Oriole # 1029- Alec Asher

Moving along through this season's debuts, I've finally pushed past the guys who debuted on Opening Day and am ready to move along to the guys who made their O's debuts as the season got under way.

The first non-Opening Day debut was a bit of a surprising one. Alec Asher only came into the Orioles organization at the tail-end of Spring Training, as he was traded from the Phillies to the Orioles on March 28 for cash considerations. To the best of my recollection, he appeared in just one Spring Training game, but there was still some talk that he could break camp with the team. That didn't end up being the case, but it didn't take long for Asher to make his first appearance in Birdland.

He was recalled from AAA Norfolk on April 15th, and made his O's debut the same day. He started the game against the Blue Jays and was great; he lasted 6.1 innings, and only gave up 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 5. Now the 2017 Jays' team doesn't exactly seem like a powerhouse but it was still a promising debut.

Since that game, he has made one more start, and is generally being used out of the bullpen as the right-handed long reliever. He is also one of the about seven relievers riding the Baltimore-Norfolk carousel, and has already bounced back and forth twice. Buck Showalter really does love optionable guys in the 'pen.

Alec was kind enough to sign this card for me at one of the Orioles games that I was able to make it so far this year. It was the same game that I finally was able to get Wade Miley's autograph as well, so it was a pretty exciting day for me, autograph-wise. And I'm quite confident that I'm the only person around with a signed Alec Asher Orioles card, as usual thanks to my Dad for making it happen.

Good luck in Baltimore Alec!

Oriole # 1009- Vance Worley

After the initial rush of four Orioles debuts over the first two games of the season, it took a few more games for the last two new guys on the roster to make their debut on the field. Vance Worley and Hyun Soo Kim both debuted simultaneously in the field this past Sunday, April 10th, in the Orioles fifth game of the season. So I had to go back to my positional tie-breaker system to determine that Worley being the pitcher (position 1) slotted ahead of Kim who started in left field (7), so that officially locked Vance in as the 1009th player in Orioles history.

(Sorry for the crappy scans of these two cards, but my scanner started playing hardball with me)

The Vanimal (his nickname since his college days for his hardcore workouts) was the only one of the six new Orioles to debut in 2016 who was a member of the team and attended Orioles Fanfest back in December. So, thanks to my dad's Old Man Orioles custom cards, I had been prepared for his Orioles debut for about five months by the time it actually came around. I wasn't actually sure that he was going to break camp with the team, as it came down to the final day of Spring Training before it was officially announced that he heading to Baltimore. 

Interestingly enough, he started the season as the team's fifth starter, but it's possible that Tyler Wilson will move into that role in the future, but only time will tell. Vance hadn't pitched in something like ten days before making his start, so it would make sense if he was a little bit rusty. He pitched reasonably well, and gave up just two earned runs over 4.2 innings, while he struck out five Rays. If he had been able to get one more out, he would have been in line for the win, but the wheels had started to come off. All told, it was a solid performance for his debut, especially after the long layover. 

In addition to getting Vance's autograph at Fanfest, he was one of the better signers I came across during my Spring Training trip too. I came across him with just one other fan nearby and he signed these cards for me, as well as the OMC at the top of the post. Prior to Vance's signing for us, the other autograph seeker saw my Twins card and mentioned that Vance likely wouldn't sign it. I had never heard anything about this, so I put the Twins card on the bottom, and figured it didn't hurt to ask.

Which leads to one of my funnier autograph stories in recent memory. Before signing the card, he thoroughly crossed out both the Twins lettering and logo. I wasn't sure he was going to still sign the card, but he did. And I didn't get the whole story behind this, but suffice it to say that he clearly doesn't have good memories about his time in Minnesota.

Thanks for signing for me Vance and welcome to the club!