Storm Davis, 1992 Stadium Club #728

There are good and bad things about baseball in 2012 as compared to 1992. On the “bad” side of the ledger, most players wear solid colored socks now instead of stirrups. However, you don’t see hairstyles quite like Storm Davis’ frizzed-out mullet any m…

Continue reading about Storm Davis, 1992 Stadium Club #728 »

By the time you read this, I will be in Chestertown for the annual reunion weekend at my alma mater, Washington College. I had to reach for an Orioles connection: Doug DeCinces is currently tied for 230th all-time with 237 career home runs. Two slots b…

Continue reading about Vintage Fridays; Doug DeCinces, 1979 Hostess #54 »

We’re not even a quarter of the way through the 2012 season, and I’m already running out of superlatives to describe the odds-defying success of the Orioles. With their 5-3 win over the Royals today, they claimed the best record in baseball at 25-14. L…

Continue reading about Mike Mussina, 1997 Score Team Collection #8 »

I’ve done more obituary posts than I care to count and it’s always a struggle to find something meaningful to say. Kevin Hickey, who made the jump from the softball fields of Chicago to the mound at Comiskey Park, and was a key bullpen contributor for …

Continue reading about Kevin Hickey, 1990 Upper Deck #299 »

Last night was not a good night to be an Orioles fan, as the team looked an awful lot like the losing squads of recent vintage in an 8-5 loss to the Yankees. There were blown leads, a short outing by a starting pitcher, erratic relief pitching, an offe…

Continue reading about Xavier Avery, 2008 Playoff Contenders #50 »

I feel bad for Ken Gerhart, because he is entrenched in a foggy netherworld of my Orioles fandom. Ken roamed the outfield from 1986 through 1988, meaning that I was 6 years old when he played his last game for the team. I was sitting here trying to fin…

Continue reading about Ken Gerhart, 1988 Topps Toys ‘R’ Us Rookies #11 »

I took my time in addressing Miguel Tejada’s return to the Orioles organization, as I was holding out hope that it was some sort of mad fever dream. There was also a lot of conflicting information being bandied about, and it was tough to pin down the d…

Continue reading about Miguel Tejada, 2004 Topps Finest #55 »

Well, I’m 3-0 so far this season. My sister and cousin talked me into going to the Orioles’ series opener against the Rays last night; admittedly it did not take much convincing. The first-ever Orioles-Rays first-place battle in May is a pretty good at…

Continue reading about Adam Jones, 2010 Bowman 1992 Throwbacks #BT70 »

This is Milt Pappas’ rookie card, depicting the righty as a skinny 18-year-old “bonus baby”. Some 55 years and 209 career wins later, he celebrates his 73rd birthday today. Your humble blogger offers a tip of the cap to Milt.Fun fact: Milt got a start …

Continue reading about Vintage Fridays: Milt Pappas, 1958 Topps #457 »

Baseball is a pretty weird sport. The Orioles had five hits in the first game of today’s doubleheader. They were all home runs, and the O’s won 6-5. At the beginning of the game, each of the first three batters (Ryan Flaherty, J. J. Hardy, and Nick Mar…

Continue reading about Nick Markakis, 2010 Bowman Platinum #88 »

I was not pleased with the Orioles’ 10-3 thrashing at the hands of Josh Hamilton the Rangers last night, but if you’re going to get blown out, you might as well make a little history. No player had hit four home runs in a single game in nearly a decade…

Continue reading about Eddie Murray, 1986 Fleer Sluggers vs. Pitchers #25 »

Today would have been Mike Cuellar’s 75th birthday. So in honor of the fourth-most-winningest pitcher in Orioles history, I went searching for a box score of interest. I found a doozy: Saturday afternoon, July 11, 1970. The Birds were riding high at 52…

Continue reading about Mike Cuellar, 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #42 »

I want to write about the euphoria I felt at the conclusion of yesterday’s 17-inning cavalcade of the bizarre, but I don’t know if it will make any sense. If it comes across as disjointed, that’s probably fitting; I turned the game on and off and on an…

Continue reading about Chris Davis, 2012 Topps Orioles Team Set #BALT5 »

I started this blog four and a half years ago as an outlet for all of the babbling that I might do about 1) my rediscovered joy for collecting baseball cards, 2) my memories, opinions, and hastily-assembled research about the Orioles, and 3) anything e…

Continue reading about Ken Singleton, 1982 Topps #290 »

This card serves as a reminder that I have only scratched the surface of the history of the Orioles. Every SSPC card features a close-up photo of the player with no text on the front. As I paged through my team set in its vintage O’s binder, I could id…

Continue reading about Vintage Fridays: Bob Bailor, 1975 SSPC #386 »

Here’s something you don’t see on a baseball card very often: Bob Milacki is giving you the finger. You’re just lucky that he doesn’t know which finger to use. People must be kinder and gentler in his hometown of…let’s see here…Trenton, NJ? Well, i…

Continue reading about Bob Milacki, 1992 Pinnacle #339 »

Congratulations and back-slaps to Brandon Snyder, who hit his first big league home run for the Rangers this afternoon. He never quite lived up to the expectations that the Orioles had when they chose him with the 13th overall pick in the 2005 amateur …

Continue reading about Brandon Snyder, 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini #228 »

The Orioles knocked quite a few items off of their checklist tonight. With a 7-1 victory over the Yankees, they finally got their first win against their division rivals after coming up empty four times to start the season (including two extra-innings …

Continue reading about Brian Matusz, 2011 Bowman International Foil #28 »

Brad Pennington making a heinous Pitcherface while throwing on a spring training mound? That must mean that the Orioles lost to the Yankees by a run on a Monday night. Bleah.

