Eric DuBose, 2004 Topps Total #342

Okay, I'm back in town but I'm digging out from the backlog of the past week: 786 posts to read in my RSS feed, a stack of laundry to be done, and...oh, my roommate moved out two weeks earlier than expected, and I need to scramble to get my cable and Internet connected and find a new roommate sooner than immediately. So here's an embarrassing snapshot of recent O's history, courtesy of Alabama's favorite son, southpaw Eric DuBose.

The date was March 22, 2005. The place was Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Just months after Sidney Ponson's legal problems in his native Aruba (apparently they frown upon punching judges), DuBose, who was expected to contend for the fifth spot in the Oriole rotation, was pulled over and charged with Driving Under the Influence. He had apparently come close to sideswiping a car on the side of the road, swerved across the center line, and when pulled over, he reeked of alcohol and had watery eyes and slurred speech. But here's the kicker: when asked to recite the alphabet, he refused. His excuse? "I'm from Alabama. We have a different alphabet."

As an indicator of how pitching-starved the Birds have been in recent years, he pitched in fifteen games in 2005, and two more in 2006. But that was the end of the line for him in the major leagues. He never did explain the intricacies of the Alabamian alphabet.