A Bunch of Orioles Postcards

There are quite a few signed Orioles postcards residing in my autograph collection. While I certainly prefer autographed cards over postcards, sometimes a postcard is my best or only option. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you've probably seen a number of different Orioles postcards that were displayed over the years, but these should all be new to you.

Autographed postcards are in my collection for a number of different reasons...


For some players, it will be the only issue ever released that pictures them in an Orioles uniform.

As was the case with short-term catcher Greg Myers

 

And will likely be the case with Rapada & VandenHurk, though they still have a chance to get an O's card

Some other postcards are (hopefully) temporary placeholders until I can upgrade to signed Orioles cards...

 

  

That's Lenny Webster up top, Jason Grimsley, and Erv Palica on the bottom

Palica passed away in 1982, so his signing days are over, but he did have a few O's cards produced during his life, and I'm still hoping that one of them might turn up some day.

Webster & Grimsley are still around, although Jason seems to have crawled under a rock somewhere since he was revealed to be the informant for the Mitchell Report. I actually just added this Grimsley postcard to my collection this week, so it might take quite some time to find an actual signed Orioles card. 

Every now and then, a player will include their own "postcard" when they return my TTM request. 

 

Tom Dukes was nice enough to do just that when he returned my request last year. It's really just a picture, as opposed to a postcard, but it's in the same ballpark.

A few other postcards have stayed in my collection because they are of my (or Kalina's) favorite players.

 

 

As is the case with Wieters & Arrieta. 

And then there are the extra postcards that I sometimes add at team-sponsored signings. These three are up for trade if anyone is interested...

 

  

 

A Trade with John

OK, I'm switching the format up a little today to showcase a trade that I recently made with a reader named John. He hooked me up with a few autographs of guys who I did not have at all, and a few autos from guys that I already had but needed their signature on Orioles cards. I'm just going to write a little blurb about each of these guys, not get all up in their business like I normally do. Are you excited about this yet? Well I think you should be!

Jackie Gutierrez 1986-87

Jackie doesn't have a great signature does he? Well, who am I to talk because neither do I!
He wasn't much of a hitter over his career but was known for his exceptionally strong throwing arm.

Greg Myers 2000-01

Hold onto the bat Greg! Haha, this is probably my favorite card of the bunch and since Greg doesn't have any Orioles cards, this is perfect for my collection.
He hung around the Bigs from 1987-2005, much longer than I thought, and caught almost 900 games for seven teams over that time. He was also Nolan Ryan's 5,714th and last strikeout victim in 1993. I wonder if he held onto his bat that time?

Mike Johnson 1997

Mike was a 1996 Rule V draftee from the Expos who eventually was returned to Montreal, thus supporting my Steve Johnson argument that he will come back to the O's. He pitched for Team Canada in the Olympics in 2004 & 2008 and in the World Baseball Classic in 2009. He has literally pitched around the world since his time in Birdland and was still active in 2009, pitching somewhere in Korea.

Rich Amaral 1999-2000

Rich spent the final two years of his career with the Orioles after playing in Seattle for his first 8 seasons. He spent 10 years in the Minor Leagues before his big league debut for the Mariners in 1993 and played at least 40 games at every position except for pitcher and catcher over his 10 years in the Majors. Quite a resume!

Eddy Rodriguez 2004, 2006 & Dave Borkowski 2004

Eddy went 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA over 38 games spanning two seasons in Baltimore but Dave is the reason I am featuring this card. It's his only Orioles card, and he only got half of one! He did only pitch for one season in Baltimore but I got the chance to meet him at one of the O's FanFests and he seemed like a nice guy.

Jimmy Haynes 1995-96

Jimmy is another guy who stayed in the Majors longer than I remember. He debuted for the O's in '95 and pitched into the 2004 season with the Reds. Also, I thought he was a reliever but he started 203 of his 227 career games.

And I've already blogged about and established that I don't like Jason Grimsley, but he is now a part of my collection now.

Thanks for the awesome trade John!