Orioles Autograph Year in Review: Inconclusive players

So I've been thinking about how I should go about my project regarding the '09 Orioles players signing habits. I am going to start by addressing the players who played less than 20 games for the O's and who I didn't get a good feel for their signing habits. So this post will mainly focus on bench players, injured types, and players who weren't cut out to wear the orange and black.

I will start with a few guys who played in less than 10 games for the O's due to injury or poor play.



Alfredo's 09 season lasted all of 2 starts. Well, that's not even very accurate. His season lasted 1 bad start and a second start in which he was pulled in the second inning due to injury. I think it was a shoulder injury that he was initially to have been able to rehab from, but that never happened.

His season ended (and the starting rotation began to fall apart) on April 14. I have seen that some people have had success with him signing TTM with items sent to the Orioles offices. He is one of only 2 players on the '09 roster that I don't have an autograph of, but this is the card I want signed.


I got this card signed at the last game of the season. I tried to call Chris over to sign at a few other games but he never seemed too excited about signing. In a way, he seemed shocked that anyone knew who he was when I called out his name. He only appeared in 4 games in the mop-up role, so he didn't factor into the season very much.

Chris did manage to rack up some decent strike out numbers during his appearances and was the bullpen rookie backpack bearer for the last month of the season.




I got these card's signed by Bob at the Tides game I went to earlier this season. He seemed pretty good at signing there but I don't believe I saw him sign once in Baltimore.

Bob's time with the Orioles organization is likely over. He has appeared in 15 games over the past two seasons and has a 16.46 ERA. He has NOT allowed a run in only 5 of those games, and four of them were last season. Not good.



Adam signed this card for me after shagging fly balls during O's batting practice.
Most of you are probably aware that his time in Baltimore didn't go that well (2-5 record, 8.56 ERA) but he seemed like a decent signer. The O's released him on May 22 and the Rockies picked him up on June 6, and eventually released him on September 9.

After he was released by the Orioles, Allen & Ginter released a card of him in an O's uniform that I really want to get signed.




Radhames only appeared in 2 games for the O's this season and I don't recall seeing him sign during his brief stint with the Birds. I was able to get him to sign in Norfolk and Bowie this season, but he did seem to have a "big-league" attitude while with the Baysox. By that I mean he seemed like he was a little above signing for the Bowie fans.



I didn't really enjoy Freel's time with the Orioles. I wasn't a big fan of his attitude or his view of what his playing time should be. Apparently neither did the Cubs, Royals or Rangers who all designated him for assignment during the '09 season after his time with the O's.

A friend (shout out to Meghan!) got this signed for me at FanFest. I don't think he signed much outside of that time.

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.

Road trip detailed: 5/23 Orioles @ Nationals, 5/24 Tides vs Red Wings, 5/25 & 5/26 Orioles vs Blue Jays

This is going to be a long post full of pictures and card scans and I am going to keep it as coherent and brief as possible. I hope everyone enjoys my baseball oriented Memorial Day weekend!

Saturday 5/23-Orioles @ Nationals-Nationals Park-Washington, DC

Adam Jones once again signed for a bunch of fans

As did Luke Scott

This was our first time seeing Nolan Reimold play as an Oriole

And as an American League fan, it was funny to see Koji bat
I wonder if this had anything to do with his dehydration/hamstring injury?

Rich Hill signed again, and luckily this time I had his card!

Adam Jones really signs a lot for a superstar

Luckily I got Chad's autograph before he is sent packing tomorrow...he seemed really nice

Jamie Walker signed for a few of us who got to him while he was leaning against the outfield wall
Interesting CAT inscription between his first and last names...

I called LOOUU over, good timing too since he is now out 6-8 weeks for finger surgery

The other players who signed but I missed out on were Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, and Cesar Izturis.

Sunday 5/24-Tides vs Red Wings-Harbor Park-Norfolk, VA

"The Future" Matt Wieters was as fan-friendly as he had been in Bowie & Frederick

I think Matt dedicated this single to me for making the long trip to see him!

Radhames Liz was tracking pitches in the stands and smiled for Kalina

Chris Tillman signed for fans in the concourse before the game but insisted on taking a picture with me along the first base line

I was really happy to get autographs from some of the guys on the '09 Tides who played for the O's either this season or last year.

Including...

Bob McCrory (08-09)

Kam Mickolio (08)

Jim Miller (08)

And Oscar Salazar (08)

Joey Gathright also signed but hasn't yet played in Baltimore, at least not for the Orioles

Ross Wolf, Carlos Rojas and Melvin Dorta also signed but I either didn't have cards of theirs or already had my cards signed.

Monday 5/25 & Tuesday 5/26-Orioles vs Blue Jays-OPACY-Baltimore, MD

Monday-

It was another O's Alumni Autograph day and the signees were:

Paul Blair, Bill Swaggerty & Joe Durham

It was my first Durham auto

And first time getting Swaggerty in person

We found B-Rob signing once we made it down to the first base line


MASN broadcaster Buck Martinez also signed for fans

After a few beers and fun with Kalina and Chris:
the Orioles were good enough to win the game for us!

Tuesday:

Along with the Kevin Millar auto Kalina got for me, John McDonald also signed

This is Jason Berken's first major league pitch; a called strike.

A drizzly night but the O's pulled off another win!

And I need to briefly mention the awesome walk-off HR that Nolan Reimold hit yesterday. It was the Orioles first sweep of the Blue Jays since 1994, their first 3 game win streak since last August, and their time coming back to win after trailing after the 7th inning. Way to go Nolan and the rest of the O's!