Back to 100%! Unpossible Autograph Friday- Dick Luebke, Oriole #184

With the addition of Dick Luebke, I am (once again) back to having an autograph of every player who has appeared in a game for the Orioles, and this time, I believe all 942 of my autographs are authentic signatures. There are a few that are very difficult to confirm without sending them into a professional certification service, but that probably isn't going to happen and I'm satisfied, so I guess that's what counts.

Dick Luebke was the final signature I needed for my collection, and his autograph was very hard to track down. To the best of my knowledge, it seems like there are only a few examples floating around for sale, and none of them are cheap. Luebke was included in two card sets, 1983 Fritsch One Year Wonders and 1991 Orioles Crown, but both of them were issued well after his death in 1974. I'm very happy to have this cut autograph of his, as I have yet to see any sort of image of him during his playing days that might have been around for him to sign during his lifetime.

After pitching for about a decade in the Orioles minor league system, Dick made his O's debut on August 11, 1962 and finished out the season with the team. Over 10 MLB appearances that season, he had an 0-1 record with a 2.70 ERA, in what would prove to be the extent of his big league experience. During that following off-season, he was traded to the Reds for Joe Gaines.

I wasn't able to find a cause of death for Dick, but he passed away when he was just 39 years old in 1974. There are three factors as to why his autograph is so hard to come by; the fact that he died so young, that he passed away well before autographs became big business, and that his time in the big leagues was so limited. RIP Mr. Luebke.


While I now have autographs of all 942 players who have appeared in a game for the Orioles from 1954-2012, I am still looking for a handful of upgrades. If anyone out there can help me with any of these guys, I would really appreciate your help! I have a bunch of autographs to trade, so we might be able to help each other!

John Anderson- Orioles Crown
Luis Ayala- 2012 Topps Update
Bret Barberie- 1995 Collector's Choice, Flair, Leaf, Topps Traded, Upper Deck
Chris Brock- 2002 Upper Deck 40 Man
Mark Brown- Orioles Crown
George Brunet- 1964 Topps, Orioles Crown
Luis DeLeon- Orioles Crown
Howie Fox- 1954 Topps
Luis Garcia- 2002 Fleer Box Score, Upper Deck 40 man
Jason Hammel- 2012 Topps Update
Lou Jackson- 1964 Topps
Stan Jefferson- Orioles Crown
Mark Lewis- 2001 Pacific
Matt Lindstrom- 2012 Topps Update
Ed Lopat- Orioles Crown
Terry Mathews- 1998 Pacific Online
Darren O'Day- 2012 Topps Update
Chuck Oertel- Orioles Crown
Ronny Paulino- 2012 Topps Update
Carl Powis- Orioles Crown
Vern Stephens- 1954 Topps or Wilson Franks, 1955 Bowman
Pedro Strop- 2012 Topps Update
Joe Taylor- Orioles Crown
Valmy Thomas- Orioles Crown
Marv Throneberry- Orioles Crown
David Wells- 1996 Flair, Fleer Update, Ultra, Upper Deck Update, 1997 Fleer, Score, Topps
Jaret Wright- 2007 Topps, Topps Heritage, Upper Deck

To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Ken Rowe & Chuck Diering

The Orioles family unfortunately lost two players last week, as both Ken Rowe and Chuck Diering passed away on Thanksgiving and Black Friday respectively. This is one of the few times I can recall that two former O's players died in the very same week.

Ken Rowe passed away on Thanksgiving day due to complications of pneumonia; he was 78 years old. 

He briefly pitched in the Majors between 1963-65 with the Dodgers & Orioles (he became the 217th player to appear in a game with the O's when he debuted on 9/14/64) before moving on to a long post-playing career as coach. He stayed involved with the game, mainly as a pitching coach, from the late 1960's through the 2010 season, including a stint as the O's pitching coach in 1985-86. 

I obtained this autograph of Ken's in a trade, and had always intended on sending him a TTM request as he was a consistently great signer of mail requests. It's too late now, but it's nice to know that he was so responsive to his fans. RIP Ken.

