Cal Ripken, Jr., 2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Across the Years #ATY-CRJ

I may have a self-imposed embargo on buying new Topps products, but group breaks are a-okay. That's fortunate, since it allowed me to get an Allen and Ginter fix from Tribe Cards' group break. David's box produced four Orioles base cards (Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and Cal Ripken, Jr.), a Jim Johnson black-bordered mini parallel, and this Cal Junior Across the Years insert. I'm quite grateful to have it, because now I know that the Iron Man shares his August 24 birthday with Dave Chappelle, Kenny "R2D2" Baker, and Vince McMahon. That's pretty heady company, if you ask me.

Vintage Fridays: Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally, 1971 Topps #69

On Thursday night, the Orioles won a 3-2 nailbiter over the Red Sox, giving Chris Tillman his 15th win on the fifth attempt. You wouldn't think that 15 wins would be a big milestone, but Tillman is the first O's pitcher to reach that peak since Erik Bedard in 2007. Wins aren't the end-all and be-all of pitching stats these days, but it's a pretty simple indicator of how dang hard it's been for this team to find reliable pitching. If you'd like an interactive illustration of this, there's a fun quiz on Sporcle that asks you to choose the 29 Oriole pitchers who have notched a 15-win season from a larger list of possibilities. I got 25 of the 29, an 86.2% success rate. Can you top that?

Leo Gomez, 1995 Collector's Choice #332

Leo Gomez had much better success once he learned to use his bat for its intended purpose, rather than as a walking stick.

Jim Poole, 1994 Fleer #16

The Orioles were a dispiriting 67-95 in 1991 (33-48 at home), so they didn't exactly leave Memorial Stadium on a high note. However, they were 1-0 that year when black cats trespassed onto the field mid-game.

I know this courtesy of Baseball Nation's Larry Granillo, who recently tracked the wins and losses of home teams in documented cases of cats on the field. In short, the data is inconclusive: nine wins, eight losses for the home team. But the O's were one of those winners. On Monday night, September 23, 1991, they found themselves in a seesaw battle with the BoSox in the early innings. Baltimore starter Jose Mesa spotted the visitors a 2-0 lead in the first inning, courtesy of base hits from the first four batters. The Birds battled back in the bottom of the second to take a 3-2 lead, perhaps with a little help from a feline friend. They'd already tied the game on a pair of walks and a pair of singles, and Mike Devereaux stepped to the plate to face Mike Gardiner with runners on the corners and two outs. That's when the black cat of undetermined origins leapt over the railing near the visitors' dugout. Moments later, Devo hit a grounder to shortstop Luis Rivera. Rivera flubbed it, allowing the go-ahead run to score. When Boston loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth inning, O's manager Johnny Oates summoned lefty Jim Poole from the bullpen to replace Mesa. Slugger Tom Brunansky bounced into a double play, but the Red Sox scored the tying run. That was all they would get. Oates stretched Poole for five innings of one-hit relief, and Devereaux added an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to provide the winning margin. Gregg Olson shut the door in the ninth for his 30th save of the season, inducing a double-play grounder from Mo Vaughn after plunking Mike Greenwell. Though the Birds were bottom feeders in 1991, the 4-3 victory gave them a season series win against the Sawx for the first time since 1983.

After last night's 13-2 shellacking at the hands of the Red Sox, I wonder if the O's could track down that mysterious black cat's offspring.

Jim Palmer, 2003 Topps Gallery Hall of Fame #28B

Say, here's a really lovely portrait of Jim Palmer mid-pitching delivery on a sunny afternoon in Memorial Stadium. But what's with the letter "B" appended to the card number, you may ask? Well, the Topps Gallery Hall of Fame set had 74 base cards, but each had a one-per-hobby-pack variation insert. For Jim Palmer, the base card featured the white-paneled Orioles cap. This is the variation, with black-and-orange cap. I assure you that all of the other "variations" are just as pointless, if not more. Earl Weaver is pictured at night, instead of in the daylight. Brooks Robinson has a green background, rather than a yellow one. Frank Robinson swaps his wood-grain bat for a black bat.

