Jeffrey Hammonds, 1998 Pinnacle #115

I read an interesting post on The Platoon Advantage today. In it, "Bill" comes to the realization that a screening committee makes the ultimate determination about which eligible retired players appear on the Hall of Fame ballot. This year, that meant that 41 otherwise-eligible guys (10+ years of big league experience, retired since 2005) were turned away. Bill takes a look at each and every one of them, and finds something worth mentioning about their time in the majors. By my count, there were eight ex-Orioles: James Baldwin, Midre Cummings, Buddy Groom, Jeffrey Hammonds, Luis Lopez, Greg Myers, Keith Osik, and Steve Reed. You could also count Jay Powell, the reliever who was Baltimore's first-round draft pick in 1993 and was later traded for Bret Barberie. It's a nifty trip down memory lane, though the stark fact that Jeffrey Hammonds has been retired for five years is a slap upside my head. Where does time go, where is it still going?