The second player to pass away last week was one of the original 1954 Orioles, outfielder Chuck Diering. He was the 12th player to debut with the O's when he appeared in the second game of the team's existence on April 14, 1954. He was selected as the 1954 "Most Valuable Oriole" which he cited as the highlight of his playing career when I sent him a TTM request. 

Chuck was also a very accommodating responder to fan mail requests and signed this card and business card for me when I sent him a request earlier this year. He owned a car dealership for a number of years after his playing career ended and it seems as though he typically included a copy of his signed business card when people sent him a request.

Chuck apparently fell in his house either sometime late on Thanksgiving or early Friday and hit his head, which sadly caused his death. It seems as though his son found his unresponsive dad, and was able to get him medical care, but Chuck passed away a few hours later in the hospital.

Thank you for signing for me Chuck. Rest in Peace.



To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

1984 Orioles Debuts, #386-396

Oh boy, 1984 was not a banner year for new Orioles players. There was pretty much Larry Sheets, and I guess one could mention Nate Snell and Ken Dixon, who both stuck around in Baltimore for a few years, but beyond that, there are quite a few "who's that?" type of players.

I might need to consider starting to cover multiple years in these posts, both to add some meat to them and to bump up the number of pictures. But that's not going to happen today.

Here's the older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985)


Wayne Gross #386, 4/2/84 (1984-85)

Tom Underwood #387, 4/7/84 (1984)

Orlando Sanchez #388, 5/20/84 (1984)

Mark Brown #389, 8/9/84 MLB Debut (1984)

John Pacella #390, 9/1/84 (1984)

Vic Rodriguez #391, 9/5/84 MLB Debut (1984)

Ron Jackson #392, 9/7/84 (1984)

Larry Sheets #393, 9/18/84 MLB Debut (1984-89)

Nate Snell #394, 9/20/84 MLB Debut (1984-86)

Jim Traber #395, 9/21/84 MLB Debut (1984, 86, 88-89)

"The Whammer" played in parts of four seasons with the Orioles before moving on the play in Japan and Mexico. He played in 264 games during his time with the O's, and played mostly first base.

Probably the most notable thing that occurred during Jim's playing career is an incident in Japan in which Jim charged the mound and the pitcher retreated all the way to the outfield.

He is currently an Oklahoma City Sports Radio host, and seems to be a bit of a blowhard from some comments I've heard from other collectors.

Ken Dixon #396, 9/22/84 MLB Debut (1984-87)

1985 Orioles Debuts, #397-408

Compared to the few following seasons that I recently profiled, the Orioles debuts during the 1985 season  saw a few bigger names and/or players that actually stuck around Baltimore for at least a few seasons.  The highlights were probably Fred Lynn, and Alan Wiggins, but a few of these other guys had some decent success in Baltimore as well. 

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986)

Fred Lynn #397, 4/8/85 (1985-88)

Don Aase #398, 4/8/85 (1985-88)

Fritz Connally #399, 4/10/85 (1985)

Lee Lacy #400, 5/13/85 (1985-87)

Al Pardo #401, 7/3/85 MLB Debut (1985-86)

Alan Wiggins #402, 7/5/85 (1985-87)

Phil Huffman #403, 7/13/85 (1985)

Brad Havens #404, 9/8/85 (1985-86)

Brad pitched eight seasons in the Majors between 1981-89 for five different teams and never was able to find much prolonged success at the MLB level. He was the Opening Day starter for the 1983 Twins and he was once involved in a trade for Rod Carew.

He also has a long-standing tradition of not signing TTM requests, dating back at least a decade, so I'm very happy to have his autograph in my collection.

Tom O'Malley #405, 9/8/85 (1985-86)

Tom's career was similar to that of Brad's in a few ways. He played nine seasons in the big leagues for six different teams, also including two with the O's, but never was able to get in a groove and spent much of his MLB in a back-up role. Their paths split when Tom went on to play six seasons in the Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league following his time in the Majors. He found consistent success in Japan and was one of the league's better players during much of his time there, even winning the Central League MVP award in 1995. He hit over .300 over every season that he played in Japan.

