Manny Machado, 2015 Topps #136

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I did not stick out the Orioles' 3-2 walkoff victory on Opening Day until the bitter end. My sister and I arrived at Camden Yards at about 12:30 Monday afternoon, and after wandering the stadium for two hours and witnessing the half-hour of pregame ceremonies, we were frustrated to see the tarp pulled onto the field despite a lack of rain. The O's ground crew tried to make the call based on the radar, and came up empty. We waited out a delay of an hour and 40 minutes in nothing stronger than a light drizzle, only to see the rain start in earnest almost as soon as the game actually started. Two innings in, the tarp came back out. It was 5:30, meaning that we'd already been in the ballpark for five hours, and with the intensity of the precipitation, we knew it'd be another hour at least before they would be ready to play again...if they resumed at all. So we threw in the towel. I rationalized it, as we also had tickets for Friday night's game against the Rays.

Naturally, Friday night's game was also challenging from a weather perspective. Clear skies, but it was windy with temperatures in the mid-40s. This time, we toughed it out. Janet came along with us, since extra tickets were readily available. We all bundled ourselves in our warmest orange and black finery and were treated to a fairly quick 6-1 victory, the Birds' fourth straight to start the year. Chris Tillman, T. J. McFarland, and Brad Brach limited Tampa Bay to five hits and three walks, and the O's clubbed four solo homers, including three in the span of 11 pitches in a wild fifth inning. Chris Davis kicked off the team's scoring with a towering blast to center field in the second inning, thereby earning everybody in attendance a coupon for a free Grand Slam breakfast from Denny's. The multi-homer outburst in the middle of the game came from the bats of Jonathan Schoop, Nolan Reimold, and Manny Machado. It was the second of three straight games (and counting) in which Manny has gone deep. Also of interest, Machado had a rare start at shortstop on Friday, as J. J. Hardy rested a tight calf muscle. He fielded his position without a hitch, of course. Moreover, Janet maintained her status as the team's good luck charm.

Today, the O's completed their weather-shortened two-game series sweep of the Rays with a 5-3 win. With a 5-0 record, they're the only undefeated team left in the big leagues. It matches the best start in team history, as the 1970 Orioles also won their first five games. I've heard something about that season ending in a particularly satisfying manner...

Dylan Bundy, 2013 Bowman Platinum Gold #99

In any random game in early April, you can find plenty of things to like. Tonight:

-Ubaldo Jimenez rebounded after giving up two runs on four hits in the first two innings, completing seven frames and striking out nine...with NO WALKS.

-Caleb Joseph started at catcher and threw out two would-be base stealers. You run on Caleb at your own risk.

-The O's dug out of a 2-0 hole late in the game, thanks to a sixth-inning solo homer by Manny Machado, a two-run rally in the seventh featuring a Jonathan Schoop go-ahead single, and Rule 5 draft pick Joey Rickard's first career home run in the eighth.

-Dylan Bundy made his first major league appearance since 2012, tossing a scoreless eighth inning and protecting a one-run lead.

-The Birds won 4-2 without the services of Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, and Zach Britton. In their stead, Joseph, Nolan Reimold (2-4 with a double), and Darren O'Day (struck out the side for a rare save) filled in nicely.

-After losing all seven games against the Twins in 2015, the Birds just opened the 2016 season with a three-game sweep of Minnesota. Baltimore is currently the only American League club with a 3-0 record; Detroit won their first two games in Miami and won't play a third until tomorrow afternoon's home opener vs. the Yankees. I guess I don't mind if the Tigers start 3-0.

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.

Adam Jones, 2014 Bowman Chrome #71

You can't beat an Opening Day win, especially a walkoff...even if it did include nearly three hours of rain delays. It was Matt Wieters that delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth, but cards featuring the O's catcher are scarce - Topps doesn't have rights to his image. So I went with Adam Jones, who made his ninth Opening Day start in Baltimore and delivered an orange cream cake to Wieters' face during the postgame interview. This circumvented the team's new "no celebratory pie-faces" edict. Jonesy is now second to Paul Blair when it comes to the most openers by an Oriole outfielder. Blair started a dozen straight Opening Days in center field for the Birds. Now the O's enjoy a day of rest tomorrow before trying to double their season win total on Wednesday.

Vintage Fridays: Rick Dempsey, 1977 Topps #189

Good news, everybody! This is the last Friday without real, live Major League Baseball games for the next six months. I have my tickets for Opening Day, and I've gone ahead and taken a long weekend for myself. So on Monday afternoon, I'll be back in Section 340 in Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the first time in 2016, watching Rick Dempsey throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Then, hopefully I'll see Chris Tillman shut down the Twins.

