #647, 5/14/99 (1999)

No, not that Tommy Davis who also played for the Orioles. I call this guy Tommy Davis 2. I'm quite sure that Tommy signed this card for me TTM back when I was on my mid-'90s autograph requesting kick because I'm pretty doubtful that I came across Tommy during his two weeks in Baltimore.

For years, I thought that this Tommy played in the Majors much longer than the five games that he made it into, I guess mainly because he appeared on a handful of cards as an O, and I incorrectly tied his card appearances in with success at the Major League level.


Jason Johnson #648, 5/20/99 (1999-03)

Jason Johnson pitched five years for the Orioles during the height of some of their darkest days in recent history and was victimized, at least somewhat, by the shabby team surrounding him. He went 34-53 in an Orioles uniform over 133 games, mostly as a starter, but had a somewhat respectable 4.84 ERA.

To date, he pitched 11 seasons in the Majors with eight different clubs and has a 56-100 record with a 4.99 ERA in his career. As of last season, he was still attempting to pitch in the Atlantic League but finished the season with an 0-6 record and a 10.92 ERA, so I'm guessing he has called it a career.

Mike Figga #649, 6/5/99 (1999)

Al Reyes #650, 7/25/99 (1999-00)

Jim Corsi #651, 8/3/99 (1999)

Derrick May #652, 8/21/99 (1999)

B.J. Ryan #653, 8/29/99 (1999-05)

I'm surprised that this is the first time I've discussed B.J. on my blog. He was one of the Orioles best relievers during the mid-2000's and I always have had an affinity for fellow "Ryan's" even if it's a last name. And his locker plate is on the doorway over my bedroom, so it really worked out nicely for something like that.

In 2005, he saved 36 games for the O's and had a 2.43 ERA which was good enough to earn him and All-Star nod. He left Baltimore for Toronto following that season and the Jays signed him to the largest contract ever for a relief pitcher up to that time. But they ultimately got burnt on the contract as B.J. missed more than a year's worth of games due to injury and was released before the end of the five year deal.


Matt Riley #654, 9/9/99 (1999, 2003-04)

Brian Falkenborg #655, 10/1/99 (1999)

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Dave Boswell, Oriole #272

The Orioles family lost another member this past week when former Orioles pitcher Dave Boswell passed away on Monday from a heart attack. He was 67 years old.

Dave pitched in the Majors from 1964-71, mostly for the Twins, but also appeared briefly with the Tigers and O's at the end of his playing career. An arm injury knocked him out of baseball when he was just 27 years old.

He led the American League with a .706 win percentage in 1966 when he went 12-5 with the Twins and was generally known to give up a lot of hits but also struck out a large number of hitters. His time with the Orioles was at the tail-end of his career and didn't last very long. He made his Baltimore debut on May 29, 1971 and finished out the season with the Orioles; he went 1-2 with a 4.38 ERA over 15 appearances.

Unfortunately, his career was marred by a few off the field incidents, including a 1969 fight with his manager Billy Martin that left them both needing stitches. I know that Martin had a reputation as a fiery guy, so it's hard to assign blame to either party but it sounds as though Dave might have had a bit of a temper himself.

Since his time with the Orioles was so short, this Crown card is his only Orioles card. He had signed a copy of it in person for me at an Alumni Signing at Camden Yards a few years back but I am trying to upgrade to personalized autographs whenever possible. Interestingly, Dave had just returned this TTM request to me a mere nine days before his passing. I would have to guess that it was among the last autographs he signed in his life, so it makes it even more special to me.

RIP Dave

A Bunch of Recent Upgrades

Over the past few months, I've had luck upgrading some of the autographs in my collection. A few were obtained TTM, others were had via trade, while I had to shell out a few bucks for some others. But I have at least written briefly about all of them in the past, so I'll try to keep the write-ups short.

I'll lead off with the man with the bad attitude, Albert Belle (Oriole #636). This certified autograph replaces an "Orioles" card that pictured him in a White Sox uniform, something that I could never quite get past, especially considering the number of certified 'graphs that showed Big Al in a legitimate Orioles uniform.

This Lenny Webster (Oriole #600) card came to me via a trade on Sportcollectors.net and replaced a signed Orioles postcard. Lenny had been on my need list for way too long and I was thrilled to knock off his name.

Dick Brown had also been in line for an upgrade for quite some time before I came across this awesome Orioles postcard. This replaced a cut 3x5 autograph in my collection and while Dick technically has a Topps Orioles card, it doesn't picture him in an Orioles uniform, so I feel like this postcard is as good as it will get for him.

This is the third Juan Guzman (Oriole #627) autograph that has trickled through my collection, and this one is here to stay.

Shawn Boskie (Oriole #603) was kind enough to add a very unique inscription to this signed Orioles postcard. This is definitely better suited for my collection than an Angels card.

Here is another Orioles postcard upgrade, this of the spectacled Chuck McElroy (Oriole #658), which interestingly also knocks a signed Angels card from my collection.

This Keith Moreland (Oriole #474) Crown card knocks out a Cubs card that I obtained from the 2010 National from my collection.

Chuck Diering (Oriole #12) sent me one of the more interesting TTM returns I've ever received when he added his signed business card to my request. This personalized autograph replaces an unpersonalized Crown in my collection. 

He also answered the question in my letter about his favorite Orioles memory, and it turns out he was the team's MVP during their inaugural 1954 season. 

This personalized Joe Durham (Oriole #37) card is going to stay in my collection along with the 1958 Topps card he had signed for me at an Orioles alumni signing a few years back.
 

I'm confident that this Dave Skaggs (Oriole #326) autograph is legit, unlike the one that was previously a part of my collection.

And finally, this Dave Van Gorder (Oriole #429) Red Wings card is about a 50% upgrade over the signed Reds card that it is replacing. I hope to one day finally have Van Gorder sign an Orioles Crown card for me, but I haven't had any luck so far.