NFL Survivor League Lock of the Week

Picture from here

For something completely different on the blog, I am going to share the NFL team that I feel is a lock to win every week. I'm in a Survivor pick-em league and if you've never heard of that before, basically I have to pick an NFL team I think will win every week, but can't select the same team more than once over the course of the season.  For everyone's benefit, I'll include a picture of a cheerleader from the team I think will win (an idea I somewhat borrowed from Night Owl).  This week, I picked the Tennessee Titans. 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Alan Wiggins

Alan Wiggins' story is probably one of the sadder tales in Orioles history.  You might see his picture on this 1986 Fleer card and think that he looks pretty young.  Why is Alan an unpossible autograph then? 

Alan was the California Angels' first round draft pick (8th overall) in the 1977 draft but he failed to live up to his high draft position and washed out of the Angels and Dodgers organizations before being snagged by the San Diego Padres in the 1980 Rule V draft.  He showed off his tremendous speed at various Minor League levels and reportedly stole 120 bases in a single season while still in the Dodgers' system. 

He made his Major League debut in late 1981 with the Padres and had decent success over the next 4 seasons with them but was also arrested multiple times for cocaine possession.  His drug use and addiction would be a recurring theme over Alan's remaining years. 

After another cocaine relapse, the Padres traded Alan to the Orioles in the middle of the '85 season and he filled a utility role for the O's over the next few seasons.  He continued to show blazing speed on the base paths but his average and on-base percentage went down each year, but he had a harder time stealing bases since he was no longer good at getting to first.  It's impossible for me to directly connect his decreased level of play to his drug use, but it was certainly a possibility since he was getting worse in his late 20's which are normally the prime years of a player's career.  The '87 season was Alan's last year in organized baseball and he died in 1991 from complications due to AIDS.  It's believed that he was the first baseball player to die from AIDs.  

While he died at the very young age of 32, Alan's son and daughter are keeping the Wiggins name in sports as Alan Jr. and Candice are professional basketball players; he plays for the German club Eisbaren Bremerhaven and she plays for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA.

RIP Alan, you died way too young. 

TTM Success-Charlie Locke

While still recovering from the excitement of a walkoff Frederick Keys playoff win last night in the first round of the single A Carolina League playoffs, I present to you Charlie Locke. 

He pitched in only 2 games for the Orioles during the 1955 season but didn't allow any hits or runs during his 3 MLB innings while walking one and also striking a batter out.  Before and after his brief time in the Majors, Chuck spent 9 seasons in the Minor Leagues from '1950-58, mostly with the Browns/Orioles organization.

Charlie signed my TTM request in only 6 days, which is an extremely fast turnaround from Maryland to Missouri.  He also included a nice long letter thanking me for my request and telling me a little bit about his career. 

Thanks Chuck!

Adios Baysox

The Bowie Baysox, the AA O's affiliate located somewhat near my house, were unfortunately eliminated from the Eastern League playoff contention on Monday, the final day of their regular season.  They had battled for weeks with the Harrisburg Senators, the Nats AA affiliate, for the second (and last) spot in the Western Division standings, and could have forced a one game play-in game if they had one and the Senators had lost on Monday.  Neither of those things happened and the Senators clinched their playoff spot, so the Baysox season was over.  It's too bad because we only made it to one or two of their games over the past couple months and didn't one last night of fun in at Prince George's County Stadium. 

Well, as a proper send off to the team, here are some of the Baysox autographs I got over the season.  Caleb Joseph up top was my favorite player this season, so I took the time to separate his card. 

This is what their 2010 team set looks like; the Aberdeen Ironbirds set looks very similar.  I really like how many of the cards show the players in their orange uni's!  The Tucker card is an All-Star insert card from 2010 Topps Debut.  Waring led the E.L. with 179 K's, Henson was 2nd with 156.  None of these guys have very nice autographs... 

This is Tanaka & Johnson's first O's affiliate cards.  Car-los Ro-jas! McCrory pitched for the O's in 2008 & 09, but spent most of the season with the Baysox.  Chad's card isn't very flattering.  Cooney didn't like how his little pinkie is up on his '09 Shorebirds card.  Gamboa is a great guy, very friendly, another one of my favorites.  

Joel was one of the hardest autographs to get on the team.  I got all of these signed at one of the meet-the-team days, but did get his Baysox card signed at our last game of the season.  He led the Eastern League with 33 homers, 264 total bases, and was second with 98 RBI.  He's had stints with the Dodgers and Devil Rays in the Majors, but won't be coming to Baltimore this September.