Brian Roberts, 2001 Donruss The Rookies #R70

The little goblins that live inside Facebook reminded me that one year ago today, I met Brian Roberts. Incidentally, Roberts is returning to the Orioles this season...in a manner of speaking. The Sunday before last, the longtime Baltimore second baseman joined MASN for the network's telecast of the O's-Rays Grapefruit League game. He will also be in the broadcast booth for an unspecified regular season game in May. I'm glad he was able to find a hobby in retirement.

Kevin Gausman, 2013 Bowman Platinum Top Prospects #TP-KG

If the Orioles' starting rotation is going to right the ship in 2016 after a subpar group effort last season, Kevin Gausman will probably need to take a big leap forward. Of course, now it looks like he might spend Opening Day on the disabled list with a balky shoulder; he just received a cortisone injection last Sunday. This is...less than ideal.

Cal Ripken Jr., 2001 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. Career Highlights #2

Did somebody say 3,000?

Sunday night I mentioned on this blog that my wife Janet is trying to put a positive spin on her cancer diagnosis by raising funds for childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Long story short: she shaves her head this Friday (before the chemo causes her hair to fall out, because who wants to wait around for that to happen?). Folks sponsor her by making a monetary donation to St. Baldrick's. Simple. Her original $500 fundraising goal was exceeded in under two hours on Saturday night, at which point Janet boosted her target to $2,000. She topped that mark this morning, and she's not ready to stop yet. The next objective is $3,000, though the word of mouth is traveling so far and so fast, three grand might not be the end point. As challenging as it is to face a disease like this, there's something fun about watching those donations add up. For me, it's a much-needed reminder that there is still a lot of good in this world.

Adam Jones, 2008 Upper Deck Documentary #637

2008 Upper Deck Documentary: Because sometimes you just have to know if the Orioles won their 27th game in the first full year of the Dave Trembley Era. Spoiler: they did! Here's the box score from that sparsely-attended Tuesday night game in Baltimore. Garrett Olson won his first game of the season by walking the tightrope for 6.2 innings (4 H, 5 BB, but only 2 ER), rookie reliever Randor Bierd made things a bit too interesting by surrendering a two-run homer to B. J. Upton, and George Sherrill slammed the door for his 10th save. Future Oriole Jason Hammel was the loser for Tampa Bay, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks in two and two-thirds innings, and Aubrey Huff had the big hit for the O's with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. Cover boy Adam Jones had a modest game (one single in four trips to the plate), but he did throw out Rays catcher Dioner Navarro when he tried to advance to second base on a Jason Bartlett single. With the win, the 16-11 Birds maintained a first-place tie with the Red Sox. It's just the last 134 games of 2008 that proved to be Baltimore's undoing.

Cal Ripken Jr., 2001 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. Career Highlights #24

Thank you for being a sounding board for my fears, hopes, anxieties, frustrations, and other miscellaneous emotions this weekend. To everyone who commented, your supportive words mean more than I can say. Janet is holding up remarkably well after her first chemotherapy treatment. She was a bit achy, tired, and flushed this afternoon, but felt better after a nap and a good dinner. She's had no nausea at all, and has been fairly energetic otherwise, so hopefully that's a good sign for future treatments.

Janet has also spent the weekend grappling with the reality of losing her hair. Research indicates that most chemo patients find their hair falling out about two weeks after the first treatment. That would be right around April 1, because the universe has a warped sense of humor. The oncologist suggested that Janet take control of the situation before it takes control of her, and she has found an excellent way of doing just that. Next Friday, March 25, Janet will be shaving her head, but she's not doing it for nothing. She's collecting donations to benefit the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which boosts research into cures and treatments for childhood cancers. Last night my brave wife launched her fundraising page with a modest goal of $500 in donations, posted a link on Facebook, and blew past that mark in under two hours! With nearly a week left to raise funds, she's set her sights on $2,000. She's already two-thirds of the way there, and if you'd like to pitch in, you can do so here:

St. Baldrick's Foundation

I know that Janet is anxious about going bald for the first time since she was a toddler, but I bet she's better looking with a bare head than Cal Ripken is.

Vintage Fridays: Brooks Robinson, 1969 Topps Deckle Edge #1

Brooks Robinson, as you may know, was successfully treated for prostate cancer back in 2009. I can't for the life of me find an easy segue to tonight's blog post, so I'll just get on with it.

