Oriole #960- Bud Norris

Wow, I'm finally caught up on my Orioles debut posts, for the moment at least. My posting over this summer has obviously been lacking, and at times, even calling it sporadic might have been a compliment. But the blog is still alive and kicking (or at least treading water). So your "favorite" source for everything related to Orioles autographs will continue to deliver "well-written" posts about signed pieces of cardboard for the foreseeable future! Rest easy, my friends.

Bud Norris, Oriole #960, Debuted August 1 vs. Astros

The trade that brought Bud Norris into town was definitely my favorite deal of the three that the Orioles swung prior to the trade deadline. While I think the Feldman and K-Rod trades both improved the club, this trade was the one that I think might be the difference between the team making the playoffs or just watching them on TV along with the rest of us. The trade was also an interesting one in that the Astros were playing the Orioles in Baltimore when it went down, so Bud only had to switch clubhouses at Camden Yards to join his new team.

Bud has pitched in the Majors with the Astros since 2009, and his W-L record isn't great but his ERA is very respectable, and let's face it, the 'Stros have pretty much been horrible throughout Bud's time with the team. While I wasn't thrilled to give up two local MD products and prospects in L.J. Hoes and Josh Hader, Bud isn't a free agent until 2016, so should be able to help the O's compete in coming years as well as this one.

To date, Bud has pitched in five games for the Orioles (four starts and one emergency late inning relief appearance), and has won three of his four starts while taking the hard luck loss in just the second appearance out of the 'pen in his MLB career. He has had the luxury of facing some relatively anemic offenses including the Astros, Padres, Giants, and Rockies, but I'm still a fan of his 3.91 ERA in an Orioles uniform.

Before I wrap this up, I want to pass along the story of how he earned the nickname "Bud". I heard this story earlier in the summer while he was still with the Astros but I thought it was pretty funny so it stuck in my mind. Anyway, his real name is David, but when he was a kid, he went out to dinner with his parents and some of their friends/family, and almost everyone at the table ordered a Bud(weiser) and so did he, apparently without anyone else paying attention or the waiter/waitress noticing he wasn't old enough to be drinking. So the server brought back everyone's drinks and before handing young David his beer, finally took note that he wasn't old enough to drink it. So from that day forth, he has been known as Bud. So there you go.

Good luck with the O's, Bud! You're the first Oriole that I'm aware of who is named after a beer, so regardless of how your time goes in Baltimore, you will always have that!

Adios L.J.

One of Kalina's favorite Orioles was traded today, as L.J. Hoes, minor league lefty Josh Hader, and a 2014 competitive balance draft pick were sent to the Houston Astros for starting pitcher Bud Norris. The Hoes for Bud jokes on Twitter right now are rampant.

L.J. only played in two games for the Orioles, but we saw him play many times in the minor leagues at both Frederick and Bowie, and it kind of felt like he had been around for a long time. Both Hoes and Hader are local guys who the Orioles drafted and developed and that makes it a little harder to see them go, but if it makes the team better this year, I'm all for it.

L.J. always seemed like a nice guy, which was the main reason that Kalina liked him, so good luck in Houston, L.J.!

Spring Training Personalized Upgrades

While I've continued to hope that my posting here will get back to the 5-6 days a week level it was once at, it's becoming more and more evident that 1-3 days a week is going to be the norm. I've just had less free time, mainly due to different hours at work, so it is what it is. I have no plans to completely shut things down, so I'll continue to limp along for the time being. But don't worry, I'll still be giving you your occasional Orioles autograph fix!

Up today are a number of the personalized autographs that I was able to get on my Spring Training trip. Many of these guys are current or recent Orioles, but a few of the coaches played for the team many years back. I'm currently on a push to "upgrade" as many of the autographs in my collection as possible to include personalized inscriptions. I've always enjoyed the added touch and since I'm luckily still sitting at 100% for my collection, I have a little bit of freedom to work within the collection for the time being.

My favorite cards that I got signed on my trip were the "Old Man Cards", the cards that my dad custom made for me of many of the Orioles players who have never and/or will never receive O's cards in a major release.  You'll see a number of his cards below. Thanks again dad!

For what it's worth, both Exposito and Teagarden are surprisingly hard autographs to get (maybe it's a catcher thing?!?), while Ryan Flaherty was the best signer I saw amongst the current Major League guys.

I Love Spring Training Games

MASN, the local Orioles TV network, broadcast the first Orioles game of the year today, and it is always great to see some Orioles baseball again after four long months. 

The network almost always airs O's home games played at their stadium in Sarasota, so the game typically begins with a fairly typical Orioles line-up, featuring many of the regular starters. But, as I'm sure you all know, as the innings pass by during Spring games, the regulars slowly disappear from the game, and they are replaced by players trying to make the 25 man rosters and/or minor leaguers trying to show off their skills. 

I think that I get the most enjoyment out of watching these late innings of games. They help me to get acquainted with new players in the organization and remind me about some minor leaguers I have seen play in the organization over the years. 

Towards the end of today's contest, both Xavier Avery, and L.J. Hoes made an appearance. Respectively the O's 2nd- & 3rd-round draft picks in the '08 draft, both players made their Orioles debuts last season. (Avery debuted on May 13th as Oriole #926 & Hoes appeared in just a single game on September 25th, the final debut of the season, as Oriole #942.) 

