An Orange Kind of Day

It's another scorching hot day in the Baltimore area with the temperature around 105 and the heat index in the one hundred teens. So it seems appropriate to show off a few of my orange uniform autographed cards today. Because, well, why not?

Today's focus will be on minor leaguers who are no longer playing in the O's farm system. Look at all that sizzling hot orange.

It's like an inferno! Maybe the minor league teams should start wearing blue to cool things down.

Spring Training Successes- Non Roster Invitee Autographs

Some of you particularly astute Orioles fans might note that a few of the autographs that I showcased yesterday are also non-roster invitees in the O's camp. But the difference between them and these guys is that I don't have Orioles cards of anyone in this post. Some of them have been featured in various Orioles Minor League releases but none of them yet have an Orioles card, outside of possibly Jake Arrieta.


And speaking of Jake, here is the card he signed. Kalina also got a card signed by him and he was definitely the first player she noticed shagging fly balls at the first game we went to. That's weird, since it's not like he is her favorite prospect or anything (he unequivocally is).


Armando Gabino was, by far, the most excited I have ever seen a player to see a card of his. I asked if he would sign and tossed this card to him, which he excitedly showed off to Alberto Castillo and Frank Mata. He was speaking in Spanish but seemed to be saying something like "See I told you that I actually have a baseball card!".
When the Orioles selected Gabino off of waivers from the Twins in the offseason, I searched online and found literally 2 cards of his for sale anywhere. They were both Twins Minor League cards and this one looked like it would look better signed. I know that he now has a card in the 2010 UD set, but I wasn't able to get it before my trip.


I don't know much about Chris, but I know that the combination of this card, his uni in the shot, and his autograph look pretty good together.


Caleb is now my mom's favorite player. In full disclosure, I'm not positive that she has had a favorite to replace, at least since Cal was around, but she was standing next to me when Caleb signed this card and he said something about it being the first card he had signed at Spring Training. She liked that, and thinks that he seems like a nice guy. I agree, Caleb seems pretty cool.


Frank is another player that I know little about, other than that he clearly spent time in the Twins organization. I guess it really doesn't Mata what I know about him. And you know I just had to go there, it was way too easy.


I saw Josh pitch at Bowie last season, and I believe he spent part of the season as the Baysox' closer. His last name is pronounced Per-oh, as opposed to how it looks, Per-alt.


Tuck is one of my favorite Minor Leaguers. He has always been a great signer, he hustles on every play, and I have seen him make a few outstanding catches. He also plays multiple positions, which is backed up by the card listing his position as INF/OF, and has spent most of his time in LF and at 3B. Scrappy is also a pretty small guy for a baseball player and is listed at 5'8'' which either means the he is actually 5'7'' or that he's one of the few honest players about his height. Either way, he is having a good Spring Training and I know that he has caught Trembley's eye once or twice.


On my trip to Norfolk last year, I incorrectly thought that Ross was Bob McCrory. While they do look a little bit alike, I'm normally good with faces, so I felt bad when I handed Ross the wrong card. I finally made up for it this spring when I boldly called out his name and he came over to sign. Again in full disclosure, McCrory is no longer with the O's so that boosted my confidence level.

A few more autos from Bowie

And here are the rest of the forgotten Bowie autographs...


Joe Nowicki hit a walk off HR at the last Baysox game we attended.



Ryan has been one of my favorite minor-leaguers for the past two season, starting last season in Frederick. This is partially because of his last name that I fail at pronouncing correctly (Kalina always reminds me that it is OH-let, not OH-lay or EW-let), and also due to the fact that he normally is rocking a sweet mustache and is thusly nicknamed "the Stache".



Wilfrido is another favorite; he has always been nice to fans and autograph seekers alike and he pitches really well for a little guy. I wouldn't be surprised to see Willy in Balitmore in the next few seasons if he can stay healthy.



Josh was a member of the Harrisburg Senators last season and my dad got me his autograph on a Senators card, so when I found out that he was on the Baysox this season I said "I already have his autograph." Weird coincidence I suppose. But now I have his autograph on a Baysox card, which is good since he is now pitching at Norfolk, which is much farther away from me than Bowie.