This hobby really is a silly thing at times.

Sammy Sosa, 2006 Topps Triple Threads #38

Sammy Sosa played 102 games for the Orioles in 2005. He batted .221, reached base at a .295 clip, and slugged .376. These are unfortunate truths. Another unfortunate truth: because of his status as a formerly great player, and because of the proliferation of specialized baseball card sets at that time, there are a lot of Sammy Sosa O's cards. Seven to eight years later, at least I can laugh.

Nick Markakis, 2010 Topps Turkey Red #TR71

On June 24, Nick Markakis hit a solo home run in a 5-2 home loss against the Indians. He hadn't hit a home run since, a span of 51 games and 228 plate appearances. Even more discouraging, he hit his last double on July 19. That's 31 games - 144 trips to the plate - since the right fielder had an extra-base hit of any kind. But today was a different story, as Nick doubled in his second at-bat and homered in his fourth. His long-overdue power surge helped the Orioles take the rubber game of their weekend series with the Athletics, 10-3. If Markakis can start clearing the fence - or at least driving balls into the gaps - it would go a long way toward helping the O's get back to the postseason. I'll need more than one good game to start getting excited, though.

Brian Roberts, 2005 Donruss Classics #88

Brian Roberts' ongoing reanimation continued last night, as he hit a go-ahead grand slam in a game that the O's went on to win 9-7 and close to within two games of Oakland for the second wild card slot. He also walked in the eighth inning, took second on a wild pitch, and stole third base. It was his first steal since he injured his hamstring in the season's first weekend. It's nice to have Brian Roberts back from the dead. Now if only he'd share his rejuvenation powers with Nick Markakis...

Meanwhile I'm off to the park again for my bachelor party. More details later.

Vintage Fridays: Matt Batts, 1955 Bowman #161

I'm getting married in three weeks, which has cut into my card-buying budget in a big way. It turns out that there are a few things that I prioritize above my hobby, and throwing a big ol' party to celebrate the fact that I somehow attracted a life mate is tops on the list. But I did have a chunk of Amazon rewards money, so I went vintage shopping earlier this week to scratch that itch. I filled a few needs in my 1956, 1959, and 1975 Topps sets and plucked a few oldie-but-goodie Orioles cards for good measure. One of those O's was a guy who never played a single game for the team, a curiosity that put this Matt Batts card near the top of my must-have list.

Batts, who has one of the most fitting surnames ever bestowed upon a ballplayer, was a part-time catcher for parts of 10 seasons (1947-1956). He also served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He spent the bulk of his big league career in Boston and Detroit, and peaked with the Tigers in 1953, setting career highs by playing in 116 games and hitting 24 doubles and six home runs and driving in 42 runs. Matt batted .278 that year, a few ticks above his .269 career average. The following season, he was diagnosed with hemhorraging stomach ulcers, which contributed to a downturn in performance and playing time.

It was December 6, 1954 that the White Sox traded Batts to the Orioles as part of a seven-player deal, one of many multi-player transactions that new manager Paul Richards made to overhaul Baltimore's roster. The veteran catcher didn't make it through spring training with his new club; he was sold to Cleveland's AAA team in Indianapolis on April 12. Matt later claimed that Richards sent him packing after he'd questioned the manager's instructions to throw underhand in a rundown drill. Whether that was Paul Richards' true motive or not, it makes for a funny anecdote.

Matt Batts retired from baseball in 1957 and moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana with his wife Arlene and their two daughters. The couple ran a successful printing business for many years, and eventually sold their business and retired to the Country Club of Louisiana. Matt passed away just last month at age 91.

Jerry Hairston, Jr., 2005 Fleer Ultra #152

Yeah, I don't think Jerry made the catch here.