Kelly Paris #406, 9/18/85 (1985-86)

Eric Bell #407, 9/24/85 MLB Debut (1985-87)

John Habyan #408, 9/29/85 MLB Debut (1985-88)

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Joe Ginsberg, Oriole #98

Sadly, another former Oriole passed away last week, when catcher Joe Ginsberg died at a nursing home  in Florida. I believe that he had been ill for at least a year because I received this response when I sent him a TTM request almost exactly one year ago. 

Joe had been a great TTM signer for many years, so his autographs are widely available online if you are still looking for one for your collection. I always prefer my signatures to be personalized, so I was attempting to replace the autograph at the top of the post, but it just wasn't meant to be.

He was a major league catcher for 13 seasons between 1948-62, and mostly worked in the backup role.  He played for seven teams over that time, most notably the Tigers and Orioles, with whom he spent five seasons each. Joe made his O's debut on August 19, 1956 during the second season of the team's existence, and was the 98th player to don the Oriole uniform. He played for the Orioles through the middle of the 1960 season and appeared in 240 games for the Birds.

His career highlight was likely having been the catcher for one of Virgil "Fire" Trucks no-hitters in 1952 during his time with the Tigers.

Prior to the start of his MLB career, he spent two years in the military during WWII. I wish that I could have thanked Joe for his service. Rest in Peace, Mr. Ginsberg.


To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

1986 Orioles Debuts, #409-420

Man, 1986 was a fairly blah year in regards to the players who debuted with the Birds. Not a single one of the twelve new players played more than three seasons in Baltimore and I would be hard pressed to list a star in the bunch. A few guys had decent big league careers, but not due to their brief stints in Birdland.

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)


Jackie Gutierrez #409, 4/7/86 (1986-87)

Rich Bordi #410, 4/7/86 (1986)

Juan Bonilla #411, 4/7/86 (1986)

Juan played six seasons in the Majors between 1981-87, most notably spending the first three seasons of his career with the Padres; he came in 4th in the 1981 National League Rookie of the Year balloting for them.

He mostly played second base, but played a fair amount at third in his single season with the Orioles. Overall, he played in 102 games and hit .243 during his stint in Baltimore.

Juan Beniquez #412, 4/9/86 (1986)

Rex Hudler #413, 5/15/86 (1986)

Odell Jones #414, 7/8/86 (1986)

Tom Dodd #415, 7/25/86 MLB Debut (1986)

Tony Arnold #416, 8/9/86 MLB Debut (1986-87)

Ricky Jones #417, 9/3/86 MLB Debut (1986)

Ken Gerhart #418, 9/14/86 MLB Debut (1986-88)

Carl Nichols #419, 9/14/86 MLB Debut (1986-88)

Mike Kinnunen #420, 9/15/86 (1986-87)

1987 Orioles Debuts, #421-439

1987 wasn't a specifically remarkable year regarding the new players to put on an Orioles uniform. The highlight was probably Billy Ripken, who made his orange and black debut to complete the Ripken double play combo with brother Cal, and Ripken trifecta with their manager and dad, Cal Sr. Relief pitcher Mark Williamson also showed up in Baltimore for the first time and would be a part of the team for the next eight seasons, but that was pretty much everything of note. 

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988)


Terry Kennedy #421, 4/6/87 (1987-88)

Rick Burleson #422, 4/6/87 (1987)

Ray Knight #423, 4/6/87 (1987)

I had the opportunity to briefly work with Ray and he's a nice guy, although I will admit it's a stretch to call me a "great friend", but hey, I'll take it! 

Rene Gonzales #424, 4/6/87 (1987-90)

Rene played in the Majors for thirteen seasons between 1984 and 1997 and spent time with seven different teams. The four seasons he spent with the Orioles was the most time he spent with any specific franchise. He played mostly as a backup second and third baseman over his 267 games in Baltimore. 

Since his playing days ended, it seems as though he has stayed active in baseball and was a manager in the Brewers' farm system between 2007 & 2009. 

