You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

On Tuesday, the Orioles announced that righty reliever Jim Hoey was added to their 40 man roster, presumably to protect him from the Rule V draft. Jim pitched for the O's in parts of the 2006-07 seasons and has been fighting his way through various injuries since then. I would certainly expect that there will be more additions and subtractions to the O's 40 man over the coming weeks and my guess is that Matt Albers, Armando Gabino, Chorye Spoone, Pedro Viola, Pedro Florimon and Rhyne Hughes are the most likely to be removed, but time will tell. 

The O's also allowed a number of players to become Minor League free agents, including...

 Mike Hinckley

 Chris George

 Joel Guzman

 Scott Moore

and Dennis Sarfate.

Hinckley, George, and Guzman were all signed as Minor League free agents before the 2010 season and never made it to Baltimore.  

Moore and Sarfate both played for the Orioles at times over the past three seasons.  

None of these moves surprised me besides letting Sarfate go. The O's have a pretty deep bullpen and he didn't crack the 2010 Major League roster but he saved 20 games and had a 2.73 ERA for the AAA Tides. 

See Ya Sarfate

Dennis Sarfate was designated for assignment on Wednesday to make room for Miguel Tejada on the Orioles 40 man roster. Interestingly, Sarfate was one of 5 players acquired for Miggy just over 2 years ago.


I recently came across a picture that Kalina took of me and Sarfate at a Rays game in September 2008 that I wanted to get signed. It figures that I didn't find it before O's FanFest last week but what can I do now? He will probably be selected off waivers by another team so I might try to send a copy of the picture TTM to get him to sign it.





I just really wish that he had a few more cards that pictured him in an O's uniform since I got this same one signed so many times.


But thanks for being a good signer, Dennis. I will miss that about you. Good luck wherever you end up.

2010 Orioles Fanfest Recap

Good evening everyone, I hope that all of you Orioles fans out there had a great time at FanFest today. I know that I did! I have to thank my parents and my fiance for helping me to get all of these autographs.

First off, for the Bearded Orioles fan that had to work today, I present to you some crazy pictures of Nick Markakis.


It was like Peter Griffin's beard from that episode of Family Guy. Some sparrows were nesting in it.



I was able to finally get my first in-person Markakis autos too. It's about time!


I also got my first autographs from Kevin Millwood & Garrett Atkins. I got them both to sign a baseball card, from the Rangers and Rockies respectively, as well as an O's player card to add to my collection. That's the best I can do until they have Orioles cards, probably in the late 2010 sets.





Atkins didn't exactly look thrilled to be there. I mean, I understand that signing autographs for hundreds of fans isn't exactly thrilling but this was his first impression to O's fans. Step it up buddy!



Nolan Reimold signed his first official Orioles cards for us too. Kalina kind of liked getting to see him and got her Reimold jersey signed too.



Dino also signed his first O's card to add to my collection.

For some reason, he thought that signing this card in silver sharpie would make the autograph "stick" to the card better. I wiped all my cards down so it wouldn't have mattered in my case but I get where he's going and respect that he noticed something like that.


JJ mentioned that every time he sees the card on the right that he wants to add a mustache to it. I said, go ahead and do it but I think he thought I was kidding so he didn't. Maybe I will try again at Spring Training.


I really like the Topps 206 for autographs. So I got Pie to sign both his base card and the Piedmont mini.


The last time we saw Lou was in Frederick at the game on my birthday while he was on his rehab assignment.


I really wish that Sarfate had more than two Orioles cards. I have gotten this card signed a number of times now.


Erbe was the only prospect that I got a signature from. I hope that he moves up to AAA this year so he can pitch for the O's soon.



Frohwirth is the only O's alumni autograph that I got and I believe this card is my first in-person auto from him. You know I like those submarining pitchers!

I picked up a flex plan of tickets to Frederick Keys games that netted me this sweet new Matusz bobblehead, too.


All in all, things at FanFest were a little wild and unorganized but now that I've had a few hours away from the lines and crowds, I had a great haul of autos, cards, and goodies.

Thanks again to my Mom, Dad and Kalina. You guys are great for helping me out with my autograph collection (obsession). Oh, and Mom thanks for the Andino autograph (haha).

Orioles Autograph Year in Review: The Good Signers

I noticed all of these players sign frequently throughout their time with the O's.


George was consistently a good signer over his time with the O's. I know that I have mentioned that the relief pitchers all stay in the dugout and then walk out to the bullpen together prior to games but the closer typically does his own thing. So if he's a cool guy like George, you have a good shot at an autograph.

I know one loyal reader who will be excited to see George in a post. We just pulled his Dodgers card from the 09 Topps U&H set and it was kind of bittersweet. We miss you George!



