Larry Bigbie, 2005 Topps Heritage #94

Good news! The 2012 Orioles are now ahead of the pace of the 2005 team, which was the last incarnation of the O's to remain in the playoff hunt into the second half of the season. All through the current season, Baltimore fans have been haunted by comparisons to that ill-fated gang who went from first to fourth place in 30 games, lost in a quagmire of steroid suspensions, DUIs, and bad baseball. But yesterday, the present-day Birds picked up win number 51 in their 95th contest. The 2005 Orioles also happened to play game 95 on July 22, and they dropped to 50-45 with a 7-5 road loss to the Devil Rays. Bruce Chen's five-run second inning doomed them that day, and among the position players only Larry Bigbie (3-for-4 with a home run) had more than one hit. It was the third consecutive loss in an eventual six-game skid, so the O's didn't earn their 51st win until game 99. They immediately began an eight-game slide, running their record to 51-56 with a 10.5 game deficit in the division.

I've got my tongue firmly planted in cheek here, but it's nice to be able to say that the 2012 Orioles are superior to their fluky, weary predecessors.

Zach Britton, 2011 Topps Lineage #61

Naturally, all that I had to do was write an incredibly pessimistic, reactionary lament about the current state of the Orioles in order to look stupid. Five consecutive road wins later, the O's have not only thrown the brakes on their backslide, they've regained their hold on second place in the American League East. Most of the credit goes to the pitching staff in general and the starters in particular, who have turned in quality starts in each of the last five games to allow the relievers the early-and-middle-innings naps they so sorely need. Some strong outings (Wei-Yin Chen) were expected. Others (everyone else - Miguel Gonzalez, Tommy Hunter, Chris Tillman, and Zach Britton) were less expected. Britton looked sharp today in earning the first major league win of his injury-delayed sophomore season. He blanked the Indians over six innings, limiting them to four hits and two walks. The young lefty also struck out five batters, including Carlos Santana looking with the bases loaded to end the sixth inning. It would seem that all the 51-44 O's need to continue topping the Wild Card standings is six or so innings of above-average starting pitching each day, along with a couple of timely hits and strong net performances in high-leverage relief situations. Simple, huh?

As long as you're indulging my wild upward mood swing, I'll just nonchalantly mention that the Yankees just got swept out of Oakland in a four-game set, helping the Orioles to draw within six games of first place in the American League East. This could still be an interesting summer.

Sidney Ponson, 2004 Upper Deck Diamond Collection #75

Sidney Ponson in a St. Louis Browns throwback uniform? Sure, why not. If you're curious, this photo would have been taken on Saturday, June 7, 2003 in St. Louis. Sidney actually pitched a complete-game seven-hitter, striking out eight Cardinals in an 8-1 Orioles interleague win. It was a home run derby for the O's, with Jeff Conine, Melvin Mora, and Deivi Cruz (twice!) going deep in support of their pitcher. I certainly wasn't expecting that result when I looked up this game. It's nice to get a pleasant surprise now and then.

Vintage Fridays: Elrod Hendricks, 1970 Topps #528

I hope nobody minds another Vintage Friday post on Elrod Hendricks just two weeks after the last one. I have an excellent excuse: I went searching for interesting box scores from today's date, and found one from Monday, July 20, 1970. The Orioles wrapped up a three-game series in Chicago in grand fashion, trouncing the White Sox 14-5 in the rubber match. The visitors got a big boost from catcher Hendricks, who doubled, homered, and walked twice to drive in a career-high six runs. Not bad for a seventh-place hitter.

Elrod gave the O's the lead with a two-run double in the second inning, and they never trailed after that. It was just one of three two-RBI hits in the frame, with Paul Blair and Boog Powell also doing the honors. Powell's double chased overmatched ChiSox starter Gary Janeski, who surrendered four hits and a walk and hit two batters in the six-run outburst. The damage may have been worse if Baltimore pitcher Mike Cuellar hadn't popped up a bunt attempt for the second out.

Cuellar wasn't exactly on his game in the field, either. Because he earned the complete-game win (making him 13-5 for the year), I'm legally obligated to say that he "scattered" 11 hits and a pair of walks, allowing 5 runs total. That's why Hendricks' seventh-inning grand slam off of Barry Moore was crucial, turning a 7-4 seesaw battle into a rout. The Pale Hose were once again undone by a pitcher's wildness, as Moore had followed a Frank Robinson double by issuing walks to Brooks Robinson and Davey Johnson to load the bases for Elrod. Overall, Chicago hurlers issued nine walks and two wild pitches and plunked three batters. As a result, the Orioles totaled 14 runs with only 11 hits.

Looking a little deeper into Elrod Hendricks' big performance, the grand slam was the first of two in his career. He wouldn't hit another one until July 18, 1975, when he took Dave Goltz deep to give the O's a 5-1 fourth-inning lead en route to an eventual 9-6 victory over the Twins. The 1970 salami was also his second homer off of Barry Moore in as many days, though the previous day's longball was just a solo shot for a bit of insurance in an 8-2 Birds triumph.

With their series win in the Windy City, the Orioles boosted their record to 57-36 and maintained a 4-game lead over the second-place Tigers.

Gregg Olson, 1993 Fleer Flair #155

The value of a closer can be overstated sometimes, but it's better to have a good one than not. For five years, the Orioles knew that they could rely on Gregg Olson to preserve narrow ninth-inning leads. Similarly, the 2012 O's would be in deep trouble without relief ace Jim Johnson. Today, the first-time All-Star earned his league-leading 28th save by closing out a second straight one-run win over the Twins. The team is now 37-0 when leading after eight innings, 18-6 in one-run games, and 32-14 in games decided by two runs or less. You can thank Baltimore's sinkerballing closer, who has only blown two save opportunities all season. Incidentally, the Orioles won both of those games in extra innings. We're not in Jorge Julio or Kevin Gregg territory any more.

Glenn Davis, 1991 Classic II #T6

Prepare yourself for some self-loathing from the fan of a perennial loser. It was written before tonight's win, but still applies. How bad is it gonna be? Does the invocation of Glenn Davis' image give you a clue?

Well, it took fully half of the baseball season, but the Orioles waited until they were sure that everyone was strapped securely to the bandwagon, and then pushed it straight off of a cliff. Next stop: Hell.

Am I being hyperbolic? Perhaps just a bit. I've been girding myself for the eventual tumble, knowing that the O's spent a few months winning in spite of themselves. They've allowed more total runs than they've scored for a good chunk of the season, the team defense could charitably be described as "1970s kitchen decor ugly", the hitters have been striking out and hitting into double plays like nobody's business, and the starting rotation could be summed up as "Hammel and Chen, and what happens then?". They say it's better to be lucky than good, and with a plus-.500 record that was built predominately on an improbable 10-game winning streak in extra-innings games, the Birds were playing with house money.

All the same, I've been a bit gobsmacked by the suddenness and totality of the team's collapse. All at once, Hammel is on the shelf with knee surgery, and every other non-Chen starter is a meatball-throwing bumbler. The bullpen is so overtaxed that no amount of Buck Showalter juggling can keep the relievers from wearing out and subsequently turning into arsonists. The errors that were a cause of frustration in the spring are now surefire backbreakers. And of course the offense is non-existent. Those blasted Yankees have scored at least 3 runs in each of their last 42 games, a franchise record. Meanwhile the O's have averaged 3 runs over their last 27 games, scoring 0, 1, or 2 runs 14 times in that span. When the Orioles fall apart, they don't do it halfway.

