Adam Jones, 2011 Topps Heritage #145

Yesterday represented an impressive collision between two of my favorite pastimes. I attended yesterday's Orioles game with my wife and my sister, since they were interested in the wristlet giveaway. With the freebies, the O's Dugout Club promotion for kids, and probably a handful of time-travelers from the future who wanted to see starting pitcher Mike Wright dominate the Angels in his big league debut, there was an impressive crowd of 41,733 packing Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Consequently, by the time I parked in one of the auxiliary lots and made it through the gates, Wright was taking his warmup pitches to the tune of 1990s WWF star Razor Ramon's entrance theme. I thought that was just excellent taste on the rookie's part, but it just so happens that the Birds were celebrating the presence of World Wrestling Entertainment in Charm City for last night's Payback pay-per-view. Unfortunately, I missed WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to Adam Jones. But I was still greatly entertained by the wrestling theme playlist that the Orioles put together for their at-bats and pitching warmups. The rest of their choices:

-Manny Machado - the Rock
-Jimmy Paredes - Rey Mysterio
-Adam Jones - Real American (Hulk Hogan), John Cena
-Delmon Young - Sexual Chocolate (Mark Henry)
-Chris Davis - Big Show
-Steve Pearce - Mick Foley
-J. J. Hardy - Kurt Angle
-Travis Snider - Chris Jericho
-Caleb Joseph - I couldn't figure his out. They only played it for one of his three AB's
-Brad Brach - Brock Lesnar (genius!)
-Zach Britton - Tazz

Just as I was wondering why nobody went with Stone Cold Steve Austin's iconic theme, Britton sealed the win by striking out Johnny Giavotella, and the shattering glass of Austin's theme came blaring through the PA system. Well played, O's.

With the rest of his Sunday free and a day off today, Jones showed up in the first row at the Royal Farms Arena for WWE Payback last night, complete with a replica of the World Heavyweight Title slung over his shoulder. The New Day stable (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods) earned the ire of the crowd by acknowledging Adam and quickly pointing out that the Birds are in the midst of a 32-year World Series drought. Jerry Lawler claimed that J. J. Hardy and Steve Pearce were at the show with Jones, but I don't think they were the guys sitting next to him on camera.

So yeah, this was all extremely relevant to my interests...your mileage, as always, may vary.

Chris Tillman, 2011 Topps Heritage #75

Chris Tillman had himself a night last night, tossing the first complete game shutout of his career. In the Orioles' 4-0 win over the Royals, the righthander allowed five hits and a walk and struck out three batters. Tillman has had some ups and downs so far in 2014, but he's 4-2 with a 3.34 ERA right now and could conceivably be an All-Star again this season. All-Star or no, I'm just glad that one of Baltimore's passel of pitching prospects panned out.

Mark Reynolds, 2011 Topps Heritage #36

Last night, I posted a Mark Reynolds card and made a passing mention of my hope that he would heat up and hit a few home runs in the Boston series. Within a few hours of publishing, I had witnessed a two-homer, four-RBI performance by the man known to some locals as "The Sheriff of Swattingham". The O's drew first blood against the Red Sox, winning 7-1. I had the urge to dabble in clairvoyance again this evening, but instead I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. Of course, if Mark wanted to muscle up once more...

Koji Uehara, 2011 Topps Heritage #488

I miss Koji Uehara.

Kevin Millwood, 2011 Topps Heritage #203

Everyone who predicted that Kevin Millwood would pitch a no-hitter in 2012, take one step forward. Yeah, that's what I thought.

Okay, so it comes with a small caveat. The 37-year-old Mariners pitcher tossed six hitless innings against the Dodgers last night, and the score was still 0-0 when he took the mound to warm up in the top of the seventh. But Millwood quickly signaled to the dugout, indicating that he needed to be pulled from the game. It turned out that he had strained his groin in the previous inning. Seattle manager Eric Wedge walked a tightrope for the final three innings, using five relievers to record the last nine outs of the game. Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen did the honors. Kyle Seager singled in the only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh; Pryor was tabbed as the winning pitcher despite walking two of the three hitters he faced. Wilhelmsen earned the save with a perfect ninth inning that included a controversial bang-bang out call at first base with Dee Gordon running down the line.

Last night's game was the first combined no-hitter since Roy Oswalt and five other Astros pitchers teamed up to stymie the Yankees in 2003. After a putrid 2010 season in Baltimore (4-16, 5.10 ERA), Millwood spent most of 2011 at AAA with the Yankees and Red Sox before turning in nine decent starts for the Rockies. Now he's 3-5 with a solid 3.57 ERA in a dozen starts for the Mariners. I'm sure spacious Safeco Field gets some of the credit, but ol' Kev is still faring much better than I would have expected. Now he's a part of the second no-hitter of his career, the first being his April 27, 2003 complete-game effort. In that game, he squeaked by the Giants 1-0. Meanwhile I'm still waiting to see the first Oriole no-no of my fandom. No rush, guys.

Buck Showalter, 2011 Topps Heritage #121

I'm back home and resting my tired bones after putting in five hours at Orioles FanFest. You might remember that I had bought a voucher for an autograph session with Troy Patton, Buck Showalter, and Brian Roberts. Of course, Roberts is still struggling with the post-concussion symptoms that have sidelined him since last May, so he was unable to make an appearance. His chances of playing again just keep getting worse, and at this point I just hope his personal life isn't impaired in the coming years. The O's made up for Roberts' absence by adding pitchers Alfredo Simon and Jim Johnson to the session. While I waited in line for the 2:00 start time, my sister took a seat behind the stage and did some reading. She sent me a text message to let me know that the O's manager and players were waiting back there while the Nick Markakis/Matt Angle/Al Bumbry/Mike Bordick session finished. Buck even jokingly made a dash for the emergency exit. Everyone was very gracious, and Patton in particular seemed to enjoy interacting with the fans. An older woman in line ahead of me had clear pockets on her bag with pictures of several Orioles on display. Troy told her, "You're missing the best-looking dude on the team". I've already shown off Buck's autograph above. The other three cards I got signed were ones that I've previously featured on the blog, so I'll show off the autographed versions in this same blog post. Enjoy!

J. J. Hardy, 2011 Topps Heritage #339

Well, there's nothing but an ongoing rain delay and two and one-half innings separating the Orioles from another long, lonely offseason. But even if the O's fall to Boston tonight, you certainly can't blame J. J. Hardy. In what looks like the masterstroke of Andy MacPhail's tenure, the general manager pried Hardy away from the Twins for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson. With a two-run homer tonight, the shortstop extended his career-high total to 30 roundtrippers and matched his personal best of 80 RBI. He's also walked and hit his 27th double, only 4 shy of his top total. He's pretty smooth with the glove, too. I can only imagine what he would have done if he hadn't missed a month with an oblique injury. Either way, I'm glad that the Birds signed him to a contract extension in midseason. J. J. is one of the few guys I would absolutely not want to be without in 2012.