Albert Belle, 2001 Fleer Ultra #139

I hope you exercised your right and duty as an American citizen and voted in the Presidential and State elections today. If not, Albert Belle is coming for you.

This card arrived in the mail today as the spoils of my first successful Listia auction bid. If that's a new one on you, it's an eBay-type site that trades in "points" instead of currency. You earn points in several different ways, but the most reliable is to sell your own items on the site. I haven't gotten off of my lazy duff to offer up any of the chaff in my card collection, so I used some of the 600 credits I got for signing up. If you'd like to join Listia, be a mensch and use my referral link. You'll get 100 extra credits, on top of the standard 500 for signup. I'll get some goodies, too. Happy bidding!

John Parrish and Fernando Lunar, 2001 Fleer Ultra #238

Last week, the Orioles announced that they'd resigned lefty John Parrish, who spent the first twelve years of his career in the Baltimore organization before being traded to Seattle in mid-2007 and splitting 2008 between Toronto and AAA Syracuse. If Parrish and Chris Gomez can break through the numbers game and earn spots on the Opening Day roster, they would join catcher Gregg ZAUN to form a trio of second-time Orioles. Because this is the goofy kind of trivia/minutiae that captivates me, I'm going to attempt to gather and post a comprehensive list below of players who had more than one stint in an O's uniform. In order to be eligible, they must have left the organization in between stays on Baltimore's major league roster. I'll attempt to put them in some sort of chronological order:

-Clint Courtney, C (1954, 1960, 1961): Courtney was traded to the A's in January 1961, and returned to the O's in April after just one game!

-Jim Brideweser, SS (1954, 1957)

-Don Larsen, P (1954, 1965): His eleven-year gap between Oriole stints is a team record.

-Dave Philley, OF (1955-56, 1960-61)

-Gene Woodling, OF (1955, 1958-60)

-Dick Williams, UT (1956-57, 1958, 1961-62): Clearly a favorite of Paul Richards.

-Jim Busby, OF (1957-58, 1960-61)

- Lenny Green, OF (1957-59, 1964)

-Fred Valentine, OF (1959 and 1963, 1968): Was in the Oriole organization from 1959-1963.

-Charley Lau, C (1961-63, 1964-67)

-Dick Hall, P (1961-66, 1969-71)

-Frank Bertaina, P (1964-67, 1969)

-Moe Drabowsky, P (1966-68, 1970)

-Curt Motton, OF (1967-71, 1973-74)

-Elrod Hendricks, C (1968-72, 1973-76, 1978-79): Elrod was essentially loaned to the Cubs for the 1972 pennant chase, and when he returned from the Yankees in 1978, he was essentially a coach who played in emergencies.

-Terry Crowley, OF-1B-DH (1969-73, 1976-82)

-Ross Grimsley, P (1974-77, 1982)

-Mike Flanagan, P (1975-87, 1991-92)

-Rick Dempsey, C (1976-86, 1992)

-Eddie Murray, 1B-DH (1977-88, 1996)

-Don Stanhouse, P (1978-79, 1982)

-John Flinn, P (1978-79, 1982)

-Floyd Rayford C-3B (1980 and 1982, 1984-87): Lucky Floyd! He was out of the O's organization for just one year...the 1983 championship season.

-Storm Davis, P (1982-86, 1992)

-Tito Landrum, OF (1983, 1988): The best of times...the worst of times.

-Billy Ripken, 2B (1987-92, 1996)

-Mike Devereaux, OF (1989-94, 1996)

-Mark Parent, C (1992-93, 1996): One of four second-time O's on the 1996 Wild-Card team. There were also three first-time Birds who would come back for another go-round.

-Alan Mills, P (1992-98, 2000-01)

-Richie Lewis, P (1992, 1998)

-Harold Baines, DH (1993-95, 1997-99, 2000): Had three stints each with the Orioles and the White Sox!

-Rafael Palmeiro, 1B (1994-98, 2004-05)

-B.J. Surhoff, OF-3B (1996-2000, 2003-05)

-Mike Bordick, SS (1997-2000, 2001-02): The O's traded Bordick at the deadline for a package including Melvin Mora, and then resigned the former as a free agent in the ensuing offseason. Not a bad deal!

-Sidney Ponson, P (1998-2003, 2004-05): Same as the Bordick deal, only they didn't get anything good in the trade and Ponson drank his way off the team upon his return. Awesome.

-Jeff Conine, 1B-DH-OF (1999-2003, 2006): Played twice each for the Orioles, Royals, and Marlins.

-Karim Garcia, OF (2000, 2004): Possibly the most useless two-time Oriole...0-for-16 in 2000, .212 with 11 RBI in 23 games in 2004.

-Howie Clark, OF-DH (2002, 2006)

-Luis Lopez, IF (2002, 2004)

-Steve Trachsel, P (2007, 2008): Urrrggghhh.

Whew. So that's an even forty, pending the re-arrivals of Parrish, Gomez, and ZAUN. I guess you can go home again.

Delino DeShields, 2001 Fleer Ultra #189

There's a lot to see in this action shot from 2000, a season in which Delaware native Delino DeShields put up some of the best offensive numbers of his career (career-highs: .296 AVG, 86 RBI, 43 2B). He's leaping over Indians outfielder Kenny Lofton, who barrels into second base trying to break up the double play. Delino has just fired off the relay throw to first, and his pinkie and index fingers are extended as if he's giving the O's first baseman a heavy metal salute. Meanwhile, the exceptionally blurry right fielder jogs in place, attempting to look busy.

But the most amazing thing about this scene is that DeShields is going about his business on the field with a cool and calm demeanor even as the grim spectre of a giant Esskay hot dog lurks in the background. The frankfurter bides its time, moving a little closer and then closer still, its glacial movements imperceptible to the human eye. Soon, it will make its play and attempt to devour Delino whole. That, my friends, is why I eat hot dogs. It's all about the food chain; you have to eat them before they eat you. Kind of like those old Fruit Sharks gummi snacks.