Wei-Yin Chen, 2012 Topps Heritage High Numbers #H609

Wei-Yin Chen had his game face on tonight, avoiding the late-inning lapses that have dogged him recently, and the Orioles hung on to avoid a sweep at the hands of the wild card-leading Rays. The lefty won his seventh game with seven strong innings, allowing a pair of solo home runs for Tampa Bay's only scores of the night. The O's also played a bit of long ball, with Adam Jones swatting his 26th home run and Chris Davis absolutely pulverizing a ball onto Eutaw Street for his 46th. Crush is tied with Jim Gentile for third-most homers in a single season in team history. The Jones and Davis homers provided the winning margin, as Tommy Hunter pitched out of an inherited two-on, no-out jam in the ninth inning. He earned the save when Matt Wieters gunned a low throw to second base (and J. J. Hardy applied an expert tag) to catch Kelly Johnson trying to steal. Orioles 4, Rays 2. Four and a half back of the Rays, and three back of the A's. Oakland's coming to town this weekend. It's not over yet.

Brady Anderson, 2001 Fleer Genuine #55

In this case, I'll assume that "Genuine" is shorthand for "Genuinely disturbing veins protruding from Brady Anderson's right forearm".

Brooks Robinson, 2013 Panini Prizm #134

If Triple Play is an example of how to get MLB-license-deficient card sets right, I'd say that Prizm is an example of how to get them wrong. It's one thing to airbrush/Photoshop away logos and insignia, leaving blank caps and uniforms. But for some reason, Panini felt it necessary to edit out any and all color. Why couldn't they leave Brooks Robinson's helmet brim and his number 5 orange? We're left with drab, depressing black and gray. It looks like Brooksie's playing for a prison league team or something. They did the same thing with the current Oriole players; I've got Adam Jones and Jim Johnson's cards, and both are wearing plain black headgear with their home whites instead of the tri-color hats that the Birds now wear at home. So I won't be collecting this set, O's aside.

Brian Roberts, 2011 Bowman #164

True story: I've taken to calling Brian Roberts "Zomberts", because 1) B-Rob is a horrendous nickname and b) let's be honest, he's essentially baseball's walking dead at this point. But it's a moniker borne out of affection, and I am pleasantly surprised that he has been able to play 37 games this summer without interruption. Last night Brian was named the Orioles' Player of the Game, thanks to his two-run double and a pair of walks in an 8-4 win over the Rockies. I had the pleasure of seeing the game in person on an unseasonably cool, dry August evening. The Birds' seven-run, six-hit third inning and three and a third scoreless innings from the bullpen were the keys to snapping a four-game losing streak.Whether it was enough to light a fire under the O's and propel them back into a playoff spot remains to be seen.

Steve Finley, 1990 Score #339

In my Internet travels yesterday, I read something that I didn't know (or knew and forgot) about Steve Finley. The former Orioles (and Astros, Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, and Rockies) outfielder was the first player in major league history to hit home runs in three different countries. Obviously, he hit plenty in the United States; the first was a three-run homer off of the Angels' Willie Fraser in Anaheim, California on April 25, 1989. He went deep in Canada for the first time a year later, hitting a game-tying solo shot against Toronto's Frank Wills at SkyDome on September 16, 1990. He had a chance to complete the unusual North American trifecta in 1996, when his Padres played a few games in nearby Monterrey, Mexico. In the bottom of the first inning on August 16, 1996, Finley touched up Mets pitcher Robert Person for a two-run homer. That was the first blow in a wild 15-10 win for San Diego, with Mexican great Fernando Valenzuela earning the win in a fitting touch. In the years since, several other players have joined Steve in his globe-trotting feats, thanks to MLB's now-annual tradition of opening the season with one overseas series. But Finley will always be the first.

