In-Person Autographs from O's First Week

I finally had time last night to scan some of the autographs that I got over the O's first homestand. Without further delay...


This is the first Ohman autograph in my collection, so it was the highlight of the series for me. He seems like a cool guy, and does a great Harry Caray impersonation. He added Colossians 3:17, which says "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."


I have a few Matusz autographs in my collection, but this is his first Orioles card. Hey 2010 Upper Deck, I knew you had to be good for something!


This is also Cla's first Orioles card. It's from the 2010 Topps Orioles team set; he doesn't have a card in the regular Topps release so his inclusion in the team set was a nice surprise.


The Topps team set also included Gonzo's first "Orioles" card. It's just a Photoshop job of his Braves card in the regular set, but is an upgrade to my collection.


Bergy has a number of O's cards from the fall Update set releases, and I chose this one to get since he's rocking the Orange Uni. I missed getting Brad's autograph in Spring Training so this is the first signed O's card of his in my collection. And I have to add that he did something very nice for a little kid at Monday's game. He signed the kid's ball and then took it into the dugout to get the rest of the team to sign it. I think he must've gotten 20 signatures for the kid. Brad's a great guy, he just needs to regain his 2009 form on the mound.


I got my first in-person Tejada autograph at Sunday's game. I was the last person that he signed for before running back to the dugout right before the game started, so I figured that I got the rush job on his autograph.


But no, that appears to be his normal signature. I got this one at Monday's game and it might be marginally better but still looks like an exaggerated MT. You can do better than that Miggy!


Even though he was already in my collection, I was happy to add an in-person upgrade of Jose Bautista from the Jays' weekend swing in Birdland.


And these two guys have made multiple appearances on the blog but are popping up again since I was able to add autographs of them wearing the glorious orange uniforms.


David is looking good so far this year...



And Hey Hey Hey, not so much. He better "shape up" soon or he will be heading to Norfolk.

The Other Jose Bautista

Jose "Utility Bomb" Bautista 2004

I list this Jose Bautista as "the other" and "Jose Bautista 2" because he is the second Jose Bautista to play for the Orioles. The first Jose was a pitcher who was an Oriole from 1988 through 1991.

This Jose Bautista's time on the Orioles was very short. He played 16 games for them at the beginning of the 2004 season, mainly appearing as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner. He got 3 hits in 11 at-bats and also scored 3 runs for the O's. He spent the 2009 with the Blue Jays where he earned the nickname "Utility Bomb" for his strong throwing arm and the pop in his bat.

The most interesting thing about Jose is the number of transactions that he was involved in between December 2003-2004. Try to follow this mess...

December 15, 2003- the Orioles drafted him in the Rule V draft from the Pirates (the team who originally drafted him)

June 3, 2004- after the Orioles put him on waivers, the Devil Rays selected him

June 28, 2004- the Royals purchased him from the Devil Rays

July 30, 2004- the Royals trade him to the Mets for Justin Huber

July 30, 2004- traded by the Mets with Ty Wigginton and Matt Peterson to the Pirates for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger

August 4, 2004- Jose completely forgets what team he plays for and what city he lives in, reports to Team USA

OK, I made that last one up, but have you ever heard of one player being bounced around like that in a single season?

To recap, he appeared in games for four different Major League teams during the 2004 season, the Pirates must have really wanted him to lose him in the Rule V and trade for him in the same season, and Jose, along with Wigginton and Benson, was one of three all-time Orioles involved in the 7/30 trade with the Pirates and Mets. Amazing.

Oh and did I mention that he was the first player EVER to have been on the Major League rosters of 5 different teams in one season? I kind of feel bad for the guy.