The Recent Focus of My Collection

I'm extremely happy that I've been able to maintain my collection at 100% of autographs of all the players who have appeared in a game for the Orioles over their 60 year history. While I'm still pursuing upgrades of a handful of former Orioles, I have at least some sort of signature from everyone to wear the Orioles uniform in a game, and that makes me very happy.

However, the collector in me still insists on collecting something, in some way. And space is an issue at my house, so I've avoided purchasing cards from various new sets. Instead, what I've focused on is "upgrading" the autographs in my collection to be personalized to me. I've said it before and I'll repeat it now that my signed cards mean a little bit more to me when they are personalized to me. It certainly doesn't make the autographs as desirable to others, but that's not why I collect my autographs.

I have already written about many of the players whose autographs I've been able to get personalized, so I don't have much more to say about them, but I will add links to my original posts in case anyone cares to read about them. A few others I've never written about and will cover more in-depth. But that's pretty much what I will be writing about here in the foreseeable future. I hope you all enjoy it!

All of these autographs were obtained by sending out TTMs (through the mail) requests. So these guys graciously spend some of their time responding to fans. Great work guys.


Don Buford...made the 1971 All-Star team and received MVP votes in three of his five seasons with the O's.

Wally Bunker...was a key part of the Orioles 1966 World Series sweep of the Dodgers.

Foster Castleman...played the last of his five professional seasons for the O's in 1958

He was also nice enough to thank me for sending him my letter. And added a second signature!

Wrapping Up Request Week- Don Buford

Sorry for the delay with my final request week post, my birthday was over the weekend and it kept me away for a computer for a few days. The final request came from a blog reader who goes by Reivax, who wanted to hear my take on Don Buford. I've briefly covered Buford two other times, but not in much detail.

Don Buford played with the Orioles from 1968-72 during some of the best years in franchise history. He was the lead-off hitter for most of his time with the O's and still holds the all-time Major League record for the lowest GIDP (ground into double play) rate, averaging only once in every 138 at-bats. That's pretty amazing. He also made the 1971 All-Star team and received MVP votes in three of his five seasons with the O's.

After Don's playing career, he went on to hold various Minor League coaching and managing positions with a few Major League teams, mainly the Orioles. He even spent some time in their front office, talk about versatility!

Maybe the current team should have Don come in and talk to everyone. Outside of the injured Brian Roberts, the O's don't have much in the way of lead-off hitters, so at least he could give advice to a few of the current players filling that roll.

Autographs from Saturday's 1970 Orioles World Series Championship Celebration

As some of you might know, the Orioles held a team reunion for the 1970 World Series Championship squad at this past Saturday's game . Most of the living members of the team were in attendance and there were three autograph stations set up around the lower concourse. All of the HOFers and other big names didn't sign but were at some sort of Q&A press conference.

With the help of Kalina and my parents, I was able to add the first in-person autographs of Pete Richert, Bobby Floyd, Bobby Grich, Merv Rettemund, Tom Phoebus and Dave Leonhard to my collection.



My dad knows that I like my autographs personalized, so he helped me out with a few of those, including Pete. It was cool to get him to sign a 1970 commemorative card.

Bobby had personalized my TTM request too, and wrote across his face on both. He's clearly not a vain man. Or maybe he's trying to cover up a scar?


Now that is an amazing mustache. Bob was probably the most friendly of all the signers I came across. But he no longer sports the 'stache.


Most of the players were nice, but Merv seemed kind of hot and bothered. Literally hot. Possibly bothered. It's hard to say. He was signing at a furious pace.


Don't have much to say about Tom. He also signed boldly across his face.



The top card is my TTM request that Dave personalized "Keep Smiling"; I think this one says "Best Wishes". He seemed like a cool guy.


I'm willing to trade the rest of these cards if anyone didn't get them and is interested.


I got Don's autograph years ago at another alumni signing of some sort. He was sitting down at his station but looked very short for a former player.

I was pretty excited about this one. The O's Crown set is perforated and I opened a new set for this event. Richert & Rettemund are right next to each other so these cards are still connected.

Another Leonhard. This one not personalized and signed in pen.

