Oriole # 1008- Yovani Gallardo

This past off-season saw the Orioles embroiled in a few strange controversies, which I wish I could say was surprising, but for those of us who have followed the team over the years, some of these odd occurrences seem all too common in Baltimore. It was originally reported that the Orioles and Yovani had agreed to a three year deal, but then the O's, who seem to have the most rigorous physical process in baseball, had some concerns about what they saw in the physical. The purported deal languished, and it seemed like both sides might go their separate ways, before the pact was restructured and they agreed to a contract of two years with an option for a third. Shortly after this time, it was announced that the Orioles had signed Dexter Fowler to a three year deal before he showed up at the Cubs Spring Training facility to announce that he had signed a one year deal with them. Such is life in Birdland. 

At least the team ended up with one of the two free agents, and Yovani Gallardo made his Orioles debut as the starting pitcher in the team's second game of the season to officially cement his place as the 1008th player to appear in a game for the Orioles. He pitched five innings in his debut against the Twins, gave up just a single run, and earned the win for his efforts. His second game against the Red Sox in Boston didn't go as well, as he again pitched five innings, but this time game up five earned runs, but was bailed out by the O's bats to earn a no decision.

Who knows what this season will bring, and I wasn't totally on board about giving up one of the team's first round picks to sign him, but there is no doubt that the Orioles needed starting pitching help, and Yovani has been a consistent MLB starter for almost a decade.

Yovani was drafted by the Brewers in the second round of the 2004 draft and he pitched for the Brewers from 2007-14 with a 89-64 record. (The O's picked Wade Townsend who never signed in the first round, and lost their second rounder to the A's in return for signing Miguel Tejada to a free agent deal). The Brewers traded him to the Rangers prior to the 2015 season and he went 13-11 in his lone season in Texas. One of the main selling points for Yovani is the fact that he has made at least 30 starts each season since 2009, a consistency that has been lacking for many of the Orioles starters during that time.

Yovani signed these cards for me on my trip to Spring Training this past March. He had only signed with the team a few days before we left, so it was a quick turnaround for my dad to make these cards, but not surprisingly, he came through! And I only saw Yovani sign the one time that I got him, so I'm happy that it worked out that he signed for me!

An Orange Kind of Day

As some of you may know, one of my mini collections is of autographed Orioles cards (as well as those of their affiliates) that picture the player wearing the O's distinctive orange uniform. It's a color that very few teams wear and I like its uniqueness. Most of the cards that depict the O's wearing orange uniforms are from shots taken during the team's exhibition games in Spring Training. But now that the Orioles have officially brought an orange uniform variation back into the regular rotation, I'm expecting to see more orange uniform cards in the coming years.

This collection is kind of a passive thing that I don't like to spend money on, but I will try to obtain signed orange uniform cards in person or via trade. At some point, I might get my "have list" uploaded but doubt I will ever put together a want list.

Here are some current and former Orioles rocking the orange.

Quite a few of Miggy's Orioles cards show him wearing orange

I believe that Kirk, who writes Eutaw Street Cardboard, sent me this Bergy autograph

Melmo is also shown wearing orange in the '05 Donruss set; nice work Donruss!

Unsuccessful Oriole, Bob McCrory, is shown wearing the Tides orange uniform variation

Orioles Autograph Year in Review- The Good Signers

We are down to the second to last category in my review of the 2010 O's signing habits. Today's group are the players who I could typically count on to sign over the course of the season.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by how often Miggy seemed to sign this year. I got his autograph at least four times, and while his signature isn't much more than a stylized MT, he signed a lot more often than I anticipated from a veteran star player.  

 

I had an idea that Mike was going to be a good signer since I got his autograph during the '09 season when the Braves were in Baltimore; I actually saw him signing at two games of that three game series.  Mike signed for me four or five times this year and seemed pretty good to the fans.  Now if he had just been able to avoid his horrendous start to the season, the fans probably would have been better to him. 

 

After being acquired from the A's on June 22nd in the infamous Wolf-Fox animal surname trade, Jake seemed to be a frequent signer and a really nice guy too.  I got his autograph twice, but was unable to get his Orioles postcard signed since it was issued pretty late in the season.  If he's still with the team next year, I have very little doubt that he will sign it at some point. 

Alberto didn't spend too many games with the Orioles this season, but he was one of the most reliable Sunday signers on the team. He probably signed for 200+ fans at each of the two Sunday games I attended during his time in Baltimore. Last year, I ranked Alberto as a small sample good signer, so it seems like he's fairly consistent.