I've watched these losing skids year-in and year-out, and it's as discouraging as can be. Every day brings another game that seems destined to be another heartache, another early deficit turned into a sleepwalk or an early lead turned into a blown opportunity. The schedule is relentless, and you wonder how you could have ever enjoyed baseball. Any small measure of success - a winning record after 5, 20, 40, or even 80 games - gives you the flickering hope that this will be a new year. Maybe injuries and underperformance even drag the more talented teams in the league down close to Baltimore's level. The illusion kept itself going longer than usual this year, but here we are in July and I'm once again feeling like a chump.

Hooray baseball!

Ernie Whitt, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #501

Here's another one from the "When the hell was he an Oriole?" files. The answer is 1991, of course. But not for too long. Ernie Whitt, known chiefly for the dozen years he spent behind the plate in Toronto, was 39 years old and at the end of the line when he made the O's roster as a third catcher behind rookie Chris Hoiles and Bob Melvin. But Ernie was a shell of the player who socked double-digit home runs for the Blue Jays in eight straight seasons (1982-1989). The veteran made only 70 plate appearances in 35 games over the season's first three months, putting up an underwhelming slash line of .242/.329/.274. He did not hit a single home run, and drove in just three runs. The Birds released him on July 5, bringing an end to his long career. On the plus side, he did throw out 6 of 17 would-be base stealers, a slightly above-average 35% rate. What more can you ask for from your 39-year-old third catcher than slightly above-average?

Koji Uehara, 2011 Topps Heritage #488

I miss Koji Uehara.

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.

Jim Palmer, 2012 Topps 1987 Mini #TM-94

I would love to give you the blow-by-blow from tonight's absurd 8-6, 13-inning win by the Orioles. However, I've been home from the stadium for about an hour and my brain is still in a fairly gooey state. The palms of my hands are still raw and red from pounding them against each other, and my voice is hoarse. Just wild.

So here's a new card (with an old design) featuring Jim Palmer's trademark high leg kick, which was immortalized in statue form at a dedication ceremony nine hours ago. Orioles Magic, spanning the generations. I'm pretty certain that I'm typing gibberish. I'm going to stop now.

Vintage Fridays: Baltimore Orioles, 1956 Topps #100

This is such a cool card that I'm going to go beyond my usual format and show you the back of it as well. First things first: the condition of the card itself. As you can see, it's been bent, nicked, creased, folded, and just generally manhandled over the course of 56 years. But it still maintains its essence. It's a baseball card, just as it ever was. Rectangular cardboard, bright colors, small-but-legible type. You can't keep a good old baseball card down.

So, the front of the card. We've got a group portrait of the 1955 Orioles, who still had that new-team smell. Maybe "smell" is a poor word choice for a club that had a 57-97 record and was only spared the ignominy of the American League basement by their poorer Beltway cousins in Washington. But back to the matter at hand. We've got the fantastic original Orioles logo, with the grinning little bird perched atop a baseball bearing the team name, set in front of a pair of crossed bats. There's the rare sight of an O's team shot that lacks Brooks Robinson, who had just a cup of coffee in September at age 18. Though Brooksie is absent, three batboys are present - and acknowledged by Topps! I'm going to take a leap of faith and assume that "Batboy Diering" is the son of center fielder Chuck Diering, who at 32 could conceivably have a son of batboy age. Also getting in on the action is trainer Edward "Doc" Weidner, Jr., pictured at far right in the second row in the classic white outfit. His employment with Charm City's baseball teams spanned the 1915 through 1967 seasons. He came on board when Baltimore was still a minor league city, hosting rising stars like Lefty Grove and Max Bishop and veterans giving it one last try (Rube Marquard, Chief Bender, etc.). How's that for a bit of baseball history?

Flipping the card over, we've got a brief and garbled history of both the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles American League franchise and Baltimore's overall pro baseball history. I appreciate the effort, anyhow. At the bottom of the card, there's a notation of the one sad, lonely A.L. pennant that the Browns won before heading east to Charm City in 1954. But the best thing about this card is the diagram of Memorial Stadium, complete with the original outfield dimensions...FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY feet to straightaway center field! That's not a baseball field, it's a deserted moonscape.

Roberto Alomar, 1997 Topps #152

Hey, I found another card in my collection in need of some detective work! This one was surprisingly easy. Since Roberto Alomar joined the Orioles for the 1996 season, this photo was obviously taken that year. The White Sox played six games in Baltimore, and Robbie and Ray Durham each played in all of those games. Durham started four of them, and pinch ran for Harold Baines late in the game in the other two. There was not a play at second base in either pinch running appearance, and Ray did not reach base in three of his starts. That leaves only Saturday afternoon, June 8, 1996. In the top of the fifth inning, Durham led off against O's starter Kent Mercker and dunked a single in front of Brady Anderson in center field. But Frank Thomas followed with a grounder to B. J. Surhoff at third base, and Surhoff, Alomar, and Rafael Palmeiro turned the 5-4-3 double play.

But what did that mean in the larger context of the game? This was an unorthodox contest. The ChiSox charged out to the early lead, scoring a pair of first-inning runs as Frank Thomas, Lyle Mouton, and Danny Tartabull went single-double-triple(!) in succession. It looked like Mercker was laying another egg; he began the day with a horrific 6.70 ERA. However, he walked a tightrope for the next five innings, allowing seven more hits and a walk but keeping Chicago from increasing their lead. The visitors left eight men on base in the first six innings and stranded nine total.

Unfortunately, the Birds also faltered in the clutch.  Alomar drove in the only Baltimore run in the third inning with a two-out single off of James Baldwin. Brady Anderson, who doubled two batters earlier, came home to make it 2-1. But the Orioles marooned 10 runners, most notably coming up empty after loading the bases with nobody out in the sixth inning. Pale Hose reliever Matt Karchner struck out Surhoff and got both Gregg Zaun and Jeffrey Hammonds to pop out to shortstop Ozzie Guillen.

That's how the Orioles fell to the White Sox, 2-1, in a game featuring 20 total hits, 3 walks, and an error. Baldwin (who pitched for the O's in 2005) escaped with his sixth win in seven decisions, Roberto Hernandez earned his 18th save, and Mercker fell to 3-4. He would not win another game before being traded to the Indians on July 21 for returning hero Eddie Murray. I'd make that trade any day, especially since it allowed Eddie to hit his 500th career home run in Charm City and to participate in the team's first postseason games since Eddie, Cal Ripken, Jr., and the rest of the 1983 Orioles won the World Series.

Billy Ripken, 1988 Score Young Superstars 1 #20

Billy Rip! That's right, it's a Ripken Brothers doubleheader. On this date in 1987, Billy made his major league debut. His father, Cal Senior, was the first-year manager of the Orioles, and he made baseball history by writing the names of both of his sons into the starting lineup as the team's double play combo. Shortstop Cal Junior batted third, going 0-for-4 with a double play grounder, and second baseman Billy was 0-for-3 with a walk. The O's outhit the visiting Twins 8-5 but lost 2-1, as they failed to record an extra-base hit and went 1-for-8 overall with runners in scoring position. Frank Viola earned the complete game win, and Mike Griffin was saddled with a hard-luck complete game loss. Ron Washington gave the home team a third-inning lead with an RBI single, but Griffin was undone by a pair of solo home runs from Randy Bush and Gary Gaetti.

