Alan Mills, 1992 Stadium Club #871

We're not even with the Blue Jays by a long shot, but I was able to appreciate the parallels between today's 2017 season opener and 2016's Wild Card game. A 2-2 game into extra innings, ending on a walkoff home run in the 11th. (Of course this time, Buck went to Zach Britton in the ninth inning...) Happily, today I was there to see Mark Trumbo launch a hanger from Jason Grilli into the left field seats, beyond the reach of our old friend Steve Pearce. The Orioles are now a flawless 7-0 on Opening Day in the Buck Showalter Era, and Trumbo's walkoff shot was the first ever in an O's opener.

So what does all of this have to do with Alan Mills? Well, today was his first game as Baltimore's bullpen coach, marking his return after having pitched in 346 games for the Birds from 1992 to 1998 and 2000 to 2001. So far so good, as his charges kept things moving with five and two-thirds innings of shutout relief. Although Mychal Givens allowed an inherited runner to score, the O's relievers held the line from there, with Tyler Wilson earning the win thanks to a scoreless 11th inning of work. The O's have never lost a game with Alan Mills as bullpen coach.

Luis Mercedes, 1992 Stadium Club #242

Luis Mercedes looks like he could be knocked over by a fly swatter. Put some meat on those bones, son.

Arthur Rhodes, 1992 Stadium Club #641

I always wondered how these photo shoots played out.

"Hey, Arthur, do you know what a baseball is?"

"Sure do! Why, here's one now!"

"Perfect! I think we're done here."

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 more either. Call it a push.

Francisco de la Rosa, 1992 Stadium Club #61

Reader Bo tipped me off a few days ago to some unfortunate news. On January 6, former O's pitcher Francisco de la Rosa passed away in Baltimore. The native of the Dominican Republic was originally signed by the Blue Jays in 1985, but spent four years in the Oriole farm system (1988-1991). He went 9-5 with a 2.05 ERA for the Hagerstown Suns and Rochester Red Wings in 1990, and followed up with a 2.67 ERA in 38 games the following year at Rochester. He received a September callup from the Birds in 1991, allowing two earned runs in four innings of relief. The club traded him to the Yankees in the offseason for Alan Mills, and de la Rosa never made it back to the major leagues. After his career ended, he lived in New York and Philadelphia before moving back to Baltimore to live with his brother Gustavo. I couldn't find a cause of death listed anywhere, but Francisco was only 44 years old. Hopefully he's at peace now.

Chito Martinez, 1992 Stadium Club #438

I recently received a thoughtful comment from a reader named Chris, who said that he'd been enjoying my blog for a year or so and wondered if I could post a card of Chito Martinez. I'm always happy to comply with such requests, especially since it means that I don't have to wrack my brain for one night to decide which card to feature. It also gave me an excuse to post this excellent card. Of course that's Mark McGwire playing first base for the Oakland A's as Chito breaks for second, casting his shadow on the Memorial Stadium infield dirt. This photo would have been taken either on July 26 or July 28, 1991. Those were the only two Oakland at Baltimore games that Martinez played in that year in which he reached base. He did not attempt a steal in either game, so that doesn't help us pinpoint it. Both games were Oriole losses, by the way, as was their style in 1991.

Dennis Rasmussen, 1992 Stadium Club #749

I'm barely more than halfway through the 50-pack junx wax rip that was made possible by my sister's generosity, and I've already had some fun finds, including a 1987 Donruss Jamie Moyer rookie card and some early 1990s minor league cards of Leo Gomez and Tim Wakefield. I also tore open another pack of 1992 Stadium Club Series 3, which I'm really starting to love.

I've discussed my particular interest in collecting cards that depict various players on as many of their teams as possible, but the second-year offering of Stadium Club has already given me a few guys who never played a single regular-season game with the team on their card. It's likely that they took the pictures in the middle of 1992's Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues and finalized the checklist in an attempt to keep up with Upper Deck's "final series", which also showed players in their new digs in a timelier fashion. As a result, I have this card of never-was-an-Oriole Dennis Rasmussen, a veteran lefty who pitched for the Padres and Yankees but couldn't make the O's out of Spring Training. He spent a couple of miserable months at Rochester (0-7, 5.67 ERA) before being released in mid-June and bounced around for three more years in the majors and minors before retiring.

I'd already gotten my hands on this card at an earlier date, but the "new" pack of Stadium Club yielded a former Oriole in unfamiliar colors: Jeff Ballard with the Cardinals. I'd previously known that he spent parts of two subpar seasons with the Pirates at the end of his career (1993-1994), but I have never seen or heard of any cards of him in a Pittsburgh uniform and I'd essentially given up hope of adding him to my "multi-team" collection. Not so fast! The Montana native signed with St. Louis in January of '92 but did not head north with the team in April. He had a great season in AAA Louisville, though, going 12-8 with a 2.52 ERA. I guess it just wasn't good enough for Cards manager and future genius Joe Torre.

If you're wondering whether I actually just spent two paragraphs talking about guys who didn't play for teams, I don't know what to tell you. It's a weird hobby sometimes.

Chris Hoiles, 1992 Topps Stadium Club #161

Then and there, in the commotion at home plate, Chris Hoiles made a terrible snap decision. He would have to reach over and gouge out the eyes of Luis Rivera. Nobody, and I mean nobody, insults the honor of Mama Hoiles. The fallout would be relatively minor. Rivera, he of the .624 career OPS, didn't really need those eyes anyway. The Red Sox could give the kid, Tim Naehring, an extended look in his place. Hoiles was suspended for five games by American League President Bobby Brown, but the MLBPA appealed on his behalf and the suspension was reduced to four games. Justice had been served, both on and off the field.

Mark Parent, 1992 Stadium Club #623

Alright, I feel like testing my own knowledge today, so I'm flying without a net. Let's see if I can pull Ten Fun Facts about former backup catcher Mark Parent from memory:

1. Former Orioles radio announcer Jon Miller used to talk about ex-hockey player Bernie Parent whenever Mark was in the game, even though the pronunciations were different (puh-RENT vs. PAIR-int).

2. One year, the Birds designed Parent for assignment at the end of Spring Training. He was so discouraged, he thought about refusing the assignment to AAA Rochester and becoming a free agent. However, former Cubs teammate Rick Sutcliffe convinced him to stick around, and he got the callup later in the season when the club was shorthanded behind the plate.

3. In addition to the O's, Mark also played for the Padres, Cubs, and Pirates, among others.

4. In 1996, Mark suited up for the Orioles for the first time since 1993. Other former Birds that returned to the team that year were outfielder Mike Devereaux (last seen in 1994) and second baseman Billy Ripken (last seen in 1992).

5. That 1996 club broke the 1961 Yankees' record for total home runs. On a team with heavy hitters such as Brady Anderson, Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Bonilla, and Cal Ripken, Jr., it was Mark Parent who hit the record-breaking homer.

6. Mark wore three different uniform numbers in orange and black: 6, 24, and 27.

7. Okay...I'm stuck. But you have to admit, six facts about a journeyman catcher who totaled 57 games in three seasons in Baltimore isn't bad. Just so no one feels cheated, here are some more facts about him:

8. He managed the independent Lancaster JetHawks in 2000.

9. Mark was 6'5", pretty darn tall for a catcher.

10. In 1995 (with the Pirates and Cubs), Mark hit 18 home runs in just 265 at-bats, a rate of one longball every 14.7 times at the plate.