Who Will Play Third For the O's in 2011?

Since it seems as though Josh Bell still needs some seasoning in the Minors and the Orioles don't have any other great candidates in-house right now, I'm interested to see who the Orioles will bring in to play third base in 2011 and possibly beyond. They could re-sign Ty Wigginton, but I kind of hope that they don't, at least not to be the everyday starter. I don't have anything against Ty, but the fan base needs a swift kick in the pants, not a love tap on the behind. It's a sad thing, but less people care about the O's each year in Baltimore. I think it's ridiculous to give up on the team, but some might call me a "superfan".

Let's see if you can guess who I think the Orioles are going to end up with...

Mark was a backup catcher in the Majors for 13 seasons from 1986-98 and spent two stints with the Orioles in 1992-93 & again in '96. He only appeared in 57 games over his three seasons with the O's, all but one as acatcher, and he never played third base over his 474 Big League games.

He is currently a manager in the Phillies' farm system and was promoted to the AA Reading Phillies following the 2010 season, so I might try to get his autograph in person at a Baysox game this season.

 

I wrote about Bob last summer and don't have much to add to that, but I will say that he never played third base over the 140 games covering six seasons that he spent in the Majors.

You have any idea where I'm going with this yet?

Mark appeared in 314 games in the Majors over his eight season career, but every single appearance came on the mound. He spent the 1988-89 seasons in Baltimore and had a dismal 3-12 record for the Birds, including an abysmal 1-8 campaign in '88. 

 

I picked up this autograph at the National in August and to avoid repeating myself, you can read what I wrote here. Harold played in 1374 Major League games but never appeared at the hot corner.  

So what the hell am I getting at here? Has anyone figured it out?  

Well, I think the O's will end up trading with the Diamondbacks to obtain Mark Reynolds. See what I did here? A Mark, then a Reynolds, then a Mark, then another Reynolds. That's about as witty as things get around these parts.

When Do You Read Blogs?

I decided to go for something different today, so I'm asking all of my readers when they spend their time reading my blog, as well as any other of the great card blogs out there in the blogo-verse. I know that some people have time to do it at their jobs, others burn the midnight oil to read/write blogs, while some people seem to have most of their free time during weekends. Please take a second to vote in the poll on your left. Thanks!

If you don't vote, Joel "Frankenstein" Bennett will track you down 

and make you take awkward photos together!

Random Saturday Autograph- Jim Dedrick

Jim had a long career in professional baseball and played from 1990-2003 for many different teams and organizations. However, his time in the Majors was very short, lasting about a month and half with the 1995 Orioles. He made it into six games, pitched 7.2 innings, gave up two earned runs including one homer, walked six, and struck out three. He didn't earn a decision, and finished his MLB career with a 2.35 ERA. 

Jim kept plugging away to get back to the show and made it to the AAA level with four other organizations, but could never quite make it back to the Big Leagues. He worked/s as a scout for the Diamondbacks after he finally hung up his spikes following the 2003 season. 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Bob "Rope" Boyd

Bob spent most of his life around the game of baseball and played in the Negro Leagues, MLB, and for a high-ranked semi-pro team in his later years. He played for the Negro Leagues' Memphis Red Sox from 1947-49 before becoming the first black player to appear for the Chicago White Sox in 1951. He struggled to find regular playing time over his five seasons in the White Sox organization and was selected by the Orioles in the 1955 Rule V draft. He became the first modern-era Orioles player to hit over .300 for the season when he accomplished the feat by hitting .311 for the '56 O's and received some MVP votes after the '57 season, also with the Birds.

Bob spent five of his nine MLB seasons playing for the Orioles and was their starting first baseman from 1957-60. He earned the nickname "Rope" for his propensity to hit line drives, which was uncommon for first baseman back then, as it still is today. Most teams want their 1B to hit for power, but Bob was successful regardless.

He passed away on September 7, 2004 in Wichita, Kansas; he was 84 years old. RIP Bob.

What I'm Thankful For

This is going to count as my Thanksgiving post since I'm going to take tomorrow off from the blog. My guess is that I'll be way too lethargic to accomplish much of anything, and I figure that most of you will be asleep on your couches anyway. 