Cal Ripken, Jr., 1987 Topps Glossy All-Stars #16

I guess I should've consulted the box score from the 1986 All-Star Game before scanning this card. That year's Midsummer Classic took place in the Houston Astrodome on July 15 and the American League eked out a 3-2 win. Cal Ripken, Jr. started at shortstop for the A.L. and nearly played the whole game, but went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts (Fernando Valenzuela and Mike Scott got him to whiff) before Tony Fernandez subbed in on defense in the bottom of the ninth. On the plus side, Cal played an errorless game with one assist. In other O's news from the game, Eddie Murray was selected to the team but did not play, as he had a balky hamstring. Reliever Don Aase bailed out the Yankees' Dave Righetti in the ninth, entering with one out and runners on the corners and coaxing a game-ending double play grounder off the bat of Chris Brown to earn the save. Despite Aase's heroics, American League starter Roger Clemens was voted the game's MVP. Something about three perfect innings, blah blah blah.

Jay Gibbons, 2003 Fleer Showcase #3

There goes Jay Gibbons, stealing the thunder of the Home Run Derby by announcing his retirement. The 35-year-old former Oriole had split the first half of this season between AA Huntsville and AAA Nashville in the Brewers organization. In 34 games with the Nashville Sounds, he hit just .204 with a .275 on-base percentage and a .439 slugging percentage. I've been following his post-Baltimore odyssey on this blog since I started doing my thing back in 2008. With Jay's retirement, he walks away as the 15th most prolific home run hitter in O's history, having totaled 121 of them in his 7 seasons with the team. Of course, Nick Markakis (112 HR) and Adam Jones (92) will likely pass him in the next calendar year, and so begins Gibbons' fade into that sepia-toned background.

Scott McGregor, 1982 O-Pee-Chee #246

Let's try to forget that the Orioles failed to score a run for 22 consecutive innings heading into the All-Star Break. Most of the team will now have four days off, and when they resume play in Baltimore on Friday they will do so with a 45-40 record. The O's have cleared the first half as the second-place team in the monstrous American League East, and they're still fending off the Rays, Indians, Tigers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Athletics for the second wild card spot. All of this was achieved with only 17 games played by Brian Roberts and 16 by Nolan Reimold, to say nothing of the broken hamate bone that has cost Nick Markakis the last 35 games.

As long as we're here, we'll take note of the bilingual cover boy, Scott McGregor. The southpaw was named to his only All-Star team in 1981 by virtue of a 6-2 record with a 3.15 ERA in the strike-shortened first half. The abbreviated schedule cost Scotty a shot at his second straight 20-win season; he won 7 of his 10 decisions after play resumed in August to finish 13-5 with a 3.26 ERA overall. In a normal 162-game season, he would have likely made a dozen additional starts.

Jim Palmer, 2012 Topps Archives Stickers #67S-JP

This card is so delightfully goofy that I am obligated to love and cherish it. It's an insert from Topps' new Archives set, and it pays homage to the floating-head stickers that the company released in 1967 on a trial basis for the Pirates and Red Sox. Of course, Jim Palmer's piercing blue eyes and vaguely spacey grin issuing forth from a disembodied head set against a blood red background may conjure up nightmares for some of you, but that's not my problem. Pleasant dreams!

Vintage Fridays: Elrod Hendricks, 1969 Milton Bradley #NNO

Here's one of five game cards I received in a recent mailing from Randy, a fellow diehard Orioles fan. They came from the 1969 Milton Bradley baseball game, which you can see in more detail here. As the linked page explains, this was a more basic game than APBA or Strat-o-Matic. There were only 11 possible outcomes on each card, to be determined by a roll of the dice. There were 15 O's in the team set, and interestingly enough Mark Belanger (145 games played in 1968) and Jim Palmer (missed the entire season due to injury) were not among them. I'll also note that each of the five cards currently in my possession (in addition to Elrod Hendricks' smiling face, the others are Clay Dalrymple, Andy Etchebarren, Jim Hardin, and Dave Leonhard) features one home run result. Did anyone ever play this game (or the 1970 version) as a kid?

Benny Bautista, 1987 ProCards #1470

Here we see Benny Bautista posing for the Hagerstown Suns logo lookalike contest. He's the clubhouse favorite.

Did You Know? Benny's birth name is "Bienvenido". "Bienvenidos" is Spanish for "welcome".

Did You Also Know? Bautista is a native of the Dominican Republic. He made his pro debut at age 18 with the Bluefield Orioles in 1984, and stole 20 bases in 24 tries.

Did You Also Also Know? 1987 was his last year in baseball. He batted .208 and slugged just .255 for the Suns, and walked away with a career batting average of .234 and a slugging percentage of .277.

Chris Tillman, 2010 Topps Allen and Ginter #166

I'm not sure what I expected from Chris Tillman's season debut with the Orioles today, but I can safely say that I wasn't anticipating a shutout bid into the ninth inning. The righthander, who is still only 24 years old, dominated the Mariners with 8.1 innings of 2-hit ball and might have had the complete game if he had a competent defense behind him. As it was, he set a career high in innings pitched and struck out seven batters while walking just a pair. The Birds have never seen such an efficient performance out of Tillman. While it's just one game, and it comes against a fairly anemic Seattle offense, he looked like the vaunted prospect that the O's acquired from the Mariners in the Erik Bedard trade. Not only did he hit 97 mph on the radar gun, but he maintained that velocity after he topped 100 pitches. That's the kind of thing that Baltimore needs. Welcome back, Chris.

Dave Johnson, 1990 Leaf #434

One of my favorite things about baseball is all of that gooey human-interest junk. So I was happy to see that the Orioles called up Steve Johnson, son of Dave. Papa J. pitched for the O's from 1989 through 1991, and memorably tossed 4 complete games in his first 10 starts as a 29-year-old rookie for the "Why Not?" team. There are some parallels between the two generations. Both were born and raised in Baltimore rooting for the Birds, and both paid their dues in the minor leagues. Dave had a cup of coffee with the Pirates in 1987 (the year of his son's birth) but didn't get an extended look in the majors until his eighth pro season. Steve, who was drafted by the Dodgers out of St. Paul's High School in the 13th round of the 2005 draft, is poised to make his big league debut in his eighth season of pro ball. After scuffling in his first taste of AAA competition last year, the younger Johnson seemed to figure some things out in early 2012. He's put up a 2.73 ERA this season at Norfolk, with a 1.07 WHIP and 63 strikeouts in 62.2 innings. He's been even better since a shift to the bullpen for long relief, allowing a single earned run in 17 innings while striking out 24.

When Steve toes the rubber for the first time in an Orioles uniform, he and Dave will go down in the books as the sixth father and son combo in team history. The others are the Kennedys (Bob and Terry), the Bufords (Don and Damon), the O'Donoghues (John and John), the Mays (Dave and Derrick), and the Raineses (Tim, Sr. and Tim, Jr.). If you're keeping an eye out for the next family connection in Charm City, you could be waiting for a bit. 24-year-old Steven Bumbry is currently hitting .170 through his first 29 games at AA Bowie, and Ryan Ripken is expected to attend the University of South Carolina in the fall on an athletic scholarship. If brother duos are your thing, Zach Britton's 26-year-old brother Buck is hitting .283/.349/.428 with 28 RBI in 48 games with Bowie. There's also the Bundy brothers, although older sibling Bobby is taking his lumps with the Baysox (2-9, 4.79 ERA, 1.5 WHIP).