Viola had awful numbers with the AAA Norfolk Tides at the start of the season but his numbers over 23 appearances with the Baysox were good enough for him to get a September call-up with the O's.  I think that Komminsk is probably sick of me getting his autograph, and since I don't have anything left for him to sign, I'll stop now.

Delino Deshields-the Montana Non-Signer

Delino is a bad TTM signer, to say the least.  According to SCN, he hasn't signed a single request dating back to 2001.  So I was excited when he was named the manager of the Billings Mustangs, the Reds rookie level affiliate, prior to the 2009 season.  I figured that many guys won't sign from their home addresses but will sign from the stadium.  I didn't send out a request but I wanted to wait to see how other collectors' fared, and  I'm glad I didn't send anything out because "Bop" still hasn't signed anything.  It's not like I know anyone in Montana, so I wasn't sure where to turn next.

I got lucky and a fellow SCN member located somewhere a few hours from Billings posted that he was going to a Mustangs game and would get things signed for a few dollars each.  I jumped at the opportunity and I'm very pleased with how the card turned out.  I guess since Delino hasn't signed much over the years, his signature still maintains a resemblance to his actual name, especially his first name.  

Delino had a 13 season big league career from 1990-2002; one of his career highlights was finishing second in the 1990 National League Rookie of the Year balloting to the Braves' Dave Justice.  He played for the Expos, Dodgers, Cardinals, Orioles and Cubs and the trade the sent him from the Expos to the Dodgers for Pedro Martinez is considered one of the worst that the Dodgers franchise has ever made.  He played from the Orioles from 1999 until mid-2001 when they released him due to his struggles at the plate.

Bop was the Expos' 1st round draft pick(12th overall) in 1987, and his son, Delino Jr., was the Astros' #1 draft pick(8th overall) in the 2010 draft.  I guess that gives Junior temporary bragging rights, he just has to have a decent Major League career to keep up with his dad. 

Born in Delaware, Delino Sr. currently has the most all-time Major League at-bats for a player born in "the first state" and was inducted to the states' Hall of Fame in 2006.  I wonder how many other people are in their HOF?  There aren't too many people to choose from; maybe they should rename it the Delino De-Hall of Fame.

A (Very) Delayed Thank You to Zach

Zach, who writes the amazing Autographed Cards blog, held a College World Series contest at the end of June.  I haven't had luck with winning contests around the blogosphere but I was finally able to win one thanks to my random selection of the winning teams.  I don't think I did a great job but I was able to edge out the competition.

It's only taken me about 2 months to get around to thanking him for the awesome cards and autographs he sent me, but hey, better late than never.  

I love autographs of Hall of Famers and this is my first one of Harmon.

 

 Augie is the legendary Texas Longhorns baseball head coach who has the most wins in NCAA history. 

The cards marked R are also mine, and the Jim Rice autograph is an 8x10.  You'd think I could have found time to get these scanned within two months, but no.  

I sent Zach a couple cards of Mario's since he is playing somewhere in the Midwest.  Zach was nice enough to send this one back to me for my orange uni collection.

Thanks for everything Zach!  If you've never checked out his blog, head over there right now!  He features a new autographed card every day and he always has some interesting information on how he got the autograph.

Aquino & Cabrera

At the beginning of the season I worked out a trade with a fellow SCN user who graphs the AAA International League.  He would try to get me Greg Aquino & Fernando Cabrera's autographs and I would send him a few bucks for his trouble.  Neither of them have any Orioles cards, so these 2008 Norfolk Tides cards are the closest thing to an O's card that I can get.  Recently, I was able to trade for an Aquino signed Orioles postcard, but I will probably keep both autographs in my collection.

Greg started the 2008 season with the Orioles and sported a 12.54 ERA in 9 games before he was designated for assignment.  He cleared waivers and spent the remainder of the season with the Tides. 

Overall, he's had a six season MLB career and has also pitched for the Diamondbacks, Brewers and Indians.  He is currently with the Charlotte Knights, the AAA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

I've been trying to get this card signed by Fernando for years now.  I went to a Rays-Orioles game in Tampa in late 2008 and he was signing for fans at the time, but it was before I received my '08 Tides set, so I had him sign an Orioles team card.  Eventually, I was able to trade for his autograph on an Indians card, but I was still holding out hope that I could one day get this card signed.  Well, my SCN trade partner came through and I finally have the autographed card I've been chasing for 2 years. 