Dave Schmidt #425, 4/8/87 (1987-89)

Mark Williamson #426, 4/8/87 MLB Debut (1987-94)

Nelson Simmons #427, 4/18/87 (1987)

Jeff Ballard #428, 5/9/87 MLB Debut (1987-91)

Dave Van Gorder #429, 5/12/87 (1987)

Jack O'Connor #430, 5/13/87 (1987)

Tom Niedenfuer #431, 5/23/87 (1987-88)

Tom was a long-time closer for the Dodgers before he was traded to the Orioles in the middle of the 1987 season. By the time he arrived in Baltimore, he was nearing the end of his ten seasons in the Majors and had begun to lose his effectiveness, although he still saved 13 games in '87 and another 18 in '88.

He finished his career with 97 saves and notched double-digit save totals in six consecutive seasons from 1983-88. Unfortunately, he is probably best remembered for giving up a walk-off home run to Cardinals' shortstop Ozzie Smith during his time with the Dodgers in the 1985 NLCS, which led to Jack Buck's famous "Go crazy, folks" broadcasting call.

Luis DeLeon #432, 6/13/87 (1987)

Luis pitched seven seasons in the Majors between 1981-89 but is probably best remembered for the record he holds of pitching in 12(!) Caribbean World Series, representing his home country of Puerto Rico.

He is another one of those players who spent a short amount of time in Baltimore, appearing in just 11 games during the '87 season; he had an 0-2 record and a 4.79 ERA for the Orioles. His time in Baltimore is commemorated on a single card, of course as part of the all-inclusive Orioles Crown set, and I'm holding out hope to add a signed copy of that to my collection one day. I have just missed out on a signing with him and know of a few collectors with copies to trade, so hopefully, one of those bad boys will join my collection sooner rather than later.

Doug Corbett #433, 6/23/87 (1987)

Mike Griffin #434, 6/26/87 (1987)

Ron Washington #435, 7/10/87 (1987)

Billy Ripken #436, 7/11/87 MLB Debut (1987-92, 96)

Mike Hart #437, 8/14/87 (1987)

Pete Stanicek #438, 9/1/87 MLB Debut (1987-88)

Pete's entire MLB career was the 113 games he played during his two seasons in Baltimore. He played mostly left field and second base, and led the '88 O's with 12 stolen bases. His brother, Steve Stanicek, also briefly played in the Majors.

Jose Mesa #439, 9/10/87 MLB Debut (1987, 90-92)

Joe Table is best remembered for the seven seasons he spent with the Cleveland Indians during which he was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball. He was an All-Star in 1995 & '96, and led the Majors with 46 saves in '95, which in addition to his 1.13 ERA, was good enough for second place in the Cy Young award balloting. However, Clevelanders probably remember him more for blowing the lead in Game 7 of the  1997 World Series than for anything else.

Interestingly, Jose was almost purely a starter during the parts of four seasons his spent in Baltimore and the results weren't particularly good. He went 13-24 with a 5.41 ERA over 49 games for the O's at the start of his career and really only turned things around once the Indians converted him to full-time reliever in 1994.

As I mentioned in my post on the '88 Orioles, Jose came to Baltimore from Toronto as a player to be named  in the Mike Flanagan-Oswaldo Peraza swap. Which would have been a lot cooler if the O's had held onto him and not traded him to the Indians in the middle of the '92 season for Kyle Washington, who never played above AA ball.

Overall, Jose pitched 19 years at baseball's top level and amassed 321 saves, which is good for the 14th most in baseball history. Not too shabby for a player to be named later.

1988 Orioles Debuts, #440-461

I'm in a grove with these posts now...

1988 was specifically notable for Brady Anderson's debut and also provided the first glimpse of the Orioles' future shutdown closer, Gregg Olson. Curt Schilling also made his Baltimore and MLB debut, but he is obviously much better known as being a member of other franchises.

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989)

Rick Schu #440, 4/4/88 (1988-89)

Rick played nine seasons in the Majors between 1984-96, most notably spending four seasons with the Phillies at the beginning of his career. The Phils traded him to the O's in March 1988 and he spent the entire season in Baltimore and played in 89 games, mostly at third base. He appeared in just a single game for the Birds in 1989 before being sent to the minors. 

After his playing career ended, Rick stayed involved with the game of baseball. He served as the Diamondbacks' hitting coach from mid-2007 through mid-2009, under the reign of another former Oriole, Bob Melvin. Since late 2009, he has served as the Nationals' minor league hitting instructor. 