Adam Jones, 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH31

With the Orioles starting July on a skid, it's the perfect time for a diversion...hey, look at that! The All-Star rosters were unveiled yesterday! For once, the O's have something to celebrate as the Midsummer Classic approaches. After years of obligatory "gotta pick somebody" selections like George Sherrill and Ty Wigginton, the 2012 club is sending THREE players to Kansas City next week: center fielder Adam Jones (.302 AVG, .902 OPS, 19 HR, 42 RBI), catcher Matt Wieters (.249/.331/.440, 11 HR, 38 RBI, 38% caught stealing rate), and closer Jim Johnson (1.30 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 23 SV). It's the second All-Star nod for both Jones and Wieters, and the first for Johnson. The last time the Birds had more than one guy on the squad was 2005, when Brian Roberts, Miguel Tejada, and B. J. Ryan all joined the party in Detroit. (That's just what this season needed: another parallel to the disastrous '05 campaign.)

But wait! There's (possibly) more! Starting pitcher Jason Hammel, who leads the O's staff with an 8-3 record, a 3.29 ERA, and 89 strikeouts in 93 innings, is one of five American League pitchers in the running for the Final Vote competition. With Japanese star Yu Darvish of the Rangers on the ballot, the odds seem to be stacked against Hammel, but if you want to show him your support, vote here. Even if Jason gets shut out, the Orioles will still have three times as many All-Stars as the Red Sox, and that's something right there.

Sammy Sosa, 2005 Upper Deck #468

As I alluded to yesterday, the Orioles traded two low-level minor leaguers to the Phillies for designated hitter Jim Thome, who will turn 42 in late August. I'm going to silence the nagging voices in my head that are telling me that the last thing the O's need is another guy who can't play defense, because Jim Thome is one of the most delightful human beings currently playing baseball. He's just a big, gregarious slugger who always seems to have a smile on his face. Since making his major league debut with the Indians in September 1991, he's hit 609 home runs. The first time he clears the fence in an Orioles uniform, he will pass Sammy Sosa for sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list; that's just the icing on the cake.

Oh, and did I mention that he once dressed as Paul Bunyan for a ticket ad for the Twins?

Earl Weaver, 2003 Topps Gallery Hall of Fame #48

I usually pride myself on my persistence when attending Orioles games. I rarely leave early, be it extra innings, rain delays, or just a run-of-the-mill ugly blowout. But when you combine a sloppy, lousy game with miserable 95-plus degree temperatures, I'm going to ask for a mulligan. I was happy to receive my Earl Weaver replica statue, and to hear the legendary manager's pregame remarks following the unveiling of the life-sized sculpture in the picnic area, but the Birds couldn't do old #4 justice today (save for Chris Davis' monster three-run homer onto Eutaw Street. My sister and I suffered through four drawn-out innings, and the O's were down 7-4 when we finally checked out of the ballpark. Now it's 10-5 and Earl is probably instinctively reaching for the pack of cigarettes he used to keep tucked in his hidden uniform pocket. Oh well...at least I can gush about new Oriole Jim Thome for tomorrow's blog entry!

Vintage Fridays: Baltimore Orioles, 1977 Topps #546

(Note: I don't actually return from the beach until tomorrow, but my attendance of last week's O's game kept me from doing a proper Vintage Friday seven days ago. Plus, I never really got around to mentioning that I was taking a true, no-blog-updates holiday this week. Mea culpa!)

Here's a head-scratcher for you: why is Jim Palmer's Floating Head superimposed on this team photo? Presumably the very orange main photo was taken at some point during the 1976 season. My first thought was that Palmer could have been injured, and was off on rehab at the time. But ol' Cakes actually made a career-high and league-leading 40 starts that year, so that's not it. With my only plausible theory out the window, it's time to resort to my old standby. Let's get silly!

-Perhaps Jim was double-booked, flipped a coin, and it landed on 'heads'. That meant that he went to the Jockey Underwear photo shoot instead.

-Earl Weaver made fun of Palmer's hair that afternoon, and the pitcher threw a hissy fit and refused to leave the clubhouse.

-He stopped outside of the ballpark to sign a few autographs and a young boy mistakenly recalled the time that he saw Jim give up a grand slam. The righthander got sidetracked explaining the boy's error to him in great detail.

-He was moonlighting as a bartender at the Dundalk VFW.

-Palmer made a fatal misstep; he looked at Lee May sideways. The massive first baseman crammed him in a locker and left him there.

Further guesses will be accepted in the comments.

Mike Morgan, 1989 Upper Deck #653

There's something about the bright sunlight casting shadows on Mike Morgan's flushed face that makes me believe that this photo was taken on a sweltering summer day. Just when a mostly-mild June was lulling me into a sense of complacency, yesterday the miserable extreme heat and humidity struck Baltimore. Technically, summer has just begun, which means that the next few months will bring this torment as often as not. I leave the house at 6:30 in the morning, and it's already hazy and uncomfortable. By midday, the temperature pushes triple digits. I walk outside, and the moisture in the air pushes back at me. Once I get home, I shut the door behind me and don't go back out unless it's absolutely necessary.

I'm incredibly grateful that I'll be getting out of town in about 36 hours to spend a week in Ocean City with my family. Breezes coming off of the water, no climbing into a stuffy car that's been baking in the sun, and cold beer and swimsuits instead of coffee and a dress shirt and tie. Just in the nick of time.

Roberto Alomar, 1997 Fleer Ultra Top 30 #19

In 1996, Roberto Alomar scored 132 runs in 153 games with the Orioles, breaking Frank Robinson's 30-year-old team record of 122. Runs are something the current O's desperately need, as they've gone 21 innings without scoring any. Two nights ago the suddenly dominant Mets knuckleballer R. A. Dickey held them to one measly Wilson Betemit single. Last night they got a whopping four hits off of Johan Santana, and another against reliever Miguel Batista, but none of those safeties came with runners in scoring position. The team's offensive woes actually go back to the opener of the current six-game road trip, when they scraped together only two runs against Tommy Hanson and the Braves. Put it all together and the Orioles have scored nine total runs in their past five games, only winning two of them thanks to their top starters (Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen) keeping the Braves off of the scoreboard. This just shows how cruel and fickle baseball can be; in the three-game home series against the Pirates that preceded this fallow road swing, Baltimore hammered Pittsburgh's staff to the tune of 27 total runs. But streaks were made to be broken, so here's hoping that the Birds can put the whammy on Dillon Gee tonight.

Ben McDonald, 1995 Collector's Choice #339

What do you suppose that crooked grimace on Ben McDonald's face means? Is he tired of smiling for the cameras, or did he have some bad pasta salad from the clubhouse buffet? For his sake, I hope it's the  first one.

Sam Perlozzo, 2007 Topps #608

In case you needed a little perspective on the improvements made by the Orioles franchise in recent years, here's a little blast from the past. On this date in 2007, the O's fired manager Sam Perlozzo and appointed Dave Trembley as the interim skipper. That's a pretty stark collection of words right there.

