1993 Orioles Debuts, #524-539

Moving right along with my debut years theme, up today are the new 1993 Orioles players. Here are the past debut years I've featured (2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994).

1993 was a mixed bag of Birdland debuts; there were a few veteran players who only spent a season or two in Baltimore as well as eight players who would make their MLB debut appearances for the O's. Harold Baines and Jeffrey Hammonds were the only two players who had a major impact for the team during their time in Baltimore. 

Harold Reynolds #524, 4/5/93 (1993)

Harold Baines #525, 4/5/93 (1993-95, 97-99, 2000)

Fernando Valenzuela #526, 4/9/93 (1993)

Sherman Obando #527, 4/10/93 (1993, 95)

Besides having one of the cooler names in Orioles history, Sherman didn't contribute much to the team in 47 games he played for them over parts of two seasons. But it turns out that he actually had quite a successful career playing in Japan and consistently had good numbers over the six seasons he played there. In fact, for a few seasons he was the second best player in the league behind only Ichiro. 

He continued to play baseball at least part time through the 2008 season, having been a member of Panama's 2006 World Baseball Classic team, 2007 Baseball World Cup squad, and their 2008 Olympic team. Most recently, he served as the first base coach for the Charleston RiverDogs for at least the 2009 season. 

Brad Pennington #528, 4/17/93 (1993-95)

Brad was a very wild pitcher who averaged well over a walk an inning during the parts of five seasons that he spent in the Majors. He also averaged more than a strikeout per inning, which is probably what kept him the big leagues as long as it did, and he wrapped up his career with a 7.02 ERA over 79 games. 

I am a big fan of his autograph however, it's got so much flair to it that it's hard not to like. 

Damon Buford #529, 5/4/93 (1993-95)

Mark Leonard #530, 5/6/93 (1993)

Jamie Moyer #531, 5/20/93 (1993-95)

What can I say about Jamie Moyer that you likely don't already know? Not much, I'm sure. But when the Orioles signed Moyer to a minor league deal earlier this season, I got excited to think that a player could re-play for the Orioles after an almost 20 year break. That would have been amazing, but sadly the O's released Jamie after a three start minor league trial. I hope that he can catch on somewhere because it's not often that you get to see a 49 year old play at baseball's top level.

I'm also a bit surprised that I had never featured Moyer before today. 

Paul Carey #532, 5/25/93 (1993)

Jeffrey Hammonds #533, 6/25/93 (1993-98)

John O'Donoghue (2) #534, 6/27/93 (1993)

This John O'Donoghue (2) is the son of John O'Donoghue(1) who also pitched for the Orioles, and I've conveniently labeled them 1 & 2 for your reading ease.

2 pitched in 11 games for the '93 Orioles. He kindly signed this card for me during his time with the team and as you can see, I was still learning about how Sharpies interacted with glossy cards. Thanks a million Pinnacle!

Mike Oquist #535, 8/14/93 (1993-95)

I know that I have an autograph of Oquist and I have no idea how it's not scanned. I will get on this ASAP.

Mike Pagliarulo #536, 8/16/93 (1993)

Kevin McGehee #537, 8/23/93 (1993)

Lonnie Smith #538, 9/12/93 (1993-94)

Mike Cook #539, 9/29/93 (1993)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

To celebrate, here are the nine former Orioles who are either Mexican or are of Mexican heritage.

 

I have to start with Fernando-mania, who was near the end of his career by the time he pitched for the O's but is still the biggest name of the bunch.

Next up is the only current Oriole with a Mexican background. Mr. Sporadic, Mike Gonzalez.

Rodrigo was the O's #1 pitcher for a few consecutive seasons. Which doesn't necessarily mean much considering the competition, but still, he was their Opening Day starter in 2005 & 2006.

Aurelio, like Fernando, had a long career but was an only an Oriole for the tail-end of it. He tragically was killed by an out-of-control driver while walking down a Detroit street in 2000. He was only 52 at the time of his death.

Jerry is one of the many Hairston men in his family who have played in the Major Leagues. When I was getting back into following the O's in the early-mid 2000's, I remember that he and B-Rob were in battle for the starting second base job. I think the Orioles made the right decision.

 

Most of what I remember about Karim isn't particularly positive, so I'm not going to look up anything about him. Suffice it to say that his heritage is why he's included here.

 

I've already featured these last four cards at some point, but they are the only autographs I have of these guys, so they're getting rerun.

Geronimo earned an F for his autographs skills, or lack thereof.

While Carlos, Andres, and Sergio were grouped together in a post highlighting difficult foreign autographs. I don't have anything to say about them that wasn't already said in that post, maybe besides pointing out that they are all Mexican, which you knew if you've been following along.


Hope that everyone celebrates some Mexican freedom and heritage in the American style of drinking a margarita or Corona. But not too many since you probably still have to go to work tomorrow!