A Fun Orioles Timewaster

I don't have any pictures of bobbleheads that I haven't displayed already, so that feature is taking a week off.

In the meantime, I don't know how many of you might be familiar with Sporcle.com, but it's an online game site where people can create their own quizzes about almost anything.

A friend, who is almost as much of an Orioles fanatic as I am, recently pointed me in the direction of this amazing quiz that asks you to remember every player who was in an Orioles Opening Day Lineup from 1991-2011.

There are some real challenges on the quiz, and I'm ashamed to say that I could only name 159 of the 208 players. You'd think that I might have remembered a few more names since the Orioles are kinda my thing, but what can I say? My memory clearly isn't as good as I'd like it to be.

One player who I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I forgot was the 2003 Opening Day centerfielder, Gary Matthews Jr. So there's a hint for you, if you decide to try your luck. If you do take the quiz, leave a comment and let me know how you did, I bet a few of you could put my score to shame.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- John Anderson

Last week, I wrote about how I finally tracked down an autograph of tough-to-find Mickey McGuire. Well, in that same transaction, I was also able to finally add an autograph of John Anderson to my collection. To that point, John was one of the 6 former Orioles whose autograph had eluded me.

John pitched parts of three seasons in the Major Leagues for four different teams between 1958-62. He pitched in five games for the '58 Phillies, four with the '60 Orioles, and split the '62 season with the Cardinals (five games) and Astros (ten games).

In John's four games with the Orioles, he pitched 4.2 innings of relief, and gave up 8 hits, 4 walks, and 7 earned runs which worked out to a 13.50 ERA.

His minor league baseball career stretched from 1952-67 and he spent parts of four seasons pitching in the O's farm system for the Miami Marlins and Rochester Red Wings between 1959-62.

John's only major issue card release was in the 1962 Topps set that lists him as a member of the Cardinals, but I'm pretty sure that he is wearing an Orioles uniform in the image that Topps used. The one piece of his hair that is sticking almost straight up adds some flair to an otherwise boring card. The '62 rookie star adds some pizazz too I suppose.

John was also included in the 1991 Orioles Crown set, but I couldn't find an image of that, and I never scanned my own copy since it's not singed. Theoretically, since he was alive for seven years after the Crown set came out, there might be a few signed copies of it somewhere, but as I understand it, John disappeared for many years after his playing career and was only found again by collectors shortly before his passing, which is why his autographs are so scarce.

I'm very happen to finally have any autograph of John's in my collection and once again have to have to thank my dad for my birthday autograph funds which allowed me to add it to my collection.

Upgrading Marty Brown

One year ago, I didn't have a Marty Brown signed Orioles card in my collection. Within the span of a year, I've gotten my hands on three of them.

The first card I obtained was a signed Crown card that I received in a trade. I ended up re-trading that card, sending it to Kirk from Eutaw Street Cardboard, for this awesome orange uni card. Since I don't particularly collect the Crown set and Kirk doesn't care about orange uniform cards, it was a great trade for both of us.

I don't remember if I've ever seen a card from this 1990 Donruss The Rookies set before, but that green border is pretty hideous. Luckily the card is saved by Marty's wearing that outstanding orange t-shirt jersey.

In a post about Marty that I wrote almost two years ago, I mentioned that he was managing in Japan and there weren't any TTM successes listed for him since 2006. Well, that all changed this season when Marty returned state-side to manage the Las Vegas 51s, the Blue Jays AAA affiliate. I noticed that he had returned a few collectors' TTM requests, so I decided to give it a shot too. And bam, 12 days after I sent my request, I had a personalized Crown card back. Thanks for signing Marty! And thanks for the trade, Kirk!

2011 Orioles Autograph Year in Review

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm going to do my review a bit differently this year. Here is the list of all fifty players who appeared in a game for the Orioles this year, and the number of times I either got their autograph or saw them signing at a game. I'll then give some thoughts and opinions on my observations.

(The very random selection of autographs are scans of my 2011 O's autos that hadn't yet been on the blog)

Jeremy Accardo 1
Ryan Adams 2
Robert Andino 2
Matt Angle 0
Jake Arrieta 2

 

Mitch Atkins (3 in minors)
Josh Bell 2

 

 Brad Bergesen 1
Jason Berken
Zach Britton 4 (1 additional at minor rehab)
Blake Davis
Chris Davis (1 at minor rehab)
Willie Eyre 1
Pedro Florimon (3 at minors)
Jake Fox 4

 

Mike Gonzalez 2
Kevin Gregg 1
Vladimir Guerrero 3
Jeremy Guthrie 3
JJ Hardy 3
Mark Hendrickson 0
Kyle Hudson (1 at minors)
Tommy Hunter 1
Cesar Izturis 0

 

Chris Jakubauskas 3
Jim Johnson 1
Adam Jones 3
Derrek Lee 2
Nick Markakis 0

Brian Matusz 1
Troy Patton 1

 

Zach Phillips 1
Felix Pie 0
Clay Rapada 1
Nolan Reimold 1
Jo-Jo Reyes 0
Mark Reynolds 2
Brian Roberts 1

 

Josh Rupe 1

 

Luke Scott 2 (1 at minor rehab)

 

Alfredo Simon 2
Brandon Snyder 2
Pedro Strop 2
Craig Tatum 0
Chris Tillman 3
Koji Uehara 1
Rick Vanden Hurk 0

Pedro Viola (5 at minors)
Matt Wieters 2

 

Mark Worrell 1


There are some things to keep in mind while looking at this list. For example, Izturis has been a great signer in past seasons, but was only with the team for a few weeks this year, so I had very few chances to get his autograph. The small sample size also applies for the late season call-ups, spot starters and others who only spent a few games on the roster. 

