1984 Orioles Debuts, #386-396

Oh boy, 1984 was not a banner year for new Orioles players. There was pretty much Larry Sheets, and I guess one could mention Nate Snell and Ken Dixon, who both stuck around in Baltimore for a few years, but beyond that, there are quite a few "who's that?" type of players.

I might need to consider starting to cover multiple years in these posts, both to add some meat to them and to bump up the number of pictures. But that's not going to happen today.

Here's the older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985)


Wayne Gross #386, 4/2/84 (1984-85)

Tom Underwood #387, 4/7/84 (1984)

Orlando Sanchez #388, 5/20/84 (1984)

Mark Brown #389, 8/9/84 MLB Debut (1984)

John Pacella #390, 9/1/84 (1984)

Vic Rodriguez #391, 9/5/84 MLB Debut (1984)

Ron Jackson #392, 9/7/84 (1984)

Larry Sheets #393, 9/18/84 MLB Debut (1984-89)

Nate Snell #394, 9/20/84 MLB Debut (1984-86)

Jim Traber #395, 9/21/84 MLB Debut (1984, 86, 88-89)

"The Whammer" played in parts of four seasons with the Orioles before moving on the play in Japan and Mexico. He played in 264 games during his time with the O's, and played mostly first base.

Probably the most notable thing that occurred during Jim's playing career is an incident in Japan in which Jim charged the mound and the pitcher retreated all the way to the outfield.

He is currently an Oklahoma City Sports Radio host, and seems to be a bit of a blowhard from some comments I've heard from other collectors.

Ken Dixon #396, 9/22/84 MLB Debut (1984-87)

A Week of Trades from SportsCollectors.Net- Rockinace Two Times

I know that I have mentioned SCN and it's awesome website before, but this week I am going to share some of the trades I have made with fellow collectors to showcase my successes. It costs about $15 for an entire year to use the site and you get TTM success rates, player's addresses, trading options with other users, and many other features. Most of the users on the site are active and helpful, so it's worth your time to check out if you are an autograph collector.

Now that I'm done giving their site some free advertising, I will share some of the trades I have made on there over the past month and a half since I joined.


My first trade, and shortly thereafter a second trade, was made with a guy who goes by rockinace.

The first trade netted me Aaron Ledesma and Chad Paronto, while the second one brought Ron Jackson and Adam Stern my way.

Aaron Ledesma 1997

Aaron was the utility infielder on the '97 Orioles squad, mainly backing up Robbie Alomar at second base. He hit the only two HRs of his career that season while wearing the orange and black and was the 62nd pick by the Devil Rays in the expansion draft after the season.

He is currently a coach on the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Chad Paronto 2001

Chad was drafted in the 8th round of the 1996 draft by the Orioles and made his Orioles debut in 2001. He went 1-3 in 24 appearances, and finished 9 games for the O's that season. The Indians selected him off of waivers following the 01 season so that was it for Chad and the Orioles.

Chad has bounced back and forth between the majors and minors over the past 7 seasons but appeared in a couple of games for the Astros this season. Keep the dream alive Chad!

Ron Jackson 1984

While Ron had a 10 year long Major League career, only the last 12 games of it were with the Orioles. The Birds signed him in August '84 and he finished out the season with the club, appearing as a pinch-hitter and third baseman.

Ron has made a career out of being a Major & Minor League hitting coach, notably for the Red Sox from 2003-06. That, of course, made him a member of the '04 Red Sox that broke the "Curse of the Bambino" by winning the World Series.

Adam "Canadian Babe Ruth" Stern 2007

Did you just blink? If so, you missed Adam's cameo for the Orioles. He has one of the strangest stat lines I have come across while doing my project. Now, I kind of remember this from when it happened but Adam appeared in two games for the Orioles but only as a defensive replacement; he never got an AB! That's weird.

In case you are wondering how Adam was brought into the Orioles fold, he was the PTBNL from the Javy Lopez trade at the end of the 2006 season. Wow, between Lopez & Ramon Hernandez, the O's went through some lean catching years. It makes me even more thankful for Wieters!

Since there isn't anything else to say about his time on the Orioles, here are a few other notes I found about Adam.
-Trot Nixon gave him his nickname, but I can't find the story behind it
-he played for Team Canada in the 2004 & 2008 Olympics, as well as the 2006 & 2009 World Baseball Classics
-on August 8, 2005, appeared in a game for the Red Sox with Kevin Youkilis & Gabe Kapler, setting an American League record for most Jewish players on the field at one time
-is only the second Jewish Canadian player in MLB history, following Goody Rosen who played in the '30s & '40s mainly for the Brooklyn Dodgers

Aren't you impressed that I found that much to write about a player who never even hit for the Orioles? Are you still with me? Anyone?