Jeffrey Hammonds, 1998 Collector's Choice #313

A few thoughts about this card:

• It's always interesting to see card photos from 1997 featuring the "24" decal on the Orioles' helmets. Of course, that was a sign of support for outfielder Eric Davis, who was battling colon cancer during that season.
• I like the placement of the O's logo in the bottom left corner. It complements the picture, rather than distracting from it.
• This could be one of two games: June 30, 1997 or July 2, 1997. Both games featured Jeffrey Hammonds starting in right field for the Birds and Mike Lieberthal catching for the Phillies. Both were Baltimore wins, 8-1 and 10-6, respectively. In the first game, Hammonds went 1-for-3 with a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Tony Tarasco in the seventh inning. In the latter game, Jeffrey went 1-for-5 with a two-run homer in the eighth inning off of Ricky Bottalico. This late blast gave the O's some insurance after Lieberthal had hit a two-run shot off of Arthur Rhodes in the previous half-inning.
• I really, really need to clean the glass on my scanner.

Doug Drabek, 1998 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #312

This is a pretty silly card. Despite that fact (or maybe because of it), I just had to have it. I placed it on the Covetous Cluster, or most-wanted, list on the left sidebar. Ed, who spends more time working on my various want lists than I do, tracked it down and put it in my hands yesterday afternoon. So why was it so necessary for me to own?

I didn't have a single Orioles card of Doug Drabek, whose 13-year big league career sputtered to a halt with a 6-11 record and a 7.29 ERA for the Birds in 1998. I couldn't do without a reminder that Pat Gillick and/or Ray Miller thought it was a good idea to acquire a 35-year-old who had gone 29-29 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over the most recent 3 seasons. Once I got a look at the actual card, which features a silver-haired Drabek trying to leg out a grounder while batting in a spring training, I knew that it would hold a place of honor in my collection. The icing on the cake is Doug's intense, tongue-showing facial expression and his conspicuously-advertised Reebok batting gloves. The logo on the gloves almost looks like lightning bolts shooting out of his fingers.

Jimmy Key, 1998 Collector's Choice #42

This is another card that I received in my recent trade with Ryan, and it's probably my favorite photo of the lot. It's a playful Spring Training shot of Jimmy Key in an unfamiliar setting: on the base paths. He won't exactly be mistaken for Rickey Henderson, not while blowing a bubble and resting his hands firmly on his thighs. In case you're wondering, Jimmy batted only three times in his long career. All three plate appearances came in a June 13, 1997 interleague game in Atlanta. Given the unenviable task of taking his first career swings against Greg Maddux in the latter's prime, Key struck out twice. However, he also successfully executed a sacrifice bunt that aided a four-run uprising. He allowed a single run in 6.2 innings, and the Birds survived an Armando Benitez gasoline act to beat Maddux 4-3.

Roberto Alomar, 1998 Collector's Choice #310

I became a baseball fan in 1993, and the Toronto Blue Jays were my sworn enemies. It was a simpler time. They were the defending World Champions, and were well on their way to a second straight World Series win. To add insult to injury, Jays manager Cito Gaston didn't let Mike Mussina pitch in the All Star Game in front of the home crowd at Camden Yards. What a bastard, huh? So yeah, with no first-hand experience of the dastardly doings of those damned Yankees, I blamed Canada. So to speak. I even remember crying - crying! - when Toronto bested the Phillies in Game One of the 1993 World Series.

The mini-dynasty of the Blue Jays rapidly came to an end. At the time of the 1994 players strike, they were way out of it. With our northern neighbors no longer a threat, I paid them little mind. Then something strange happened.

They all started coming to Baltimore.

In the winter of 1995-1996, the Orioles overhauled management, bringing in former second baseman Davey Johnson to manage the team. They also hired Pat Gillick as general manager, putting the architect of those great Blue Jays teams in charge of personnel decisions. His first big splash was the free agent signing of second baseman Roberto Alomar, one of the best all-around players in the league. He paid immediate dividends, taking a position that had long been a weakness (particularly offensively) for the Birds and made it a strength. In his first year in Charm City, he established career highs in every major offensive category and was a major part of the first O's team to make the playoffs since 1983. In his short stay in Baltimore, he went to three straight All-Star Games and won two Gold Gloves. No matter what you thought of him as a person (and most people didn't think much), he was a hell of a player.

Of course, most of the other ex-Jays didn't pan out nearly so well for the Orioles. Looking at the rosters of the 1992 and 1993 Blue Jays, ten players ended up wearing orange and black later on in their careers: Alomar (1996-1998), Joe Carter (1998), Greg Myers (2000-2001), Jimmy Key (1997-1998), Juan Guzman (1998-1999), David Wells (1996), Pat Hentgen (2001-2003), Mike Timlin (1999-2000), Mark Eichhorn (1994), and Doug Linton (1999). Other than Alomar, the only ones that met expectations were Key, who had one great year before injuries hastened the end of his career, and Eichhorn. Wells and Timlin did have great careers after leaving Baltimore, which was oh-so-considerate of them. The lesson is simple, though: if these guys were all still great, the Jays would have dominated the rest of the Nineties.