Craig Lefferts, 1993 Donruss #1

Late Monday night, Dan Duquette was announced as the recipient of The Sporting News' Executive of the Year Award. "Duke" tops Buck Showalter's decade-long wait between awards, as he was last honored as MLB's top executive in 1992, when he was a young upstart in charge of the Montreal Expos.  You may remember 1992 as the year that Camden Yards opened and Craig Lefferts was the big trade deadline acquisition for the Orioles. I'm not sure that anybody would've expected Dan to break through where his predecessor Andy MacPhail could not, bringing three straight years of competitive baseball to Baltimore, including a pair of trips to the postseason. He's been tinkering on the margins almost since the moment he arrived here, teaming with Buck Showalter to create the most fluid 40-man roster in baseball. Meanwhile, I myself owe Mr. Duquette an apology. Check out this breathtaking gripe that I typed up in February, highlighted by the following sentence:

"I want to be proven wrong, but I just don't think that a Grapefruit League roster that reads like a "Who's Who" of "Who's That?" is going to pass muster in the cutthroat American League East."

Sure, that was written before the O's landed Nelson Cruz for a low-risk, $8 million deal. But it still comes across as an unearned dig at a front-office guy who had just helped put together the first back-to-back winning clubs the city had seen since Pat Gillick's tenure. So, to Dan Duquette, Executive of the Year for 2014, I offer up an apology and a pledge to think before I second-guess. Thanks for bringing Steve Pearce, Nelson Cruz, Nate McLouth, Miguel Gonzalez, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, Kevin Gausman, and Andrew Miller to town. Thanks for locking up guys like Adam Jones and J. J. Hardy to extended deals. Thanks for tuning out loud no-nothings like me.

Gregg Olson, 1993 Donruss #117

I hope you don't mind if I mention my 1993 Topps set blog here once in a while. After all, this blog still gets more eyeballs than that one, and a guy's got to sell himself, even when he's writing for free. I'm about 30 percent of the way through the base set, and I'm continually surprised and amused by the things that I'm learning about the players of my adolescence. Today's subject is Gregg Olson, somebody with whom I'd expect to have more familiarity than most other players from that time. But in a few minutes spent on Baseball Reference and a bit of Googling, I discovered the following things that I'd either forgotten or never knew in the first place:

-In his Rookie of the Year campaign in 1989, the Otter allowed one home run in 85 innings. One. Uno. That's nuts.

-After he tore elbow ligaments in August 1993 and the Orioles chose not to re-sign him, Olson pitched for eight other MLB teams through the 2001 season. He went from the Braves to the Indians to the Royals to the Tigers to the Astros to the Twins to the Royals again to the Diamondbacks to the Dodgers. I remember him with Atlanta, Arizona...maybe Detroit and/or Kansas City if I dig deep enough. There's so much baseball that has happened without my noticing.

-While playing for Buck Showalter's D-backs, Gregg notched his only hit in five career plate appearances...and it was a two-run homer, with Florida's Oscar Henriquez serving as the victim.

-In his post-pitching life, Olson has worked as a scout for the Padres.

See, you learn something (or things) new every day. If you're not already reading my 1993 Topps blog, you're cheating yourself. Or you've got better things to do with your time, and I can't begrudge you that.

Randy Milligan, 1993 Donruss #191

Sometimes it's Tuesday night, you're ready for bed, and you scan and post a mid-90s Randy Milligan card. It's a somewhat unusual camera angle, straight down the first base line, allowing you to see the 318-foot marker on the right field wall in still-new Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Milligan crouches, ready to stretch and receive the throw.

Mike Devereaux, 1993 Donruss #455

Hey! It's my birthday! I'm 31 years old, and that means that I've been an Orioles fan for 20 years. Where does the time go? As I've mentioned once or 178 times before, I first got hooked on baseball back in 1993, which helps explain why I'm devoting a chunk of my free time to a 1993 Topps blog these days. So if we flash back to August 5, 1993, we'll find that the O's beat the Brewers 3-1 at Camden Yards. Ben McDonald picked up his ninth win of the year with a complete game effort, keeping Milwaukee off of the scoreboard after Robin Yount scored on a first-inning wild pitch. Mike Devereaux drove in the first two Baltimore runs with a first-inning double and a fifth-inning single, and Brady Anderson provided an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly. It was the Orioles' fourth straight win in an eventual eight-game streak, which was immediately followed by an eight-game losing streak. You certainly can't say that the O's didn't try to warn me against getting too deeply involved in the ebb and flow of a 162-game baseball season.

Arthur Rhodes, 1993 Donruss #133

Aaand as promised, here are the ex-Orioles muddling along with other American League teams in 2011.

-Gustavo Molina, C, Yankees: .167/.167/.333. He had a double in six at-bats in April, but is currently taking in the glorious sights and sounds in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

-Darnell McDonald, OF, Red Sox: .143/.217/.286, 1 HR, 1 RBI. Last year's scrap heap surprise has crashed down to earth in his first 19 games of this season.

-Matt Albers, RP, Red Sox: 1-3, 3.86 ERA, 1.38 WHIP. Hey hey hey, it's Faaaaat Albers! The hefty righty actually has had a good season except for a blowup against the Cubs in which he allowed six runs (five earned) without retiring a batter.

-Rich Hill, RP, Red Sox: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP. Boston turned the erratic pitcher into a lefty specialist, which was going really well until his elbow went boom in his ninth appearance of the year. He's on the shelf until 2012 now.

-Jose Bautista, OF, Blue Jays: .354/.500!/.753!, 20 HR, 40 RBI. I would feel a lot worse about the Birds giving up on him after 12 plate appearances in 2004, but it took another four team changes and six seasons before he turned into Baseball Galactus.