My wife is 25 weeks pregnant, and two weeks ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

If that sentence hit you like a punch in the gut, you have some small idea of how we felt when the hospital called with the biopsy results. We were in Charlotte at the time, so we could attend the visitation and funeral for Janet's grandmother, a remarkable woman who had just passed away after 96 years well lived. (The first week of March 2016 will not be making our favorites list, to say the least.) I've been wrestling with so many conflicting emotions over the past couple of weeks, so please indulge me as I spill everything out through my keyboard.

• I'm relieved that Janet's cancer treatment doesn't carry any risk of harm for our unborn baby. On the back end of the second trimester, the fetus has done most of its crucial development and is mostly just adding weight and length from now until it reaches full term. Janet will be undergoing chemotherapy up until delivery, and the drugs are unable to pass through the placenta. In the early going, focusing on the development of our child has helped us both to stay sane in the face of our new struggle. We've spent good chunks of each day just sitting or lying together and feeling the kid's kicks and movements.
  
• I was bewildered by the diagnosis. The only cases of breast cancer in Janet's family are two generations removed - a great aunt and second cousins, all of whom were decades older than she is now. As the cherry on top of this crap sundae, so-called gestational breast cancer is diagnosed in just one of every 3,000 pregnant women. As Janet said to her OB, that's like buying a lottery ticket and finding out that you owe the lottery commission more money.
  
• I'm furious that my wife has to endure this. Less than a year ago we suffered the heartbreak of a miscarriage, we walked on eggshells through the first trimester of this second pregnancy, and now that we've gotten a strong bill of health for the baby, there's a whole new set of difficulties. She's probably going to spend the coming weeks dealing with nausea and exhaustion, and is already worried about losing her hair from the chemo. After the kid is here, Janet isn't sure if she'll have the strength and/or energy to do the simplest of things, like lifting and carrying the car seat. Breastfeeding may very well out of the question, and that by itself has been a big emotional blow for her. She will have a lumpectomy just a few months after giving birth, and will undergo radiation treatment afterward. How much hardship can be dumped upon one person, especially one as giving and kind and compassionate as Janet?  This is probably a good time to mention that "God has a plan" is possibly the absolute WORST thing to say to somebody in this situation. Even if you mean well, you should know that it's okay to just say nothing, rather than to suggest that God doles out cancers and accidents and such just so we'll have obstacles to overcome.

• I am grateful that Janet is in very capable hands. She's undergoing treatment at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, which has become our go-to for medical care. Janet's primary care, asthma and allergy, OB/GYN, and cancer treatment are all at GBMC. We've never had a bad experience there, and all of the doctors, nurses, and administrative staff are incredibly knowledgeable and compassionate. The breast surgeon spent an hour and a half meeting with us, and the oncologist gave us even more of his time. The cancer team at GBMC has gone above and beyond to help us understand why they're treating the disease the way that they are, and to make sure that we're completely comfortable with everything.
   
• I'm worried. "Cancer" is such a loaded word, and it's hard not to obsess over worst-case scenarios. I'll just leave it at that.
   
• Most of all, I am thankful that we have such an incredible support system. In a short amount of time, Janet and I have been overwhelmed with offers of help from family members, friends, coworkers, members of our church...prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, good vibes, and the like are all appreciated. But our friends and loved ones have also come forward with food, personal care items, gifts, and most importantly, their time. We are very lucky to know so many generous and warm people. I know that we wouldn't be able to face this challenge alone, and I'm glad that we don't have to do that.

As I finish this entry late on Friday night, Janet has completed the first of 16 chemotherapy sessions. She's doing well, though we've been led to believe that the side effects won't crop up for a day or two. But just getting started with the treatment plan is important to both of us. We sat in the infusion center for four hours today while she received those all-important cancer-killing drugs via IV, and it assuaged the fear of the unknown. As I keep telling Janet, we've got this.

Leo Daigle, 2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BC94

Due to the murkiness of this scan, you'll have to take me at my word: those are palm trees beyond the outfield fence in Fort Lauderdale. I'm gazing longingly at this tropical scene because I just heard that there is snow in the forecast in Baltimore for this Sunday, a.k.a. the first day of Spring. Temperatures have been around 70 for the past few days. Very funny, huh? Almost as funny as Topps/Bowman devoting "prospect" cards in multiple 2007 releases to a guy who'd been bouncing around the minors since 1998 and had already been cut loose by the Orioles.

