Oriole #993- The Mike is Wright

Now THAT'S how you make an MLB debut! 

Mike Wright was recalled from AAA Norfolk last Wednesday and announced his presence to the baseball world on Sunday. Due to an illness and an injury to Bud Norris and Chris Tillman respectively, Mike was called upon Sunday to make the start against the Angels, and a lineup that included MVP winners Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. 

How did he respond? Only by shutting down the Halos on just four hits over 7.1 innings and striking out six, including Trout. His Orioles debut, which was also his MLB debut, was among the best ever for Orioles starters, and I can say that I had the pleasure to be there with my family. It was a game that we won't soon forget, and I'm sure that it must have been one of the best days of Mike's life. 

Mike was drafted by the Orioles in the third round of the 2011 draft out of East Carolina University, and Bowman was cool enough to mess up his first, and one of the only current, cards of him by somehow photoshopping him into a Nationals uniform. I remember when Mike signed this card for me during his time as a Frederick Key in 2012, and I asked him how he felt about being pictured with the wrong team. At this point, I forget what he said but he seemed to take it and stride and didn't react too strongly.

I can also tell by the Old Man Card that Mike signed and personalized for me that I found that photo a few years back. I'm pretty confident it was taken on a back field during Spring Training (probably 2012 or '13) and at that point was one of the only shots of him in an Orioles uniform. Looking at the picture now, you can barely tell that it's him, but trust me that it is!

On one of my family's spring training trips, we happened to stay at the same hotel as some of the O's smaller name players and minor leaguers who were in big league camp and Mike was one of those players. I don't remember specifically interacting with him around the hotel, but you could pretty obviously tell that he was a player by his size (he's 6' 6", 215).

And I would be remiss not to mention that I read an account by how Mike preps for his games by reading a book in the stands prior to his starts. The book he was reading on Sunday was one of the Harry Potter books, which my wife and I both enjoy, so it makes him even easier to root for!

Good luck Mike! I hope you have many more starts for the Orioles like the one on Sunday. But even if you don't, no one can ever take away the fact that you are the 993rd player to appear in a game for the O's!

Back to Spring Training- Major Leaguers

Since I've made it through all of the posts detailing the players who have already debuted for the Orioles thus far in 2014, and there are no other debuts on the horizon, I'm moving back to showing off the autographs I got on my Spring Training trip.

These next few posts will likely be picture dumps, but let's face it, I know that most of us prefer to look at pictures rather than read a bunch of words. As is the case with some men's magazines, most of you are here to look at pictures, not read. You've just chosen to look at signed baseball cards instead of women. But who am I to judge? I'm the one putting the pictures here.

Today's focus is on the autographs I got on my trip that are all of players currently on the Orioles roster. Over the next few days, I will cover minor leaguers, coaches, and the other miscellaneous autographs.

You will probably notice a number of signed cards that show players wearing orange uniforms. If you are new to my site, I collect signed orange uniform cards in addition to my main collection.

I was very happy to get Zach to sign this mini. They aren't so fun to carry around with a bunch of regular sized cards. I definitely dropped this bad boy more than once while trying to get other autographs.

 I've had some pretty bad luck with Wei-Yin over the years, so was surprised that he signed.

On the other hand, Steve Clevenger might be the best signing, coolest player the O's have had in a while. Pigtown is well represented by this guy.

I'm including Machado here because he would be on the team if he wasn't hurt. This was one of the first autographs I got at my first game, so I got off to a good start. I actually saw him sign one other time but he got absolutely swarmed.

My streak of only getting Nick's autograph at Fanfest and/or Spring Training continues.

It wasn't long ago that I had no signed Bud Norris Orioles cards. Now I'm up to three. I'd much rather have too many than not enough.

I was fairly surprised that Schoop made the O's Opening Day roster, and it mainly was related to Machado's injury but he also beat out at least Jemile Weeks for the backup infielder spot on the roster.

Jonathan has always seemed like a good guy, and he is very easy to root for; I hope that this is a start to a long Orioles career for him!

