Kevin Gregg, 2012 Topps #326

On September 14, 2012, the Orioles lost to the Athletics, 3-2. That left them with an 81-63 record, and the quest for their first winning season since 1997 was delayed for another day. Though they were tied with the Yankees for first place in the American League East, the O's were still fighting for their postseason lives. That day, the team made a wise and long-overdue move, cutting ties with failed closer Kevin Gregg. With that meathead in their rear view mirror, the Birds finished strong at 12-6 and clinched a wild card. They upended the defending AL champion Rangers in the playoffs before losing a closely-contested ALDS to New York, and haven't had another losing season in the ensuing years. There was an AL East crown and an ALCS berth in 2014, and the O's are again on top as they near the quarter mark of the 2016 season. I'm sure they owe most of this good fortune to their divorce from that meathead Gregg. After all, correlation equals causation, right?

Vladimir Guerrero, 2012 Topps #119

When I first came across this card, I did a double take. I've repressed a fair amount of Orioles baseball from the Crap Years (1998-2011), but I was still pretty sure that Vlad Guerrero didn't shamble his way to a third-place finish in the American League batting race in 2011. Then I realized that this was a career leader board, and it made more sense. Vladi batted .313 in eight seasons in the junior circuit with the Angels, Rangers, and O's, and honestly his .290 average in 145 games in his lone season in Baltimore was better than I figured. But his .416 slugging percentage was by far a career low, which helps explain why that season turned out to be his last. Amusingly, the expanded list of active AL batting average leaders on the back of the card shows Guerrero and Derek Jeter tied at .313, and I'm shocked that Topps missed out on a chance to shoehorn Jeter onto another card. Maybe they went down to a fourth decimal place and Vladimir beat out Jeets fair and square.

Joe Mauer, whose .323 career average through 2011 has dipped to .313 after a couple of down years by his standards, finds his Twins trailing the Birds 4-2 after seven and a half innings tonight. It would be great to shut down Minnesota in two straight games after getting swept in the seven-game season series last year, so let's get those last three outs.

Brian Roberts, 2012 Topps #514

I'm home from Sarasota, and it looks like I might have brought some warmer weather home with me. I'll share some photos from Ed Smith Stadium tomorrow, but I didn't want to bury the unexpected highlight of the trip. On Sunday afternoon, I met Brian Roberts.

We were staying with my brother-in-law Robby and his fiance Jordan; they live 15 minutes away from the ballpark. They'd already mentioned that Jordan's family had made the former Oriole's acquaintance. When we arrived on Thursday evening, Jordan told us that his folks would like to meet us, and that his nephew's fifth birthday party was Sunday. He said that Brian Roberts might be stopping by as well, but I took that to mean it wasn't a sure thing.

We stopped by the party site, Bounce Down Under - "Sarasota's largest Aussie-themed indoor inflatable party and play center" - on our way to that afternoon's O's-Twins game. I was busy trying not to look out of place at a kid's birthday party when Robby pointed out that Brian was right in front of us. Jordan handled the introductions, and Brian was very friendly. He asked who the Orioles were playing, admitting that he wasn't keeping close tabs. (Really, who does? It's the Grapefruit League.) I told him that it was our first spring training visit to Sarasota, but that it seemed like a much better venue than Fort Lauderdale, where I'd taken in a few games in 2008 when the Birds were still training there. He assured me that he loved the city itself, but that the Orioles' former facility was "a dump".

My wife, my sister, and I stayed long enough to have pizza and cake, and I debated approaching Roberts again to ask for a photo. However, he was busy with daddy duty most of the time, and I didn't want to impose. But as we were about to leave, Brian actually took notice and said that it was nice to meet us. I took advantage of the opening and asked if he'd mind posing for a picture. As you can see, I might be taller, but Brian has a much better tan. My sister is on the right; my wife was the photographer.

So that's how I met Brian Roberts while standing mere feet away from an inflatable basketball court and an unfortunate person in a furry kangaroo suit.