G-Rod has been relegated to backup catching duties but also DHs so he keeps busy. He dominated my silver sharpie on his autograph here.



Chad Thall is another of the Baysox jokesters. We have seen him chew many pieces of Dubble Bubble during warm-ups and throw it on the field near where the first base umpire stands during the game. I bet that umpire stepped in 15 pieces of gum throughout the game; that would be fun to scrape off your shoes. This is another one of the sweet 2006 I-birds cards that I now have signed.



"Scrappy" Tucker is one of those guys who you can't help but root for to make it to the Majors one day. He has a great attitude and has played all over the field on an effort to improve his chances of getting promoted. He also comes to the plate to Jay-Z's "Say Hello to the Bad Guy" which is not something that seems to fit him very well.



This is one of the strangest pictures I have ever seen used on a minor league card. Valido's eyes are closed and you can't really tell if he made the out or not. But I'll give the photographer credit for going for something a little different than the norm.

Bowie's First meet the team day of 2009

I briefly mentioned in one of my weekend Wieters' posts that I had attended Sunday's Baysox meet the team picture & autograph day.


I was lucky enough to get my picture taken with some of the Baysox biggest stars including:

Brandon Snyder


Troy Patton


& Brandon Erbe
Erbe also signed a card for me

I didn't get a picture with Jake but he did sign my card

My goal for the day was to get as many of the players to personalize their autographs for me. It was pretty easy since most of them are really nice guys like...

Ryan Keefer


Robert Valido (who asked if I was the Ryan he was personalizing the card to), Johnny Tucker and Dave Krynzel

Ryan Rodriguez only personalized one per my request


Ryan Ouellette, Paco Figueroa & Mike Costanzo (who went the extra mile with the "Best Wishes" inscription)

And only after all of this personalizing to me did I realize that there were 3 Ryan's on the Baysox. Kinda weird right? But I guess my name was just popular in the late 70s/early 80s.



I forgot to ask Brad to personalize my card
but still can't get over how his auto looks like B___ K__ K


Ambiorix didn't understand my request to personalize

Jim Hoey is on the DL so was at the game but didn't participate in the auto session


Adam Donachie was catching so I had to get him during warm-ups
Pat Egan was MIA from the table where his name was but I got him during warm-ups too
And Guillermo was signing in the concourse but he gets lumped in here

All in all it was a very successful day for Bowie autos and I had a great time.

Joe Nowicki literally causes Friday fireworks in Bowie

The title of this post is accurate. The Baysox were up 1 in the top of the seventh inning (the last inning since it was a double-header) around 10:30pm on Friday night. Fireworks were scheduled but they had to start (or end) by 11pm. The fans were getting nervous.

Wilfrido Perez was in to close out the game and struck out the first two batters with ease. Unfortunately, he walked the next Sea Wolves batter and the following guy took him deep to take the lead in the game. He got the last out but the damage was done. It was now 10:40, the Baysox were behind and the fireworks seemed unlikely.

Melvin Dorta led off the bottom of the seventh with a quick single. There was hope in Bowie.

Adam Donachie flew out to right for the first out as the clock continued to tick away the seconds. Joe Nowicki stepped to the plate, and he wanted to end the game for the good guys. One sweet swing of the bat and the ball was over the right field fence. It was 10:45 and the fireworks started before all of the players even left the field.

Oh yeah, I also got my picture with Brandon Snyder & Troy Patton. And got some sweet autos from some of the Bowie players that I didn't already have autographs of.

Troy Patton & me


Brandon Snyder & me


Troy Patton


Melvin Dorta(who got promoted to AAA Norfolk after the game) & Fredy Deza


Robert Valido & Dave Krynzel

Bobby Livingston (who shares my exact birthday) Jonathan Tucker, Mike Costanzo
Costanzo offered to sign 100 if I had them, and then joked they would cost $50 each

Brandon Snyder-isn't this a weird looking card though?