Albie "Little Man" Pearson

Albie Pearson 1959-60

Albie was the smallest baseball player of his era, and possibly of all time (outside of any stunts that Bill Veeck might have pulled) but he was able to have a pretty good career anyway. He was listed as being only 5'5" and 140 pounds which earned him the nickname "Little Man" from Ted Williams among others.

He is probably best remembered for being the 1958 AL Rookie of the Year while with the Washington Senators. He was traded to the Orioles in the middle of the '59 season in exchange for Lenny Green. While with the O's, he played all three outfield positions and was a regular member of the lineup for the rest of the 1959 season. He also started 1960 in Baltimore but was sent to the Minor Leagues in the middle of the season before being called back up in September. The expansion Los Angeles Angels (yes, they were briefly called that upon their inception before changing the moniker to the California Angels in 1965) drafted Albie away from the Orioles following the 1960 season. He had the best year of his career with them in 1963 and earned his only All-Star berth as well as a few MVP votes.

After he retired from baseball, Albie became an ordained non-denominational minister and has started numerous churches around the world. He also started the Father's Heart Ranch for abused or neglected boys. Nice work Albie.

2010 Orioles FanFest Signers Announced

Today the list of current, former and future Orioles' players that are appearing at FanFest was released.

In alphabetical order from Roch's blog...

Current & Future O's:

MATT ALBERS
ROBERT ANDINO
GARRETT ATKINS
MICHAEL AUBREY
JOSH BELL
BRAD BERGESEN
JASON BERKEN
ALBERTO CASTILLO
BRANDON ERBE
MIKE GONZALEZ
JEREMY GUTHRIE
DAVID HERNANDEZ
RHYNE HUGHES
JIM JOHNSON
ADAM JONES
NICK MARKAKIS
BRIAN MATUSZ
CLA MEREDITH
KAM MICKOLIO
KEVIN MILLWOOD
LOU MONTANEZ
TROY PATTON
FELIX PIE
NOLAN REIMOLD
BRIAN ROBERTS
DENNIS SARFATE
LUKE SCOTT
BRANDON SNYDER
CHORYE SPOONE
CRAIG TATUM
CHRIS TILLMAN
JUSTIN TURNER
MATT WIETERS
TY WIGGINTON


Current Coaches:

TERRY CROWLEY
JEFF DATZ
ALAN DUNN
RICK KRANITZ
JUAN SAMUEL
JOHN SHELBY
DAVE TREMBLEY


Former Players:

PAUL BLAIR
MIKE BORDICK
DON BUFORD
AL BUMBRY
MIKE CUELLAR
RICK DEMPSEY
KEN DIXON
JOE DURHAM
TODD FROHWIRTH
DICK HALL
RON HANSEN
CHRIS HOILES
BILL HUNTER
DAVE JOHNSON
RICK KRIVDA
CALVIN MADURO
SCOTT McGREGOR
JOHN MILLER
TIM NORDBROOK
JOE ORSULAK
JIM PALMER
BOOG POWELL
GARY ROENICKE
LARRY SHEETS
NATE SNELL
JOHN STEFERO
BJ SURHOFF
BILL SWAGGERTY
FRED VALENTINE

I'm really excited because I don't have autographs of Atkins, Hughes, Millwood or Tatum and can use upgrades on Bergesen, Bordick, Frohwirth, Markakis, Mickolio and Tillman. I don't know if I will be able to get them all but I am going to try.

Also, Zach inspired me to put an offer out there in the blogosphere to help others with their collections. I don't think that I will be able to cover everyone by any means but I will try to cover as much as possible. If you are interested in anyone I listed above, please comment on this post. I just ask that you are a follower on this blog and I will do what I can to help you out. Also, I will need to receive any items that you would like signed in the mail by next Friday. If you need my address, email me at salsmanado at gmail dot com. If I get too many requests for specific players I will have to say no to some later requests but I will do what I can.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Gordie Sundin 1956

Here is my Gordie Sundin autographed card.

What? You don't think it's a signed card?

Well it sure is, just not on the front.

I have seen a few players do this with these Crown Cards since most of the light areas on the card faces are concentrated on the faces and some players don't seem to like signing on their face. But then again, some others don't seem to mind signing all over the facial region.

Gordie's Major League career lasted all of one very brief and unsuccessful appearance when he was only 18 years old. With the O's trailing 8-1, he entered the 8th inning of the game on September 19, 1956 in a mop up role but it seems that he forgot his mop back in the bullpen. He walked two batters and did not record an out before being pulled from the game. Billy O'Dell came in after Gordie and allowed one of those walked batters to score. Gordie never made it back into another Major League game, so his career stat line is left with an ERA and WHIP of infinity.

Kevin at the awesome Orioles Card "O" The Day blog did a post on him last fall and reports that Gordie married a member of the 1956 US Figure Skating after his baseball career, so at least that's something good!

Little Brandon Fahey

"Little" Brandon Fahey 2006-08

This guy was one of my favorite players of recent years, not really due to any of his accomplishments on the field but rather due to his body type. Now, I'm not saying that I have a habit of noticing these kinds of things on other guys but it's pretty obvious when said player is listed at 6'2" and 160 pounds, which probably means that he's more in the 145-150 pound range. The dude looked like a string bean in a baseball uniform and he played well enough to make it to the Major Leagues. It's always encouraging to see players that aren't pure muscle make it to the Bigs, in the vein of Fahey and a guy like Kevin Millar towards the other end of that spectrum. "Little Brandon" was my own nickname for him and I think it was quite appropriate.

He filled a super-utility role over parts of the three seasons he spent in Baltimore, and played mostly shortstop but also spent time in left field, right field, second base, and third base. I had the pleasure of seeing one of his two Big League homers with my family at the game on Sunday June 4, 2006, and it was even sweeter as it was against the Yankees in a rare Orioles victory against the Evil Empire.

Brandon played in 189 games for the O's over his three seasons with the team, including a season high 91 in 2006. He hit .224 with 18 doubles, 54 runs and 36 RBI over those years. He also struck out almost three times as much as he walked but had 9 sacrifice hits in 2006, which was good for 4th in the AL and I sincerely doubt any Oriole has surpassed that total since. The current guys aren't very good at bunting and situational hitting. Maybe they will be this coming year, who knows?

A couple of other things that I found interesting about him are that he was a member of the 2002 Texas Longhorns baseball team who won the National Championship and that his dad, Bill, was a Major League catcher for 11 seasons in the '70s & '80s.

The O's granted Little Brandon his free agency following the '08 season and he signed a Minor League contract with the Blue Jays in January of '09 but doesn't appear to have played in the Majors or Minors at all for them last year. Wherever he might be, I wish him good luck! You are an inspiration to all skinny baseball playing kids everywhere!

Unpossible Autograph- Dave McNally

Dave McNally 1962-74 (died 2002)

It's about time that the greatest left-handed pitcher in Orioles history makes an appearance on my blog! Dave's 181 wins are the second most in team history, behind only HOFer Jim Palmer's 268 and are by far the most by a lefty.

He won 20 or more games in 4 consecutive seasons from 1968-71, and was one of 4 O's starters to do so in 1970, along with Palmer, Pat Dobson and Mike Cuellar. As far as modern Orioles records go, he has made the second most starts (384) again behind Palmer, has the third most complete games (120), second most shutouts (33), and sixth best ERA (3.18) (among pitchers who started at least 100 games for the O's).

He also made 3 All-Star teams, came in the top 4 of Cy Young voting in three consecutive years ('69-71) and received MVP votes four times. His best season was probably 1970 when he led the league in wins and games started.

Dave also contributed to the O's World Series Championship seasons in 1966 & '70. In his only start of the '70 WS, he even hit a grand slam and won the game for himself! And yes, that bat is in the HOF since that's the only time a pitcher took care of everything in a World Series game.

Over his career, he won 12 decisions in a row three different times including once when he made it all the way to 17 straight winning decisions. That's amazing! Roger Clemens is the only other pitcher to have ever done that. Crazy stuff. I don't think I appreciated just how good Dave was until researching this post.

Very, very impressive stuff. I definitely say that he is the second best Orioles pitcher of all-time behind Cakes.



Dave also did something to clear the way for today's players in every sport to make the money that they do. He, along with Andy Messersmith of the Dodgers, challenged the Reserve Clause,
which basically said that once a player's contract ended, they were still property of that team unless they negotiated a new contract with that same team or asked to be traded or released. The link explains it in much more detail if you are interested but to sum it up, their challenge led to the advent of free agency as we know it so that all teams could bid for a player's services.

Dave passed away due to lung cancer on 12/1/02 in Billings, Montana, where he had lived his entire life. I wish I had appreciated your career more while you were still with us!

A Stacy Jones Sunday

Stacy Jones 1991

Although he only pitched in 4 games for the O's in 1991, he is remarkable in the Oriole Universe for one reason; he is the only Orioles player ever whose name was Stacy.

In those four games he made one start, pitched 11 totals innings, didn't earn a decision and had a 4.09 ERA. He briefly resurfaced in the Majors for 2 more games with the White Sox in 1996 but that was the end of his Major League career.

I might also add that he is a tough autograph to track down so I was once again relegated to "the bay" for success with this one.

Orioles Siggy Awards

Piggybacking off of a great idea from the ladies at Dinged Corners and further inspired by Paul's Random Stuff 's addition to the field, I present to you my Orioles Siggy Awards. I have eliminated all Minor Leaguers from consideration since they would dominate at least one of my categories (most legible autograph).

Best (only) TTM Return From a Player Inducted Into the Hall of Fame in 2010:

Best TTM Return From a Player Who Was Mysteriously Not Voted Into the HOF
but Should Have Been in 2010:

Best Use of the Letter "K" By an Oriole:


Best Uniform Number Placement:


Most "Unique" Autograph:


Most Legible Autograph:

Retired:

Current:


Least Legible Autograph:

Retired:


Current(many options for this one):


Most Amusing Use of Card Space for a Signature:

Least Amusing Use of Card Space for a Signature:


Most Frightening Picture/Painting on a Signed Card :


Most Unique Personalization:

Rapping Things Up

Pat Rapp 2000

In a moment of weakness, I picked this card up on eBay. It was cheap and it's on an Orioles card but it's not the greatest autograph, I already had an autograph of his on a Marlins card and Pat is a good TTM signer. I think my tipping point was the fact that I didn't have an Orioles card of his so I would've had to buy the card and then mail it out to him so my total cost would've been about the same either way. Also, I keep typing Patt Rapp instead of Pat Rapp. The double p's at the end of his last name screws me up for some reason.

Pat signed with the Orioles as a free agent before the 2000 season and started 30 games for the Birds that season. He went 9-12 with a 5.90 ERA, so things didn't go well, but then again, not many pitchers on that '00 team had much luck.

Over his 10 MLB seasons, Pat pitched for 6 teams, and I remember him most for the 5 years he was on the Marlins towards the start of his career. He was on the 1993 team and I was really into the expansion at that point of my life so I followed both the Rockies and Marlins those first few years. Honestly, I think that I liked the colors and logos of the two new teams as much as anything else. Or maybe it was David Nied and Nigel Wilson.

According to his Facebook page, Pat currently seems to be living the good life and really enjoys bass fishing.

RIP Ron Moeller

Ron "the Kid" Moeller 1956, 58 (died 2009)

As I was perusing my new Harvey Meiselman baseball player address list last night, (another great Christmas gift from Kalina!) I noticed that Ron Moeller passed away this past November 2nd. He is the first guy to have died that had recently signed a TTM request for me; this past summer I sent him a request on June 30th and it was back to me by July 10th, so he was an extremely quick signer. I know that this is almost two months after he died but I still wanted to write something about him.

I mentioned Ron in a post showcasing some of my recent TTM successes shortly after I got this card back so I don't want to repeat too much from that post but felt like I should add on to it.

Although I already have mentioned how young Ron looks in the picture on the card, I neglected to mention his very fitting nickname, "the Kid". The other Orioles player bestowed that on him due to his boyish looks and the fact that he made his MLB debut at the young age of 17. Interestingly, he was out of baseball after the 1963 season and had thrown his last pitch at the age of 24, around the age that many current players make their debuts.

He passed away in Cincinnati, his hometown where it appears he lived his entire life outside of baseball. Thanks for being a great TTM signer during your time with us Ron. Rest in Peace.

