2011 Orioles Autograph Year in Review

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm going to do my review a bit differently this year. Here is the list of all fifty players who appeared in a game for the Orioles this year, and the number of times I either got their autograph or saw them signing at a game. I'll then give some thoughts and opinions on my observations.

(The very random selection of autographs are scans of my 2011 O's autos that hadn't yet been on the blog)

Jeremy Accardo 1
Ryan Adams 2
Robert Andino 2
Matt Angle 0
Jake Arrieta 2

 

Mitch Atkins (3 in minors)
Josh Bell 2

 

 Brad Bergesen 1
Jason Berken
Zach Britton 4 (1 additional at minor rehab)
Blake Davis
Chris Davis (1 at minor rehab)
Willie Eyre 1
Pedro Florimon (3 at minors)
Jake Fox 4

 

Mike Gonzalez 2
Kevin Gregg 1
Vladimir Guerrero 3
Jeremy Guthrie 3
JJ Hardy 3
Mark Hendrickson 0
Kyle Hudson (1 at minors)
Tommy Hunter 1
Cesar Izturis 0

 

Chris Jakubauskas 3
Jim Johnson 1
Adam Jones 3
Derrek Lee 2
Nick Markakis 0

Brian Matusz 1
Troy Patton 1

 

Zach Phillips 1
Felix Pie 0
Clay Rapada 1
Nolan Reimold 1
Jo-Jo Reyes 0
Mark Reynolds 2
Brian Roberts 1

 

Josh Rupe 1

 

Luke Scott 2 (1 at minor rehab)

 

Alfredo Simon 2
Brandon Snyder 2
Pedro Strop 2
Craig Tatum 0
Chris Tillman 3
Koji Uehara 1
Rick Vanden Hurk 0

Pedro Viola (5 at minors)
Matt Wieters 2

 

Mark Worrell 1


There are some things to keep in mind while looking at this list. For example, Izturis has been a great signer in past seasons, but was only with the team for a few weeks this year, so I had very few chances to get his autograph. The small sample size also applies for the late season call-ups, spot starters and others who only spent a few games on the roster. 

However, here are a few observations I am comfortable making after tracking all of my successes for the season.

Nick Markakis and Craig Tatum are the worst signers on the team. They both spent the entire season with the O's and I never saw either sign a single card. Of course, they theoretically could have signed at every single game I did not attend, but based on their track records, I highly doubt it. It seemed as though Jo-Jo Reyes wasn't a huge fan of signing, but I had a smaller sample size to form that opinion.

The best signers seem to be Zach Britton and Jake Fox, who were consistent signers throughout the year. Jeremy Guthrie, JJ Hardy, Chris Jakubauskas, Adam Jones, and Chris Tillman were also good signers. From what I understand from talking to other graphers, I must have been at the only three games that Vlad signed at, so I'm hesitant to call him a good signer, but I will say the future hall-of-famer signed more than I thought he would.

If any of you would like me to give additional thoughts/opinions about the signing habits of the 2011 O's, leave a comment and I'll try to answer everything by tomorrow.

Orioles Debut #894- Zach Britton

In yesterday's post listing all of the 2011 Orioles debuts so far, I somehow missed the most obvious debut of the season, that of top pitching prospect Zach Britton, who is Oriole #894 (which moves Josh Rupe to 895 and Chris Jakubauskas to 896). Long-time reader and friend of the blog, Russell, pointed out my error, and I'm glad he did.

One might think that I would remember to include the best pitcher in all of baseball so far in this young season in my count, yet I neglected him. Zach has started two games so far this year and is 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA. He's a lefty with a 95 MPH fastball that darts away from righties and is pretty much the only pitcher who has shut down the Texas Rangers so far this year.

I've had the pleasure to watch Zach pitch with the single A Frederick Keys and AA Bowie Baysox over parts of the past few seasons and he realies on his sinking fastball to get most of his outs. I hope that he continues to fool opposing batters for years to come.

Zach actually just signed this card for me prior to Sunday's game, so it's good to see that he's still taking time for fans, even after his early success. While prepping this scan for the post, I noticed that his 2010 Norfolk Tides team set card incorrectly spells his first name as Zack. C'mon Tides staffers, know your top prospects!

 

Here's a slightly out of focus picture I took of Zach on Saturday as he's about to throw his first pitch at Camden Yards.

Oriole Debuts #888-893, 895-96 UPDATED

Over the first eight games of the Orioles' 2011 season, eight new O's have made their debuts in the black and orange. Luckily, I have autographs of all eight, so I don't need to add anyone to my need list.

Here's a quick rundown of my autographs of the eight newest Orioles.

#888- Derrek Lee

 

I've had this card for about 18 years. D-Lee was included in the the 2011 Topps Heritage set in an O's uniform so I need an upgrade.

#889- Mark Reynolds (this really could have been Reynolds or JJ Hardy since they both debuted in the field in the bottom of the first inning of the O's first game in 2011, but I chose Reynolds as 889 because he plays third base, position #5, and Hardy is a SS, position #6. Essentially, I don't think anyone is going to fight with me on this, because I'm likely the only one counting.)

Reynolds' card was in the O's 2011 Topps team set; a very similar card is in the 2011 Topps Opening Day set, and he is also pictured as an Oriole in the 2011 Topps Heritage set. I'm pretty jacked to already have his Orioles card signed though. 

#890- JJ Hardy

I got this card signed at Fanfest, but JJ was also included in the 2011 Topps Heritage set as an O, so I'm in need of another upgrade.  

#891- Vladdy Guerrero

This is another card that's been in my collection since the mid '90s since Vlad was a member of the AA Harrisburg Senators. Although I'm sure he will, Vlad doesn't yet have any cards that picture him as an Oriole, so this stays in the collection for the time being.

#892- Jeremy Accardo

 

Since he's a middle reliever, this might be the closest thing to an Orioles card that Accardo will ever get, so I'm happy to have it in my collection. I also like to have a card, so I'm keeping this too. 

#893- Kevin Gregg

 

Kevin has an O's card in the '11 Topps team set, so I'm looking for an upgrade from this postcard. 

#895- Josh Rupe

Rupe and Jakubauskas signed for me at the same time and Jak thought this picture of Rupe was pretty hilarious. Honestly, if this picture was all I had to go by, I don't think I'd recognize him.

#896- Chris Jakubauskas

Jak made his rather unsuccessful O's debut last night. He was one of the autographs that I got at Spring Training so he passes go, collects $200, and jumps right to my have list.