An Orange Kind of Day

As some of you may know, one of my mini collections is of autographed Orioles cards (as well as those of their affiliates) that picture the player wearing the O's distinctive orange uniform. It's a color that very few teams wear and I like its uniqueness. Most of the cards that depict the O's wearing orange uniforms are from shots taken during the team's exhibition games in Spring Training. But now that the Orioles have officially brought an orange uniform variation back into the regular rotation, I'm expecting to see more orange uniform cards in the coming years.

This collection is kind of a passive thing that I don't like to spend money on, but I will try to obtain signed orange uniform cards in person or via trade. At some point, I might get my "have list" uploaded but doubt I will ever put together a want list.

Here are some current and former Orioles rocking the orange.

Quite a few of Miggy's Orioles cards show him wearing orange

I believe that Kirk, who writes Eutaw Street Cardboard, sent me this Bergy autograph

Melmo is also shown wearing orange in the '05 Donruss set; nice work Donruss!

Unsuccessful Oriole, Bob McCrory, is shown wearing the Tides orange uniform variation

2011 Orioles Autograph Year in Review

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm going to do my review a bit differently this year. Here is the list of all fifty players who appeared in a game for the Orioles this year, and the number of times I either got their autograph or saw them signing at a game. I'll then give some thoughts and opinions on my observations.

(The very random selection of autographs are scans of my 2011 O's autos that hadn't yet been on the blog)

Jeremy Accardo 1
Ryan Adams 2
Robert Andino 2
Matt Angle 0
Jake Arrieta 2

 

Mitch Atkins (3 in minors)
Josh Bell 2

 

 Brad Bergesen 1
Jason Berken
Zach Britton 4 (1 additional at minor rehab)
Blake Davis
Chris Davis (1 at minor rehab)
Willie Eyre 1
Pedro Florimon (3 at minors)
Jake Fox 4

 

Mike Gonzalez 2
Kevin Gregg 1
Vladimir Guerrero 3
Jeremy Guthrie 3
JJ Hardy 3
Mark Hendrickson 0
Kyle Hudson (1 at minors)
Tommy Hunter 1
Cesar Izturis 0

 

Chris Jakubauskas 3
Jim Johnson 1
Adam Jones 3
Derrek Lee 2
Nick Markakis 0

Brian Matusz 1
Troy Patton 1

 

Zach Phillips 1
Felix Pie 0
Clay Rapada 1
Nolan Reimold 1
Jo-Jo Reyes 0
Mark Reynolds 2
Brian Roberts 1

 

Josh Rupe 1

 

Luke Scott 2 (1 at minor rehab)

 

Alfredo Simon 2
Brandon Snyder 2
Pedro Strop 2
Craig Tatum 0
Chris Tillman 3
Koji Uehara 1
Rick Vanden Hurk 0

Pedro Viola (5 at minors)
Matt Wieters 2

 

Mark Worrell 1


There are some things to keep in mind while looking at this list. For example, Izturis has been a great signer in past seasons, but was only with the team for a few weeks this year, so I had very few chances to get his autograph. The small sample size also applies for the late season call-ups, spot starters and others who only spent a few games on the roster. 

However, here are a few observations I am comfortable making after tracking all of my successes for the season.

Nick Markakis and Craig Tatum are the worst signers on the team. They both spent the entire season with the O's and I never saw either sign a single card. Of course, they theoretically could have signed at every single game I did not attend, but based on their track records, I highly doubt it. It seemed as though Jo-Jo Reyes wasn't a huge fan of signing, but I had a smaller sample size to form that opinion.

The best signers seem to be Zach Britton and Jake Fox, who were consistent signers throughout the year. Jeremy Guthrie, JJ Hardy, Chris Jakubauskas, Adam Jones, and Chris Tillman were also good signers. From what I understand from talking to other graphers, I must have been at the only three games that Vlad signed at, so I'm hesitant to call him a good signer, but I will say the future hall-of-famer signed more than I thought he would.