However, here are a few observations I am comfortable making after tracking all of my successes for the season.

Nick Markakis and Craig Tatum are the worst signers on the team. They both spent the entire season with the O's and I never saw either sign a single card. Of course, they theoretically could have signed at every single game I did not attend, but based on their track records, I highly doubt it. It seemed as though Jo-Jo Reyes wasn't a huge fan of signing, but I had a smaller sample size to form that opinion.

The best signers seem to be Zach Britton and Jake Fox, who were consistent signers throughout the year. Jeremy Guthrie, JJ Hardy, Chris Jakubauskas, Adam Jones, and Chris Tillman were also good signers. From what I understand from talking to other graphers, I must have been at the only three games that Vlad signed at, so I'm hesitant to call him a good signer, but I will say the future hall-of-famer signed more than I thought he would.

If any of you would like me to give additional thoughts/opinions about the signing habits of the 2011 O's, leave a comment and I'll try to answer everything by tomorrow.

Orioles Autograph Year in Review

For the third consecutive season, I will be reviewing the signing habits of this season's Orioles team. I'm going to consolidate my review this year, as last year's wrap-up stretched out over two weeks and I'm pretty sure that it became a little too long for everyone, including myself.

 Early nominee for "Best Signer"

I tried something a bit different this year by recording every autograph I got over the course of the season from spring training until the end of the regular season. I also noted any time I saw an Orioles  player signing, even when I wasn't able to get their autograph, so I will have some specific signing figures for the thirty or so games I attended over the season.

Fifty(!) different players appeared in at least one game for the Orioles this year, and I realistically had at least a chance to get an autograph from all of them. I obtained autographs from a few of those players when they were still in the minor leagues, and I will make note of that, but can't really count that along with the autographs I got at O's games.

I hope that everyone is ready for the breakdown, which will probably take place over the next two days. It's gonna be fun as always!

Division Series Contest Update

Here is how everyone is doing after the first round...

 

Sorry I can't make it any larger, but you can click on it to blow it up. If you're in green, you are out. If we were picking a losers bracket, Cardhobbyist and Reds Card Collector would have been winning at this point.

For those of you still in the white, your picks in blue are out, but you still have enough correct picks to stay in the running to win it all. Eric L, The Angels In Order bracket #2, and Sports Card Blog only have one incorrect pick so far.

Good luck to everyone who's still in the running! And thanks to the rest of you for entering, better luck next year!

Playoff Bobblehead of the Week- Zach Greinke

 My intent was to display one of my Orioles bobbleheads and connect it to the current playoff picture, but short of going all six degrees of kevin bacon on everything, that isn't gonna work. As far as I can tell, not a single one of my Orioles bobbleheads has any connection to the current playoff teams. (Full disclosure- Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa are both one-time Rangers, but given my distaste for both of them, you won't be seeing them here again!)

So here's my Royals bobblehead of current Brewers pitcher, Zach Greinke. Zach who writes Autographed Cards, worked with me to hammer out a bobble trade last summer and he sent this nice Greinke, and a probably even cooler Dan Quisenberry bobble my way. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Royals since my dad grew up in Kansas and I was very happy to add a few Royals bobbleheads to my collection.

So for those of you at home keeping track, my favorite baseball teams are the Orioles, Pirates, and Royals; there's some serious competition in that group for the annual worst team in baseball. I sure know how to pick 'em!

Unpossible Autograph of the Week- Johnny Schmitz

Last Saturday, Johnny "Bear Tracks" Schmitz passed away on Saturday in his hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin. I've long thought that his nickname was one of the most interesting and unique of all the Orioles players, and he earned it due to the combination of his big feet and the lumbering way he shuffled around the mound.

I've written about Johnny two times, most recently in July 2009, when I added this signed Orioles Crown card to my collection. I don't have much additional to say about him, but I suggest that you read his very well written obituary on the Wausau Daily Herald's website. I feel like sometimes more information is posted online about old-timers like Johnny in their obituaries than was available during their lifetime, and that's unfortunate. He seemed like a very interesting guy, and was a great TTM signer throughout the years. 

RIP Johnny.

Waiting for a Contest Update

So, heading into yesterday's games, it certainly seemed like more than one team would have been eliminated from the playoffs by this point, but the Rays remain the only team sent home through today. The Tigers-Yankees series will end tonight, while both N.L. series will wrap up tomorrow.

Honestly, as someone who doesn't have a team in the playoffs (I'm rooting for the Cardinals in the N.L. and preferred the Rays in the A.L.) having three of the four series go all five games in pretty exciting. I'm pretty much always up for some additional baseball.

