Oriole #979- Ramon Ramirez

Well, I was caught off-guard by another Orioles debut last night as right-handed relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez had his contract selected from AAA Norfolk and later appeared in the game for the Orioles, officially becoming the 979th player in the franchise's history. He pitched the ninth inning as the Birds had a comfortable 7-1 lead over the Rangers and walked one batter while striking out two to finish off the win.

Ramon signed a minor league deal with the Orioles on May 31st after being released from the Mariners' AAA affiliate. He pitched in five games for the Tides, and had a 1-0 record with a 14/0 K/BB ratio over 8 IP. I knew he was pitching well, but I figured that he was mostly a AAA depth kind of player since he wasn't on the 40 man roster. But I was mistaken, and now I need to track down an autograph of his for my collection. My dad is working on an Orioles OMC, but in the meantime, I checked out the availability of other autographs of his for sale online, and unfortunately, many of his cards picture him as a member of the Yankees or Red Sox. He does have a handful of cards that picture him as a member of the Rockies, and at one with the Mets, so hopefully I can find a signed copy of one of them so I don't have to sully my collection with a Yanks or Sawx card. 

Ramon is long-time MLB veteran and the Orioles are the sixth team he has played for in the Bigs. He made his debut for the Rockies in 2006 and has also since pitched for the Royals, Red Sox, Giants and Mets, and has pitched in a total of 424 MLB games with a 23-21 record and a 3.42 ERA. 

Good luck with the Orioles, Ramon!