Jose Morban, 2003 Upper Deck 40 Man #175

Thirteen years later, I'm still baffled by the Orioles' insistence upon claiming Jose Morban from the Twins after Minnesota had chosen him in major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, and even more perplexed by their stubbornness in keeping him on the MLB roster for the entire season. Morban was a 23-year-old who had just reached high-A minor league ball in the Rangers' organization in 2002, batting .260/.326/.414 with eight homers, 66 RBI, and 12 triples. Since Morban had to stay on the 25-man roster for the entire 2003 season or be offered back to his previous team, the depth-challenged Birds might as well have playing a man down all year long. Jose started just 16 games, pinch hit 11 times, pinch ran 23 times, and made 11 appearances as a defensive sub late in games. Used sparingly at the plate, he collected 10 hits in 71 at-bats, a punchless batting line of .141/.187/.225. He did slug a pair of home runs. For trivia purposes, I will tell you that his first four-bagger was a pinch-hit solo homer off of Tampa Bay's Al Levine leading off the bottom of the ninth on April 19, 2003. It was the first of five straight O's hits, sparking a four-run rally that fell just short in an 8-7 Baltimore loss. His second homer came four months later, also at Camden Yards, against Yankee pitcher Sterling Hitchcock.

So, did the Orioles' patience with Morban pay off? I think you know the answer to that. It was back to the minors in 2004, where the infielder batted only .221/.290/.352 between Frederick and Bowie. The Birds cut him loose after that, and he had minor league stops with the Indians, Mariners, and Rangers, and also appeared in a couple of independent leagues and Dominican winter ball. He last played in 2009. Would he have had a more productive career if the O's hadn't jumped him to the majors in 2003? Maybe not, but we'll never know now.

Luis Mercedes, 1992 Stadium Club #242

Luis Mercedes looks like he could be knocked over by a fly swatter. Put some meat on those bones, son.

Robert Andino, 2012 Topps Heritage #205

I don't know what's bothering Robert Andino in this picture, but he looks almost as forlorn as he does in his infamous headshot portrait.

Vintage Fridays: Frank Robinson, 1972 Topps #100

The Orioles signed Pedro Alvarez this week, who doesn't seem to bring much to the table besides his prodigious power. He doesn't hit for average (.236 career), strikes out a ton (809 K in 742 games), and isn't even a passable defender at first base (23 errors last year...how?). But he does have something in common with Frank Robinson. Much like Robby once hit a ball clear out of Memorial Stadium, Pedro walloped a ball completely out of PNC Park last May. I have a pessimistic sense that the O's might be boom-or-bust to the extreme this year, but when they square up those balls, they should be awfully fun to watch.

Javy Lopez, 2004 Fleer Ultra #233

Javy Lopez doing sexy lunges? Javy Lopez doing sexy lunges.

Eric Chavez, 1993-1994 Fleer Excel #3

I know what you're thinking, but no, it's not THAT Eric Chavez. This is not the guy who slugged 260 home runs for the A's, Yankees, and Diamondbacks in a big league career that spanned the 1998-2014 seasons. That was Eric Cesar Chavez, born in 1977 in Los Angeles and drafted 10th overall by Oakland in 1996. THIS Eric Chavez is Ruben Eric Chavez, born in 1970 in Montebello, CA and signed by the O's as an undrafted free agent in 1992. The Orioles' Eric Chavez spent six years in the farm system, but had only 15 games at AA Bowie and none at AAA Rochester. He did hit 96 home runs in 638 games, with a single-season high of 23 for the Frederick Keys in 1994. He also played for the Albany Polecats in 1993, and yes that was really a Baltimore affiliate in the mid-90s. They played in Albany, GA in the low-A South Atlantic ("Sally") League, and had an adorable cartoon skunk logo. Dig it.

Mike Devereaux, 1994 Fleer Flair #252

You might've noticed that I disappeared for a week. There's a hell of a lot going on in my world right now, and I'm trying to make sense of it all. But I can still take solace in the nonsensical, like Mike Devereaux fighting a slightly larger Mike Devereaux. Which is mightier? Little Devo's Bat of Truth or Big Devo's Fist of Justice? There are no wrong answers.

Christian Walker, 2015 Topps Finest #49

There was baseball today! Well, sort of. Ryan Flaherty batted leadoff for the Orioles in their Grapefruit League opener, the team used eight pitchers, and they settled for a 4-4 tie with the Braves after ten innings. But it's all good. Christian Walker drove in the first run of the spring for the Birds, plating Flaherty in the top of the first inning. He also had a two-run homer later in the game; after a so-so 2015 at AAA Norfolk (.257/.324/.423, 18 HR, 74 RBI), the 25-year-old is starting the exhibition slate on a positive note.