Jeff Stone #441, 4/4/88 (1988)

Jeff also arrived in Baltimore in the same trade that brought Schu to town, and also spent a majority of his career with the Phillies. He appeared in just 26 games for the Orioles during the '88 season. 

He received a vote for Rookie of the Year following his 1984 rookie campaign and was best known for his speed. He set the minor league single season steals record with 123 steals in 1981 but Vince Coleman would shatter the record the following season with 145 thefts.

Joe Orsulak #442, 4/4/88 (1988-92)

Oswaldo Peraza #443, 4/4/88 MLB Debut (1988)

Oswaldo played in the Majors for just a single season, and went 5-7 with a 5.55 ERA over 19 games for the '88 O's. He was a highly touted prospect who arrived in Baltimore in a trade with a Blue Jays in August 1987 that saw Mike Flanagan travel north to Toronto in return for Oswaldo and a player to be named later (PTBNL). Arm injuries derailed Oswaldo's once promising career, and he would never again return to the Major Leagues. Interestingly, the PTBNL in the trade was future long-time Major Leaguer, Jose Mesa. 

Doug Sisk #444, 4/4/88 (1988)

Doug pitched nine seasons in the majors, most notably spending his first six seasons with the Mets, and was a part of their 1986 World Series Championship team. He was solely a relief pitcher and was known for his sinker, which allowed him to give up just 15 homers in 332 career games. However, his walk rate was 4.6 per 9 innings, so he had some control problems. 

He spent just a single season in Baltimore and was 3-3 with a 3.72 ERA over 52 games and finished 29 of them, but didn't record a single save. I guess he might have been the mop up guy?

Mike Morgan #445, 4/6/88 (1988)

Mark Thurmond #446, 4/8/88 (1988-89)

Jose Bautista(1) #447, 4/9/88 MLB Debut (1988-91)

Wade Rowdon #448, 4/10/88 (1988)

Craig Worthington #449, 4/26/88 MLB Debut (1988-91)

Bill Scherrer #450, 4/26/88 (1988)

Keith Hughes #451, 4/27/88 (1988)

Jay Tibbs #452, 5/2/88 (1988-90)

Mickey Tettleton #453, 5/9/88 (1988-90)

Dickie Noles #454, 6/14/88 (1988)

Brady Anderson #455, 7/30/88 (1988-2001)

Gordon Dillard #456, 8/12/88 MLB Debut (1988)

Gregg Olson #457, 9/2/88 (1988-93)

Butch Davis #458, 9/2/88 (1988-89)

Curt Schilling #459, 9/7/88 MLB Debut (1988-90)

Pete Harnisch #460, 9/13/88 MLB Debut (1988-90)

Bob Milacki #461, 9/18/88 MLB Debut (1988-92)

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Dave May, Oriole #241

The Orioles' family lost another member when Dave May lost his long battle against diabetes and cancer last Saturday, October 20th; he was 68 years old. 

Dave played twelve seasons in the Major Leagues between 1967-78, and spent a majority of that time as a member of the Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers. He broke into the bigs with the Orioles in 1967 and became the 241st player to wear the O's uniform when he made his debut on July 28, 1967. He went on to play parts of the next four seasons for the O's before he was traded to the Brewers halfway through the 1970 season. Overall for the Birds, he played 223 games, mainly in right field, and hit just .216.

He had his best season in 1973 as a member of the Brewers and was selected to the American League All-Star team. He also lead the his league in total bases that year. 

May later became known as the player who was traded for Hank Aaron when the Brewers and Braves accommodated the aging home run champion's request to finish his career in Milwaukee, where it had began. From what I understand, Dave struggled during his time in Atlanta to try to live up to the hype as the player who was traded for an all-time great. 

After his retirement from baseball, he was elected to his native Delaware's Hall of Fame. Interestingly, he earned the nickname "Turnpike" during his time with the Orioles because he would commute from Delaware to Baltimore. His son, Derrick May, also played in the Major Leagues and was briefly a member of the Orioles during the 1999 season.

Rest in Peace, Dave. 