Heading for the Colleciton

A vast majority of the autographs that I got during my Spring Training Trip were of players who have yet to have played for the Orioles. In fact, quite a few of them might never appear in a game for the Orioles, but since you can never predict that sort of thing in early March, I always try to get their signed Orioles cards so that I can just slide it into my collection if/when they make their Orioles debut. A preventative strike, if you will.

Today, I'm going to show off a few autographs that I got on my trip that I am quite confident are heading straight for my collection, for a few various reasons.

I'll start out with the personalized upgrades of players who have already appeared in a game with the O's, so they will be directly slotted into my collection.

I'll start with Bud Norris, whose autograph I got on this Orioles card for the first time at FanFest thanks to Aaron. And now I have it personalized too!

I always get excited when the O's bring in former players to help out at camp. Todd Frohwirth has been a scout for the organization for a few years but is based on the west coast so rarely appears at games in Baltimore. He was in Sarasota to help current side-armed reliever Darren O'Day on his "mechanics" or whatever those wacky sidewinders call their pitching motion. 

Jack Cust was also back in camp with the Birds, after they signed him to a minor league contract. He seemed like a really nice guy when I ran into him at the team's minor league camp.

Next up are the two players who the O's signed this off-season that I am quite confident will end up playing some games in Baltimore, Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz.

Finally, I was able to add/upgrade some autographs for my coaches collection. 

Bobby Dickerson and Einar Diaz were both on the coaching roster last year and I was able to get their personalized signatures. 

While Dom Chiti and Dave Wallace are both new in town but were nice enough to sign and personalize their cards as well.

 

 As always, thanks to my dad for producing these awesome old man cards.I don't know how many people comment about them and pass along their complements but you do a really great job on them! Thanks old man!

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Orioles FanFest is always a great time, and I'm generally able to add a majority of the autographs to my collection that I would like to add. But sometimes, I just can't take care of everything and a few guys slip through the cracks. That's why it's great to have a friend like Aaron who was able to help me fill in a few of those gaps at the 2014 FanFest. 

First up is Bud Norris, who signed his first, and to date only, Orioles card. Bud was included as an Oriole in the 2013 Topps Update set and was one of my main targets for FanFest, but disappointingly, and somewhat confusingly, was not scheduled for any of the paid signings held throughout the day. 

Oh well, I figured that he probably had a preexisting commitment and wasn't able to be in town. But then as FanFest approached, Bud's name was included as one of the three signers at the free 10am season ticket holder signing, which I wasn't able to make. That made me scratch my head a little bit. Why wasn't one of 2013's biggest trade acquisitions scheduled for any of the other signings over the course of the day? But no harm, no foul, Aaron came through and got this card signed for me. 

He was also able to help me add this signed, personalized Wayne Kirby OMC to my collection. Wayne has been a decent signer over the years, but I had yet to get him on one of my dad's cards, so Aaron was able to hook me up yet again.

Thanks for your help, Aaron!

K-Rod & Bud Join the "Need List"

2013 Topps Update came out last week, and has been my policy for much of the year due to my decreased card storage space, I haven't purchased any of it yet. I might get a pack or two here or there, but I think my days of trying to complete these sets are over. I don't even have room for the sets that I already have, and need to make some tough decisions about what to keep or get rid of sometime soon. 

Anyway, I digress. Recently, I have just been cherry-picking the Orioles team sets off of ebay, depending on how many new players are included in the set. I really don't need any more cards of Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, or Brian Roberts. Since I'm not a player collector, I think 100 or so cards of each of them is more than enough.

With the release of every Topps Update set, I just cross my fingers and hope that not many, if any, of the Orioles included need to be added to my need list. But every year it happens, as a few players are pictured for the first time as an Oriole on cardboard. Last year it was Matt Lindstrom, Ronny Paulino, and Luis Ayala. This year it's K-Rod and Bud Norris. 