Among many other things, I'm thankful for you, my readers and fellow bloggers. You all provide me with the fuel to continue blogging and sharing my autograph and card collecting stories. So thank you everyone.

I received these 2008 Topps cards from a blog reader named Justin and I'm now only six cards away from finishing a set that's been out for almost three years. If anyone else can help me finish this set off, I would really appreciate it. All of my 2008 & 2009 set needs are listed at the top left hand corner of the under My Set Needs, or you can just click that link. I'm sure that I can work out a trade for any of those cards, so email me or leave a comment if you can help me out.

And whether or not you have any cards that I need, THANK YOU for reading my blog!

TTM Success- Orlando Pena

Orlando pitched in the Majors for 14 season from 1958-75 and played for eight teams over this career. He spent parts of the 1971 & '73 seasons with the Orioles and had a 1-2 record and a 3.79 ERA over his 16 appearances with the O's. 

Over his career, he had a 56-77 record with a 3.71 ERA. After his playing career ended, he worked as a scout for the Tigers.

Orlando signed and personalized my request in just eight days. His signature is very legible and he even added his number 27 that he wore during his time with the O's. Thanks Orlando!

The Two Signatures of Benny Ayala

I've never come across this before in my Orioles collecting and, while I doubt it's completely unique, I think that the extent of the difference might be. Benny Ayala has two completely different autographs. At first, I thought that I was being duped and one of the 'graphs was a fake. Then I read somewhere that Benny has an "A" and a "B" autograph. 

I know that most players will give you a different autograph if you ask them as they are walking by you at a game, or if they are doing a paid signing of some sort. They will generally take more care with their signature for a signing, when they have both the time and incentive to give their fans what they want. Many autographs that I get at games are rush jobs, where the player is just trying to sign quickly, or sign for a bunch of people to keep everyone happy, so their autograph isn't quite as nice. But check this out. 

 

"A" Signature

 

"B" Signature

There isn't a single similarity between the two autographs, at least to my untrained eye. The B signature looks much more like the pre-printed one on the '80 Topps card, while the A signature looks like some alien scrawling. I just don't know what all the squiggles and lines mean. I might see a B and an A in there, but I think I'm just forcing my eyes to make some sense of that craziness.  

Has anyone else ever come across something like this with another player?  

Does anyone have any more information on why Benny's signatures are so different?

Random Saturday Autograph- Rob Bell

Rob pitched for the Reds, Rangers, Devil Rays, and Orioles during his seven season MLB career. He spent the 2007 season with the Orioles organization and played the first half of the season with the AAA Norfolk Tides before he was promoted to the O's towards the end of June. He was 4-3 with a 5.94 ERA for the O's over thirty games in what would be his last go-round at the Major League level. 

Rob might have the least comprehend-able signature I have ever seen. The only combination of letters that seem to somewhat fit what he signs is Robbie Bell but I can't see it.  I can't make out a single letter in that mess, but it still comes off as a kind of cool looking signature. It's certainly unique at least.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Jim Finigan

Jim played for the Orioles during the 1959 season, which was his final year in the Major Leagues. In addition to the O's, he played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers, and San Francisco Giants during his 6 year big league career from 1954-59.

His rookie season in Philly was his best, he came in 2nd in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, received some MVP votes, and was elected to the All-Star team. He made the All-Star team again the next season, but his numbers quickly went downhill after 1955. By the time Jim reached Baltimore, his main role was to spell the young Brooks Robinson at third base. 

Jim passed away in May of 1981, apparently of a heart attack. He was only 52 years old. RIP Jim.

The Crown Card Back Signing Phenomenon Continues

I've brought this up once or twice, but since Ed Farmer recently returned my TTM request signed on the back of his Crown card, I figured that it was worth bringing up again. Some guys prefer to sign their Crown cards on the back!

 

As you can see, Ed pitched in only one single game for the Orioles during his career. So this is his only Orioles card. And he signed mine on the back because the front is pretty dark, and I guess he didn't want to sign on his face. 