The late innings of Spring games are a great chance to catch a glimpse of players who will eventually make it to Baltimore, while some others never will.  

Interestingly enough, former Oriole, and one-time late innings Spring Training guy, Pedro Florimon, is currently in camp with the Twins and played against the Orioles in Saturday's Spring Training opener.

While a guy like Jai Miller, who I probably considered a near lock to become an Oriole at some point at this time last year, never came close to making it to Baltimore and had actually slid down to AA Bowie by the end of the season. 

This off-season, Miller retired from baseball, and announced that he is returning to college to play football at Alabama. Seems like he came to a fork in the road and decided to take it. 

L.J. Hoes- Oriole #942

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Orioles has selected the contract of one of their top prospects, L.J. Hoes. Well, after watching a few weeks of Orioles baseball from the bench, he finally made it into a game, but unfortunately, it might have been the lamest O's debut in recent memory. It wasn't that he did anything wrong, but his debut was one of those blink and you missed it kind of things.

You see, L.J. was inserted to the game as a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Orioles down to their last out. Jim Thome has just drawn a walk to load the bases and he is a bit slow on the basepaths at this point in his career. So out came L.J. to run for him. Ryan Flaherty was the next batter up, but he swung at the first pitch and flied out to center to end the game. So poor L.J. has only accrued about 15 seconds of MLB playing time, but at least he made it into a game. 

L.J. had been honored as the Orioles Minor League Player of the Year prior to the game, so it was a good time for him to make his debut, I just wish that it had lasted a little longer than it did. 

And in an interesting side note, Dylan Bundy was also honored before the game as being the Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Year, and he also appeared in the game, making his home pitching debut. It seems as though Buck Showalter might have wanted to get both these guys into the game that they had been presented their awards, assuming that it wouldn't have a negative outcome of the game. And it didn't but it was another ill-timed Orioles loss nonetheless. 

The O's Have Hoes

The Orioles made a few roster moves today highlighted by their selection of the contract of prospect L.J. Hoes from AAA Norfolk to help fill the outfield void left by Nick Markakis's broken thumb. L.J. would have had to have been added to the 40-man roster anyway during the upcoming off-season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, so the move makes sense, even though he won't be eligible to play in the post-season, if that scenario unfolds.

At just 22 years old, L.J. spent the majority of the 2012 season with the Tides and actually improved on his AA numbers. After playing mostly 2B during his first three and a half seasons in the O's minor league system, the organization moved him to the outfield in mid-2011 and it seems like the move has really paid off.

He was the Orioles 3rd round selection in the 2008 first year player draft and has regularly been ranked amongst the team's top five prospects by Baseball America in the past few years. This is L.J.'s first MLB call-up and he will be making his big league debut when he appears in a game.

In addition to selecting Hoes' contract, the O's are bringing back Endy Chavez to play in the outfield over the next three weeks.

To make room on the 40 man roster for Hoes & Chavez, the O's designated Kevin Gregg and Ryan Adams for assignment.

Kevin was never particularly effective in Baltimore, but he seemed like a decent guy who pitched with a bulldog mentality. However, I never had a good feeling when he was coming in a game, especially when he was the team's closer in the early half of the 2011 season.

Infielder Ryan Adams played for the Orioles over two stints during the 2011 season but had fallen out of favor in the organization. I never heard any specific reasons for it, but it was pretty obvious that he wasn't in the team's plans for the future. There were some rumblings about other teams being interested in him, so hopefully the Orioles can work out some sort of trade to get at least something in return for him.

Frederick Keys Autographs

In my constant attempt to remain on top of the autographs I get at games, here are the autographs I got at a Frederick Keys game...almost two weeks ago. Hey, I did say attempt.

Former big-leauger Denny Hocking is the Key's new hitting coach. I wasn't sure how he would sign but he was very cool and signed up to seven cards for a few people. That's more than I like to get at one time, but he signed these two for me.



Pitching coach Blaine Beatty also had a cup of coffee in the Majors. I found it interesting that he inscribed the same Bible verse on each card. Sometimes guys will switch it up. But I guess he really likes Phillipians 4:13 which states "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

I don't have my Baseball America Prospect Handbook with me, but I know that these guys all ranked somewhere between 11-30.


I don't know if Brandon had seen this card yet but wasn't happy with the way his pinkie finger was sticking out.



I'm pretty sure that Billy is #30. The former #1 draft pick's stock is definitely slipping.

Now onto the unranked prospects...


Luis spent most of this past Spring Training in the Big League camp so it was nice to get his autograph. He's since been demoted to Delmarva.

Jose Duran was one of the O's selections in the Minor League portion of the 2010 Rule V draft. He had been in the Houston Astros organization but I couldn't find any of his cards.

I really enjoy saying Greg's last name even though I'm not sure if it's My-clat or Me-clat. Either way, it's fun to say.



These are the first two cards I have signed from the 2009 Ironbirds set that I picked up at Orioles Fanfest. The grass background is interesting.



Mariotti and Gleason spent some time with Bowie last year so it's not a good sign that they are back in Frederick.



Wally and Brett are back in Frederick for another season. I don't really have anything else to say about them.