Since my dad began making his Old Man Cards of the Orioles earlier this year, it has made the autographing process easier for me. If I had one of his OMC signed by either K-Rod or Bud, then I wouldn't need to add them to my need list, but unfortunately, that's not the case. I was not able to get either of their autographs after they joined the team, and K-Rod even turned me down in what seemed like a very ideal chance to get his signature. 

I'm not too worried about getting Norris to sign a copy of this card since he is likely going to be a member of the Orioles for a few more seasons. But I don't see K-Rod coming back to town, and he doesn't exactly seem to be a good signer, so I am concerned about my prospects of getting this card signed by him. Hopefully it will happen one day.

The 2013 Update set also includes the first official Orioles card of Cuban rookie Henry Urrutia, but since I happily already have an OMC signed card of him, I don't need to add his name to my list. But I will likely still try to get this card signed since he is wearing an orange uniform and all, and I still do collect signed orange uni cards.

Oriole #960- Bud Norris

Wow, I'm finally caught up on my Orioles debut posts, for the moment at least. My posting over this summer has obviously been lacking, and at times, even calling it sporadic might have been a compliment. But the blog is still alive and kicking (or at least treading water). So your "favorite" source for everything related to Orioles autographs will continue to deliver "well-written" posts about signed pieces of cardboard for the foreseeable future! Rest easy, my friends.

Bud Norris, Oriole #960, Debuted August 1 vs. Astros

The trade that brought Bud Norris into town was definitely my favorite deal of the three that the Orioles swung prior to the trade deadline. While I think the Feldman and K-Rod trades both improved the club, this trade was the one that I think might be the difference between the team making the playoffs or just watching them on TV along with the rest of us. The trade was also an interesting one in that the Astros were playing the Orioles in Baltimore when it went down, so Bud only had to switch clubhouses at Camden Yards to join his new team.

Bud has pitched in the Majors with the Astros since 2009, and his W-L record isn't great but his ERA is very respectable, and let's face it, the 'Stros have pretty much been horrible throughout Bud's time with the team. While I wasn't thrilled to give up two local MD products and prospects in L.J. Hoes and Josh Hader, Bud isn't a free agent until 2016, so should be able to help the O's compete in coming years as well as this one.

To date, Bud has pitched in five games for the Orioles (four starts and one emergency late inning relief appearance), and has won three of his four starts while taking the hard luck loss in just the second appearance out of the 'pen in his MLB career. He has had the luxury of facing some relatively anemic offenses including the Astros, Padres, Giants, and Rockies, but I'm still a fan of his 3.91 ERA in an Orioles uniform.

Before I wrap this up, I want to pass along the story of how he earned the nickname "Bud". I heard this story earlier in the summer while he was still with the Astros but I thought it was pretty funny so it stuck in my mind. Anyway, his real name is David, but when he was a kid, he went out to dinner with his parents and some of their friends/family, and almost everyone at the table ordered a Bud(weiser) and so did he, apparently without anyone else paying attention or the waiter/waitress noticing he wasn't old enough to be drinking. So the server brought back everyone's drinks and before handing young David his beer, finally took note that he wasn't old enough to drink it. So from that day forth, he has been known as Bud. So there you go.

Good luck with the O's, Bud! You're the first Oriole that I'm aware of who is named after a beer, so regardless of how your time goes in Baltimore, you will always have that!

Adios L.J.

One of Kalina's favorite Orioles was traded today, as L.J. Hoes, minor league lefty Josh Hader, and a 2014 competitive balance draft pick were sent to the Houston Astros for starting pitcher Bud Norris. The Hoes for Bud jokes on Twitter right now are rampant.

L.J. only played in two games for the Orioles, but we saw him play many times in the minor leagues at both Frederick and Bowie, and it kind of felt like he had been around for a long time. Both Hoes and Hader are local guys who the Orioles drafted and developed and that makes it a little harder to see them go, but if it makes the team better this year, I'm all for it.

L.J. always seemed like a nice guy, which was the main reason that Kalina liked him, so good luck in Houston, L.J.!