Continue reading about Brad Pennington, 1993 Bowman #661 »

It was miserably cold and damp at Oriole Park at Camden Yards last night, but that didn’t seem to bother Chris Davis. The Birds’ slugging first baseman went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and 4 RBI, and he put the exclamation point on a 10-1 rout o…

Continue reading about Chris Davis, 2012 Topps Gold Foil #151 »

Later this evening I will at Oriole Park at Camden Yards to witnessing the unveiling of Frank Robinson’s statue in the picnic area beyond the bullpens. I’m excited just to get the chance to see the Hall of Famer up (resonably) close for the first time,…

Continue reading about Frank Robinson, 2011 Kimball Champions Mini #KC-77 »

On April 27, 1968 – exactly 44 years ago today – Baltimore native Tom Phoebus tossed the third no-hitter in team history, cruising to a 6-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of a paltry Saturday afternoon crowd of 3,147 at Memorial Stadium…

Continue reading about Vintage Fridays: Tom Phoebus, 1969 Topps #185 »

Normally when Curt Schilling talks, I tune out, but I have to admit that the anecdote about his major league debut with the Orioles made me laugh. Curt was tabbed as Baltimore’s starting pitcher on Wednesday, September 7, 1988 for a home game against t…

Continue reading about Curt Schilling, 1990 Topps #97 »

You know, Pete Stanicek had parents, a brother, friends and teammates, maybe even a girlfriend or wife. Odds are good that at least one of those important people in his life told him that this mustache was a good look. How must it feel, to know you’ve …

Continue reading about Pete Stanicek, 1990 ProCards #717 »

All the way back on May 14, 1954, Marlin Stuart recorded the first save in Orioles’ history with a scoreless ninth inning in relief of Bob Turley, as the O’s topped the Red Sox 7-2. I can’t even figure out how he was credited with the save. When Turley…

Continue reading about Marlin Stuart, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #446 »

It’s not easy being Erik Bedard. After spending the past four years as a starting pitcher for the If He Were Healthy All-Stars, the lefty signed with the Pirates for $4.5 million this season. So far in 2012, he’s been perfectly healthy, and has shown t…

Continue reading about Erik Bedard, 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum #9 »

The Orioles eked out a 3-2 win in 10 innings against the Angels today to salvage a single game out of their weekend series against the Angels. That brings their record to 9-7 and leaves them tied with the Rays in second place, a half-game out of first …

Continue reading about Miguel Tejada, 2005 Leaf Alternate Threads #AT 15 »

Every time I dig through dime boxes of Orioles cards, I find at least a dozen mid-2000s Jay Gibbons cards that I need. There has probably never been a looser definition of the word “need”. That is the curse of the team collector. By sheer inertia, the …

Continue reading about Jay Gibbons, 2004 Upper Deck Twenty-Five Salute #S-4 »

I mentioned recently that I had been neglecting Don Buford on this blog. The only post I wrote about him was this one, the third-ever Vintage Friday way back in January 2008! Perhaps it’s somewhat fitting that Buford, one of the truly underrated player…

Continue reading about Vintage Fridays: Don Buford, 1969 Topps #478 »

I wanted to tip my cap to pitcher Jason Hammel, who earned the win in a 5-3 squeaker today by pushing through bases-loaded situations in the first and third inning and hanging on to complete six innings of two-run ball. He also tied his career high by …

Continue reading about Endy Chavez, 2012 Topps Orioles Team Set #BALT9 »

You had to know that this post was coming. Ever since Jamie Moyer signed with the Rockies in his quest to pitch a 25th big league season (and 28th professional season) after missing all of 2011, I’ve been monitoring his progress. I was thrilled when he…

Continue reading about Jamie Moyer, 1994 Fleer Flair #6 »

Do you know what today is? Yeah, it’s tax day. But I know that everybody already filed months ago, to save the stress of doing it at the last minute.*Crickets*Okay, maybe not. But putting aside those fun study dates with the 1040s and W-2s and hey hey,…

Continue reading about Jim Palmer, 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #22 »

“THIS INVISIBLE TURKEY LEG IS TOO SPICY! ARRRRGGGGHHH!”(Yes, I’m cross-posting to Bad Touch Baseball. Some cards are just too good not to share.)

Continue reading about Armando Benitez, 1996 Score #152 »

I am once again pleasantly surprised by the reach of this blog. More than two and one-half years ago, I wondered what had become of former Orioles prospect Mike Linskey. Some 31 months later, Mike himself dropped in and left a comment on that blog post…

Continue reading about Mike Linskey, 1992 Fleer #663 »

It’s good to see Nolan Reimold finally get some regular playing time, and it’s even better to see him taking advantage of the opportunity. Finally free from the shadows of Felix Pie, Luke Scott, and Vlad Guerrero, the power-hitting left fielder is gett…

Continue reading about Nolan Reimold, 2006 Tristar Prospects Plus #75 »