Perlozzo and Trembley were two of a kind, perfectly nice men who had paid their dues in baseball through decades of coaching and minor league managing. Both were overmatched when placed in charge of big league clubs, and both happened to be in the right place when their predecessor got the axe. Inexplicably, the Birds removed the "interim" tag from each of them instead of bothering to seek out the right man for the job.

One of the wisest moldy-oldie sayings in baseball is that a manager gets too much credit for his team's successes and too much blame for its failures. But that didn't make it any easier to sit by and watch Baltimore's substitute teachers misuse (and overuse) their relievers, try to handle aging veteran hitters with kid gloves, and offer bland postgame platitudes about "tipping your hat" to the opposing team's victorious pitcher or dominant slugger.

Current winning record aside, Orioles still have a long way to go before they can truly measure up to the deep major league rosters and minor league talent of their rivals in the American League East. But their strong start in 2012 mirrors the leaps that current manager Buck Showalter has overseen in each of his three previous major league jobs. For all the work the O's have left to do, at least they're not still fishing about for a qualified manager on top of it all.

Mike Mussina, 1993 Upper Deck #233

Last night, Jason Hammel pitched the first complete-game one-hit shutout for the Orioles since Mike Mussina dominated the Twins on August 1, 2000. Like Moose, Jason had a no-hitter going until serving up a two-out single in the seventh inning. In 2000, it was Ron Coomer that played the spoiler; last night it was Jason Heyward ruining the fun. There was still plenty to enjoy, as the first-year O's starter ran his record to 7-2 while striking out 8 batters and walking a pair. It took him just 103 pitches, and was already his second no-hit bid of the year following seven hitless innings on Easter Sunday. To offer the cherry on top, this afternoon Wei-Yin Chen also earned his seventh win, collaborating with four relievers to blank Atlanta again in a 2-0 squeaker. In taking 2 out of 3 in the weekend road series, the Orioles' pitchers kept the Braves off of the scoreboard for 20 straight innings dating back to Friday. It's June 17, and the Birds are 39-27 and 1.5 games back of the first-place Yankees. If the season ended today (which would be silly and arbitrary), they would host the Rays in the wild card game. The surging Angels are still two games back of Tampa Bay and four behind the O's in the playoff "race", if you will. There's still a lot of games left to play, but less and less all the time. 66 down, 96 to go. This is fun.

Ted Wilborn, 1986 ProCards Hagerstown Suns #27

I know what it looks like, but I swear that this is a real card of a real baseball player. He's not an equipment delivery man who tried on one of the uniforms in the back of his truck. He didn't just get a friend to snap a picture and mock up an amateur baseball card design at Kinko's, complete with smiling clip art sun logo. Not only did Ted Wilborn play professional baseball, but I just learned that he was in the major leagues in 1979 and 1980, some 6 years before posing for a card in an oddball high-A team set.

Ted was a fourth-round draft pick of the Yankees in 1976 out of high school. After he batted .309 with 57 steals in 65 games in his second go-round with the New York-Penn League's Oneonta club, the Blue Jays snatched him up in late 1978 via the Rule 5 draft. At age 20, he appeared in 22 games in three months with Toronto, mostly as a pinch runner. He was 0-for-12 at the plate with a single lonely walk. He was also caught stealing in his only attempt. The Jays managed to stash Wilborn at AAA Syracuse for the rest of the year, where he hit an underwhelming .247 with a .587 OPS. In the offseason, the young outfielder was sent back to the Yankees in a six-player trade that also saw Rick Cerone and Tom Underwood go to New York. Toronto's incoming players in the swap were Chris Chambliss, Damaso Garcia, and Paul Mirabella. The Yanks bumped Ted back to AA, where his numbers were at least serviceable: .270 with a .738 OPS and a team-high 14 triples. His 27 steals were second on the team...but he was thrown out 20 times. Still, the Yankees saw fit to give him a September cup of coffee. In the third (and ultimately, final) start of his big league career, Wilborn went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles off of Aurelio Lopez of the Tigers. He drove in one run and scored another. Despite four pinch running appearances in 1980, he did not attempt any steals. His final major league numbers included a pair of singles in 20 at-bats, for a batting line of .100/.143/.100.

Yet as you can see, Ted Wilborn kept pushing onward in the minor leagues throughout the decade. In all, he played 1,130 career minor league games in a dozen seasons, and spent the last three years of that run (1985-1987) in the Orioles organization. His stats in the minors were a bit more flattering than those in his brief time in the bigs: .268/.329/.365 with 40 home runs and 388 RBI. (Note: some stats from Ted's 93 games at Oneonta are not available.)

Here's one to chew on: Ted's full name is Thaddeaus Inglehart Wilborn.

Vintage Fridays: Jackie Brandt, 1962 Topps #165

I don't have any other ideas on tap, so let's crank up our time machine for This Day in Orioles History. Hold your applause until the end of the blog post. On Friday, June 15, 1962 (that's 50 years ago, you know), the Birds traveled about 40 miles down the road and put a beating on the Washington Senators, winning by a final of 8-3. The visitors tallied 14 hits, including two apiece by each of the first six batters in the lineup.

The Orioles did most of their damage in the fourth inning (four runs) and the seventh (three runs). The big blows were a two-run homer by renowned flake Jackie Brandt (who also had a double and scored twice) and a solo shot by pitcher Milt Pappas, his career-high fourth of the season. Incidentally, Milt would not hit another home run during the 1962 campaign. Pappas also had one of the team's three sacrifice flies, and earned the victory with a complete-game eight-hitter. His defense helped him out by turning three double plays. He improved his record to 7-3, and would go to 8-3 on the year by blanking the White Sox on June 26. However, Milt went into a funk in the second half, finishing on a 4-7 slide with a 4.94 ERA in his final 19 games. The end result for the 23-year-old was a 12-10 record and a 4.03 ERA that was one of the highest of his career.

Erik Bedard, 2008 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee #OPC-EB

Tonight, the Orioles are facing Erik Bedard for the sixth time since trading him to the Seattle Mariners in February 2008. They've never tagged him with a loss, although they did chase him early in a couple of games that they eventually won. Tonight, he's standing between the O's and their first interleague series sweep in two years. I think it's time to give Mr. Bedard a rude welcome back to Baltimore.

Dave Boswell, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #44

Dave Boswell passed away on Monday at age 67; the cause of death was a heart attack. He was born in Baltimore and still lived here, and he's the only graduate of Calvert Hall College High School to play in the major leagues. He's best-known for three things that happened during his career, and unfortunately two of them have a negative slant. First, the good: he was a dependable starter for the Twins from ages 21-24, posting a 56-42 record with a 3.24 ERA(108 ERA+) in the 1966-1969 seasons. In 1969, he tied Jim Perry for the team lead with 20 wins, and Minnesota topped the American League West with 97 wins total. And the bad...

His manager in that 1969 season was Billy Martin, who was hazardous to the health of young pitchers. Dave threw 256.1 innings in the regular season, 34 more than his previous career high and 66 more than he'd racked up in 1968. Martin himself acknowledged that the pitcher worked through painful bone chips in his elbow that year, and even tried to shift blame to Boswell for an infamous barfight between manager and player. He claimed that Dave was mixing alcohol and pain medication and became belligerent. Whether that's the truth or not, it rang hollow coming from a notorious drinker and fighter like Billy. Supposedly the dustup, which ended with the diminutive skipper punching out his right-handed workhorse, was the catalyst for Martin's firing at season's end.

