1991 Orioles Debuts, #497-512

Today, I'm continuing the Orioles Yearly Debut Series (2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992).

1991 saw 16 players make their Baltimore debuts, including two players, Mike Mussina and Arthur Rhodes, who would go on to play with the Orioles for most of the following decade. 

Glenn Davis #497, 4/8/91 (1991-93)

Dwight Evans #498, 4/8/91 (1991)

Paul Kilgus #499, 4/8/91 (1991)

It took me quite some time to track down a signed copy of Paul's one and only Orioles card, but I finally was able to knock his name completely off of my list. 

Jeff Robinson #500, 4/14/91 (1991)

Ernie Whitt #501, 4/14/91 (1991)

Roy Smith #502, 5/25/91 (1991)

Todd Frohwirth #503, 5/28/91 (1991-93)

Chito Martinez #504, 7/5/91 (1991-93)

Chito was the first, and still the only, MLB player to hail from the country of Belize. He's also the only Oriole to share a name, albeit spelled differently, with a snack food. 

Shane Turner #505, 7/17/91 (1991)

Shane played in 56 major league games for three teams over three seasons, and only four of those were with the Orioles. This Line Drive Red Wings card is the only cardboard testament to Steve's time in the Orioles organization. 

After his playing career ended, he became a minor league manager in the Giants farm system and held that position at various levels between 1996-2007. He is currently the Coordinator of Instruction for San Francisco. 

Jimmy Poole #506, 7/30/91 (1991-94)

Jim pitched 11 seasons in the Majors from 1990-2000 with eight different franchises, most notably the Indians, Orioles, and Giants. Over his parts of four seasons in Baltimore, he had a 6-3 record with a 2.86 ERA over 123 games. 

Stacy Jones #507, 7/30/91 (1991)

Mike Mussina #508, 8/4/91 (1991-2000)

Arthur Rhodes #509, 8/21/91 (1991-99)

This awesome Arthur Rhodes signed black and white postcard was given to me by my wonderful wife from her personal collection. She's so good to me, and understands me and my collection, for the most part at least.

Francisco de la Rosa #510, 9/7/91 (1991)

Luis Mercedes #511, 9/8/91 (1991-93)

It seems like almost all of Luis's cards picture him wearing the orange uniform, and I'm fine with that, as I kind of enjoy orange uniform autographs.

Jeff Tackett #512, 9/11/91 (1991-94)

An Awesome Envelope From Jamie

About two weeks ago, I got an email from blog reader Jamie; he's a huge Orioles fan who lives in Rochester, NY.  Some of you might be able to guess where this is going...the Orioles' AAA team was the Rochester Red Wings from 1961-2002.  Jamie regularly attended Red Wings' games from the late '80s until the O's dropped their affiliation, and he was smart enough to bring cards for the players to sign.  He checked my want list and sent me some truly awesome additions to my collection.  All 5 of these guys are tough signers and I have tried to track them down for some time now.

You all know about Albert Belle, he was crazy.  Crazy good with the bat, and just plain crazy in real life.  He was also an Oriole, so I needed his autograph.  Surprisingly, he doesn't sign TTM requests.  So getting him in this trade was great.  I wonder what he was like when he was signing for fans.  Did someone have to force him to do it?

Orange Uni alert!

Francisco de la Rosa pitched in 2 games for the Orioles during the 1991 season, he had a 4.50 ERA in 4 innings pitched.  He has pretty much disappeared, likely to his native Domincan Republic, after his playing career ended, so his autograph is very tough to track down.  There isn't much demand for his autograph outside of some crazy Orioles collectors like myself, so I doubt I will ever see a private signing with him.  He does have a pesky '92 Stadium Club card showing him in an O's uniform (also orange), so I will still keep my eyes open for that one.  He appeared too late in the '91 season to be included in the Crown set.

Why the shifty look Paul? Is someone trying to copy your curly hair/awesome stache combo?

Paul appeared in 38 games for the '91 O's and had an 0-2 record with a 5.08 ERA, including 14 games finished with one save.  It sounds like Paul might have filled the mop-up role for that squad.  Overall, he pitched for 5 different teams over his 6 year MLB career.  Interestingly, he signs the same percentage(zero) of TTM requests that Albert Belle does; I wonder what Paul has against his fans? 

Paul appeared early enough in the '91 season to be included at the very end of the Crown set.  He also has a few other Orioles cards, so again, I will try to track down his autograph on one of them.  

Mark played for the Giants and O's over his 6 season MLB career from 1990-95. His one season in Baltimore was in 1993, during which he only played in 10 games, and was sandwiched by his time with the Giants from 90-92 & 94-95.

He only appeared in 168 games over his 6 big league seasons, highlighted by 64 games for the '91 Giants; he was typically used as a reserve outfielder.  Mark doesn't have any Orioles cards, which is good because he also seems to be allergic to signing  TTM requests.  What is it with these guys? 

Kevin pitched 5 games for the the O's in 1993 and had a 5.94 ERA.  Pretty much all of his stats over those 5 games weren't very good, yet he also doesn't like to sign.  


Thanks again for the great autographs Jamie!  I really appreciate your helping the Project along!