 

Jonesy continues to sign a good bit for a young star.  His signature ain't pretty and his attitude isn't always the best, but I can't say anything bad about him from an autograph standpoint.  Last year, I put him in the kinda good signing category, so it's nice to see him signing even more this year.    

Orioles Game Autographs

I'm proud to report that the Orioles most recent prospect call-ups are both good signers.

Awesome orange uni Jake autograph.

I was worried that Bell might be the type to stop signing once he hit Baltimore, but that's not the case, yet anyway. This picture was taken prior to all of the tattoos on his arms. And I just found that he has 2 Orioles cards in the 2010 Bowman set, including a solo card in the Topps 100 set, similar to the Arrieta card above, so I need to get him to sign one of those soon.

I showed off my picture with US Soccer Head Coach Bob Bradley last week. Here's the card he signed too.

A sweet Scott Moore orange uni autograph-I'm a fan of how most of the O's Minor League affiliates rock the orange uniforms.

John Shelby doesn't sign too often, but he always seems like a really nice guy when he does.


I've been pleasantly surprised with Miggy's signing habits this season. I wasn't getting autographs when he was in town last time, but he signs more than most superstar/star players.

Jake Fox is another new Orioles player who seems to be a great signer. I temporarily ran out of his cards, so had him sign this team card. I re-upped and now have a couple cards for him to sign if I can get him again.


This Jeff Datz auto turned out better than the one I got a few weeks ago. The J on that previous autograph was very faded. Stupid sharpie.



Cesar Izturis is signing more this season than he did last year. Good for you Cesar! The 08 Topps was signed for Moe, who will be getting another package at the end of this season.

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.

A Good Autograph Weekend and the Return of the Orioles Alumni Autograph Series

I had a pretty good autograph weekend; I would actually call it great if the freaking O's had managed to win a game. I haven't had a chance to get anything scanned yet but I spent time getting autographs at both the Baysox-Flying Squirrels game on Saturday and the O's-Blue Jays game yesterday.

At Saturday's Bowie Baysox game, I got a total of 14 Baysox players to sign 17 cards for me, and I especially enjoyed talking to new backup catcher, Phillip Britton and new reliever Armando Gabino.

I brought a Hawaii Winter League card of Britton that he hadn't seen for a while and he went on and on about it. He seems like a really nice, talkative guy and I'm looking forward to watching him on the Baysox this season.

I had a cool experience with Gabino in Spring Training, when I had a Twins minor league card of his that I don't think that he had seen for a few years. He showed it to a few other players in the dugout in Sarasota and seemed like a nice guy. In Bowie, Armando again seemed like a cool person and was talking to everyone as he went down the line signing. Earlier on Saturday, I had picked up 2 of his 2010 Topps Finest cards to get signed. He mentioned that he hadn't seen the card before, so I offered one of them to him and he was very appreciative of it. In retrospect, I probably could have asked for a ball or something, but I'm glad that he liked the card. I saw him pull it out of his pocket and look at it at least twice once he went to the bullpen area. And I now have a favorite member of the 2010 Baysox, you're the man Armando!

Luckily, the Baysox are one of my team's that know how to win, and they pulled out a back and forth game with an 8th inning three run homer from Joel Guzman, who seems like he will be a tough signer, and a rocky yet successful save from a favorite of this blog, Wilfrido Perez.


Sunday's continue to be the best time to get autographs of the members of the Orioles bullpen and I got 10 different autographs from members of the 25 man roster. I got my first autograph of Will Ohman, my first Orioles cards signed of Cla Meredith, Mike Gonzalez, and Brian Matusz and was also able to get my first in-person Miguel Tejada autograph. Pretty exciting stuff and I will be posting the scans and pictures over the next week or so.


Tonight also marks the return of the Orioles Alumni Autograph Series to Camden Yards. If you don't know or don't remember, former O's will be signing autographs at the MASN tent on Eutaw Street before every Monday and Thursday home game. JACKPOT! I just hope they are able to bring in some different players than last year, but I won't complain about getting some guaranteed autographs any day! No list of signers have been posted yet, but I hope to get an idea of who is signing sometime soon.

Minor League Members of the O's 40 Man Roster- Troy Patton & CONTEST Approaching!