As it turned out, Dave's last hurrah was a bittersweet gem that he pitched against his hometown team in the second game of the 1969 ALCS. On Sunday, October 5 in Memorial Stadium, he and Orioles starter Dave McNally matched zeroes for ten and a half innings before Boswell cracked in the bottom of the eleventh. He walked Boog Powell, then gave an intentional pass to Davey Johnson after a Brooks Robinson sac bunt. Mark Belanger popped up for the second out, at which point Billy Martin brought in his relief ace Ron Perranoski. Curt Motton, pinch-hitting for Elrod Hendricks, lashed a single to right field to score Boog, give the Birds a 2-0 series lead, and saddle Boswell with a crushing loss. He had scattered 7 hits and 7 walks in 10.2 innings, striking out 4. The O's completed the sweep the next day and went on to the World Series.

Boswell had a miserable, truncated season in 1970. He went 3-7 with a 6.42 ERA in only 68.2 innings with the Twins, and did not appear in their second straight ALCS loss to the Orioles. Minnesota cut him loose the following spring, and he caught on with the Tigers. His tenure in Detroit lasted less than two months, during which time he threw just 4.1 innings. The O's brought him home to Charm City, where he worked primarily in relief and racked up the final 24.2 innings of his career, allowing 16 runs (12 earned). The Birds released him in early 1972, and he was finished as a big league player at age 27. In parts of 8 seasons, Dave was 68-56 with a 3.52 ERA. If you'd like to read a detailed obituary, click here. May he rest in peace.

Brian Roberts, 2010 Topps Finest #79

I honestly didn't believe that Brian Roberts would ever play a major league game again, and I've never been so happy to be wrong. Tonight, the erstwhile Orioles second baseman once again became their current second baseman, nearly 13 full months after sustaining a second concussion that put his career and his day-to-day health in serious jeopardy. The weather kept the crowd down around 15,000, but those of us in attendance greeted Roberts with a standing ovation for his first at-bat, and cheered loudly as he went 3-for-4 with a sacrifice fly in his customary leadoff spot in the batting order.

Make no mistake: while I'm thrilled that my favorite active Oriole is back on the field, that's nothing compared to the fact that he's able to do all sorts of things that you and I might take for granted. For months, Brian was unable to push a grocery cart or even watch a baseball game. Not being able to function normally caused him anxiety, and anxiety worsened his symptoms. Talk about your vicious cycles. None of us can imagine the full extent of the anguish and turmoil that he endured. I'm very pleased that I was able to sit in the crowd at Camden Yards tonight and see one of the team's all-time top second basemen hit and throw and catch and run, but a pessimistic and fatalistic part of me will hold my breath every time he makes a sudden move for the rest of his career, however long that may be. The cruel truth of concussions is that each one makes the victim increasingly susceptible to further concussions. Hopefully Brian Roberts has suffered enough, and his eventual retirement will be of his own volition, allowing him to live out the rest of his life in good health and on his own terms.

Kyle Simon, 2012 Bowman Prospects #BP56

If you've been following the tenor of my blog for some time, you should know that I wouldn't be caught dead buying Bowman. Fortunately some Orioles arrived from Greg (a.k.a. Night Owl) to help fill my team set needs. This Kyle Simon card would be one of those. Kyle was the Birds' fourth-round draft pick last June out of the University of Arizona. He signed quickly enough to spend the summer at Aberdeen and then Delmarva, allowing 4 runs in 16.2 innings for a 2.16 ERA. So far, the 6'5" righthander has spent the 2012 season in the Frederick Keys' rotation, and he has an underwhelming 2-7 record with a 3.94 ERA. He's got 41 strikeouts and 20 walks in 61.2 innings, and a less-than-ideal 1.54 WHIP. But he won't be 22 until August, so he's got some time to figure it out.

What strikes me about this card is that Kyle appears to be wearing a cartoon bird cap. I would assume that Topps had Photoshopped his picture to reflect the team's new uniforms, as they did with the Team Set variant of their flagship cards. But if you look closely, the bird on this card is the slightly smaller logo used by the team from 1975-1988. So maybe someone knew last year that a change was in the offing, and just grabbed the nearest piece of cartoon bird headwear they could find. That's right, Topps; I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt just this once. Don't say I never did anything nice.

Adam Jones, 2012 Topps Opening Day Superstar Celebrations #SC-17

This card depicts the mob scene at home plate following Adam Jones' first career walkoff home run on May 24, 2011. On that occasion, he took a Joakim Soria offering deep to center field for a tie-breaking two run homer in the bottom of the ninth.

Thanks in large part to the continued heroics of Adam Jones, the Orioles just took two out of three from the Phillies, including extra-inning wins in each of the past two games. Yesterday evening, the O's center fielder made the fans wait until the twelfth inning before delivering a two-run homer to give the club a 6-4 win. It was Adam's third game-winning home run in extra frames this year, as he also helped stop the madness in the 17-inning marathon in Boston and the 15-inning slog in Kansas City. Today's game was a relatively brisk 10-inning affair, and again Jones scored the winning run. This time, he hit a smash to third base that former teammate Ty Wigginton couldn't handle. That set the stage for Matt Wieters, who drove a Joe Savery pitch off of the right field scoreboard to drive #10 home. That's a 5-4 final and the Birds' franchise-record ninth consecutive extra-inning win. After a recent stumble, Baltimore is hanging strong at 34-26, a single game back of first-place Tampa Bay. Rumor has it that Brian Roberts will be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday.

Oh, and ain't the beer cold?

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.

Vintage Fridays: George Brunet, 1964 Topps #322

There are three Birdland Birthdays being celebrated today. The first two are Lenn Sakata (58 years old) and the late Mark Belanger (would have been 68). The third player, born 77 years ago today, might be the most interesting pitcher that you never knew. George Brunet was an Oriole for 16 unremarkable relief appearances in late 1963, but that's only scratching the surface of his story.

George Brunet, a native of Houghton, MI, began his pro career as a teenager with the independent Shelby (NC) Clippers in 1953. Two years later he signed with the Kansas City Athletics, the first of nine major league organizations to employ him. He didn't have an easy road to the big leagues: despite debuting with the A's at age 21 in 1956, he bounced up and down for a decade before the Angels finally gave him a full season in 1965 to show them what he could do. In the meantime, he pitched in fabulous locales such as Seminole, OK; Alexandria, LA; Hot Springs, AR; Crowley, LA; Abilene, TX; and Columbia, SC. There were also stops in Little Rock, Portland, Louisville, Vancouver, Oklahoma City, Honolulu (OK, that probably wasn't too bad), Rochester, and Eugene, OR. It makes me tired just to type it all out. Little Rock may have been George's least favorite destination: while pitching for the Travelers (then the AA affiliate of the Athletics) in 1957, the southpaw pitched 52.3 consecutive innings without receiving a single run of support from his team's hitters. The drought lasted from June 21 to August 3 and it helps explain how the Southern Association's leading strikeout pitcher (235K in 213 IP) went 14-15 with a 3.42 ERA!

Brunet's aforementioned 1965 season with the Angels was the best of his career. At age 30, he whiffed 141 batters in 197 innings over 41 games (26 starts). Despite a 9-11 record, his earned run average was a career-low and team-best 2.56, and he also paced the team with a 1.1 WHIP and 131 ERA+. That was enough to keep him with the Halos for four full seasons and parts of two more, representing the closest thing to stability that George would find in his career in the U.S. Yet he couldn't shake his tough luck, leading the American League in losses in both 1967 and 1968 despite ERAs of 3.31 and 2.86, respectively. He had a 3.13 ERA overall in 194 games for California, but just a 54-69 won-lost record.