An Angels Grich from the cool Ted Williams set. Somehow I didn't have any other Orioles cards of him.

And a couple more Richerts.

Back to the B's

I know that I have gotten away from updating my current autograph collection due to FanFest, incoming TTMs, Opening Day and the O's Alumni Autograph excitement but now I will get back to it and finish off all of the "B" players. Sorry for the long post!


Mike Bordick (97-00, 01-02)
I need to start by saying the Mike Bordick is awesome. I was always a big fan of his, mainly due to his slick fielding. He set records as a SS for most consecutive errorless games (110) and chances (543). At the most demanding position on the field, that is a crazy accomplishment! The O's liked his fielding so much that they moved Cal from SS to 3B to accommodate Bordick; and if you aren't familiar with the O's organization in Cal's latter years, it is amazing that they did anything to displace him. Another interesting note about Bordick is that when the O's traded him to the Mets during the 2000 season, Melvin Mora was one of the players the Orioles got in return from the Mets. Bordick then re-signed with the O's after the season so it was a win-win!


Phil Bradley (89-90)
Phil's playing days were a little bit before I was old enough to appreciate his great fielding. He only played about 1.5 seasons on the O's, coming in a trade from the Phillies and then being sent to the White Sox.

Leslie Brea (00-01)
He pitched in only 8 games for the O's and amassed an ERA over 12. That's why I don't have much else to say. But I want to add that I feel it's a stretch to refer to any of the three guys on this card as "Vintage Rookies". Brea also came from the Mets in the Bordick-Mora trade.


Chris Britton (06)
Chris was a "big" reliever for the O's in 06, and by "big" I'm referring more to his girth than his clutchness. He is listed as one of the heaviest players in baseball history at 275 lbs.
In all fairness he had a pretty good '06 season, appearing in 52 games and sporting a 3.35 ERA. After the season he was traded to the Yankees, for Jaret Wright and a cool $4 million, since the Orioles had plenty of bullpen help but not enough starters. Anyone recall how Jaret Wright worked out for the O's? Neither do I...


Jim Brower (06) auto on Giants card
Brower was another reliever for the O's during the '06 season. He wasn't nearly as successful as Britton, sporting an ERA of 13+ and lasted only 12 games.



Kevin Brown (95)
This version of Kevin Brown is (most likely) the pre steroid user, and obviously a predecessor to the guy the Dodgers made baseball's first $100 million man in the late 90s'. I got this autograph at a game and from what I recall he was pretty approachable and accommodating with fan requests. Good on ya Kevin.



Damon Buford (93-95)
I must first address that this is one of my first autograph experiences with a glossy card. I didn't know to rub it down, erase it, or do anything else to prepare it for an autograph. And this still bothers me fifteen years after I got this at a game. Sad, right? Damon was a great signer and how excited does he look on this card?
He never did too much on the field but was part of trade with Alex Ochoa to the Mets that brought Bobby Bo to the Orioles in '95. Damon was later signed back to the O's as a free agent in 2001 but never got into a game.


Don Buford (68-72)
Damon's dad Don had a much more accomplished stint in the black & orange than his son did. He finished in the top 30 in MVP voting 3 of his 5 years and he is regarded as one of the better lead-off men the Orioles have ever had.



Freddie Bynum (07-08)
Fr-EDDIE was a super utility player for the past few seasons. As I recall it, he hit a HR in one of his first at-bats leading to high expectations from me. Things didn't really work out but I was able to get his autograph at a BaySox game last summer.



Tim Byrdak (o5-06)
Since Tim wasn't ever featured on an Oriole card, I figured that using his Lynx card was the second best thing. He was a pretty good middle reliever in '05 but not so good in '06. He is still pitching in the Majors, and is currently on the Astros.



Eric Byrnes (05)
Since the O's were one of 3 teams that Byrnes played for in '05, I was pleased to find a signed Orioles card of him. He was pretty awful during his time on the O's with a batting average below the Mendoza line (.192). Byrnsie has been an exciting player over the course of his career but couldn't get things going in Baltimore. He has had some up and down years for the D-Backs but had a stellar 2007 season.
Also interesting that the O's traded Larry Bigbie to the Rockies for Byrnes.