Upgrading the Collection Thanks to Old Man Cards

As many of you probably already know, my dad has been making "Old Man Cards" for me to try to get signed for the past few years. They typically feature Oriole players who were never pictured on any other cards in an O's uniform, effectively making them the only cards of many of them as a member of the Orioles. Oh, and they're awesome and I really appreciate his contributions to my collection. As always, thanks dad!

Here are some recent additions to my collection thanks to Old Man Cards. Since I don't have as much time on my hands as I used to, most of my posts moving forward will likely be more heavy on pictures than words. But after all, this is an Orioles autograph blog, and most of the visitors to my site are here to see autographs, not read my rambling posts. So without further ado...

Yes, that says Bryan. Yes, I still will consider it "personalized". Close enough.

As I get many of these cards signed by fellow SCN members on consignment, the personalizations don't always get done, but I'm still happy to have Orioles cards signed by the Dana Evelands of the world.

Unfortunately, Dan signed this card on the black part of his uniform, but it is signed and personalized. There aren't many picture options when a guy only plays in three games as an Oriole.

Francisco never made it to Baltimore from Norfolk last season, but I'm prepared in case he ever does!

I think this was my third attempt at getting this card signed and personalized, but Clay finally cooperated!

Who else do you do you know that has a signed Orioles Miguel Socolovich card? Who else do you even know that remembers that Miguel Socolovich was an Oriole?

I should have figured it out from my difficulty in getting him to sign anything while he was in Baltimore, but it sounds like Danny is a pretty tough signature to get. He apparently refused to personalize this card for me.

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.

Oriole #900- Mitch Atkins

If you had asked me at the beginning of the season who I thought the 900th Oriole would be, Mitch's name wouldn't have even entered the discussion. He was a Spring Training invite who never appeared in a game in the Grapefruit League due to an oblique injury. Since the season started, he has pitched at three levels of the O's farm system, hi-A Frederick, AA Bowie, and AAA Norfolk. He cracked the O's starting rotation last night in Texas to become the 900th player to appear in a game for the Orioles since they moved to Baltimore in 1954.

To be completely honest, I'm not a fan of Mitch's. Although, he has signed cards for me twice, once at the Orioles Minor League complex in Sarasota and again during his stint in Frederick, he doesn't seem like a very nice guy either time. Both times he signed for me, I was the only person around and attempted to make small talk, really just wishing him luck or whatever, and he never said a word. I don't even think he looked at me, it was a strange experience. I would almost describe it as the type of reception you might expect if you were asking a player for his autograph while he was out to dinner with his family (not like I would do that), rather than in uniform at a ballpark. It's not like he turned down my request or anything, so I'm not trying to trash the guy, but it was one of the most uncomfortable minor league autographing situations that I've been involved in. So for that reason, I had been hoping that Mitch wasn't going to be the milestone 900th Oriole.

 

But he is Oriole #900, and the his debut actually went quite well. He held the powerful Rangers lineup in the Ballpark at Arlington bandbox to only one run over six innings, scattering eight hits and striking out four before the O's bullpen blew the game to prevent Mitch from earning his first MLB victory. 

 

No, this isn't the same card as the one up top. Mitch just doesn't have many cards, so I this one is up for trade

While this was Mitch's first start in the Majors, he had appeared in seven games out of the bullpen for the Cubs in 2009 & '10, so it wasn't his MLB debut. With the current depleted state of the Orioles rotation, I think that Mitch has earned himself at least one more start, and I do hope that his success continues. He might not be one of my favorite Orioles, but I will root for him in the hope that he makes my favorite team better moving forward.

The Last of My Spring Training Successes

Just over two weeks after I got back from my spring training trip, here are the last of the autographs I got in Sarasota. I got these all signed at the Twin Lakes Minor League complex, but two of these guys have appeared in a few games for the O's.

 

Like Pedro Viola and Troy Patton. 

Viola was a pretty tough autograph to get at Camden Yards, but is much easier when he is forced to walk right past you. I just read that he will be back with AA Bowie this season, and since this is my last card of his, I guess I need to buy a few more "blanks" to get signed.  

That is probably the sloppiest signature I've ever seen from Patton. His T.P. initials seem to have swallowed one another.

 

I was excited to finally come across the O's 2009 1st Round Draft Pick, Matt Hobgood. At this point, I don't know what to expect from him, but I was happy to add his signature to my collection. His Matt is pretty good but his last name is pretty hard to make out.

I was also pleased to add 2010 3rd Rounder, Dan Klein, to my collection. He was included in the Ironbirds' update set that I received for Christmas (thanks Kalina), so I obviously didn't have this card when I saw the Ironbirds play in September. Klein has a cool autograph, and I especially like the D. 

 

 

Randy Henry was probably the nicest player I've ever come across during my 'graphing exploits. He was talkative and personable and spoke with me like I was his friend, not just some random person getting autographs. He told me how his Spring Training was going and that he had only pitched one inning to that point, but was happy with how it went. I think I have a new favorite O's Minor Leaguer. Good luck this year Randy!

 

 

 

 

Atkins & Houser were non-roster Spring Training invites, so I don't know if they will even pitch in the O's system this year, but I was happy to add them to my collection regardless.

Atkins didn't seem very excited to sign, but begrudgingly stopped for a minute. The reverse j loops on his M & A are certainly unique.

Houser's signature is pretty interesting and stylized. You can tell that he takes pride in it.

 

 

 

 

You know I like my orange uni autographs, especially from the O's 2010 Minor League Player of the Year (Mahoney) and a new player for my collection (Ohlman). 

 

I'm not entirely sure how Cowan was chosen to be included in the Bowman Chrome set since he's not a top level prospect, but I'm always happy to get an "Orioles" card signed. 

 

 

Johnson & Erbe are veterans on my blog, and I don't have much new to say about them. I'm still hoping that they can both turn a corner and make a push to the O's roster one of these years.

 

Raul has always been a willing signer and is very polite. His signature is pretty smooth too and the O at the end is something you don't see too often.

 

I don't have too much to say about Anderson or Moore, besides that Anderson is a huge guy, probably 6'7'' 275. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Now that I'm done with my Spring Training autographs, I will start taking a look at the O's 2011 roster. Thanks for sticking with me through this one.