Fernando pitched in 22 games for the O's in 2008 and went 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA.  He's also pitched for the Indians and Red Sox over 7 seasons in the big leagues, and is currently pitching for the Sawx AAA affiliate, the Pawtucket Red Sox.

TTM Success- Ted Gray

It feels like forever since I've done one of these posts.  It's mainly due to the fact that I haven't had the time to send many requests out lately, which obviously decreases the number I can get back.  So here we go...

Ted Gray pitched in the Major Leagues from 1946, 1948-55 and spent 8 of his 9 seasons with the Detroit Tigers.  He made the 1950 A.L. All-Star team but unfortunately ended up getting the loss in the game.  He served in the Navy during WWII and pitched for the Navy All-Stars; a highlight of his time with that squad was striking out 19 Army All-Stars during one game in 1945.  

Ted's final season in the Majors must have been a tough year for him as he was released by the White Sox, Indians, Yankees and Orioles during the course of the '55 season.  Ted pitched in just 9 games for the Orioles between late July and mid-September and went 1-2 with an 8.22 ERA.  

He signed my TTM request in 70 days and did a nice job filling the empty space on my Crown card.  His signature is a little squished but at least he has a short name to fit into that small space.  Thanks for signing Ted!

An Awesome Bobblehead Breakdown

I had nothing to do with putting this together, but I love bobbleheads.  Bobblehead informational breakdown=amazing.  Check out Flip Flop Fly Ball for the the entire post. 

September Call-Ups

The first wave of Minor League call-ups should arrive in Baltimore today with Nolan Reimold, Robert Andino and Brandon Snyder joining the Orioles from the AAA Norfolk Tides.

Nolan is returning to Baltimore after he was sent to Norfolk following a slow start to the 2010 season with the O's.  His problems continued with the Tides for a month or so after he was demoted but he really heated up over the past couple months.

Reimold had a breakout 2009 season for the Birds after making his Major League debut on May 14.  He was a Rookie of the Year candidate before succumbing to an achilles problem late in the season.  Nolan is one of Kalina's favorite players so she's just a little excited that he will be back in town.

Andino was designated for assignment late in spring training to make room for Julio Lugo on the O's roster.  He cleared waivers and has had a great year in Norfolk with his bat (13 homers, 76 RBI) but not so much with his glove (31 errors).  Since he wasn't on the 40 man roster, a corresponding move has to be made, but I'll get to that later.

"Dino" was with the O's for the entire 2009 season and mainly provided middle infield depth.  He filled in for an injured Cesar Izturis and received regular playing time from late May through early July. 

This is Brandon's first big league call-up so when and if he makes it into a game, it will be his MLB & Orioles debut.  He was the Orioles 2005 1st round draft pick; he has risen steadily through the organization and played at every affiliate level over the past six seasons.  Over his time in the minors, he has had some great seasons to go along with a few disappointing campaigns.  His 2010 season at Norfolk had only been OK, .257 with 9 homers and 43 RBI, so I'm a little surprised that he got the call to come to Baltimore.  I guess it's about the time in his career where the O's front office needs to figure out if he has a future in the Big Leagues. 

Kalina and I saw him play many times in Frederick and Bowie, and the few times I got to speak to him he seemed like a nice guy.  I hope that things work out and we will be seeing him play in Baltimore for years to come.

With the good news, comes the bad.  Lou Montanez was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40 man roster.  Things just have never worked out for Lou with the Orioles.  It seems like every time he had an opportunity to get playing time, he would do really well, but then get hurt pretty quickly, or he'd already be hurt when a roster spot opened up. 

Lou appeared in between 26-38 games for the O's over each of the past three seasons, with his longest and most productive time coming in 2008.  That was also the season that he won the AA Eastern League Triple Crown with Baysox.  Good luck wherever you end up Lou!  

My First York Revolution Game

I went to college at York College of Pennsylvania in, well York, PA, but in the years before the independent Atlantic League York Revolution came into existence.  I think the team started up a year or two after I graduated, and I've always wished that the team was around during my time in York.  I've always loved baseball and feel like I would have really enjoyed working for the team in any capacity during my college years. 

Partially because it hasn't worked with my schedule and partially because they are about the 5th furthest professional baseball team from where I live, I hadn't made it to a York Rev game until this season, when I finally made it to a game on Sunday July 18th. 