If any of you would like me to give additional thoughts/opinions about the signing habits of the 2011 O's, leave a comment and I'll try to answer everything by tomorrow.

Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Bowie Baysox Brad Bergesen

This week's bobblehead is from the O's AA affiliate Bowie Baysox. They gave away this Brad Bergesen bobble to the first 1,000 fans on Thursday June 17, 2010. 

It's a decent bobblehead, but at this point, I'm never very excited to see Bergesen take the mound. He has his good starts, but I would say that overall he might have more success as a long relief/swing-man out of the bullpen. And in a perfect world, if Matusz & Duchscherer & Simon can get and/or stay healthy, I bet Bergy heads back to the 'pen.

Orioles Fanfest, Thank You Justin & Set Needs- Updated Twice

Orioles Fanfest autograph vouchers went on sale this past Saturday morning at 10am. Since it used to be free, I'm not happy that you now have to pay $15 to get an autograph at each station, but it's nice to know that you are guaranteed to get an autograph of who you want. It was definitely a crapshoot in past seasons. Only 250 vouchers were available for each station, so I thought they would sell out fast. Luckily, I got vouchers for the four stations that I wanted, and surprisingly, there are still vouchers available for 13 of the 15 stations as of this afternoon. So much for them going fast.

My goal was to get an autograph of all the new Orioles who will be in attendance and to finally get my Matt Wieters SI signed. Assuming that everyone who is scheduled to be there actually shows up, I should achieve my goal. Matt Wieters, Kevin Gregg, Jeremy Accardo, Mark Reynolds, JJ Hardy, and Willie Randolph are among the signers who I should be able to add to my collection. For whatever reason, Derrek Lee isn't scheduled to attend, but at least I already have his autograph.

Since each station has 3-4 players/alumni scheduled to sign, I will be passing by a few players who I don't need for my collection. If anyone out there is interested, I can get you an autograph of any of the following players:
Jake Arrieta- Aaron
Troy Patton- Paul
Boog Powell- Paul
Jason Berken- Austin
Brad Bergesen- Ryan
Dick Hall (x2)- Zach- 1
Craig Tatum- Austin

Updated again with spots filled - Still have 1 Hall spot left

I just request that the item your item be small (card/postcard/3x5), that you include a SASE, and that you get it to me by January 29th.


Justin, of Justin's World  fame, deserves a major THANK YOU for sending me a huge package of 2009 Topps cards, and some cards for Kalina and my player collections. Thanks to him, I'm now only 12 cards away from finishing the set. Very cool stuff! If you've never seen his site, Justin collects Cubs, Colts & Grizzlies cards. Just watch out for that Grumpy Blogger!


Also thanks to Justin, I got up the motivation to update my set needs page. It's always linked at the top of the left-hand sidebar, or you can just click the link there. I pretty much have collected Topps' base & Updates sets as well as Topps Heritage over the past few years.  There are a few sets that I am very close to completing, like 08 Topps (1 card left!), so if anyone can help me out, I woudl really appreciate it!

Orioles Autograph Year in Review- The Best Signers

This will wrap up my review of the 2010 O's signing habits, which I started just about two weeks ago. Last year I included 8 players in this best signers group; this year it's down to 7, but it's still about 15% of the players who played for the O's this year which isn't bad. 

Luke is once again the player who signed the most over the course of the season. I'm pretty much at the point where I try to let other fans get his autograph since I've got his signature so many times. He always seems like a nice guy and talks to the fans while he's signing. I listed Luke in this category last season too, but he really deserves his own category. 


The following three relief pitchers signed almost every Sunday during the season (Sunday's are the day pitchers can warm up on the field since there's no batting practice).

Albers has been inconsistent on the mound over his time in Baltimore, but he's typically been a good signer at least.

I put Hendrickson in the good signers category last year, but this year he took his signing to the next level.

Ohman was sent to the Marlins at the trade deadline, but he signed very frequently before being sent to Miami. I think he signed every card I had of him before the trade, so I was fine with it.

