Fredy Deza, 2006 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BC57

Every so often, longtime reader and commenter Zach sends me what he refers to as his "subscription fee" to the blog. So it was that I arrived home this evening and found a USPS box on my front porch, addressed to "Master" Kevin Brotzman. Nice touch!

Included inside were several small team bags and boxes full of various Orioles cards from the past three decades, a number of which were new to me. Thanks to Zach, I can now say that I own not one but TWO Fredy Deza cards. I believe Fredy lost the second "d" in his first name in a tragic bicycle accident as a preteen. That's almost assuredly not true, but I can tell you that the righthanded pitcher from the Dominican Republic spent nine seasons in the minor leagues, all of them in the O's organization, beginning as an 18-year-old in the Gulf Coast League in 2001. He had a career record of 38-61, a 4.26 ERA, and nine saves, and saw action in just 11 games at the AAA level. He never did get so much as a sip of coffee in the majors. But then, Topps always had a very liquid definition of the word "prospect" when it came to their Bowman brand.

Zach had hinted in an email that he had unearthed some treasures in his thrift store expeditions, and would include them in the package he sent. I made a point of thumbing through all of the cards in the box first, saving the big-ticket items for last. There was an Earl Weaver replica statue, a promotional giveaway from the 2012 dedication of the Hall of Fame manager's life-sized bronze likeness in the center field picnic area at Camden Yards. A white replica Melvin Mora jersey was folded in the bottom of the box, and it will go nicely with the Lou Montanez and Danny Valencia player-worn BP jerseys I've scavenged from FanFest in recent years. There was one last item tucked in a brown paper bag, and when I unwrapped it, I exclaimed, "NO WAY!". It was a drinking glass bearing Eddie Murray's likeness, circa 1985, and it is glorious. I'm already in bed, so I'll include a picture in tomorrow's post. In the meantime, I'm glad to know that I've got one satisfied subscriber.