  

Bob Bailor took a different approach. He awkwardly signed the card over his name, even though plenty of light space seemed to be available. (Bob had some glorious mutton-chops too, didn't he?)

  

And then also signed the back for good measure. 

Ken Lehman flipped the card on its side to personalize and sign it.

He might have been able to squeeze his autograph and my name on the front in his chin/neck region, but I guess he didn't want to constrict his signature. I can respect that. 

Gordie Sundin went all out and signed right across the center of the back of the card. With that thin pen, he probably could've painted the corners a bit more. 

 

There was definitely some autograph daylight around his neck. 

This Ken Dixon autograph is unique because he signed it for me in person at an Orioles Alumni Autograph signing. If I had noticed in time, I would've asked him to sign the front, but I didn't. 

I also forgot to scan the front of the card, but as you can see from this scan that I stole borrowed from ebay, there is plenty of light colored space to sign around his cap.

That's it for now, but I'm sure that I will get another Crown card that is signed on the back to add to my collection sometime soon.

Random Wednesday Autograph- Brian Williams

Since I was out of town and skipped this past week's Random Saturday Autograph feature, I decided to run it today so as to not disappoint any of my five or ten readers. 

Today, I'm spotlighting Brian Williams, who pitched in the Major Leagues for nine seasons from 1991-97 & '99-00, with a year pitching in Japan separating the two stints. Brian spent five seasons with the Astros, and also pitched for the Padres, Indians, Cubs, Orioles & Tigers. He appeared in all of 13 games for the O's over the '97 season and bounced up and down from AAA Rochester a few times; he had a 3.00 ERA with no decisions during his time in Baltimore. For his career, Brian had a 26-38 record and a 5.37 ERA. 

I believe that I obtained this autograph in a trade on SportsCollectors.Net. His signature isn't bad and reads something like Bi Williams but I really like the way he signs the B and whatever that large swoosh is on his last name. 

Some Recent TTM Successes

After going through a dry spell of sending out TTM requests, I finally sent out a batch to a group of former Orioles who reliably sign autographs by mail. The first few successes have already found their way back to my house.

 

The first success was from Ray Barker, who played a single season for the O's in 1960.  He also played for the Indians and Yankees over his four seasons in the Bigs. With a $5 signing fee, Ray signed and personalized my request and got it back to me in only five days.

 

Steve Reed was my second success; he personalized, signed and returned this card in only seven days, which is pretty amazing as it had to travel from Maryland to Colorado and back.

I had recently traded for a signed Padres card of Steve, but this Orioles card is obviously an upgrade for me.  It's a double bonus card too since Steve is wearing an orange uni and is shown in the middle of his sidearm pitching motion.

 

This card is a perfect representation of the lengths I will go to for my collection. I already had Bob's 1981 Topps card signed, and this Crown card uses the exact same photo as the Topps card. I guess no pictures of Bob in an O's uniform exist since he only played in eight games for the O's in 1979. So even though both cards use the same picture showing Bob, mouth agape, in his Sox hat, I had to have this one signed for my collection since it's his only "Orioles" card.  

Bob returned my card in ten days, but unfortunately didn't personalize it as I requested. 

 

Elliott Maddox kindly personalized and signed my card in eleven days. I added $5 to my request which always helps, but I was happy to add Elliott's only Orioles card to my collection. He played 11 seasons in the Majors for the Tigers, Senators/Rangers, Yankees, Orioles, and Mets. 

 

This card is actually the second TTM request that I sent Rich's way. I normally try to avoid sending multiple requests to the same player, unless they didn't sign the first time, so as to not have the player think I'm greedy and ruin their signing habits for everyone. Yes, I'm looking at those of you who ALWAYS send seven cards to be signed. I think that's a bit excessive.

Anyway, Rich signed and returned my request back in March when I sent a Twins card. At that point, I didn't think any Orioles cards existed of him. Then, about two months ago, a friend of the blog by the name of Riley contacted me about a set of Orioles Hershey cards. They appear to be some sort of giveaway and are approximately the size of an index card. But they're really awesome and the set includes the only Orioles cards I have ever come across for multiple players, including Rich. So I sent this off to him and now it's a part of my collection.