If you're not familiar with the Atlantic League, it's an unaffiliated independent league and consists of 8 teams located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Fellow blogger Paul, who has been a trade partner and frequent commenter over the past few years, is the blogosphere's resident Atlantic League expert.  So click on his link if you are interested. 

Tim "Rock" Raines is the manager for the Newark Bears, who were in town to play the Revolution.  He is one of the main reasons that I chose that game to attend because I still needed his autograph on my Orioles card.  And as far as I know, this is his only O's card, so I didn't want to send it out in the mail.  Tim is a great TTM signer, but you have to send a $5 donation.

The funny thing about this card is that it's almost always listed as Rock's card on Beckett and other places that list such things. You can see the little RC (rookie card) designation under Fleer Platinum which obviously couldn't apply to Rock, but the stats on the back are from Rock's career; it seems like someone at Fleer was confused!   Both Tim and Tim Jr. played for the 2001 O's, so I can see where the confusion might come from, but this card obviously pictures the elder Tim.  Anyway, we waited down the third base line for Tim to come out to the dugout and Kalina shouted his name as soon as she saw him.  He came over and signed for a few fans, so it was really nice to get my card signed.

Tim was one of the greatest lead-off hitters and base-stealers in baseball history and his 808 steals ranks 4th on the all-time list.  He was also a 7 time All-Star and is a candidate to one day make the Hall of Fame; he received 30.4% of votes (of the 75% necessary for induction) in 2010. 



The York Revolution also have a few connections to the Orioles with their manager, Andy Etchebarren, and one of their starting pitchers, Matt Riley.  The Rev were holding a "Meet the Team" autograph & picture session at the game I went to, so I was able to get all of my Etchebarren and Riley cards signed, with some help from Kalina and my parents.

Andy Etchebarren had a 15 year career in the big leagues, 12 of those were with the Orioles in 1962 & 1965-75.  He was a two time All-Star and was a member of the '66 & '70 Baltimore World Series Championship teams.  Andy, who split time behind the dish with Elrod Hendricks for many of his years in Birdland, formed the battery with many of the best pitchers in Orioles history such as Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, Milt Pappas and Steve Barber.  He must have been doing something right. 

Matt Riley will be remembered in Baltimore more for what could've been than what was.  He was the Orioles third round pick in 1997 and absolutely dominated every level of the Minor Leagues that he pitched in.  He was still only 19 years old when he was called up to the O's at the end of the 1999 season.

Matt was never able to match his success in the Minors at the Major League level and a combination of a cocky/entitled attitude and three Tommy John surgeries had knocked him completely out of affiliated baseball by the end of the 2008 season.  When I handed him this card to sign, he joked with a teammate about how he used to be someone worthy of being on a "Who to Watch" card. 

 I got a few extra autographs from Matt & Andy, so if anyone is interested in trading for these, just leave a comment.  It's funny to see an Oriole besides Cal wearing the number 8 like the card in the bottom right corner. 

The Right Place at the Right Time

Recently, well three weeks ago, the White Sox came to Baltimore for a three game series.  Greg Walker is the White Sox hitting coach.  He has a single Orioles card, this Crown card, which he earned by appearing in 14 games for the 1990 Birds.   He doesn't sign TTM and I've never seen this signed card available anywhere.  There are plenty of his signed White Sox cards out there, but I wanted his Orioles card signed.  A White Sox 'grapher that I meant on SportsCollectors.net had been working on getting this signed for me in Chicago for a few months, but hasn't had any luck yet.


Luckily, I had an extra copy of Greg's Crown card and brought it to Camden Yards prior to the Friday game.  Most, but certainly not all, coaches are pretty good signers if you can get within shouting distance of them, especially if they are with the visiting team.  I went down near the White Sox dugout and kept my eyes open for Greg.  I tried to find a recent picture of him online, but I couldn't find anything that gave me a definite idea of what he looked like.  So once a coach came out of the tunnel that kind of looked like the picture on the card, I held my card up and shouted out to him, hoping that I guessed right.  It was Greg!  And he came right over and signed my card. The other people trying to get autographs didn't know who he was, so no else else bothered him, but I got my guy. 

Greg had a 9 season Major League career from 1982-90, and played all but his last 14 games for the White Sox.  He split time at first base and DH and led the American League with 163 games played in 1985.  He has been the White Sox hitting coach since 2003 and was a member of their 2005 World Series Championship team.