1989 Orioles Debuts, #462-480, Why Not?

I'm going to keep rolling with these debut posts for awhile, so get used to it!

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990)

1989 was a good year for both the Orioles and the players that debuted in the orange and black. Three long-time Orioles, Chris Hoiles, Mike Devereaux, & Ben McDonald, took the field in Baltimore for the first time and there were a number of other players who stuck in Baltimore for three or four years. 


Phil Bradley #462, 4/3/89 (1989-90)

Steve Finley #463, 4/3/89 MLB Debut (1989-90)

Kevin Hickey #464, 4/3/89 (1989-91)

Brian Holton #465, 4/3/89 (1989-90)

Randy Milligan #466, 4/3/89 (1989-92)

Francisco Melendez #467, 4/6/89 (1989)

Bob Melvin #468, 4/7/89 (1989-91)

Bob was a big league catcher for ten seasons from 1985-94, spending three of those seasons in Baltimore and was best known for his solid defense behind the plate. After his playing career ended, he stayed active in baseball first as a coach, then as a manager, for the Mariners, Diamondbacks and currently is the skipper of the A's. He won the 2007 N.L. Manager of the Year award during his tenure in Arizona. 

Mike Devereaux #469, 4/7/89 (1989-96)

Chris Hoiles #470, 4/25/89 MLB Debut (1989-98)

Mark Huismann #471, 5/23/89 (1989)

Mickey Weston #472, 6/18/89 MLB Debut (1989-90)

Mickey spent the first two of his five MLB seasons with the Orioles before moving on to play for the Blue Jays, Phillies, and Mets. As you can probably tell by his signature, Mickey is a religious guy and currently works with UPI (Unlimited Potential Inc.) "Serving Christ Through Baseball". He is also the team chaplain for the Chicago White Sox. 

Mike Smith #473, 6/30/89 MLB Debut (1989-90)

Keith Moreland #474, 7/30/89 (1989)

Dave Johnson #475, 8/1/89 (1989-91)

Stan Jefferson #476, 8/9/89 (1989-90)

Stan has quite the interesting story, both in baseball and out of it. He was a first round pick by the Mets in 1983, but never was able to consistently perform at the MLB level and played for six different teams during his six years in the bigs. He spent parts of two seasons in Baltimore, appearing in 45 games, and hit .226 with four homers. His time in Baltimore was commemorated by his appearance on a single Orioles card in the Crown set, and I hope to track down a signed copy of that one day, so this might not be the last you see of Stan around here.

After his playing career ended, he became a police officer in New York City and was on duty for the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. He suffered physical and psychological effects following that horrendous event and retired from the force in 2004. The New York Daily News  wrote an in-depth story about him in 2007 and it seems as though he still had his struggles at that time. I hope that everything works out for Stan; I'm very thankful for his service for our country following that terrible time. 

Jamie Quirk #477, 4/3/89 (1989-90)

Tim Hulett #478, 8/23/89 (1989-94)

Ben McDonald #479, 9/6/89 MLB Debut (1989-95)

Juan Bell #480, 9/6/89 MLB Debut (1989-91)

Why Not...Again?

Since the 2012 Orioles are in a bit of a slump right now after starting out the year at such a torrid pace, I'm hoping that showcasing a few autographs of key players on the 1989 Why Not Orioles team might bring the current Birds some luck during their weekend series in Tampa. (I know that my actions on the blog have nothing to do with the team, but maybe this will make me feel better at least!)

I've limited this post to just players who I would consider "full-time" type players for the '89 squad, because when I went to pick out autographs for this post, I quickly realized that I haven't covered this era of Orioles baseball very well at all.

Starting catcher Mickey Tettleton (Oriole #453) made a huge contribution during his second season in Baltimore and led the team with 26 home runs. 

Second baseman Billy Ripken (Oriole #436) continued to prove solid defense in the middle of the diamond alongside his brother Cal, who you might have heard of before. And somehow, this is the first mention of Billy (F&#* Face) Ripken in the history of my blog. That ain't right.

Rookie Craig Worthington (Oriole #449) manned the hot corner with authority and held his own at the plate too. He came in fourth in the A.L. Rookie of the Year voting, losing to a teammate, whom we will soon cover, and finishing directly behind some kid named "Griffey". 

Center-fielder Mike Devereaux (Oriole #469) provided some highlight reel caliber catches during his first season in Birdland and became a fixture in Baltimore over the following six seasons. 

I'm using this 2010 Shorebirds coach card for this post since I've never used it on the blog before, but I'm sure this card is a much better representation of how we all remember Devo. 

Mark Williamson (Oriole #426) was the team's primary set-up guy out of the bullpen and won an insane 10 games without having made a single start. 

Brian Holton (Oriole #465) was another one of the team's primary relief pitchers but also spot-started 12 games.

His name came up recently in a collecting conversation about players who don't seem to sign TTM requests and his signature seems to be relatively tough to come by, at least on Orioles cards.

Wrapping up this post is likely one of my most egregious blogging omissions from the past four years. It seems as though this is my very first mention of the Orioles' lock-down Rookie of the Year closer, Gregg Olson (Oriole #457). It's pitiful really, how could I have never mentioned this guy before today? It is what it is, I suppose.

Anyway, Gregg was lights out during his first full season in Baltimore; he pitched in 64 games, finishing 52 of them, and amassed 27 saves while maintaining a tidy 1.69 ERA. He ran away with the 1989 A.L. Rookie of the Year award (receiving 26 of 28 first place votes) and also came in 6th in Cy Young voting while also receiving some MVP consideration.

Gregg was an All-Star in 1990 and went on to compile 160 saves over his five plus seasons with the O's. It also appears that Gregg is nearly a 100% TTM signer, so I might need to send out a request for a personalized card sometime soon. And I'm just writing about him for the first time today. Shameful.