Mickey Tettleton, 1989 Score #358

162 games are in the books, and the playoff matchups are set. Here in Baltimore, we'll be hosting the Detroit Tigers on Thursday in the American League Division Series. People are going to go gaga over the guys from the Motor City because they have big names in their starting rotation: Max Scherzer, David Price, Justin Verlander. That's great, but Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, and Miguel Gonzalez are all having quite good seasons in their own right. Detroit beat the O's five times in six meetings this season, but those games were all in April, and each team moved in a different direction as the year wore on. The Orioles were the club that left their division rivals in the dust, finishing 96-66 and  wrapping up the AL East crown with 11 games left to play. The Tigers frittered away a seven-game lead in the Central on two separate occasions, and had to wait until today's regular season finale to pop the champagne. I like our chances.

To put it another way, the Birds gave away Mickey Tettleton to the Tigers in January 1991. There won't be any more gifts this October.

Mickey Tettleton, 1990 Score Superstars #9

When I go to ballgames, I like to spot jerseys that are a little out of the ordinary. I saw some good ones yesterday. There was a black Orioles spring training jersey featuring former pitching coach Rick Kranitz's name and #39 on the back; I assume that the owner bought it game-used from the O's FanFest rummage sale. After all, that's where I got my Lou Montanez masterpiece. There was also somebody in a current-day black Orioles jersey with Joe Orsulak's name and #6. That's an interesting blend of past and present.

There were a surprising number of Tigers fans in attendance yesterday, and they also came dressed to the nines. One guy was wearing Miguel Cabrera's Team Venezuela #24 jersey from the World Baseball Classic. But the best was the gentleman I came across in a Mickey Tettleton #20 Detroit road jersey from the early 1990s. Whether it was intentional or not, his clothing choice was a clever tweak of longtime Baltimore fans who will never forget the Mick's 112 homers and .387 on-base percentage in the four years following his trade from the O's to the Tigers. It's a good thing the home team got the last laugh yesterday evening.

Mickey Tettleton, 1990 Topps Glossy Send-In #57

In my aimless television wanderings last night, I came across a MAC Conference college football game between Miami of Ohio and Ohio University. The starting quarterback for the Ohio Bobcats is one Tyler Tettleton, a redshirt sophomore from Norman, OK and the son of Mickey. Tyler passed for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns and also led OU with 126 rushing yards in a 21-14 win. The team finished the regular season 9-3 overall with a 6-2 conference record. They'll face either Northern Illinois or Toledo in the MAC championship game in Detroit on December 2. For the season, Tettleton completed 64% of his passes for 2,868 yards with 26 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He was also the team's second-leading rusher with 576 yards on the ground, a 4.4 yards-per-attempt average, and a team-high 8 touchdowns. That's a pretty impression effort for a first-year starter. Could Tyler follow his father into professional sports? Let me put it this way: a couple of guys named John Skelton and Richard Bartel played QB for the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday. I wouldn't bet against him.

Mickey Tettleton, 1988 Score Rookie & Traded #31T

Orange is not a color that's frequently used in baseball card designs. For obvious reasons, I'm always eager to get my hands on cards with border colors that complement the Orioles' orange and black uniforms. You probably won't find many other collectors who give the stamp of approval to 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best, for instance. Topps has had orange-bordered refractor parallels in its Chrome products since 2008, and yet I don't have a single orange refractor of an O's player. But sometimes all you have to do is ask nicely, so I went a-beggin' when I saw that Night Owl had pulled pumpkin-hued Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds shinies from 2011 Topps Chrome. Out of the kindness of his heart, Greg sent both cards, along with some other chromy Birds of recent vintage.

On Friday afternoon, I rode up to the family cottage with my father to close up for the year. On my way out the door, I saw Greg's bubble envelope waiting for me in the mailbox. So I grabbed it and checked out the goods while sitting shotgun en route to northeastern PA. Do you want to guess where those cards are now?

Yep, they're safely stored back in that envelope...220 miles away, sitting on a shelf in the living room of the cottage. I will not see these cards again until May 2012. That's what happens when you try to pack up in the morning.

Mickey Tettleton, 1990 Fleer All-Star Team #12

Just because the Orioles are one loss away from clinching their fourteenth straight losing season, that doesn't mean that they're not breaking records. Just yesterday, Mark Reynolds struck out for the 161st time, topping Mickey Tettleton's 1990 total for the whiffingest effort in club history. That might not be the kind of record a player wants to own, but Reynolds has also clubbed 31 home runs. Another 4 and he'll have the best home run output by an Oriole since Albert Belle went deep 37 times in 1999. Mark can also take pride in the fact that he's likely to post his lowest strikeout total for a full big league season, even after fanning 13 times in the past 5 games. Two years ago, he set the MLB record with 223 strikeouts. So 161 - make that 164 after today's game - is child's play.

Of course, it's entirely possible that Reynolds has created the breeze that's kept temperatures milder than usual in Baltimore over the past few weeks. I'm not about to complain about that, either.

Mickey Tettleton, 1991 Score #270

It's just another lazy Sunday, so I thought I'd show off another one of the autographs that I collected at Friday night's game. I actually had a method to my madness when it came to choosing the cards that I would have those four players sign. I wanted them to be cards that were visually interesting to me, but at the same time I didn't want to use cards that I'd already featured on this blog. That way I could share them with you without engendering a sense of deja vu.

