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.

A Bunch of Orioles Postcards

There are quite a few signed Orioles postcards residing in my autograph collection. While I certainly prefer autographed cards over postcards, sometimes a postcard is my best or only option. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you've probably seen a number of different Orioles postcards that were displayed over the years, but these should all be new to you.

Autographed postcards are in my collection for a number of different reasons...


For some players, it will be the only issue ever released that pictures them in an Orioles uniform.

As was the case with short-term catcher Greg Myers

 

And will likely be the case with Rapada & VandenHurk, though they still have a chance to get an O's card

Some other postcards are (hopefully) temporary placeholders until I can upgrade to signed Orioles cards...

 

  

That's Lenny Webster up top, Jason Grimsley, and Erv Palica on the bottom

Palica passed away in 1982, so his signing days are over, but he did have a few O's cards produced during his life, and I'm still hoping that one of them might turn up some day.

Webster & Grimsley are still around, although Jason seems to have crawled under a rock somewhere since he was revealed to be the informant for the Mitchell Report. I actually just added this Grimsley postcard to my collection this week, so it might take quite some time to find an actual signed Orioles card. 

Every now and then, a player will include their own "postcard" when they return my TTM request. 

 

Tom Dukes was nice enough to do just that when he returned my request last year. It's really just a picture, as opposed to a postcard, but it's in the same ballpark.

A few other postcards have stayed in my collection because they are of my (or Kalina's) favorite players.

 

 

As is the case with Wieters & Arrieta. 

And then there are the extra postcards that I sometimes add at team-sponsored signings. These three are up for trade if anyone is interested...

 

  

 

A Week of Trades from SportsCollectors.Net- Swap with Twiztidkegs

Today's trade came from fellow Orioles collector Twiztidkegs. He seems to focus on collecting Orioles minor league autos but also has a good collection of other MLB signatures.

Mike Timlin 1999-2000

You're not surprised that Timlin played for the Orioles are you? He played for every single MLB team right? But seriously, Mike did play for 6 teams over 18 Major League seasons, including two on the O's around the turn of the millennium. He signed a Minor League deal with the Rockies in 2009 but was recently released, so it appears that he finally has to hang up his spikes for good.

Mike was the Orioles closer from the start of the '99 season until he was traded to the Cardinals on 7/29/2000 for Chris Richard & Mark Nussbeck (?). Now there was a trade that really built the Birds for the future.

He currently holds the all time record for appearances (1058) by a right-handed reliever and is 7th on the all-time list behind 6 lefties. He won four World Series Championships in his career; 2 in Toronto at the beginning of it ('92 & '93) and two at the end with Boston ('04 & '07). He also finished 6th in the ROY voting in 1991.

Omar Daal 2003

While Omar had a decent MLB career, pitching for seven teams over 11 seasons, he was not good in his last big league season, and of course that was with the O's. After signing a two year contract prior to the '03 season, he went 4-11 with a 6.34 ERA in 2003 and didn't pitch in 2004 due to shoulder surgery. Maybe that was for the best.

Tim Laker 1997

Tim was very briefly the Orioles backup catcher behind Lenny Webster, while Chris Hoiles was on the DL, from late June-mid July 1997. I was a huge fan of the Birds at that point and I don't remember Tim being an Oriole at all. Maybe it was because he only appeared in 7 games and went 0-14 at the plate in his short stint with the Birds.

He was one of the former players named in the Mitchell Report and admitted to using and apologized for using PEDs. Of course he pointed the finger at the always reliable for roids, David Segui. Tim is currently a roving catching instructor for the Indians.

Dickie Noles 1988

Another guy that pitched for the Orioles towards the end of his career, Noles posted an 0-2 record with a 24.30 ERA in only 2 games with the Birds in 1988. To get an ERA that high, Dickie had to give up 9 earned runs in only 3.1 innings over two starts.

One funny thing I found about him is that he was effectively traded for himself when the Cubs sent him to the Tigers in 1987 for a PTBNL. They couldn't work out a deal for who that player should be, so the Tigers just returned Dickie to the Cubs. What a deal that was for both teams. Baseball-reference.com refers to this transaction as a loan. Haha.

Dickie did have some alcohol related problems while on the '83 Cubs; he and a teammate assaulted a cop after drinking one night. This led to Dickie injuring his knee and spending 16 nights in jail; he had to enter rehab after that incident. The good news is that he has since turned his life around and is now a special consultant for the Phillies & MLB. He even travels around to minor league teams to warn them against the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. Nice turnaround Dickie!

Keith Hughes 1988

Keith backed up Joe Orsulak in right field and pinch hit for the Birds over the course of the '88 season. He hit his only 2 career homers while on the O's.

J.R. House 2007

J.R. has managed to play parts of 5 seasons with 3 different MLB teams but has only appeared in 32 games and amassed 60 at bats over that time span. The majority of those games & ABs were with the Orioles in 2007 when he appeared in 19 games and had 38 ABs and also hit the only 3 HRs in his big league career.

Ricky Bones 1999

This card is personalized to me, so how did I get it in a trade you ask? Well, around the same time that I got this trade in the mail, I also got this TTM request back from Ricky. So double Bones(bone-us) for me! The non-personalized card is now available for trade if you want it.

Even as an Orioles fan, I most remember Ricky pitching for the Brewers in the mid to early '90s. He also represented the Brew Crew on the 1994 AL All-Star team. Maybe I just don't want to remember his stat line for the '99 O's since he went 0-3 with a 5.98 ERA.

Ricky was also named in the Mitchell Report but surprisingly didn't blame David Segui. He is currently the Buffalo Bisons pitching coach and signed my TTM from the team address.

Jackpot!

So while I was back in PA at my parents house over the weekend, I was going through a bunch of my old baseball cards and came across a stash of signed cards that I had forgotten about. Included in these were a bunch of autographs of former O's, but the cards that were signed were when they were on other teams. I know that I said that I wouldn't generally share the pictures of these cards, but since this was such a pleasant surprise, I decided to show them via collage.

Al Reyes, Jeff Reboulet, Ryan McGuire, Lenny Webster, John Wasdin, Jerome Walton

Jim Corsi, Shawn Boskie, Mike Boddicker, Tito Landrum, Mike Fetters, Terry Crowley

Also, Joe Altobelli, who never played for the O's but nevertheless is on an O's card:
The Reyes & Boskie are upgrades over autographs I already had for both players, but the rest are new to me. So that is 9 new O's autographs there and then with the addition of the the three returned TTM requests below from Duane Pillete, Don Lenhardt & Bob Hale my total number of O's autos up to 336! That is 38.9% of my goal and a nice increase for a weekend!





Dave Trembley was also nice enough to sign for me at Friday's game!