I've heard that some other people had trouble getting Cesar's autograph this year, but not me. He was always the first player to come back to the dugout after B.P. and would normally sign early on. Cesar really upped his signing game this season; I listed him in the kinda-good category last year.      

 

Dino only spent the last month of the season in Baltimore, but he signed enough over that time to get listed here. He was in this category last year too, making him the second back-to-back best signer.  

 

Bergy was the rare Orioles starting pitcher who signed regularly this season. He would sign on some Sundays and in between his starts too.  

I hope that everyone enjoyed the review and I will now get back to my regular blogging schedule, whatever that might be. 

Molding the Future of the Orioles

Mike Griffin pitched for the Orioles in 1987 both as a starter and reliever and went 3-5 with a 4.36 ERA.

He has been a pitching coach in the Orioles organization for the past three seasons, starting at AA Bowie in 2008 and filling the role for the AAA Tides in 2009 & 2010. He seems to do good work and has aided in the development of current Orioles Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen, Jason Berken, David Hernandez and Frank Mata. Jake Arrieta has been tearing up International League hitters all season, so hopefully he will join the O's soon. They sure could use the help. And possibly a new manager...what're you up to Mike?

In-Person Autographs from O's First Week

I finally had time last night to scan some of the autographs that I got over the O's first homestand. Without further delay...


This is the first Ohman autograph in my collection, so it was the highlight of the series for me. He seems like a cool guy, and does a great Harry Caray impersonation. He added Colossians 3:17, which says "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."


I have a few Matusz autographs in my collection, but this is his first Orioles card. Hey 2010 Upper Deck, I knew you had to be good for something!


This is also Cla's first Orioles card. It's from the 2010 Topps Orioles team set; he doesn't have a card in the regular Topps release so his inclusion in the team set was a nice surprise.


The Topps team set also included Gonzo's first "Orioles" card. It's just a Photoshop job of his Braves card in the regular set, but is an upgrade to my collection.


Bergy has a number of O's cards from the fall Update set releases, and I chose this one to get since he's rocking the Orange Uni. I missed getting Brad's autograph in Spring Training so this is the first signed O's card of his in my collection. And I have to add that he did something very nice for a little kid at Monday's game. He signed the kid's ball and then took it into the dugout to get the rest of the team to sign it. I think he must've gotten 20 signatures for the kid. Brad's a great guy, he just needs to regain his 2009 form on the mound.


I got my first in-person Tejada autograph at Sunday's game. I was the last person that he signed for before running back to the dugout right before the game started, so I figured that I got the rush job on his autograph.


But no, that appears to be his normal signature. I got this one at Monday's game and it might be marginally better but still looks like an exaggerated MT. You can do better than that Miggy!


Even though he was already in my collection, I was happy to add an in-person upgrade of Jose Bautista from the Jays' weekend swing in Birdland.


And these two guys have made multiple appearances on the blog but are popping up again since I was able to add autographs of them wearing the glorious orange uniforms.


David is looking good so far this year...



And Hey Hey Hey, not so much. He better "shape up" soon or he will be heading to Norfolk.

Orioles Autograph Year in Review-Small Sample Size Good Signers

All of these players seemed to be good signers but weren't with the team long enough for me to figure out if I just got lucky or if they normally sign a lot.


I'm pretty sure that Bergy is always a good signer. I saw him sign 3 or 4 times at Orioles Park this season and he was only with the team for about half of the year (stupid Billy Butler line drive off of his shin...). I also got multiple cards signed by him at Bowie last season even though I seemed to attend most of his starts by a strange coincidence. He even signed my Bergesen t-shirt that the Orioles gave away; that's one of my favorite autographs from the year.



Lou is an interesting story from my autograph seeking standpoint. With Bowie last season, he was one of the toughest signatures to get. I got him once over the course of the entire season while I typically had 3-4 of all the other players.