Troy came to the Orioles in the December 2007 Miguel Tejada trade with the Astros. He made his Major League debut with the 'Stros at the end of the 2007 season, and made 3 appearances, including two starts, earning the loss in both games he started. He is still seeking his first Major League victory, but has a respectable 3.55 ERA in his 12.2 big league innings pitched.


He missed the entire 2008 season while recovering from a torn left labrum and made his O's Minor League debut at the beginning of 2009 with the AA Bowie Baysox. He thoroughly dominated his Eastern League opponents and had a 6-2 record with a minuscule 1.99 ERA in 11 starts. I had to pleasure to see one or two of those starts and Troy definitely deserved his promotion to the AAA Tides. Unfortunately, things didn't go as well for him in the International League. His stats with Norfolk weren't pretty; he had a 1-3 recordwith a 6.45 ERA in 9 starts but from what I hear, at least some of that had to do with fatigue since he hadn't pitched a full season in two years.

Troy seemed like a very nice guy on the occasions that I saw him at Bowie and I spoke with him at length once towards the end of his time with the Baysox. I really like him and hope that he can find success again early in 2010, most likely with the Tides. I don't think he has a very good chance to crack the Orioles out of Spring Training, but I do hope to see him pitch for the Orioles soon.



Oh, and if you saw the mention of a contest in the title of the post and made it all the way down here, I don't want to let you down. I will be starting the first contest on the blog here soon. The details will be pretty simple and all I have to say at this point is that it will have something to do with Spring Training. I hope that you're excited, because I think it will be fun.

See Ya Sarfate

Dennis Sarfate was designated for assignment on Wednesday to make room for Miguel Tejada on the Orioles 40 man roster. Interestingly, Sarfate was one of 5 players acquired for Miggy just over 2 years ago.


I recently came across a picture that Kalina took of me and Sarfate at a Rays game in September 2008 that I wanted to get signed. It figures that I didn't find it before O's FanFest last week but what can I do now? He will probably be selected off waivers by another team so I might try to send a copy of the picture TTM to get him to sign it.





I just really wish that he had a few more cards that pictured him in an O's uniform since I got this same one signed so many times.


But thanks for being a good signer, Dennis. I will miss that about you. Good luck wherever you end up.

Baysox Autographs

Somehow the autographs I got at the last Bowie game I attended, some Friday 2-3 weeks ago, slipped through the cracks and didn't get scanned until last night. So I will share them with you now. The orange bordered cards are from the 09 team sets that seem to have just been released in time for that game.

Miggy has always been a great signer, well he was at least good last year at Frederick and this season in Bowie. He is typically the first position player out of the clubhouse and seems to know a lot of the fans; he has a good personality and I hope he can continue to progress through the O's system. I got another one of my favorite 06 Ironbirds cards signed!


Mike Costanzo came to the O's from the Astros as part of the Miguel Tejada trade before the 08 season. He started this season in Norfolk but was sent to Bowie about a month into the season and has underperformed for most of the year. A possible reason recently surfaced, as he has a torn meniscus and needs season ending surgery.



Eric Crozier was signed to the Baysox towards the end of June and I was able to track down these cards before I went to Bowie. He seemed like a really cool guy and signed for everyone.
Kalina also made the astute observation that he has Popeye-like arms.



Fredy Deza has bounced back in forth between Bowie and Norfolk for most of the season. I saw him in Frederick last year; it's only a matter of time before he is sent to the Bluefield!


Adam has become the Baysox everyday catcher. He was surprised to see that I had the 08 NW Arkansas Naturals card and I told him that I recently had visited family in Springdale. He asked me about a few of the guys on the Nats, so that was cool.



Paco still has one of my favorite autographs. I really like the loopiness of it. Unfortunately, he has been off and on the DL for most of the season.



Moe is the field coach for the Baysox and is another guy who seems to have a lot of fans in the stands that talk to him and know him.



Jim pitched for the O's in the 2006 & 2007 seasons. He relied heavily on his heater at the time but is trying to develop a curveball to get back to the Majors.



Dave has been the Baysox leadoff batter and resident funny-man this season.



Oh Radhames; last time we saw ye, you were at least in Norfolk, albeit in the stands tracking pitches.
But now you have slid from AAA to AA, but at least you still sign for the fans. Even if you were the last one out of the clubhouse and only signed for me and one other fan. I hope that you can get your delivery fixed and take that electric arm back to Baltimore. At least no-hit Harrisburg again, please.