David Wells, 1997 Fleer #15

David Wells comes across as a guy who enjoys his beer. After all, he tossed a perfect game for the Yankees in 1998 while "half drunk", by his own admission. I'm also a bit of a suds aficionado, so my wife finally got me one of those home-brew kits. A little over a month later, I finally got to taste-test my India Pale Ale...I think I can chalk it up to a learning experience. I didn't go blind or anything, but the taste was pretty bland. There was a foamy explosion when I opened one of the bottles. Even worse, I didn't activate the yeast thoroughly enough when I fermented it, so I only got half as much beer out of it as I should have. But Rome wasn't brewed in a day.

David Wells, 1997 Upper Deck #251

Over the course of his 21-year career, David Wells called a lot of different cities home. He switched teams 11 times and played for nine different teams: the Blue Jays (twice), Tigers, Reds, Orioles, Yankees (twice), White Sox, Padres (twice), Red Sox, and Dodgers. Whew! The above card highlights his series-tying win in Game Two of the 1996 ALCS, in which the O's beat the Yankees 5-3. The following season, "Boomer" jumped ship from Baltimore to New York as a free agent. You just couldn't tie this guy down.

Much like Wells, I've been on the move more than I cared to be over the past few years (of course, I stayed in Maryland through it all). Since June of 2008, I've packed up all of my belongings twice, going from Columbia to Silver Spring to Chase. Next month, I'll be doing it all again, but this will be the last move for a while...knock on wood.

Tonight I signed a contract to purchase my brother-in-law's rowhouse in Parkville, which means that I'm taking the leap into home ownership for the first time. It's an exciting and overwhelming thing, and there's still a lot to be done in the next few weeks: tons of loan paperwork, an appraisal and inspection, some cosmetic improvements to the walls and floors, some furniture shopping, and of course the actual act of moving in. But I'm thrilled to be near the Beltway (not too near), and consequently closer to work. Needless to say, I'm also relieved to be escaping from the "blogger living in his parents' basement" stereotype. I'm going home. My home.

David Wells, 1997 Score #256

"All the fat guys watch me and say to their wives, 'See, there's a fat guy doing okay. Bring me another beer.'" - Mickey Lolich

I'd venture a guess that David Wells was a fan of Mickey Lolich in his formative years. Even though he's had his share of injuries in recent years, it's still pretty amazing that "Boomer" has been able to pitch into his forties while carrying so much weight. He's also surprisingly athletic for someone so large, as I've seen him spring off of the mound to field his position on balls hit in his vicinity.

I vaguely remember the game depicted in the above photo, as I believe it was a 1996 game in Arlington against the Rangers. I can't quite remember the occasion, but the two teams were wearing throwback uniforms. Rather than flashing back to the great American League O's teams of the 1960s and 1970s, on this date the club wore the threads of the 1930s and 1940s International League Orioles. During Major League Baseball's 53-year absence from Charm City, the minor-league O's were known for their enthusiastic fan base and consistently successful performances. The most famous Oriole of this era was Maryland native and eventual Hall-of-Famer Lefty Grove. Babe Ruth was also an Oriole, but that was an earlier incarnation of the O's in a different league. Believe it or not, the IL Orioles were affiliated with the St. Louis Browns from 1949-1950. Three years later, the Browns would move to the city of their former farm team!

That is a really sharp uniform, very distinct from anything the big-league Birds have worn. With the birds-on-the-bat, it's reminiscent of the St. Louis Cardinals, and the orange stripes and upright bird on the cap are also eye-catching. It's worth noting that when the Orioles first arrived in Baltimore from St. Louis in 1954, Bowman tried to guesstimate the new uniforms on that year's baseball cards. The result looked something akin to the minor league design. Amusingly (or perhaps infuriatingly, for us English majors), some of the cards showed the team insignia with an apostrophe in "Oriole's".

It's a rare treat to see an MLB team acknowledge a forgotten facet of their hometown baseball history like this. If you're interested in owning some IL Orioles gear, you can go here.