But this year, I got him to sign his Orioles cards three times even though he was on the DL for the majority of the year. So I had more success with him while he was an Oriole than a Baysox player. Weird.

I was also lucky enough to catch one of his rehab starts with Frederick at the end of the season so he signed a few more cards with me then. If my memory is correct I also got a picture with him at that game.



G-Rod is another interesting case of a player who seemed to sign more once he was on the O's than he did for the Baysox. But this occurred over the course of the 2009 season. He started the season with the Baysox and was with them until about mid-August when he was promoted to the Tides. I got his autograph twice over his time in Bowie; and one of those was at a meet the team day.

He was promoted from the Tides to the O's with the other September call-ups and I got his autograph once over the last month of the season. So he freely signed for me once in Bowie over 4.5 months and once in Baltimore over 1 month. My guess is that as he is a veteran in the minors the younger guys are expected to sign more, whereas he is a rookie in the Majors and is expected to defer to the more experienced guys. Just a guess.



Chris was another September call-up whose signature was pretty easy to get. I believe this is the first Orioles card of his that I got signed. Last year, he signed a Baysox card for me when he was with the O's. He signed for a bunch of fans at the last game of the year and I was happy to be one of them. This is also the first time I have featured Chris on my blog, which is not the case with these four other players.



Since I already featured this card on the blog, I wanted to show the 09 Tides card I got signed at the last game of the season. But, yet again, I haven't scanned that and don't know exactly where I might be able to find it. I'll look for it tonight. But Alberto seems to be a pretty nice guy and a good signer.

Recent Auto's at O's Games

Here are some cards that I have been able to get signed at recent O's games. My current definition of recent is within the past month or so. So, yes, that means that I am about a month behind on everything I am trying to do. Oh well, baseball season is almost over and then I can finally catch up on things. Sorry to anyone that I owe packages to, they will be on their way soon enough.

And I start off my post by lying to you. I got this Bruce Chen autograph when he was in town with the Royals in late July. So I'm like 6 weeks behind on showcasing this card. Wow, that's pretty bad.

But I do have a funny story about this autograph; if you read my previous post about Bruce, it really seems like he is a very nice guy. And at this O's-Royals game, he once again came through for the fans by being the only Royal to sign for the fans after BP. He signed everything for everyone, and used my sharpie for most of the signing but I didn't care as he was, like I said, the only player signing. He signed a couple of dollar bills for some guy and then the usher told him that he didn't think that was legal so I doubt Bruce will do that again.



This is now my favorite autograph of our slick-fielding shortstop. I like these O-Pee-Chee cards for autos.



Melmo came through again. And seeing as I got this signed shortly after my trip to Toronto; I got Mora's signature twice in one week and not another time for the rest of the season. At least to this point. It seems as though he is a streaky signer.



Bergy was around for his t-shirt giveaway game in mid-August. Not only did he sign this card for me but I was also able to get my t-shirt signed. Sweet!



I do not like that Moeller is featured in a Yankees uni on this card. I try to avoid getting Yankees or Red Sox cards signed whenever humanly possibly but I didn't have any other cards of his. But since I got my 09 Tides set for my birthday, this situation has been rectified.





That's it on Orioles autographs but I found out last weekend that the Indians are a very good signing team. I just missed out on Grady Sizemore twice but I did get a few decent autos.


Travis Hafner, although he's not the player he was a few years ago, is still a cool autograph to get at a game. He signed for a ton of fans too.


Aaron Laffey was talking to some friends/family in the stands and was signing while doing so. Interesting note about his autograph- he signed Laffey first, and then added the A. I've never seen a player sign backwards like that before.


Chris Perez signed for me for the second time this season. The first time was a Nationals-Cardinals game in DC when Perez was still playing for St. Louie.


Wyatt Toregas, a rookie catcher signed this team card for me. I think he was trying to leave some room for others to sign the card. That, or he has a tiny signature.


Finally, Eric Wedge. I like the way his signature looks; it's all over the place.