Finally Freddy

Anytime that I am able to knock a name off of my list of Orioles autographs that I need is a good day, and today, I am happily knocking Freddy Garcia's name off of that list. 

Freddy made his Orioles debut back on May 4, 2013 and served as the Orioles fifth starter for about two months before being shipped to the Braves. I never got his autograph during his time with the O's but he had a few certified autographs out there, and I purchased a Mariners auto and plugged it into my collection.

Even though he was an well-traveled MLB veteran he was only in Baltimore for about two months, so I figured he wouldn't be featured in any sets as a member of the Orioles. Then on November 14, 2013 Topps released their Heritage High Number set, with Freddy pictured as an Oriole. No matter that he hadn't been an Oriole for nearly five months, and he finished the season with the Braves. Topps made me add Freddy's name to my need list.

Then Freddy spent the entirety of the 2014 season pitching in Taiwan. So I had no chance to get this card signed. And as far as I know, he still lives in his native Venezuela in the off-season, so obviously I wasn't sending him a TTM request that way. Freddy seemed out of reach, possibly permanently.

But then, the Dodgers signed him this past March 30th to a minor league deal. A window of opportunity to get this card autographed opened and I sent it out on a consignment via a connection on SCN. And there it is, a beautifully autographed Freddy Garcia Orioles card. And it was signed none-too-soon as Freddy was released on April 22, mere days after this was signed. And now, I don't have to worry about Freddy Garcia anymore.

Filling Some Holes

There have already been twelve players who have made their Orioles debuts so far this year, and I did not have autographs of six of those guys; each of whom knocked me further and further away from the 100% of total signatures from the Orioles all-time roster I had achieved in the off-season. And that made me mad(ish). So I took action and knocked off certified signatures from four of the six I needed. (As far as I can tell, there are no certified Josh Stinson autographs out there, and I have yet to acquire one of Alex Burnett.) 

While I have custom Old Man Cards ready to be signed of all four of these guys, I figured that I would rather go ahead and knock them off my list for now, since my autograph time has been drastically reduced, at least to this point in the season. Hopefully these four will end up on my trade list one day, but if not, at least I'm covered. Oh, and they were all to be had on the cheap, which works out perfectly for me!

Chris Snyder #948

Freddy Garcia #949

Yamaico Navarro #951

Danny Valencia #953

 I have trades and/or consignments out for Stinson and Burnett, so hopefully I can knock them off my need list in the near future to get back to my cherished 100%. Now if only the Orioles would cooperate and slow it down with the debuts already. How is a collector to keep up?!?

Orioles #947-950

Time to play catch-up. I've obviously not been too active with posting, but I still intend to blog as often as possible. Today I will cover the four most recent Orioles debuts.

 Zach Clark- Orioles #947, debuted May 1st @ Seattle

Zach's story is a pretty cool one, and I wrote a pretty extensive post about it back in November. He finally made his MLB debut at age 29 after seven seasons in the O's minor leagues. Unfortunately, things didn't go very well and he gave up 3 earned runs over 1.2 IP while walking 2 and striking out 1. He was designated for assignment after his debut and is back pitching for AA Bowie, and apparently working on a knuckleball with HOFer Phil Niekro. 

Chris Snyder- Oriole #948- debuted May 3rd @ Angels

Snyder starts an unfortunate streak of new Orioles whose autographs I do not currently have. These guys were all added to the organization after my Spring Training trip, so I've had very few chances to get them to sign anything for me. Chris is serving as the O's backup catcher while Taylor Teagarden is on the DL.

Freddy Garcia- Oriole #949- debuted May 4th @ Angels

Freddy is currently the O's fifth starter, and is the first guy to have any sort of success this season in that role. He is 0-1 with a respectable 4.26 ERA through two starts, and will likely remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. 

Alex Burnett- Oriole #950- debuted May 9th vs Royals

I was at Alex's debut, and he pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. It was his second call-up to the O's and it seems like he might get a lot of travel time between AAA Norfolk and Baltimore this year. 

This is a bit premature, but today the Orioles recalled relief pitcher Mike Belfiore to the team, so when/if he gets into a game, he would become Oriole #951. And I do actually have some signed cards of his, so I would happily be able to add him to my have list. Enough of this adding players to my need list.