The Cla was another reliever who seemed to sign pretty well. He was only on the O's for half of the season but I got his autograph at least twice. Cla was fairly reliable out of the 'pen and I hope he's on the team again next season. You can never have enough submarine style pitchers. That's according to my theory on maximizing the number of submarining players on the team. I tried to convert Melmo to try throwing submarine style on plays at third but he wanted no part of that. (Kidding)



Berky was a great signer. I was at his MLB debut game and he was actually signing before he warmed up. That's amazing! I had never even seen a starter do that in the minors, let alone at the Major League level. He seems like a nice guy, but I hope that he has more success on the mound going forward.



This was the first Orioles card that I got of Hendrickson, so I was pumped when he signed it for me. He signed a little more frequently when he was a starter as opposed to a reliever but he was pretty good about it either way. I should try to find a basketball card for him to sign if he's on the team again next year.



Another one of Kalina's favorite players was a good signer when he wasn't hurt. I just read that he is pitching in the Mexican Winter League to get some more innings since he was out for such a long time this season. But every time I found another Sarfate card, it would be signed soon enough.



I hope that Chris can revert to his 2005-07 form soon. A 7.27 ERA in 40+ games isn't pretty. But at least he's a good signer! He went down the entire right field line at the last Sunday game of the year and honestly must have signed around 500-700 autographs. Nice work Chris.

A Great Sunday at The Yard

With so few homes games during the month of July (only 9, 2 of which are undesirable Red Sox games), I had to make it out to one of the Blue Jays games this past weekend and I saw a good one. It didn't feature the excitement of Melmo's walk-off HR on Saturday but was a marked improvement over Friday's shut out loss. And with Brad Bergesen on the mound, I knew the O's had a chance to win or at least stay in the game. Also, two consecutive wins going into the All-Star break would be a great way to end the first half of the season. And the team pulled it off, way to go O's!

It didn't hurt my overall enjoyment that I had my best autograph day ever at the Yard. 10 different autographs!

The key to getting autographs inside the park on Sunday games is to get there as early as possible to catch all of the bullpen guys after they work out on the field.

Danys Baez 2007-

Today was great for me as I was finally able to get Danys Baez's autograph! I was the second person he signed for (I just happened to be in the right place) but he did go on to sign for another 50-100 fans. Somehow I never got his autograph prior to Sunday and he has a really cool looking autograph.

David Dellucci 1997

David was definitely my second favorite autograph of the day. He was recently called up to the Blue Jays after he was released by the Indians earlier this season.
"Delluch" came up through the Orioles farm system and played a few games for the O's in 1997 before being drafted by the Diamondbacks in the '98 expansion draft. I heard he signed TTM so I sent my Orioles card to the Blue Jays AAA team, the Las Vegas 51s, a few weeks ago. So I got him to sign this Indians card by the Jays dugout, but at least I got an autograph!

Rich Hill signed again, look at that crazy wind-up of his...

Kam Mickolio signed too. It's really crazy to stand next to such a tall guy. That's not a kids' head in front of me; that's an adult woman standing up. I got Kam to sign one of my team cards since the only cards I had of his were the cards from the 08 Bowie set I already have signed.

This is the first time I got Albers in person. The other auto I have from him, on this same 08 Topps card, is now available for trade and was given to me by friends from this year's O's Fan Fest.


I got Berken to sign for me a few times at Bowie last year but this is the first time I got him at O's Park this season. I really like these '06 Ironbirds cards that I picked up a few weeks ago at the game in Aberdeen.


Hendrickson signed again; he is really a reliable signer at games. I think I need more of his cards at this point.


Sarfate is still on the DL, but is back in the area on his rehab assignment, so I luckily had my 09 UD card with me. He pitched in Bowie on Saturday and is scheduled to be in Frederick tomorrow. It's nice to have Dennis back as he always seems to be a lot of fun and likes to clown around with the fans.



I was also able to get Lyle Overbay and Scott Rolen (pictured above). For Rolen, I used my patented "get close a player that is talking to a friend or family member and stand near them without being overbearing but make sure you are between the player and his exit" maneuver. It almost always works, just make sure you don't get pushy or too close the conversation. This move has worked for me at least three times this year with Kris Benson, Jarrod Washburn and now Rolen. Trust me, it's an effective move. One last note about these two: it just worked out that I have seen the Jays play in Spring Training both in '08 and '09 and I had never seen these two sign for anyone. In fact, the Overbay card had been with my Jays team set for years, so what is the likelihood I would get both their autographs in Baltimore? But I'm not complaining!


And finally, here is a picture of the happy O's after their Sunday win. Have a great break guys!