Oriole # 1001- Jorge Rondon

It's kind of funny to me that it took over a month between Orioles #999, Mychal Givens, who debuted on June 24th, and #1000, Gerardo Parra, who made his momentous debut on August 1st. And then all of sudden, Oriole #1001, Jorge Rondon, made his O's debut the day after Parra. Granted that Rondon's debut did occur because of an injury to Mike Wright, who had just been recalled on July 31st, but still debuts seem to follow a feast or famine type of pattern. And I would certainly expect another handful of debuts to come in the following two months of the season. 

Photo credit

Jorge's Orioles debut was quite a successful one, as he pitched 3.1 innings against the Tigers on Sunday, and gave up just three hits while he struck out one in a scoreless appearance. I do not have an autograph of his, and he has very few cards out there, so I hope to get an OMC signed at some point in the near future. He was optioned back to Norfolk after his appearance, but it was due to the roster crunch not his performance.

Photo credit

He has also pitched in the Majors for the Cardinals in 2014 ( 1 game-1 IP, 1 BB) as well as the Rockies earlier this year (2 disastrous games- 1 IP, 8 H, 10 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 90.00 ERA). He is 27 years old so is past the "prospect" years, but he has 10 years of minor league pitching experience and has absolutely dominated at AAA Norfolk this season to the tune of a 1.93 ERA over 25 appearances out of the bullpen to go along with 37 strikeouts over 42 innings. Also he has an all-important spot on the 40 man roster, so I would certainly expect him to be back in Baltimore at some point this season.

Oriole #764- Eli Marrero

Eli Marrero made his Orioles debut on June 10, 2005 after a midseason trade brought him to Baltimore from Kansas City. Through the remainder of the season, he appeared in 22 games for the Orioles, mainly playing as a fourth outfielder. Eli provided some power off the bench, hitting 3 home runs in 50 at-bats, but also struck out 20 times over that period.

Eli played for the Cardinals for his first seven years in the Majors before bouncing between five teams over his final three big league seasons. He was only a regular one season, in 2002 during his time with the Cardinals, and spent the rest of his career as a back-up player.

This 2005 Topps Update issue is Eli's only Orioles card (along with some color and chrome variations) and it took me a few years to get it signed. I sent him a TTM request way back in March 2009 that has yet to make it's way back to me, and I doubt that it ever will at this point. In June 2010, I swung a trade to add one of his Cardinals autographed cards to my collection, but you wouldn't believe how hard it can be to track down a specific signed card.

Many of the players I am still trying to upgrade in my collection have had one or two Orioles cards produced of them, and signed copies of those cards seem to be very scarce. In many cases, you can easily find an autograph of just about anyone, but it can be very hard to find the specific autograph you want.

Luckily, Eli was a signer at the 2011 Cardinals Winter Caravan last year, and a fellow collector was able to help me to get my card autographed with whatever chicken-scratch that is that Eli calls his signature. I'm just  happy to knock Oriole #764 off of my need list.

The Time is Right

Today seemed like an appropriate time to show off the three remaining autographs in my collection that picture players wearing Cardinals or Rangers uniforms.

I need to start with Orlando Sanchez since this is the only Orioles card of the trio and because I'm rooting for the Cardinals to come back and win the series.

I guess no one thought to get a picture of Orlando in an Orioles uniform during his four game stint with the O's in 1984. He played parts of the 1981-83 seasons for the Cardinals and saw his last big league action in Baltimore; he appeared in 73 total games over his four years in the Majors.

Rick Helling spent eight of his 12 MLB seasons with the Rangers, and is one of only three players to have won 20 games in a season for them, which he accomplished in 1998 when he went 20-7.

He spent part of the 2003 season with the Orioles and was largely unsuccessful pitching for the Birds, but certainly wasn't the only pitcher from that period of time who couldn't find success in Baltimore. He is pictured on a few cards as an Oriole, so I'm hoping to upgrade to one of those some day soon.

Last up is Fernando Tatis, who began his big league career with the Rangers in the late '90s. He is best remembered for being the only player to hit two grand slams in one inning, a feat he accomplished off of Chan Ho Park during his time with the Cardinals in 1999. He appropriately also holds the record for most RBI in one inning.

Tatis played for the Orioles in 2006 and also was featured on a card in an Orioles uniform, so one day I would like to upgrade this signature as well.