To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

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)

The Final Countdown- Erv Palica, Oriole #50

I was able to knock another tough name off of my list recently, as I finally tracked down a signed copy of Erv Palica's 1956 Topps card, the only Orioles card of his that was issued during his lifetime. It's always specifically challenging to add old signed cards like this to a collection because one has to compete with set collectors as well as fellow Orioles collectors, and everyone is up against the test of time. It's not like any new copies of a 56 year old card are just going to turn up, well not authentically signed ones at least.

Erv pitched nine seasons in the Majors 1947-56, but missed almost two full seasons in 1952-53 due to his service in the military during the Korean War. He spent his first seven big league seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers before being traded to the Orioles in exchange for Frank Kellert prior to the start of the '55 season.

He became the 50th player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he appeared in the team's third game of it's sophomore season in Baltimore on April 16, 1955. He went on to pitch 62 games, including 39 starts, for the O's during his two seasons in Baltimore, and had a 9-22 record with a 4.28 ERA.

Erv continued to pitch in the minor leagues for the following seven seasons, and spent time in the Orioles, Reds, Red Sox, and Angels' farm systems, but was never able to make it back to the Bigs.

In 1982, he was working as a longshoreman in California when he died of a heart attack at just 54 years of age. (On a personal side note- he died just over three months before I was born, and it's things like this that remind me how wacky my collection can be at times.) RIP Erv.

The '56 Topps card replaces this nice signed black and white postcard in my collection. The signature is slightly faded but still very legible.

L.J. Hoes- Oriole #942

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Orioles has selected the contract of one of their top prospects, L.J. Hoes. Well, after watching a few weeks of Orioles baseball from the bench, he finally made it into a game, but unfortunately, it might have been the lamest O's debut in recent memory. It wasn't that he did anything wrong, but his debut was one of those blink and you missed it kind of things.

You see, L.J. was inserted to the game as a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Orioles down to their last out. Jim Thome has just drawn a walk to load the bases and he is a bit slow on the basepaths at this point in his career. So out came L.J. to run for him. Ryan Flaherty was the next batter up, but he swung at the first pitch and flied out to center to end the game. So poor L.J. has only accrued about 15 seconds of MLB playing time, but at least he made it into a game. 

L.J. had been honored as the Orioles Minor League Player of the Year prior to the game, so it was a good time for him to make his debut, I just wish that it had lasted a little longer than it did. 

And in an interesting side note, Dylan Bundy was also honored before the game as being the Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Year, and he also appeared in the game, making his home pitching debut. It seems as though Buck Showalter might have wanted to get both these guys into the game that they had been presented their awards, assuming that it wouldn't have a negative outcome of the game. And it didn't but it was another ill-timed Orioles loss nonetheless. 

Dylan Bundy- Oriole #941

Dylan Bundy made his Orioles debut yesterday in Boston to become the 941st player to appear in a game for the O's. He entered the game from the bullpen in the eighth inning with a runner on second base and the Orioles trailing the Sawx 2-1. He got Ryan Lavarnway and Danny Valencia to fly out to end the threat and officially began his time as an Oriole. From reading some accounts following the game, it sounds like he was pretty nervous for his debut, and even had a hard time locating his glove in the bullpen.

I wrote about Bundy last Wednesday, when the O's recalled him from the minors. It took him a few days to get into a game, but hopefully this is just the beginning of a long and productive run for him in Birdland. I'd be lying if I said that expectations weren't high!

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Bob Hale, Oriole #68

Former Orioles infielder Bob Hale passed away on September 8th, which unfortunately necessitates another unpossible autograph post. He played 376 major league games from 1955-61, and spent the first five years of his career with the Orioles before he wrapping up his time in the bigs with the Indians and Yankees. Bob became the 68th player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he made his MLB debut with them on July 4, 1955. 

He was truly a great TTM signer and I, accidentally, sent him two separate requests over recent years. I somehow had misfiled the first cards he signed for me and thought that I still needed his autograph for my collection, so I fired off another request. He dutifully signed all the cards I sent his way, and I truly appreciate each card he signed for me. Thank you for being so great to your fans, Bob! RIP, you will be missed.


To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible."