The Sad Return of Unpossible Autograph Friday- RIP Babe Birrer

It had been nearly three months since a former Orioles player had passed away (Jack Harshman died on 8/15) and it was a nice break from writing about O's who were no longer with us. Sadly though, Werner "Babe" Birrer passed away this past Tuesday. 

Babe pitched for three seasons in the Majors, one each with the Tigers, Orioles, and Dodgers, but pitched professionally for 20 years from 1947-66. The Buffalo News did an excellent job writing up the obituary about Babe's life, and I certainly learned a lot about him from reading the entire write-up. I suggest you do the same, but I'll hit on a few highlights here.

-during his time with the Tigers in 1955, he hit two 3 run homers and pitched 4 shutout innings in a single game, coincidentally against the Orioles; that game earned him his nickname "Babe"

-those 2 HRs and the resulting 6 RBI were the entire extent of his career HR and RBI totals

-he gave up one of Mickey Mantle's 3 longest home runs

- he put his baseball career on hold to serve with the Army during the Korean War

-he taught for 20 years after his baseball playing days were over

-he was an avid photographer

-and he was a featured visitor at local German festivals (I'm not sure what it means, but it sounds cool)


I obtained my autographed Orioles Crown card of Birrer way back in December 2010, and included him in a post I wrote about the trade. It seems as those he was a good TTM signer for a number of years but I believe he was unable to sign by the time I sent a request to him.

RIP "Babe", it sounds like you led quite a great life.


To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

I'm Still Here

Just wanted to do a very quick post acknowledging that I do in fact intend on keeping this blog alive, contrary to my recent lack of posting. Most of my issues are tied to the fact that I don't have the cards that I want to write about scanned yet, as well as the general disarray of my cards following the 2013 season. I will fix that situation someday, maybe even someday soon!

For now, the Orioles off-season hasn't exactly been inspiring me to write; I mean, did anyone out there have Kelvin de la Cruz and Edgmer Escalona on their short list of top priority signings? Nothing against either of those two guys, and I have faith that Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter know what they are doing, but they certainly aren't the types of moves to get my blogging blood boiling.

I hope to write a post about some of the minor league additions to the Orioles 40 man roster sometime soon.

But for now, to satiate your Orioles autographs fix, here are a couple of my dad's awesome Old Man Cards featuring a couple 2013 O's who almost assuredly will never be immortalized in a Baltimore uniform by Topps.

Thanks again for the awesome cards, Old Man! And thanks for signing them Jairo and Chris!

K-Rod & Bud Join the "Need List"

2013 Topps Update came out last week, and has been my policy for much of the year due to my decreased card storage space, I haven't purchased any of it yet. I might get a pack or two here or there, but I think my days of trying to complete these sets are over. I don't even have room for the sets that I already have, and need to make some tough decisions about what to keep or get rid of sometime soon. 

Anyway, I digress. Recently, I have just been cherry-picking the Orioles team sets off of ebay, depending on how many new players are included in the set. I really don't need any more cards of Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, or Brian Roberts. Since I'm not a player collector, I think 100 or so cards of each of them is more than enough.

With the release of every Topps Update set, I just cross my fingers and hope that not many, if any, of the Orioles included need to be added to my need list. But every year it happens, as a few players are pictured for the first time as an Oriole on cardboard. Last year it was Matt Lindstrom, Ronny Paulino, and Luis Ayala. This year it's K-Rod and Bud Norris. 

Since my dad began making his Old Man Cards of the Orioles earlier this year, it has made the autographing process easier for me. If I had one of his OMC signed by either K-Rod or Bud, then I wouldn't need to add them to my need list, but unfortunately, that's not the case. I was not able to get either of their autographs after they joined the team, and K-Rod even turned me down in what seemed like a very ideal chance to get his signature. 

I'm not too worried about getting Norris to sign a copy of this card since he is likely going to be a member of the Orioles for a few more seasons. But I don't see K-Rod coming back to town, and he doesn't exactly seem to be a good signer, so I am concerned about my prospects of getting this card signed by him. Hopefully it will happen one day.

The 2013 Update set also includes the first official Orioles card of Cuban rookie Henry Urrutia, but since I happily already have an OMC signed card of him, I don't need to add his name to my list. But I will likely still try to get this card signed since he is wearing an orange uniform and all, and I still do collect signed orange uni cards.

Back To 100%

Considering that I haven't exactly had a ton of time for autograph collecting and/or blogging over the course of the 2013 baseball season, I consider myself pretty fortunate to still be able to say that I have an autograph of each and every one of the 966 players who has appeared in an Orioles uniform over the team's 60 years of existence.

Since I now possess autographs of all the 24 players who debuted over the course of the 2013 season, here's the breakdown for how those autographs came to be in my collection:
Obtained from player in minor leagues: 5
Obtained in-person from the player at MLB level: 5
On consignment from another collector: 3
Purchased online: 11

Quite a difference from past years when it probably would have looked something more like 30% obtained in minors, 60% obtained at MLB level, and 10% purchased. But such is the way things go when one doesn't have time to get autographs in person. Luckily, every one of the 11 autographs that I bought are certified signatures, and none were particularly expensive. In fact, most were quite cheap, which is perfect for me.

Without further ado, here are the three latest autographs that I purchased from COMC.com. (As you can see, I haven't had time to scan my own autographs yet, so I grabbed screenshots from their website. Hey, it's better than a post without pictures, am-I-right?)

Orioles #961-963

Michael Morse- options were somewhat limited since I didn't want a Nationals autograph bogging down my collection

Steve Clevenger- I would never have guessed that the Cleaver would have had a certified signature out there

Dan Johnson- there are a startling number of certified autographs of his out there; I tend to forget that he was something of a prospect back in the day

I was very pleased that all three of these autographs are on-card, and that all look pretty nice, although Clevenger's autograph leaves something to be desired. 

These three will likely stay in my collection unless I'm able to get any of these guys to sign one of my dad's custom OMC Orioles cards. Though I would guess that only Clevenger is back in the system in 2014, so that will complicate things with the other two. 

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Topps will be a jerk and include Morse as an Oriole in their 2013 Update or 2014 Series One set since he's something of a "star" although he did next to nothing during his month with the Orioles. If he is included on a Topps card than I have to add him to my need list, which I would greatly prefer not to do. 

Oriole #966- Mike Belfiore

After spending the entire 2013 season on the Orioles 40 man roster, and having joined the team at least two previous times throughout the season without having appeared in a game, Mike Belfiore finally had the opportunity to make his O's and MLB debut on the last Friday night of the season against the Red Sox, and he will forever be the 966th player to wear the Orioles uniform. 

Two previous times this season, I had speculated that Mike was going to make his Orioles debut, once during Spring Training, and again in May when he was called up to join the team. Obviously, my timing was off, but I'm sure that Mike is pleased either way to have gotten his Major League debut under his belt. Unfortunately, it didn't go the way I'm sure that he would have preferred as he gave up three hits, including two homers, and walked a batter over an inning and a third. Better luck next season Mike!

I've been fortunate enough to have gotten Mike's autograph a number of times during the 2012 season when he arrived at AA Bowie, having come to the organization from the D-Backs in return for the ultimately disappointing Josh Bell in a May 2012 trade. And thanks again to my dad's OMC production, I already have a signed, personalized Orioles card of Mike in my collection, so I will never need to worry about an upgrade.

The Orioles ended the 2013 season with 24 new players having made their black and orange debuts, from Alexi Casilla near Opening Day, to Belfiore near the end of the season. The Birds didn't quite have it in them to make the playoffs this season, but I'm happy they remained in contention through the final week of the year.

Hopefully next week I will have time to do a quick rundown on all the players who made it into a game for the O's this season.

Orioles #964 & 965- Jonathan Schoop & Jason Pridie

Hey, something to get excited about, a post with actual autographs AND pictures. That's probably why you checked this site in the first place!

Two players on divergent career paths both made their Orioles debuts during Wednesday night's game against the Blue Jays. Since they both made their debut in the field in the top of the first inning, I have to use my debut tiebreaker system of the numbered positions on the field to declare Jonathan Schoop (pronounced scope) (2B) Oriole #964, while Jason Pridie (pronounced pry-dee) (CF) becomes #965. Schoop is the O's top minor league position prospect whose debut was also his first MLB action, while Pridie has mostly been a minor league journeyman, and the O's are the fourth big league team that he has played in a game for at the MLB level.

I was lucky enough to be at the game, and had some amazing seats to boot. All the better to take some quick shots of the two guys making their black and orange debuts.

Jonathan Schoop- Oriole #964, debuted 9/25 against Blue Jays

I was specifically excited to see Schoop's debut, as he has been one of the O's top prospects for a few years now. He has played primarily second base and shortstop in the minors, but can also man third base. In 2011 and most of 2012, he and Manny Machado played together at Frederick, and then Bowie to form a double-play combo with some serious MLB potential. I think that Machado has already surpassed his early career expectations and I'm hoping that Schoop will have the opportunity to make the club at the start of 2014.

Jonathan was one of the players whom I discussed possibly making the club out of Spring Training this past year, but there was ultimately way too much competition for the Orioles 2B job in 2013. Next year should be a clearer path with the end of B-Rob's contract and the unlikelihood of Casilla's return. 

Schoop has always seemed exceptionally down to earth and should be an extremely easy player to root for; just ask my dad who was fortunate to have a nice conversation with him in our hotel lobby upon Jonathan's return from playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic this year. As you can see, he also has been kind enough to sign a number of autographs for me over the years. 

His MLB career began with a bang, as he went 2-3 with a HR and three runs scored in his first MLB game. 

Here is at first base after singling in his first MLB at-bat

And here he is crossing home plate following his HR. He became just the second Oriole ever to homer in his MLB debut, following Larry Haney in 1966.

Jason Pridie- Oriole #965, debuted 9/25 against Blue Jays

I can pretty confidently say that this is currently the only signed Jason Pridie Orioles card out there, thanks to my dad's old man card production, in addition to a helpful graphing buddy in Norfolk, as I personally missed out on Pridie during Spring Training. For quite some time, it seemed like a forgone conclusion that Pridie was not going to play for the 2013 O's, mainly due to his absence from the 40 man roster, and after his name was not included in the September call-ups, I put this card in my trade pile. 

But he was definitely a Buck Showalter kind of player whose name had come up over the course of the season so after AAA Norfolk's season ended, the O's sent him to Sarasota to remain fresh in a sort of taxi-squad type of situation. They needed a fresh player after Manny Machado's nasty knee injury coupled with Chris Dickerson's hamstring tweak, so Jason finally made it to Baltimore. 

Here is his first at-bat with the O's

So far in two games with the O's, he is 2-7 with an RBI, and has played left- and center-field. He also had an unfortunately timed error in last night's game when he straight flubbed an easy fly ball with two outs which allowed a Blue Jays runner to score from first base to take a 1-0 lead. But luckily the Orioles came back to win so it didn't cost them the game, though that is the kind of play that can leave behind bad memories when considering off-season roster moves.

Interestingly enough, I also read that these two debuts have pushed the Orioles to having used 54 different players during the course of the 2013 season, which ties the 1955 Orioles for most in franchise history. And it is absolutely crazy to think about that many players appearing in a game for the team in a single season, especially when that team remained in the hunt for a playoff spot until the final week of the season. Expect a run-down on the 54 players next week.

Orioles #961-963, Morse, Clevenger, & Johnson

Wow, I can't believe that it's been an entire month since I have posted. I'm slightly embarrassed, but what can I say? Life just gets in the way of the fun stuff sometimes, and honestly, I've been a pretty bad "blogger" for most of this summer. I don't even have that much time to write today, but I wanted to just re-touch base with the Orioles Autograph "World" out there, just to let everyone know that I haven't completely gone away.

One issue with today's three subjects is that I don't have an autograph of any of the trio, so this will be a non-visual post. I will hopefully rectify the new holes in my collection in the near future, but for now, these three all go on my need list.

Oriole #961- Michael Morse, debuted 9/1 against Yankees

Morse was acquired from the Mariners for OF prospect, Xavier Avery, back on August 30th, just ahead of the waiver deadline, which means he was passed through waivers before he was eligible to be traded, and can still be on the O's 25 man postseason roster. Although, since he currently only has hit three singles in 24 ABs and is playing only part-time, I would be surprised if he was included, should the O's force their way into the October baseball picture. So far, this trade is a bust, and since Morse is a free agent at the end of the year, it's becoming more and more unlikely that he will make any impact for the team, although I suppose that could change with one timely swing of the bat.

At an Orioles-Nationals game that I attended with some friends years back, I heckled Michael by yelling "Morse Code" (not my best effort, but I'm not much of a heckler) and one of my buddies still reminds me of that to this day.

Oriole #962- Steve Clevenger, debuted 9/13 against Blue Jays

I mentioned Clevenger's name in the post I wrote about the trade that hinged on Scott Feldman's arrival from the Cubs. Steve was included in the deal since the Orioles needed some catching depth in their system, and it's a cool story since he grew up in the Baltimore area and was/is an Orioles fan. Although he has appeared in games for the Cubs over the past three seasons, it was probably a lifelong dream-come-true to get into a game for the Orioles.

He has appeared in just that one game to this point, but he was a major reason the Orioles came out on top in that game, as he hit a 2 RBI double to tie the game after the O's had been trailing the Jays 3-1 in the 7th inning. The Orioles continued the comeback to win 5-3, and Clevenger is 1-4, with that double and 2 RBI in his Baltimore career. Currently, he has been a better contributor, and much cheaper, to the team than Morse has been.

Oriole #963- Dan Johnson, debuted 9/14 against Blue Jays

I have to admit something about Dan Johnson, something that hasn't happened to me in years. I had no idea that he was even in the Orioles' farm system until I heard he was being called up. And I'm the kind of fool that keeps track of all 60 of the players who the O's invite to Spring Training every year, so this was somewhat of a big deal to me, and a true sign that I'm off my Orioles autograph game.

Anyway, Dan has a single Orioles at-bat to his name so far, when he appeared as a pinch-hitter to lead off the 9th inning against the Blue Jays. He struck out swinging, and the O's lost 4-3. I wouldn't be completely surprised if that is the extent of Dan's career in the black and orange. Which gives me an idea for a future post, one at-bat O's. At my current rate of posting, I will write that up in 2020.



For those of you out there who are working with me on trades, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, but I just need to find time to process everything. And I hope that this isn't my only post for the next month, but time will tell!

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Jack Harshman

A post on SportsCollectors.Net from yesterday mentioned that former Orioles pitcher, Jack Harshman passed away last Saturday. 

Jack was kind enough to sign two cards for me through the mail back in 2009. He kindly personalized both of them, which is awesome because it is always what I always request when I send TTMs. As you can see, his signature was really nice, and he even added different inscriptions on both cards.

I briefly wrote about Jack when I received these cards, but since that was nearly four years ago, I doubt that anyone will mind if I repeat myself a little bit. Jack pitched eight seasons in the Majors between 1952-60, spending a season and a half in Baltimore in 1958-59. In 1958, he had a 12-15 record, a 2.89 ERA to go along with 17(!) complete games, and received a few MVP votes for the effort. In 1959, he began the season 0-6 before being traded to the Red Sox.

He also managed to hit 6 home runs in 1958, which is pretty amazing for a pitcher. In fact, Jack hit 21 homers over his career, which is good enough for a tie for 10th most all-time for pitchers. You almost could call Jack a two way player. Not too shabby!

RIP Mr. Harshman, and thank you for having taken time to sign for your fans!

Jake Looks Strange

So I tuned into the Nationals-Cubs game the other evening and who did I see pitching but former Oriole Jake Arrieta. It was the first time I had seen him in a Cubs uniform, and I have to admit that he looked slightly weird wearing another uniform, but that's life being an Orioles fan. I mean, I would venture a guess that at least half the teams in MLB have a former Oriole on their roster, so it's not that big of a thing. But it does give me a nice excuse to show off this awesome personalized autograph that Jake signed for me on my 2013 Spring Training trip that I had not shown here yet.

Thanks for signing Jake, and good luck in Chicago!

Oriole #960- Bud Norris

Wow, I'm finally caught up on my Orioles debut posts, for the moment at least. My posting over this summer has obviously been lacking, and at times, even calling it sporadic might have been a compliment. But the blog is still alive and kicking (or at least treading water). So your "favorite" source for everything related to Orioles autographs will continue to deliver "well-written" posts about signed pieces of cardboard for the foreseeable future! Rest easy, my friends.

Bud Norris, Oriole #960, Debuted August 1 vs. Astros

The trade that brought Bud Norris into town was definitely my favorite deal of the three that the Orioles swung prior to the trade deadline. While I think the Feldman and K-Rod trades both improved the club, this trade was the one that I think might be the difference between the team making the playoffs or just watching them on TV along with the rest of us. The trade was also an interesting one in that the Astros were playing the Orioles in Baltimore when it went down, so Bud only had to switch clubhouses at Camden Yards to join his new team.

Bud has pitched in the Majors with the Astros since 2009, and his W-L record isn't great but his ERA is very respectable, and let's face it, the 'Stros have pretty much been horrible throughout Bud's time with the team. While I wasn't thrilled to give up two local MD products and prospects in L.J. Hoes and Josh Hader, Bud isn't a free agent until 2016, so should be able to help the O's compete in coming years as well as this one.