An Interesting Card-Less Valuable Once Signed

Bobby Bonner 1980-83
Jeff Schneider 1981

I think that this is the only autographed card that I own that is worth considerably less because it's signed. I have a few autographed Vladimir Guerrero rookie cards that this could apply to as well, but not to the extent as with this card.

As most of you probably know, this is Cal's rookie card, and while it's not as rare as his '82 Topps Traded card, is still considered his de facto RC. I remember when my dad and I first got this card in the late '80s or early '90s: it went in one of those extremely thick top loaders and was worth $100+ dollars; not that I cared about that part. I had my favorite player's rookie card!

Now, this card might be worth near it's current book value of $40 if Cal had at least completed the triple auto, but since it's only signed by Bonner & Schneider, I don't imagine it's worth much. However, since I do this blog for the autographs and not for the value of anything, I present to you my Bobby Bonner & Jeff Schneider autographed card. I'm pretty sure that my dad gave me this card, which was very nice of him.

Bobby played with the O's for four seasons 1980-83 but only appeared in 61 games over that stretch. He retired from baseball after the '83 season and along with his wife became a missionary, traveling to Africa to spread his faith. It appears as though he's currently running a youth baseball league.

Jeff appeared in relief in 11 games over the 1981 season. He earned one save and had a 4.88 ERA over those games, his only action in the Majors. The O's took him from the Phillies in the 1978 Rule V draft and he was traded to the Angels in January 1982 along with Doug Decinces for "Disco" Dan Ford.

Post #200-My Christmas Gifts

I apologize for the delay with this post but I wanted it to be something special and a little different since it is number 200. I know that at some point these mini milestones don't mean as much but for now they still do to me. So I figured that this would be the perfect place to showcase my baseball related Christmas gifts from my awesome girlfriend and parents.

First off is a sweet photo tab card notebook that Kalina made for me that I can use for my Orioles' team set.
I first saw one of these when Zach, from the excellent Autographed Cards blog, was in town for an Orioles game. But this wasn't on my list, Kalina came up with the idea on her own. I'm freaking lucky to have a girlfriend who supports my auto habits so much! In the past, I have always used the clear plastic containers which forced me to flip quickly through and miss players at times. Now, I shouldn't have that problem!

Kalina also got me some sweet Mike Gonzalez cards to get signed this season.

And she even knows enough about autographs to get the low gloss cards!

My mom and dad (mainly my dad) hooked me up with a few new autographs for my collection, including a deceased HOFer.

Hoyt Wilhelm 1958-62 (died 2002)

I don't even know where to start with Hoyt, there's so much to say about him. He was elected to the HOF in 1985, he made five All-Star teams, he's regarded as one of the best knuckleballers of all time which led to his being the first pitcher to appear in over 1,000 games (he made it to 1,070), he won 124 games as a reliever (a record that is still standing), and he pitched in the Majors until he was almost 49 years old.

I could really say so much more about Hoyt's time with the other 8 other teams he pitched for over his other 16 years in MLB but I am going to focus on the 4+ seasons that he spent with the O's.

The Orioles selected him off of waivers from the Indians on August 23, 1958 which led to one of the best stretches of his career. On September 20th of that year, he no-hit the Yankees while pitching against Don Larsen, which was no small feat. He led the American league with a 2.19 ERA and made the All-Star team in 1959. He also made the All-Star teams in 1961 &'62, and received MVP votes for his dominating 1961 season. Interestingly, Hoyt made 43 of his 52 career starts with the O's. On January 14, 1963 he was traded along with former ROY Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the White Sox for another future HOFer, Luis Aparicio, and Al Smith.

Hank Foiles 1961
I really like that Bird logo on his left arm!

Hank backed up Gus Triandos on the '61 Orioles squad and played in 43 games during his only season with the O's. The Birds took him in the 1960 Rule V draft from the Tigers.

Overall, he spent 11 seasons in the Majors and played for 7 different teams, highlighted by his 1957 All-Star appearance while playing for the Pirates.

Happy New Year Everyone

Here's a glimpse at the future of the O's, possibly in 2010.

The largely overlooked Zach Britton.

I predict that he will be one of the best O's starters in two or three seasons.
And that I will still be a ridiculously big Orioles fan.

Have a safe and successful 2010!