Orioles Card "O" the Day

An intersection of two of my passions: baseball cards and the Baltimore Orioles. Updated daily?

Monday, April 18, 2011

Koji Uehara, 2011 Topps #164

Don't worry, I haven't lifted my 2011 Topps Embargo. I picked up some Orioles singles from the hobby shop for team collection purposes. I'm still missing Brian Matusz and Brandon Snyder from Series 1, but all in due time. Meanwhile, this Koji Uehara card is the best of the bunch. It's great to see #19 celebrating (presumably) another set'em up, knock'em down save with a thoroughly American fist pump. I'd give anything to see Koji closing games this season instead of the fundamentally shaky Kevin Gregg. Of course at this point, just seeing the O's with a lead would be an improvement.

Speaking of Uehara, he finally proved human yesterday by issuing a pair of walks. The free passes were his first since July 19, 2010, a streak of 36 appearances in which he struck out 46 batters. It was the third-longest streak since 1954, trailing only Dennis Eckersley (41, 1989-1990) and John Smoltz (38, 2003-2004). Tonight or tomorrow would be a good time to start another streak!

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