In addition to the A's, O's, and Angels, George also wore the big-league uniforms of the Braves, Colt .45s, Pilots, Senators (Mark II), Pirates, and Cardinals. Former Seattle teammate Jim Bouton claimed that Brunet admitted to never wearing underwear because he didn't want to worry about losing it. Despite his travels, the lefty never appeared in a postseason game in the majors. He was a September pickup for the NL East-winning Pirates in 1970, but was ineligible for the playoffs due to his late acquisition. After throwing his last big league pitch for St. Louis in 1971, Brunet continued to ply his trade in AAA until 1973. Records are incomplete, but he is believed to hold a minor league record with 3,175 career strikeouts.

But the then-38-year-old didn't call it quits in 1973. At the suggestion of former shortstop Chico Carrasquel, he took his equipment south of the border and continued pitching in the Mexican League up through the 1980s! Add it all up and George Brunet logged 37 years as an active professional athlete. He was 54 when he made his last game appearance on the mound - 5 years older than Jamie Moyer is now, incidentally. His 55 career shutouts were a Mexican League record. He stayed in Mexico and helped teach the game to younger men and children up until a heart attack brought his life to a premature end on October 25, 1991. He was posthumously elected to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Here's to George Brunet, who proved that age is just a number.

John Habyan, 1988 Fleer #562

It was only two years ago that I was so frustrated by the Orioles' latest fiasco in Fenway Park that I was fantasizing out loud about committing arson and public urination. Even last year, when the O's spoiled Boston's postseason plans, the boys in orange and black still dropped 6 of their 9 road games in the season series and were cumulatively outscored 72-48. So I don't care how unseemly it might be, I'm going to gloat over the Birds' current seven-game winning streak in the home of the Red Sox. The franchise hadn't won seven in a row in Boston since 1906, back when they were the St. Louis Browns and the games were being contested in the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds. Brian Matusz can help Baltimore set a new franchise record and cap a second consecutive three-game sweep in Fenway when he takes the mound later tonight. If I were a Sawx fan, my skin might crawl each time I heard a gloating Orioles fan snidely refer to my home ballpark as "Camden North". Just remember, Beantowners: paybacks are hell.

Jamie Moyer, 1995 Score #114

I thought for sure that the Orioles' decision to draft Ryan Ripken (Cal's son) in the twentieth round would be the most interesting news surrounding the team today. It was an intriguing but likely anti-climactic gesture, since the graduating senior from Gilman High School has an athletic scholarship to the University of South Carolina waiting for him. But the O's were just getting warm.

A few hours ago I was delighted, confused, and maybe a bit morbidly intrigued to learn that the Orioles had signed Jamie Moyer to a minor league contract. He'll report to the Norfolk Tides for at least three starts as a sort of trial to see whether he can be of use to the Baltimore organization. He's obviously a long-shot to join the Birds' rotation, but then I didn't think Chris Davis would have more wins than Chris Tillman at this point in the season, either. I certainly didn't foresee the O's having sole possession of first place in the American League East on June 6 thanks to a franchise-record seventh straight win in Fenway Park. Baseball has a way of making people much smarter than me look like complete chumps.

So, 49-year-old Jamie Moyer will join the AAA Norfolk roster, a motley casserole of use-in-case-of-emergency MLB veterans that already includes Bill Hall (age 32), Miguel Tejada (38), Lew Ford (35), Nate McLouth (30), Willie Eyre (33), Pat Neshek (31), and J. C. Romero (36). Oh, and the rehabbing Brian Roberts (34). I didn't even mention Dontrelle Willis (30) and Joel Pineiro (33), neither of whom is currently on the active roster. Either GM Dan Duquette is playing out some elaborate gag or con on the rest of Major League Baseball, or he really loves the movie Cocoon. Either way, I'm just awed by the possibility that the guy who resurrected his big league career at age 30 with the 1993 Orioles could be back on the mound in Camden Yards a couple decades later. That was the team that kickstarted my baseball fandom when I was ten years old. This is such an awesome, terrible idea.

Al Bumbry, 1981 Fleer #172

In my Orioles draft retrospective yesterday, I cut things off after the first ten rounds. I doubled back today out of curiosity, and noticed that they've actually had a pretty good track record in the eleventh round.

• The second-ever amateur draft occurred in 1966. The O's selected Terry Crowley with pick number 216. "The Crow" never even had as many as 300 plate appearances in a big league season, but lasted 15 years as a valuable bench bat.

• In 1968, Al Bumbry was the 238th overall pick out of Virginia State University (now Virginia Tech). Despite not becoming a regular until age 26, the Vietnam veteran earned 22.3 bWAR in a career spanning 14 seasons. He batted .281, stole 254 bases, won the 1973 American League Rookie of the Year Award, and was an All-Star in 1980.

• Skip forward to 1982, and Billy Ripken was chosen 286th overall. His competent glovework at second base kept him around the majors for a dozen years, and he even batted .291 (.342 OBP) in 1990 for the Orioles.

• Here's a tidbit that I've mentioned previously: in 1987, the O's used the 273rd pick on Mike Mussina, who had just completed his senior year at Montoursville High School in Pennsylvania. He chose to continue his studies at Stanford, and leapt 253 slots to become Baltimore's first-round choice in 1990. Smart man.

• Jerry Hairston (Jr.) was another two-time draftee for the Orioles. In 1995, the team took a flier on the Illinois high schooler with their 42nd round pick (1,172nd overall!). He did not sign, but the O's gave it another go after his sophomore year at Southern Illinois University. After Round 42, being an 11th-round pick (345th overall) probably looks pretty good. Would you believe that 2012 is Jerry's 15th year in the big leagues? What's more, he's got a World Series ring from the 2009 Yankees and he's also contributed to this year's amazing start by the Dodgers.

When you consider that only six of their eleventh-round draft picks have signed and made it to the big leagues (the others are outfielder Bobby Brown and pitcher Kevin Hart, both of whom were dealt before debuting), it's pretty incredible that they found four quality major leaguers.

Mike Mussina, 1991 Score #383

It's draft day! How's about I put together a Top Ten list? Too late, I've already made up my mind. Here are the Orioles' best picks in each of the first ten rounds of the June amateur draft, or Rule 4 if you're persnickety about it:

1. Mike Mussina (20th overall, 1990): At least until fellow righty pitcher Dylan Bundy arrives in Baltimore on his flaming chariot. Eventually, I think Matt Wieters will also give Moose a run for his money. If you're a fan of Baseball Reference's Wins Above Replacement (bWAR), Mussina is the career leader among O's number ones with 78.2. He is followed by the 19th overall pick from 1967, Bobby Grich (67.3). 1999 supplemental rounder and 50th overall pick Brian Roberts is a distant third with 27.4 bWAR to date.

2. Cal Ripken, Jr. (48th overall, 1978): Hopefully this choice requires no explanation. 90.9 bWAR for Junior, as well as more easily digestible numbers like 2,632 consecutive games played and 431 home runs. Lurking behind Cal are Don Baylor, who was chosen after Grich with pick #39 in 1967, and Arthur Rhodes, who was once a high school athlete in the way-back of 1988 (34th overall).

