Cal Ripken Jr., 1996 Upper Deck #1

As this card shows, rendering foil cards is still a complete crapshoot for my trusty old scanner. Was, is, and ever shall be. Sure, the scratches show up loud and clear, but all of Cal Ripken's adoring teammates are a murky black and silver. I will decode them for you, from left to right: Arthur Rhodes, Doug Jones (holding camcorder, face obscured by Cal's right arm), Rafael Palmeiro, and Jeffrey Hammonds. Considering the scores of 2,131-centric Ripken cards that were produced in 1995 and 1996, these guys got a lot of cameo face-time on the Iron Man's cards. I wonder if they appreciated the additional exposure.

Manny Alexander, 1996 Upper Deck #11

Ugh, the Mets. The Orioles just got swept in one of those dopey two-game interleague series in Citi Field, as they couldn't muster much offense against 2014 NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom and 2015 competitive eating champion Bartolo Colon. That's eight straight losses for the O's against the Mets, dating back to 2009. How long has it been since the Birds beat the guys from Flushing? Back then, the Orioles had ten different guys who made at least eight starts. Rich Hill, Koji Uehara, Mark Hendrickson, and Adam Eaton were in that pile of arms. (Remember: it could ALWAYS be worse, and it has been.)

What I don't understand is why the Mets keep picking on Baltimore. Through the years, the O's have been very kind to them. We traded them Jorge Julio, John Maine, Mike DeJean, John Bale, Mike Bordick (age 35), Armando Benitez, Manny Alexander, Damon Buford, Alex Ochoa, David Segui, AND Marv Throneberry...

Oh. Suddenly it makes sense. But hey, John Maine was pretty solid in 2007, wasn't he?

Cal Ripken Jr., 1996 Upper Deck #115

"Young at Heart" was a subset in the 1996 Upper Deck base set that highlighted prominent veterans. If you think about it, it's kind of condescending, though. "Sure, your best days are behind you, but you're only as old as you feel!" The career dates at the bottom of the card (1981 and 1996, in this case) seem like an epitaph. But hey, at least Cal Ripken's card features an awkward photo of him standing at a podium in the middle of the diamond. Harold Baines is also featured in the subset, should you be wondering.

Jeff Manto, 1996 Upper Deck #17

This is turning into a week for rookies of an advanced age. Last night, the Orioles turned to a guy who was roughly Plan G for the open spot in their threadbare starting rotation: Chris Waters. Waters was a 2000 draft pick of the Atlanta Braves, a lefty whose career was sidetracked by injuries in 2004. He didn't even sniff Triple-A until 2007, and after a 5-0 start at AA Bowie this season, he had some pretty ugly overall numbers at AAA Norfolk (5.70 ERA). Yet this was the man chosen to start a road game against the team with the best record in the major leagues. It's bizarrely fitting that Waters, who turns 28 in two weeks, would debut with eight innings of one-hit ball, combining with George Sherrill for the Birds' first shutout since April. It was like the perfect storm: Chris turned in the best first start for an Oriole since Bob Milacki in 1988, and only six pitchers in the past 50 years have debuted with an eight-plus inning, one-hit performance.

Today's long-time-coming moment belonged to Lou Montanez, an outfielder recalled in the midst of a Triple Crown campaign at AA Bowie. He's taken Adam Jones' roster spot, a bittersweet development. (Jones broke a bone in his foot and his very fine season may be over.) Montanez, like Waters, was drafted eight years ago and has barely played at AAA, much less the majors. At 26 years old, it's now or never for Lou. Faced with trying to top Waters' first impression, the native of Puerto Rico clubbed a home run in his very first at bat this afternoon. He later singled and scored on a Nick Markakis longball. Montanez is the first position player in O's history to go deep in his first MLB at-bat. (Pitcher Buster Narum managed the feat in May of 1963.) The next Orioles rookie to join the team has one heck of an act to follow!

I followed the game discussion at Camden Chat, and with a minor-league veteran making the start, it's only right that the name of Jeff Manto was mentioned. The former third baseman logged so much time riding buses, the Indians' AAA Buffalo Bisons club actually retired his jersey number (#30). He was a multiple-time minor league MVP, but by the time he fell into a starting role with the 1995 Orioles, he was a 30-year-old with barely 200 big league at-bats to his name. He went on a brief home run tear, including tying a league record with roundtrippers in four consecutive at-bats. That summer, I made my first (and to date, only) trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and Manto's bat was on display. He ended the year with 17 home runs, more than half of his career total of 31. "Super Manto" came and went in just one year, but nearly fifteen years later, he hasn't been forgotten. I'd love to see Chris Waters and Lou Montanez prove that they're late bloomers, rather than flashes in the pan. They'll have a shot in the coming days and weeks.