-Corey Patterson, OF, Blue Jays: .294/.322/.467, 5 HR, 28 RBI. I don't know how he does it, but the dude keeps on keepin' on. Homered and added two bunt singles in yesterday's game vs. the Orioles.

-Omir Santos, C, Tigers: .200/.200/.200. Detroit just called him up from Toledo after Brandon Inge went on the DL, and he has a single in five trips to the plate.

-Will Ohman, RP, White Sox: 0-0, 5.79 ERA, 1.43 WHIP. 3 home runs allowed in 14 innings is not so good.

-Bruce Chen, SP, Royals: 4-1, 3.59 ERA, 1.34 WHIP. Believe it or not, Bruce was the top pitcher in the K.C. rotation until he strained a lat muscle about a month ago.

-Jim Hoey, RP, Twins: 0-2, 9.53 ERA, 2.47 WHIP. Yeeeah, I think we might have gotten the best of that J. J. Hardy trade. 20 hits, 8 walks, 8 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.

-Arthur Rhodes, RP, Rangers: 3-3, 1 SV, 4.85 ERA, 1.46 WHIP. The ancient southpaw has already allowed four homers, the same total he surrendered in the full 2010 season.

-Jack Cust, DH, Mariners: .229/.369/.343, 2 HR, 19 RBI. Leave it to Safeco Field to sap Stumblin' Jack's power. Fun fact: Cust has 38 hits and 36 walks...and 56 strikeouts.

-Erik Bedard, SP, Mariners: 3-4, 3.41 ERA, 1.26 WHIP. Don't look now, but Buh-DARD looks healthy. I wonder if Seattle has thought about trading him before the other shoe drops.

-Chris Ray, RP, Mariners: 2-1, 6.60 ERA, 1.67 WHIP. As bad as the overall stats look, he hasn't given up an earned run since May 4. That includes a pair of scoreless outings against the Orioles.

I tell you what: let's see if Toronto would accept a trade of Luke Scott for Jose Bautista. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Leo Gomez, 1993 Donruss #31

AAAAHHHHHH! LOOK OUT, LADY! The ball is coming right for you! And so is Leo Gomez! At least you've got your extra-large round shades to protect your eyes. Not to mention the fact that you're wearing your Sunday finest...hmmm...I wonder if there's a Mrs. Leo Gomez? If so, don't worry. The world is your oyster. Maybe you can hook up with the photographer down in the camera well. His Red Sox hat, white shirt with rolled up sleeves, and light purple shorts tell me that he's dressed for success. Oh yeah.

Richie Lewis, 1993 Donruss #265

Ten Things You May Not Know About Richie Lewis:

1. His middle name is Todd. There was a pitcher in the MLB from 1997-2004 named Todd Ritchie - no relation.

2. Despite being listed on this card as 5'10", baseball-reference.com insists that he was actually 5'6", making him one of the shortest pitchers ever.

3. Pitched in the majors for parts of seven seasons despite being drafted in 1987 as a 44th-round pick by the Expos.

4. Made his debut on July 31, 1992 with the Orioles, in the second game of a doubleheader. Despite allowing five hits, six walks, and three runs and being knocked out in the fifth inning, Richie earned the win. (The O's scored four runs off of the Red Sox in a rain-shortened game.)

5. Had one of the lowest ERAs for the first-ever Florida Marlins team in 1993 (3.26). Was also the only pitcher with more than one decision to have a winning record (6-3) for the club, which finished 64-98.

6. His career was bookended by two-game stints in Baltimore in which he posted ERAs above 10 (10.80 in 1992, 15.43 in 1998).

7. Most hitters worry about having their timing disrupted by knuckleball pitchers. One of Richie's two career hits was a single against knuckleballer Tom Candiotti of the Dodgers.

8. Richie led the National League in wild pitches with ten in 1994.

9. Coached the pitchers of the A-ball Columbus (GA) Catfish in 2006. The team's manager was Travis Barbary, who may or may not be a pirate.

10. His Wikipedia entry is baffling in its declaration that "He spent seven professional seasons with Julio Mosquera, longer than any other teammate". That may well be true, but why would it be noteworthy?

Billy Ripken, 1993 Donruss #59

Continued from Billy Ripken, 1989 Fleer #616

From day to day at the stadium, I mostly kept to myself. I can be shy in some environments, and I felt like something of an outsider, especially when my outgoing and engaging boss suddenly quit a few weeks into my internship. After an initial bit of uncertainty, I learned that I'd be kept around, seeing as how I'd already started preparing the multimedia reports that had to be presented to each of the IronBirds' sponsors. So I became a fly on the wall, privy to the daily wit and wisdom of Billy Ripken. Most of the time, he was overly concerned with the thermostat setting, like a stereotypical TV dad. "Who keeps turning up the HEAT?!"

I also got a big, bitter taste of Ripken politics. This was during the 2004 Presidential Election, and I was swept up in anti-Bush fervor. The loudest voices in the office were Republicans. On Election Day, I sat stewing in a quiet cocktail of annoyance and bemusement as Billy shuffled around singing, "Down, down down...Bighead's goin' down." You can probably guess who Bighead was.

The defining snapshot of my experiences with Billy Ripken occurred in the bathroom, of all places. I walked in, stepped up to the lone urinal, and suddenly heard a familiar voice from inside the adjacent stall.

"Hey, who's out there?"

"Um, it's Kevin."

"Huh. How 'bout that."

A pause. He continues.

"How's it smell out there, buddy?"

Another brief pause before I offer an answer.

"Uh, not too pleasant."

When it comes to one-liners, I'd like to think this is my trump card: Billy Ripken actually asked me if his crap stunk.