Vladimir Guerrero, 2012 Topps #424

If you want to put the Orioles' amazing 2014 season in perspective, take a look at the box score from the O's-Angels game of September 18, 2011 - three years ago today. The Birds fell to 62-89 with an 11-2 loss to the Halos. Rookie Matt Angle, who hasn't sniffed the big leagues since, batted leadoff. Vlad Guerrero, who seemed like he was 36 years old going on 50, was the cleanup hitter. He actually drove in both Baltimore runs with the final triple and home run of his career. Josh Bell, the failed third base prospect, was in the six-hole. He's playing in South Korea now. The bottom third of the order was no masterpiece, either: Robert Andino at second base, rookie Kyle Hudson in left field, and catcher Craig Tatum. This was a team playing out the string, with six players in the lineup who are no longer major leaguers (some of whom really weren't even then). Then there were the motley half-dozen pitchers who came and went in that game: starter Alfredo Simon and relievers Brad Bergesen, Zach Phillips, Jason Berken, JoJo Reyes, and Jeremy Accardo. Only Simon is still playing in MLB, having had a surprising resurgence in Cincinnati. Paid attendance was 27,471 at Camden Yards, and I'm sure the actual number of butts in the seats was many fewer than that.

From 62-89 to 92-60 in three years. It'll make you shake your head.

Kyle Hudson, 2012 Topps #218

How soon we forget...or at least, I do. Kyle Hudson was the Orioles' fourth-round draft pick out of the University of Illinois in 2008, and it's already looking like his September 2011 callup could represent the entirety of his big league career. Kyle appeared in 14 games for that cellar-dwelling Birds team, collecting four singles in 28 at-bats. He did score the winning run against the Tigers in the ninth inning on September 24 after pinch-running for Chris Davis. Davis had singled off of Daniel Schlereth, then Hudson advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch with Robert Andino at bat. Andino struck out, but Matt Angle bunted up the first base line to plate Hudson. Kevin Gregg allowed a two-out single to Magglio Ordonez in the bottom of the inning, because of course he did, but subsequently retired Delmon Young on a line drive to Adam Jones to earn his 22nd save, the last of his Orioles career. This was two years ago...that's practically a lifetime in baseball.

Chris Davis, 2012 Topps #151

Man, I really need to diversify my Chris Davis collection. This is the third card I've posted of the O's slugging first baseman, and the other two were parallels of this base card. That's what I get for boycotting new Topps products and being too lazy to initiate trades with others.

Anyhow, I'm looking for the silver lining of last night's ugly 8-7 walkoff loss to the Rays. Sure, Wei-Yin Chen ran out of gas in the sixth inning, which is something of a trend in his brief Orioles career. Sure, Luis Ayala and Pedro Strop each blew a late-inning lead, and Tommy Hunter doomed the Birds by doing what he does best: tossing up a meatball to Matt Joyce for a game-ending homer. But Chris Davis is a flat-out beast, an unstoppable, hulking monster who was made to send baseballs to heaven.

Last night, Davis was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and another towering three-run homer, and he had four RBI total. Through two games (smallest of sample sizes!), he has a .625 average, a .667 on-base percentage, a 1.625 slugging percentage, two home runs, and seven RBI. He has at least a share of the league lead in doubles, total bases, RBI, slugging, OPS, and OPS+ (586...again, 100 is average!). Hell, let's just go right off the deep end and project Chris' two-game totals through a full 162-game season. Were Davis to keep up his pace - and I see no reason why he shouldn't - he would finish the year with 162 doubles, 162 home runs, and 567 RBI. Those would all be major league records, I think.

EDIT: I obviously wrote the above before today's 6-3 win over the Rays. Chris went 2-for-3 with a double and a home run, drove in four more runs, and was hit by a pitch. The updated totals: .636/.692/1.727, three doubles, three homers, 11 RBI. As I write this, he's outproduced the Marlins 11-1, and he is now the first player in Orioles history to hit 10 home runs in a span of 10 regular-season games (dating back to last season, of course). Mercy.

Okay, let me take my tongue out of my cheek and provide a serious update on the Brian Roberts Comeback Watch: 2-for-4 with a game-tying double in the ninth inning off of Fernando Rodney, who blew only two of his 50 save attempts in 2012. That's Brian's first extra-base hit since May 4, 2011. I don't think I can tell you how badly I want the O's senior player to be back in his 2009 form...or at least reasonably close to it.

EDIT: Brian singled in the ninth inning today, stole second base with a headfirst slide, and came up favoring his right knee. He had to be helped off the field. Dammit.