To date, Bud has pitched in five games for the Orioles (four starts and one emergency late inning relief appearance), and has won three of his four starts while taking the hard luck loss in just the second appearance out of the 'pen in his MLB career. He has had the luxury of facing some relatively anemic offenses including the Astros, Padres, Giants, and Rockies, but I'm still a fan of his 3.91 ERA in an Orioles uniform.

Before I wrap this up, I want to pass along the story of how he earned the nickname "Bud". I heard this story earlier in the summer while he was still with the Astros but I thought it was pretty funny so it stuck in my mind. Anyway, his real name is David, but when he was a kid, he went out to dinner with his parents and some of their friends/family, and almost everyone at the table ordered a Bud(weiser) and so did he, apparently without anyone else paying attention or the waiter/waitress noticing he wasn't old enough to be drinking. So the server brought back everyone's drinks and before handing young David his beer, finally took note that he wasn't old enough to drink it. So from that day forth, he has been known as Bud. So there you go.

Good luck with the O's, Bud! You're the first Oriole that I'm aware of who is named after a beer, so regardless of how your time goes in Baltimore, you will always have that!

Oriole #959- Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez

Slowly, very slowly, I'm making my way through the list of players who have recently made their Orioles debuts. Up today is K-Rod.

Francisco Rodriguez, Oriole #959, Debuted July 25 against Royals

The Orioles swung a trade with the Brewers to add this four-time All-Star to their bullpen for the stretch run. The Birds traded away Nicky Delmonico, their #5 prospect, and 2011 6th round draft pick, to pry K-Rod away from the Brew Crew, so I certainly hope that he does something over the course of the last two months of the season to make the deal worthwhile for the O's. 

Things started out on the wrong foot for K-Rod and the Orioles as he gave up four home runs in his first four appearances for the team. Luckily, his five appearances since then have been free of homers, or any runs at all, and he has struck out nine while only giving up two hits.

After Jim Johnson's recent stretch of being absolutely horrible (did you know that he has blown 7 of 15 one run save chances this year?), it's entirely possible that K-Rod just might be the Orioles closer at least in the near future, if not for the remainder of the year. Since he was the Brewers closer before being traded, was 10-10 in saves this year, and has 304 career saves, I think he could do the job. Another thing to chew on is that K-Rod's 40 strikeouts on the year are just one fewer than Johnson's 41, in just over half the innings pitched. 

Good luck in Baltimore K-Rod! Oh, and it would be nice if the next time it's only me and one other person asking for your autograph, you might oblige us. It would certainly help a brotha out!

Oriole #958- Henry Urrutia

Last week, I began the process of catching up on recent Orioles debuts, but at this point, I'm almost further behind than when I began due to Bud Norris's debut. But I'm going to try to keep up with the ever-changing Orioles! Up today is Cuban rookie, Henry Urrutia.

Henry Urrutia #958, Debuted July 20 against Rangers

Henry's back-story is rather interesting as he was a star baseball player in Cuba, but I think we all know that Cubans are not allowed to leave their country to play baseball in the U.S.. So to pursue his dream of playing in the Major Leagues, he defected to Haiti in summer 2011 and the Orioles signed him to a contract. However, he ran into some issues establishing residency in Haiti and/or obtaining his visa to enter America, and was stuck in Haiti through most or all of 2012. (Disclaimer- I'm not familiar with how residency is established or the US Visa process.)

He finally obtained his visa and was able to join the Orioles at their minor league complex for Spring Training 2013. Unfortunately, he suffered some sort of injury that further delayed his progress, but he was around the team and kind enough to sign some autographs for me, on what were his only baseball cards at the time, my dad's old man cards.

Well, Henry got himself healthy quickly enough, and joined AA Bowie to start the 2013 season. Over 52 games with the Baysox, he hit .365 with 7 homers and 16 doubles before he was promoted to AAA Norfolk with much of the same success, hitting .367 over 15 games. He had shown enough to earn the promotion to Baltimore, and to date has appeared in 14 games and hit .279 over 43 at-bats. He has mainly served as the DH thus far in his Orioles career, and I believe the team would like him to work on his defense and base-running. But his bat seems to be the tool that will likely keep him at the MLB level, though he seems like more of a slap hitter than a power guy for now.

I wish Henry the best of luck with his Orioles career! He certainly surmounted many challenges to reach baseball's top level.