An Orange Kind of Day

It's another scorching hot day in the Baltimore area with the temperature around 105 and the heat index in the one hundred teens. So it seems appropriate to show off a few of my orange uniform autographed cards today. Because, well, why not?

Today's focus will be on minor leaguers who are no longer playing in the O's farm system. Look at all that sizzling hot orange.

It's like an inferno! Maybe the minor league teams should start wearing blue to cool things down.

Alfredo Simon Joins the Party

Alfredo Simon 2008-

I have written about Alfredo quite a bit since he was the only current member of the Orioles whose autograph that I didn't have after the addition of Koji Uehara last week. But a reader named Paul came through with this awesome addition to my collection. Now I don't have to stay up nights wondering how the hell I didn't yet have Alfredo in my collection. I'm kidding, but I do like being able to say that I now have every current Orioles players' autograph. Thanks Paul!

So I'm not really sure what's going on with this card; he's obviously wearing a Phillies uniform but the card has the Giants logo on it so it's from around the time he was traded by the Phillies to the Giants in mid-2004. Why do card companies do this? I know you want the team logo to be current, but it bothers me when you have these "2 team" types of cards. It should either be one or the other since I now have no idea how to categorize it. What I do know is that it's definitely not an Orioles card, which Alfredo does have two of, a 09 Topps Heritage and a 09 O-Pee-Chee, so I still hope to get one of those signed when I'm at spring training.

Also, his autograph is already a front-runner for my 2010 Siggy award for the least legible autograph. I guess the big swirl at the beginning is an A, and then I guess there is an S, but I'm not sure. His given name seems to be Alfredo Carlos E Cabrera Simon so he could sign some variation of that but it's impossible to tell.

Alfredo broke camp last year as the Orioles 5th starter, which lasted all of 1+ regular season starts (and a grand total of 6.1 innings) before he went down with a Tommy John injury and missed the rest of the year. Reports out of Sarasota are saying that he looks good so far this spring and he is really bringing the heat. He had also pitched in 4 games for the O's at the end of the '08 season.


Another thing that I found interesting about Alfredo is that this is his second go-round (technically) in the Birds organization. The O's drafted him in the 2006 Rule V draft from the Texas Rangers and traded him that same day to the Phillies for Adam Donachie (who had been taken in the draft from the Royals). The Phillies eventually returned Alfredo to the Rangers and the O's returned Donachie to the Phillies (who returned him to the Royals) since neither was able to crack the clubs' 25-man Opening Day rosters. But now it's 2010 and they are both together in Sarasota at the Orioles Major League Spring Training camp. Pretty cool, right?


Also, Adam was a member of the NW Arkansas Naturals, the Royals AA team, in 2008. The team plays in Springdale, Arkansas where my grandma lives and I got to see them play when I visited her last summer. It's a small baseball world.

Baysox Autographs

Somehow the autographs I got at the last Bowie game I attended, some Friday 2-3 weeks ago, slipped through the cracks and didn't get scanned until last night. So I will share them with you now. The orange bordered cards are from the 09 team sets that seem to have just been released in time for that game.

Miggy has always been a great signer, well he was at least good last year at Frederick and this season in Bowie. He is typically the first position player out of the clubhouse and seems to know a lot of the fans; he has a good personality and I hope he can continue to progress through the O's system. I got another one of my favorite 06 Ironbirds cards signed!


Mike Costanzo came to the O's from the Astros as part of the Miguel Tejada trade before the 08 season. He started this season in Norfolk but was sent to Bowie about a month into the season and has underperformed for most of the year. A possible reason recently surfaced, as he has a torn meniscus and needs season ending surgery.



Eric Crozier was signed to the Baysox towards the end of June and I was able to track down these cards before I went to Bowie. He seemed like a really cool guy and signed for everyone.
Kalina also made the astute observation that he has Popeye-like arms.



Fredy Deza has bounced back in forth between Bowie and Norfolk for most of the season. I saw him in Frederick last year; it's only a matter of time before he is sent to the Bluefield!


Adam has become the Baysox everyday catcher. He was surprised to see that I had the 08 NW Arkansas Naturals card and I told him that I recently had visited family in Springdale. He asked me about a few of the guys on the Nats, so that was cool.



Paco still has one of my favorite autographs. I really like the loopiness of it. Unfortunately, he has been off and on the DL for most of the season.



Moe is the field coach for the Baysox and is another guy who seems to have a lot of fans in the stands that talk to him and know him.



Jim pitched for the O's in the 2006 & 2007 seasons. He relied heavily on his heater at the time but is trying to develop a curveball to get back to the Majors.



Dave has been the Baysox leadoff batter and resident funny-man this season.



Oh Radhames; last time we saw ye, you were at least in Norfolk, albeit in the stands tracking pitches.
But now you have slid from AAA to AA, but at least you still sign for the fans. Even if you were the last one out of the clubhouse and only signed for me and one other fan. I hope that you can get your delivery fixed and take that electric arm back to Baltimore. At least no-hit Harrisburg again, please.