1989 Orioles Debuts, #462-480, Why Not?

I'm going to keep rolling with these debut posts for awhile, so get used to it!

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990)

1989 was a good year for both the Orioles and the players that debuted in the orange and black. Three long-time Orioles, Chris Hoiles, Mike Devereaux, & Ben McDonald, took the field in Baltimore for the first time and there were a number of other players who stuck in Baltimore for three or four years. 


Phil Bradley #462, 4/3/89 (1989-90)

Steve Finley #463, 4/3/89 MLB Debut (1989-90)

Kevin Hickey #464, 4/3/89 (1989-91)

Brian Holton #465, 4/3/89 (1989-90)

Randy Milligan #466, 4/3/89 (1989-92)

Francisco Melendez #467, 4/6/89 (1989)

Bob Melvin #468, 4/7/89 (1989-91)

Bob was a big league catcher for ten seasons from 1985-94, spending three of those seasons in Baltimore and was best known for his solid defense behind the plate. After his playing career ended, he stayed active in baseball first as a coach, then as a manager, for the Mariners, Diamondbacks and currently is the skipper of the A's. He won the 2007 N.L. Manager of the Year award during his tenure in Arizona. 

Mike Devereaux #469, 4/7/89 (1989-96)

Chris Hoiles #470, 4/25/89 MLB Debut (1989-98)

Mark Huismann #471, 5/23/89 (1989)

Mickey Weston #472, 6/18/89 MLB Debut (1989-90)

Mickey spent the first two of his five MLB seasons with the Orioles before moving on to play for the Blue Jays, Phillies, and Mets. As you can probably tell by his signature, Mickey is a religious guy and currently works with UPI (Unlimited Potential Inc.) "Serving Christ Through Baseball". He is also the team chaplain for the Chicago White Sox. 

Mike Smith #473, 6/30/89 MLB Debut (1989-90)

Keith Moreland #474, 7/30/89 (1989)

Dave Johnson #475, 8/1/89 (1989-91)

Stan Jefferson #476, 8/9/89 (1989-90)

Stan has quite the interesting story, both in baseball and out of it. He was a first round pick by the Mets in 1983, but never was able to consistently perform at the MLB level and played for six different teams during his six years in the bigs. He spent parts of two seasons in Baltimore, appearing in 45 games, and hit .226 with four homers. His time in Baltimore was commemorated by his appearance on a single Orioles card in the Crown set, and I hope to track down a signed copy of that one day, so this might not be the last you see of Stan around here.

After his playing career ended, he became a police officer in New York City and was on duty for the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. He suffered physical and psychological effects following that horrendous event and retired from the force in 2004. The New York Daily News  wrote an in-depth story about him in 2007 and it seems as though he still had his struggles at that time. I hope that everything works out for Stan; I'm very thankful for his service for our country following that terrible time. 

Jamie Quirk #477, 4/3/89 (1989-90)

Tim Hulett #478, 8/23/89 (1989-94)

Ben McDonald #479, 9/6/89 MLB Debut (1989-95)

Juan Bell #480, 9/6/89 MLB Debut (1989-91)

A Bunch of Recent Upgrades

Over the past few months, I've had luck upgrading some of the autographs in my collection. A few were obtained TTM, others were had via trade, while I had to shell out a few bucks for some others. But I have at least written briefly about all of them in the past, so I'll try to keep the write-ups short.

I'll lead off with the man with the bad attitude, Albert Belle (Oriole #636). This certified autograph replaces an "Orioles" card that pictured him in a White Sox uniform, something that I could never quite get past, especially considering the number of certified 'graphs that showed Big Al in a legitimate Orioles uniform.

This Lenny Webster (Oriole #600) card came to me via a trade on Sportcollectors.net and replaced a signed Orioles postcard. Lenny had been on my need list for way too long and I was thrilled to knock off his name.

Dick Brown had also been in line for an upgrade for quite some time before I came across this awesome Orioles postcard. This replaced a cut 3x5 autograph in my collection and while Dick technically has a Topps Orioles card, it doesn't picture him in an Orioles uniform, so I feel like this postcard is as good as it will get for him.

This is the third Juan Guzman (Oriole #627) autograph that has trickled through my collection, and this one is here to stay.

Shawn Boskie (Oriole #603) was kind enough to add a very unique inscription to this signed Orioles postcard. This is definitely better suited for my collection than an Angels card.

Here is another Orioles postcard upgrade, this of the spectacled Chuck McElroy (Oriole #658), which interestingly also knocks a signed Angels card from my collection.

This Keith Moreland (Oriole #474) Crown card knocks out a Cubs card that I obtained from the 2010 National from my collection.

Chuck Diering (Oriole #12) sent me one of the more interesting TTM returns I've ever received when he added his signed business card to my request. This personalized autograph replaces an unpersonalized Crown in my collection. 

He also answered the question in my letter about his favorite Orioles memory, and it turns out he was the team's MVP during their inaugural 1954 season. 

This personalized Joe Durham (Oriole #37) card is going to stay in my collection along with the 1958 Topps card he had signed for me at an Orioles alumni signing a few years back.
 