Once all the Divisional Series match-ups are decided, I will post a contest update at some point over the weekend. My only observation to this point is that FanOfReds is in trouble since he picked the Rays to win the World Series.


And now for something completely different...

I was recently able to upgrade the Adam Eaton autograph in my collection to this 2009 Allen & Ginter card, his one and only Orioles card that was released in a set that debuted after the Orioles had cut him loose.

Adam was a decent enough signer when he was with the O's and he signed this Padres card for me in person before a game, but I was never able to catch up with him after his time with the O's. He doesn't seem to sign TTM requests, so I was stuck until someone offered up the A&G on SCN.

It bothers me how many upgraded autographs I need from Orioles who played over the past ten years or so; I have some sort of autograph of all of them, but so many guys have Orioles cards released after their time in Baltimore that it almost always throws a wrench in my collection. C'est la vie.

Orioles Playoff Memories

With all of this playoff research surrounding my postseason bracket contest, I've become nostalgic about the Orioles' last playoff appearance, way back in 1997, when they went wire-to-wire and won the A.L. East title.

Here are the autographs I have of some of the players on the club...

 Bordick was always great with the glove, and it's nice to still see him around the team as a special instructor

I tend to remember Scott being a little better than it seems he was during his years in Baltimore, but he had a solid '97 season, going 16-7 with a 3.69 ERA

Is this an Orioles or Dbacks card? Believe Beckett says Dbacks, but it's the only one that shows him in an Orioles uni...I'll allow it.

 Where have you gone Jeffrey Hammonds? Your signature is awesome by the way.

  Wait, who? I honestly don't remember Charlie.

Ah, the good old days when Mussina's name didn't bring up such conflicting memories. He was probably the Orioles' last true ace and they sure could use someone new to fill that role.

I can't believe that Arthur Rhodes is still pitching in the Majors. And he's in the playoffs for a second consecutive season, albeit with a different team this year. Ah to be a lefty and know how to throw strikes.

I generally remember Jeff as a Twin, but he was a versatile utility player for the Orioles for three years. 

 

And I don't think I'm alone in remembering Jerome mostly as a Cub. His career peaked early when he took home the Rookie of the Year honor for the Cubbies in 1989.

Mickey McGuire

Since no teams have been eliminated from the postseason today (yet, at least), I don't have anything to update with the playoff bracket, but anticipate that I will have an update coming tomorrow.

To tide you over, here is an autograph that I have been trying to add to my collection for a very long time. Mickey was the last living Oriole who I did not have an autograph of, and I'm very happy to finally scratch his name off of my need list. He is featured on a card in the Orioles Crown set, so technically I could one day upgrade to that, but considering any autograph of his took so long to find, I'm not overly optimistic.

Mickey was a middle infielder who played two short stints in Baltimore; six games in 1962 and 10 games in 1967. He had 21 at-bats over those 16 games and he had four hits (all singles), two runs, two RBI and two strikeouts. He never played another Major League game and spent most of his professional career as a minor leaguer. Over thirteen seasons in the minors, he played in over 1500 games for the Orioles, Angels, and White Sox farm systems.

I'm not exactly sure why Mickey's autograph is so hard to track down, but would guess that it has something to do with a lack of supply or demand. I speculate that Mickey must not be a fan of signing, and also that not too many people are trying to add his signature to their collections. I have seen one multi-signed item on eBay that included Mickey's autograph on it, but was outbid on it.

Mickey's autograph is pretty clean and legible and I really like the flourish that he gives both of his M's. I obtained this signed index card from a fellow Orioles collector on Sportscollectors.Net and have to thank my dad for the birthday money that paid for it, thanks dad!

Thank You Orioles!

Warning: Red Sox fans probably want to avoid this post

I haven't covered the end of the Orioles season nearly as well as I should have, but I honestly was/am at a loss for words. Wednesday's win over the Red Sox made me as proud to be an Orioles fan as I have felt in a decade. In case you haven't noticed, the O's are a somewhat perennially downtrodden franchise, the almost yearly A.L. East doormat. But not this year...well not exactly at least.

In case you missed how the Orioles wrapped up their 2011 season...

While the Orioles win alone didn't eliminate the Red Sox from the playoffs, moments after the O's won, the Rays held up their end of the bargain and walked off against the Yankees to steal the Wild Card from the Sawx. If not for a long rain delay in Baltimore and extra innings in Tampa, the games would have not ended at almost exactly the same time, but they did and it was outstanding. It was probably my favorite five minutes of baseball from the past 10-12 years. MAGIC! All those Red Sox fans who always show up at Camden Yards to harass the small Orioles fan-base were going home with their collective tails between their legs. Adios fools! Baltimore won't miss ya!

Thank you to Robert Andino and the rest of the team for playing hard through the end of game 162 when it would have been so easy to lay down and be the punching bag that everyone else expected you to be. I have no idea if that passion and excitement will carry over to next season, but I love it and will count down the days to the start of the 2012 season with renewed passion for the Orioles. Let's Go O's!