Of course, most of Mickey Tettleton's Orioles cards show him at bat, since that was what he did best on a baseball field. But nothing tops a good action shot of a catcher in all of his gear. I like this card because of the sideways angle, with Mickey ripping off his mask and springing out in front of the plate in probable anticipation of a throw home. He might even be shouting instructions to the pitcher or an infielder. We can also see that the photo was taken at Fenway Park, as Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell stands idly by in the background. So really, you get an action shot and an inaction shot all in one picture.

Mickey's got a fairly distinctive and reasonably legible signature. It's dominated by the "M", the "Y" (which seems to have loops both on top and bottom, unless the top loop is a "K"), the first "T", and the "L". He was considerate enough to place his signature so as to not obscure either his own face or Greenwell's blurry face, and that's a nice sort of touch.

Mickey Tettleton, 1990 Donruss #5

At long last, here are the whereabouts of your 1989 "Why Not?" Baltimore Orioles:

STARTING LINEUP

C Mickey Tettleton is active on the celebrity golf circuit and is a devoted father to his four children. Tate, the oldest, is a star quarterback in high school.

1B Randy Milligan is a scout with the Orioles, according to Wikipedia.

2B Billy Ripken is a co-owner of the Orioles' short-season A affiliate, the Aberdeen IronBirds. He recently coached first base for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic and has appeared as an analyst on the MLB Network. He's also Executive Vice President of Ripken Baseball, Inc.

SS Cal Ripken, Jr. was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. He is co-owner of the Aberdeen IronBirds and President and CEO of Ripken Baseball, Inc.

3B Craig Worthington owns and operates a hitting instruction academy for baseball and softball in Southern California and coaches the girls' softball team at St. Paul High School.

LF Phil Bradley is a special assistant for the Major League Baseball Players Association. His son Curt played in the Dodgers organization in 2007.

CF Mike Devereaux lent his name to an American Legion tournament in his hometown of Casper, Wyoming. After the breakup of the local American Legion, the Mike Devereaux Tournament allowed the town's teenagers to continue playing baseball in front of home crowds. The inaugural tournament took place last year.

RF Joe Orsulak still lives in the area, spent a few years coaching baseball at Loyola Blakefield High School, and works Cal Ripken's baseball camps on occasion.

DH Larry Sheets owns and operates a family amusement center in Westminster, MD.

THE STARTING ROTATION

Jeff Ballard is a senior vice president at Ballard Petroleum Holdings, the family business in his hometown of Billings, MT. He is also chairman of the American Legion baseball program in Billings.

Bob Milacki is the pitching coach for the Phillies' class A South Atlantic League affiliate, the Lakewood BlueClaws.

Dave Schmidt is the Orioles' minor league pitching coordinator. He has been an instructor in the Baltimore organization for twelve years now.

Pete Harnisch is living with his wife and two sons in Colts Neck, NJ, where he coaches youth baseball, soccer, and basketball.

Dave Johnson is a baseball analyst for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. His son Steven pitches in the Dodgers organization.

THE BULLPEN

Unfortunately, the most recent news I found of Brian Holton was a story about his 2006 arrest in Manchester, NH on charges of skipping out on $43,000 of owed child support.

Mark Thurmond is the vice president of the Al Thurmond Insurance Agency.

Kevin Hickey is a coach at the annual White Sox Fantasy Camp. He was a batting practice pitcher for the 2005 World Champion Pale Hose.

Mark Williamson...is a mystery to me.

Gregg Olson lives in Newport Beach, CA with his wife and four children.

Sometime soon, I'll kill another day with updates on the bench players and lesser-used pitchers.

Mickey Tettleton, 1991 Topps #385

Today we have Baltimore's own version of the Mick: he of the towering home runs, the incredible walk totals, and the legendary love of Froot Loops. He was also, like Rafael Palmeiro, a part of the impressive guest cast of the film Little Big League. Mickey is one of the more villainous major leaguers in the movie; in Billy Heywood's first game as manager of the Twins, they drop a home game to the Tigers. Tettleton is playing catcher, and as he snags a pop foul in front of the home dugout for the last out, he looks over at Billy and sneers, saying something to the effect of, "Welcome to the Big Leagues, kid".

Though he was kind of a jerk on screen, I think this card best represents Mickey as most fans remember him. The powerful Oklahoman with a cheek stuffed full of chaw, grinning boyishly. By the time this 1991 Topps set rolled out, he was gone from Baltimore. The day after the O's infamously traded for Glenn Davis, they sent a catcher one year removed from a 26 home run performance (who had just walked 106 times in an otherwise down year offensively) to Detroit for Jeff M. Robinson and his 5.96 ERA. All Mickey did was hit 30-plus home runs in four of the next five years. The winter of 1990-1991 didn't exactly represent Roland Hemond's finest hour as a GM.

I want to take a moment to talk about some of the movies I've discussed this week. None of them could be considered classics in the conventional sense. There is no Field of Dreams, no Eight Men Out, no A League of Their Own in this crop. They're all goofy comedies, some intended for children. But I saw them all as an impressionable, baseball-mad adolescent, and they hold a sentimental value for me, much like the cards I've discussing each day. So whether they're good or just so-bad-that-they're-good, I just can't help but put the remote down when I find one of them playing on TV.