3. Eddie Murray (63rd overall, 1973): Boy, there's not much drama in the early rounds. Once you get past Steady Eddie's 63.4 bWAR, the next-highest scorer is Alex Ochoa at 5.7. Lots of other role players: John Habyan, Kiko Garcia, Chris Ray, Anthony Telford, Jeff Tackett...Zach Britton (85th overall in 2006) could be the runner-up in a few years.

4. Brad Bergesen (109th overall, 2004): Here you can see how top-heavy baseball's draft can be. Bergy has a career bWar of 2.3. In his 2009 rookie season, he was worth 3.0 wins above replacement. That should tell you something about how his career has unfolded. The only other fourth rounders to even play in the big leagues for the O's are Blake Davis, Kyle Hudson, Carl Nichols, Jesse Jefferson, and Bob McCrory. Ouch.

5. Jim Johnson (143rd overall, 2001): That's better. Dirty Jim has succeeded in every role he's been assigned in the Baltimore bullpen, helping him accrue 7.7 bWAR in 284 career innings. Other fifth-rounders of interest: busted prospect Hayden Penn (-3.5 bWAR for the 2002 pick) and scuffling young starter Jake Arrieta (0.8 bWAR so far for the 2007 draftee).

6. Mike Boddicker (152nd overall, 1978): 134 career wins and a 108 ERA+ is a pretty good get, especially since Mike had to spend the better part of four seasons at AAA Rochester before breaking into the stacked O's rotation. He accumulated 29.1 bWAR if you're curious. He's still well ahead of 1999's #187 pick, Erik Bedard (16.8 bWAR).

7. Mike Flanagan (159th overall, 1973): How about that Oriole scouting department in the 1970s? I'm not aware of UMass-Amherst as a hotbed for baseball, but this lefty carved out an 18-year career in the majors, racking up 167 wins and 22.8 bWAR. His former teammate Storm Davis was another savvy pick in the seventh round of the 1979 draft (175th overall), totaling 113 wins and 15 bWAR.

8. Chris Britton (233rd overall, 2001): Woof. Here's another dead spot for the Birds. Chris managed 1.2 bWAR in 78 games as a reliever with the O's and the Yankees. Jay Spurgeon and Chad Paronto are the other big league graduates on this meager list. Recent Oriole Eights include 2011 pick John Ruettiger (yes, Rudy's nephew) and 2008er Bobby Bundy, who was quite good last year but still seems destined to be known as Dylan's older brother.

9. Jack Voigt (221st overall, 1987): That's 1.5 career bWAR and a .726 OPS in 294 games for Johnny Oates' favorite bench contributor. The O's did select infielder Mike Lansing (8.3 bWAR) 219th overall in 1989, but he did not sign. The Expos landed him in 1991.

10. Luis Matos (291st overall, 1996): This pick looked a lot better when Luis was hitting .303/.353/.458 in 109 games as an Oriole at age 24, but injuries and questions about his work ethic accelerated the demise of his career and he was out of the majors within three years, leaving behind a total of 3.8 bWAR. Again, an unsigned pick went on to a better career elsewhere; in 1982, the Birds spent the 260th pick on a high school shortstop named Walt Weiss. He didn't sign until the Athletics tabbed him out of the University of North Carolina three years later, and he went on to win the 1988 AL Rookie of the Year Award (14.6 career bWAR).

So now you have a glimpse at what's gone right and wrong for the Orioles in the previous June drafts. Keep it all in mind as you read the glowing scouting reports on this year's haul.

Frank Robinson, 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Moonshots #MS-FR

I'm pretty indifferent to the Gypsy Queen hullabaloo, but this is a mighty appealing card. There's the deep plum-colored border, which is superior to the bland, muted earth tones that are prevalent in the regular set.  Then there's the focus of the card; it commemorates Frank Robinson's towering home run off of Cleveland pitcher Luis Tiant on Sunday, May 8, 1966. It was Robby's second home run in that day's doubleheader, it gave the O's a 2-0 lead in the nightcap of the twinbill, and it was the only ball that ever left Memorial Stadium on the fly. For decades afterward, a simple orange flag flew at the stadium. It read "HERE" in plain black letters, and it was planted in the left field stands where the ball left the premises. Frank's clout reportedly traveled 541 feet, and according to the Hall of Famer himself, the original flag has been in his possession since the club left Memorial Stadium at the end of the 1991 season.

Dave Schmidt, 1989 Topps #677

You have my word that I don't consider myself an overly superstitious fan. But the Orioles, who finally dropped out of first place with last night's ugly 5-1 loss to the Rays, are clinging to a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning this afternoon. They have gotten seven great innings of two-hit ball from Brian Matusz, as well as Endy Chavez's first home run since last August, and I don't want either of those things to go to waste.

In that spirit, I give you Dave Schmidt, who earned a pretty goofy save with three scoreless innings in relief of Mark Williamson on April 29, 1988. The Orioles beat the White Sox 9-0 on a Friday night in old Comiskey Park. This game was noteworthy as the first win for Baltimore following a major-league record 21 straight losses to open the 1988 season. Cal Ripken, Jr. did most of the damage with three runs scored in addition to a home run, a double, and a pair of singles. After Williamson limited the Pale Hose to three singles in six innings, Schmidt took the ball and permitted nothing more than a Donnie Hill single in his three frames.

Sure, a 6-game slide is nothing compared to a 21-gamer, but I'd still like to see the Birds snap out of their funk today.

Vintage Fridays: Mark Belanger, 1972 Topps #456

I'm still saddened by the news that the Rockies designated Jamie Moyer for assignment, which will likely bring an end to his 25-year big league career. It represents another signpost in my life's journey. The lefty made his debut with the Cubs on June 16, 1986, several weeks before my fourth birthday. I literally do not have any earthly memories that take place outside of Moyer's time as a major league pitcher.

But I suppose it's just baseball. Dozens of players retire every year, most with careers that last only a fraction as long as Jamie's has. Baseball Reference tells me that in 1982, the year of my birth, 132 men played in their final MLB game. Mark Belanger was among them, playing the last of his 18 seasons in an unfamiliar Dodgers uniform. Since I feel just a little bit older today anyhow, I thought I'd share a few other names with you.

There were 19 players who debuted in the 1960s and hung 'em up 30 years ago, led by Hall of Famer Willie Stargell. "Pops" played for the Pirates in every season from 1962 through 1982, 21 in all. Some day I'll take my (currently hypothetical) children to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and point to his plaque, and mention that he was still playing when I was a baby. I might even let them know that there were only 26 teams and 4 divisions. My kids will assume that I must be 100, math be damned. They've got some nerve.

Pinch hitter extraordinaire Manny Mota, immortalized two years earlier in Airplane!, appeared in one final game for Los Angeles at age 44. Yep, he was born in the 1930s. Also making a brief curtain call was Cuban legend Luis Tiant, who was (reportedly) "only" 41 and made a half-dozen rocky appearances for the Angels.

Besides Belanger, other former Orioles to bow out in 1982 included Grant Jackson, whose lefthandedness helped earn him an 18-year career; Lee May, whose 354 homers were second only to Stargell among that year's retirees; Ross Grimsley, whose comeback with the Orioles lasted 60 innings; and Don "Fullpack" Stanhouse, who also finished up back in Baltimore.