Oriole #1002- Junior Lake

What was it that I just wrote in my last post about how when one player makes their Orioles debut, it seems that a few more are bound to follow? Well, that pattern is certainly holding true right now as Junior Lake was the third player to make their O's debut within a six day span. And he is also the third consecutive player to debut whose autograph is not in my collection, so that's just great. Thankfully, as was the case with Gerardo Parra, there are plenty of certified autographs available of Junior's out there, so it won't be hard to add his autograph to my collection at some point.

Credit: Getty Images

Junior was just traded to the Orioles from the Cubs at the trade deadline on July 31st in return for Tommy Hunter. At the time the move was made, I figured the O's were just looking for some salary relief for Hunter and viewed Lake as a controllable asset for the future, since he can't become a free agent until 2020. He has appeared in 193 games for the Cubs over the past three seasons, and hit .241 with 16 homers over his time on the north-side of Chicago. I remember that he sparked a baseball "fight" with the Marlins earlier this year after he hit a home run and enjoyed it a little bit too much.

So far, over two games with the Orioles, he is 1-8 with a double, but made a nice defensive play in left field that was captured in the above picture.

Time will tell what Lake's role will be in the organization, but it's hard to argue right now that just about anyone isn't an upgrade over Travis Snider, who was designated for assignment to make way for Junior.

Back To 100%

Considering that I haven't exactly had a ton of time for autograph collecting and/or blogging over the course of the 2013 baseball season, I consider myself pretty fortunate to still be able to say that I have an autograph of each and every one of the 966 players who has appeared in an Orioles uniform over the team's 60 years of existence.

Since I now possess autographs of all the 24 players who debuted over the course of the 2013 season, here's the breakdown for how those autographs came to be in my collection:
Obtained from player in minor leagues: 5
Obtained in-person from the player at MLB level: 5
On consignment from another collector: 3
Purchased online: 11

Quite a difference from past years when it probably would have looked something more like 30% obtained in minors, 60% obtained at MLB level, and 10% purchased. But such is the way things go when one doesn't have time to get autographs in person. Luckily, every one of the 11 autographs that I bought are certified signatures, and none were particularly expensive. In fact, most were quite cheap, which is perfect for me.

Without further ado, here are the three latest autographs that I purchased from COMC.com. (As you can see, I haven't had time to scan my own autographs yet, so I grabbed screenshots from their website. Hey, it's better than a post without pictures, am-I-right?)

Orioles #961-963

Michael Morse- options were somewhat limited since I didn't want a Nationals autograph bogging down my collection

Steve Clevenger- I would never have guessed that the Cleaver would have had a certified signature out there

Dan Johnson- there are a startling number of certified autographs of his out there; I tend to forget that he was something of a prospect back in the day

I was very pleased that all three of these autographs are on-card, and that all look pretty nice, although Clevenger's autograph leaves something to be desired. 

These three will likely stay in my collection unless I'm able to get any of these guys to sign one of my dad's custom OMC Orioles cards. Though I would guess that only Clevenger is back in the system in 2014, so that will complicate things with the other two. 

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Topps will be a jerk and include Morse as an Oriole in their 2013 Update or 2014 Series One set since he's something of a "star" although he did next to nothing during his month with the Orioles. If he is included on a Topps card than I have to add him to my need list, which I would greatly prefer not to do. 

Jake Looks Strange

So I tuned into the Nationals-Cubs game the other evening and who did I see pitching but former Oriole Jake Arrieta. It was the first time I had seen him in a Cubs uniform, and I have to admit that he looked slightly weird wearing another uniform, but that's life being an Orioles fan. I mean, I would venture a guess that at least half the teams in MLB have a former Oriole on their roster, so it's not that big of a thing. But it does give me a nice excuse to show off this awesome personalized autograph that Jake signed for me on my 2013 Spring Training trip that I had not shown here yet.

Thanks for signing Jake, and good luck in Chicago!

Oriole #956- Scott Feldman

Since I wrote my last Orioles debut post about Travis Ishikawa back in late June, five more players have made their Orioles debuts, three of whom were acquired in deals leading up to the trade deadline. Let me tell you, as a long-time O's fan, it's still feels strange to be on the receiving end of these types of trades. I'm much more used to the days when the team would ship out most of it's veterans at the end of July. Over the coming days, I'm going to write about each of the new players. 

 Scott Feldman Oriole #956, Debuted July 3 against White Sox

Back on July 2nd, the Orioles traded with the Cubs to acquire Feldman, and minor league catcher Steve Clevenger, in return for the long-struggling duo of Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop. I feel like it was a smart idea to strike a deal before the starting pitcher trade market took shape and honestly, I don't feel like the O's had to give up very much to get Feldman. While both Arrieta and Strop have plenty of potential, they certainly weren't living up to it in Baltimore. 

Jake was one of the players I watched rise through the Orioles minor league system and I had high hopes for him, but he never seemed able to stay on top of the mental part of the game at the MLB level as attested to by his 5.46 ERA in 69 games (63 starts) with the Orioles. And Strop was a nice guy who always seemed to have a smile on his face, but had become a relatively unusable member (7.25 ERA) of the 2013 'pen.

Over 5 starts thus far with the O's, Feldman has a 2-2 record and a 5.12 ERA, so I would like to see him step it up a bit, but I still feel like the move was an overall upgrade for the team. 

I'm aware that the COMC.com logo is pictured on the card above, but it is the autograph of Feldman's that is in my collection for now, I just have not had the time to scan the card since it arrived at my house. There are a few certified autographs of Feldman out there, so his autograph is a relatively easy one to add to your Orioles autograph collection. 

And I know that this is small sample size, but in my first in-person autographing attempt to have Feldman sign one of my dad's Old Man Cards this past Sunday, he completely ignored the relatively small group of fans who were trying to get his autograph. I hope to have some better luck with him on my next attempt!