I'm confident that this Dave Skaggs (Oriole #326) autograph is legit, unlike the one that was previously a part of my collection.

And finally, this Dave Van Gorder (Oriole #429) Red Wings card is about a 50% upgrade over the signed Reds card that it is replacing. I hope to one day finally have Van Gorder sign an Orioles Crown card for me, but I haven't had any luck so far.

More Cards From the National- Non Orioles Cards Edition

Yesterday's post got a little long, so today I will try to keep the write ups to a minimum.  A short blurb about the player's Orioles days and maybe another interesting fact should do it.

HR was only an Oriole for the 1993 season, but that was right in my wheelhouse of beginning to be a seriously dedicated O's fan.  That was the second to last season of his MLB career, but he was the O's everyday second baseman; I watched a bunch of games that year, so I guess that's why I feel like he was in Baltimore for more than one season. He spent 10 of his 12  MLB seasons with the Mariners, and he won three Gold Gloves and was elected to 2 All-Star games over his tenure in Seattle.

Obtaining HR's autograph has been a thorn in my side.  I've seen him on TV almost daily since the mid-90s as he has covered baseball for ESPN and now the MLB Network, but he doesn't sign TTM requests.  So I know where he is, just not how to get him to sign an Orioles card for me.  This Mariners card will have to do for now.

Mike is another player who I've been trying to track down for some time.  He was an Oriole during the 1988 season so is pictured in an Orioles uniform in a few 1989 sets.  I've found them for sale online, but only as part of a large lot.  I don't particularly want to buy 30 signed cards when 29 would be doubles.  So I'm holding out hope to find Mike's signature on an Orioles card someday. He went 1-6 with a 5.43 ERA during his only season with the Birds.

He played 22 seasons in the Majors for 12(!) different franchises which is the current MLB record.  It makes sense as that's almost half of the teams that he could have played for.  His career spanned 4 decades, which is also pretty impressive.

Keith "Zonk" Moreland played for the Orioles during the 1989 season, the last of his 12 year career in the Bigs.  He is pictured on a few cards in an O's uniform, so I would like to upgrade his autograph to an O's card.  Keith appeared almost exclusively as a DH during his season in Birdland, and his stat line wasn't much to talk about .215/1/10.

However, Zonk did have some better years on the diamond.  He won a World Series with the Phillies in 1980, a College World Series Championship with the Texas Longhorns in 1975, received MVP votes for his 1985 season with the Cubs, and had his Longhorn number 3 retired earlier this year. 

Juan spent 8 of his 10 MLB seasons with the Blue Jays, so his autograph is the easiest to find on Jays' cards.  He has a few cards that depict him in an O's uniform, so I'll keep my eyes open for an upgrade.  But this auto fills a spot for now.

Juan's career started out with a bang; he was second in the 1991 A.L. ROY vote, was an All-Star and World Series Champion his second season, and received Cy Young votes and won another WS during his third year.  Things would never get that good for Juan again, but that's an awesome way to start things out.  He pitched approximately 1 full season for the O's, split between the '98 & '99 seasons, and went 9-13 with a 4.20 ERA over 32 starts.  The Orioles traded him to Cincinnati at the '99 trade deadline and got BJ Ryan in return, so that's one trade that worked out for the late '90s O's.

As was the case with the previous four players, Dwight has an Orioles card, but doesn't sign TTM, so this Cubs autograph will have to work for now.  I read that he used to sing the National Anthem before some games during his time in Wrigleyville, which was either very cool or very funny. 

Dwight spent the second half of the 1994 season with the O's and was mainly used as a backup outfielder.  He was a member of the '95 Braves World Series Champs and finished second in the '89 N.L. ROY race to...

Yep, Jerome Walton.  Another former Cub who played for the O's later in his career (and has at least one card showing him in an O's uni...GRRR...what an awful running theme of this post).

After his great rookie year, Jerome was used mostly as a backup for the rest of his 10 seasons in the Majors.  He appeared in 26 games for the Orioles during the '97 season, his second to last in MLB.



We're FINALLY to a few players who don't have cards that show them in an O's uniform, so these will stay in my collection.  

This is kind of an O's card, right?  It says Orioles and all.

Mike was an extremely durable reliever over his 11 MLB seasons, averaging 64 appearances a year, topped by the 77 appearances he made for the '98 Twins.  He pitched in Minnesota for 9 of his 11 seasons, but pitched in Baltimore from 2000-01.  The man appeared in 125 games in just under 2 seasons in Baltimore, and he didn't get an Orioles card.  Relievers get no baseball card love.  The O's flipped him to the Dodgers at the '01 trade deadline for Kris Foster and Geronimo Gil.

Lyle Mouton (the crouton) was a reserve OF/DH over much of his 8 seasons in the Majors.  He spent the first half of the 1998 season with the O's before having his contract purchased by the Yakult Swallows of Japan's Central League.

He had more success during his college baseball career and was a star for the LSU Tigers for 1989-91 and was a leader for the Tigers' College World Series team in 1991.