Nerio Rodriguez, 1997 Stadium Club #267

We are 31 days away from Opening Day, and that's just not soon enough for my tastes. After all, here I am commenting on Nerio Rodriguez's 41st birthday. The Dominican righthander had an unconventional career trajectory. The White Sox originally signed him as an international free agent in 1990, and he was a catcher until 1995, when the O's converted him to pitching shortly after picking him up in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. In 1996, he had a 2.26 ERA at Frederick and narrowly missed qualifying for the Carolina League ERA title; with another two-thirds of an inning under his belt, he would have had the lowest mark in the league. He had a few strong outings at Rochester, and debuted with the Orioles in mid-August. The rookie appeared in 8 major leagues with uneven results, finishing with a 4.32 ERA in 16.2 innings.

After a full season at AAA in 1997, Nerio got a September callup to Baltimore and again got knocked around a bit, but earned his first two big league wins: One in relief on September 20 and a start three days later in Toronto. In the latter, he beat Roger Clemens, who was seeking his 22nd win for the Blue Jays. He wound up being dealt to the Jays the following summer for veteran pitcher Juan Guzman, and was hit hard in short stints in Toronto in 1998 and 1999. His only other major league experience came in 2002, when he threw in a game for the Indians and in two more for the Cardinals. Believe it or not, Rodriguez was still an active player as of 2011, when he appeared in 16 games for two teams in the Mexican League. Judging from his 7.64 ERA, his best days may be behind him. But he did have a few standout seasons south of the border late last decade, including a 17-3 record and a 2.54 ERA for the Acereros de Monclova in 2008.

His Mexican exploits are all well and good, but Rodriguez's lasting legacy may be his status as the only "Nerio" to ever play Major League Baseball. There have only been two other players with that name in affiliated pro ball, and the only active one is shortstop Nerio Rios, who is still in rookie ball in the Phillies organization.

Roberto Alomar, 1997 Stadium Club #240

Suddenly, as Roberto Alomar leaped to corral the wild throw from Chris Hoiles, he witnessed Kenny Lofton being violently vivisected by a Topps Stadium Club name ribbon.

Chris Hoiles, 1997 Stadium Club #330

Well, it was nice while it lasted. From Thursday through Sunday, the Orioles crafted their longest winning streak yet this season, a whopping four games. It was especially encouraging to see the offensively-challenged O's rally from deficits of 3-0, 6-0, 5-0, and 3-0 again to put those contests in the win column. But during last night’s back-to-reality, 4-2 loss against Oakland, MLB.com beat reporter Britt Ghiroli quoted a disturbing statistic. So far in 2010, the Orioles are 0-46 when trailing after eight innings. No matter what the margin, they’ve been unable to overcome it. Among the many things that O’s fans have been denied this season, they’ve yet to be treated to the exquisite relief and euphoria of a probable defeat turned on its head into a sudden victory.

Few ninth-inning comebacks in recent Birds history have been as dramatic as the one delivered by Chris Hoiles on May 17, 1996. It was a Friday night game vs. the Mariners at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and it had been a back-and-forth, high-scoring affair, as was the M.O. for the '96 O's. The home team bombarded Seattle starter Bob Wolcott, with 11 of 18 batters reaching base against him. Young Orioles starter Jimmy Haynes survived five shaky innings of his own (8 H, 3 BB), but left with a 7-2 lead. The first man in from the 'pen was Arthur Rhodes, who did not retire any of the four batters he faced. All of them came around to score, with a little help by way of throwing errors by Roberto Alomar and B. J. Surhoff. Roger McDowell stopped the bleeding, but it was a whole new game at 7-6.

The Birds got some breathing room via a Rafael Palmeiro two-run home run in the home half of the seventh, making it 9-6. When Seattle threatened again in the eighth, Davey Johnson started playing bullpen roulette and busted. McDowell left with a run in, two on, and one out. Jesse Orosco retired the only batter he faced (Luis Sojo), leaving one more out to be collected by Alan Mills. Mills got that out, but first he walked pinch hitter Brian Hunter to load the bases and allowed an Alex Rodriguez grand slam to un-load them. 11-9 Mariners.

Cal Ripken, Jr. halved the deficit with a solo homer off of Mike Jackson, but Mills continued his Gasoline Man act in the ninth, with a two-run shot by Jay Buhner giving the M's and closer Norm Charlton a 13-10 cushion heading into the bottom of the ninth. That's when things really got wild.

Alomar led off with a walk, but Charlton got Palmeiro to strike out. A Bobby Bonilla double brought the tying run to the plate, but pinch hitter Billy Ripken (stop laughing) fouled out to first base and the Orioles were down to their last out. Cal picked up his little brother by coaxing a walk to load the bases, which placed the burden squarely on the shoulders of Chris Hoiles. The tension built as the veteran catcher worked the count full. Now the Birds were down to their last strike...the pitch was delivered by Charlton...

GRAND SLAM! ORIOLES WIN, 14-13!

What Hoiles did on that night is one of the rarest of baseball feats, the "ultimate grand slam": a walkoff bases-loaded homer that allows the home team to win by a single run. Only 22 other players in major league history have done it, but Chris was the only one to pull it off with two outs and a full count, causing some to dub his clout the "Ultimate Ultimate Grand Slam". Not a bad feather to put in your cap.