Vintage Fridays: Steve Barber, 1966 Topps #477

On this date in 1969, former Oriole Steve Barber had the dubious distinction of allowing the only inside-the-park home run that Boog Powell hit in his entire career, as the Orioles pounded the Seattle Pilots 15-3 at Sick's Stadium. Indeed it wasn't a good day to be a Seattle pitcher, as Diego Segui, Marty Pattin, Jim Bouton, and Barber each allowed multiple runs, with none lasting longer than starting pitcher Segui's 3.1 innings of work. Only John Gelnar was unscored upon, and he faced just three batters. The mighty O's got production from some unlikely sources, as Paul Blair socked a home run and drove in three and Andy Etchebarren and Chico Salmon each went 4-for-4 in the seventh and eighth slots in the batting order. Salmon, acquired from the Pilots during Spring Training in exchange for Gene Brabender and Gordy Lund, had a pair of homers and six RBI. Meanwhile, Dave McNally was scored upon only twice in seven innings despite allowing six hits, six walks, and a hit batter.

But it was Boog's daring dash around the bases that put the exclamation mark on this rout. Facing ex-teammate Barber with one out and Dave May on first base in the top of the ninth inning, the humongous slugger walloped a ball that somehow eluded center fielder Wayne Comer and right fielder Billy Williams (no, not the Cubs' Hall of Famer). The 250-plus-pound Powell chugged all of the way around the bases for the only one of his 339 career round-trippers to not clear the fence. Oh, that video existed of this play.

Speaking of memorable trips around the bases by slow-footed Orioles, today is the tenth anniversary of Jack Cust's infamous belly flop. Of course, there's video for that one.

Koji Uehara, 2010 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor #140

I don't have much time to plan out a blog post today, as I'm merely home to change my clothes and feed the animals before driving down to Bowie to meet friends for dinner and a movie. Little yellow padded envelopes to the rescue! Max warned me a few days ago that there would be a small pile of O's cards headed my way, and true to his word, the cards were delivered today. One of them was this grapeity-purple shiny Koji Uehara. I believe this to be my first purple refractor, and it's a lovely cross-promotional item on this, the grand occasion of the Ravens' second preseason exhibition game of 2013. Yeah, let's go with that. See you tomorrow for Vintage Friday!

Baltimore Orioles, 2013 Topps Blue #317

Roughly 13 months ago, I wrote one of the most negative, fatalistic blog entries that I've ever published on this site. When I wrote that post, the Orioles were 46-44, ten games out of first place, and losers of six out of their last seven. You know the rest of the story - they went 47-25 from that point forward to win an unfathomable 93 games and finish in a dead heat with the Rangers in the wild card standings. They then beat Texas in a thrilling single-elimination playoff game and took the Yankees to the limit in a tense, low-scoring Division Series before bowing out of the postseason.

I looked back at that post today as a reminder of how long the baseball season truly is, and how fortunate we are as fans to experience the highs of winning, no matter what the end result of the season may be. The O's are in better shape now than they were 90 games into the 2012 season, but there are reasons to doubt their bonafides all the same. The bullpen, the primary strength of last year's team, is no sure thing, with Jim Johnson sitting on a frustrating league lead in blown saves. The offense is inconsistent, often scraping across a few meager early runs and hoping that the pitching staff can make a narrow lead hold. Most of all, the competition seems fiercer than ever. Boston is back in charge, the Rays are doing their usual pitching-and-defense thing, the Tigers are the class of the Central, Oakland and Texas are duking it out again out West, and the Royals and Indians (of all teams) have made a fight of it lately. Even the Yankees, reduced to using scrap-heap veterans and minor-league nobodies to fill out their injury-depleted roster, refuse to sink below .500. So often in the past I would have killed to see my team 11 games in the black in mid-August, but ultimately I want to see them in the postseason, and it seems like they're just not going to make it in 2013. While everybody else has gone on white-hot streaks, the Birds peaked at five wins in a row last month. Too many losses are agonizing, razor-thin defeats with missed opportunities by the handful. Every blown lead and blunted rally is a crucial bit of lost playoff equity that can't be regained. I'm going to try to look at the last 43 games of the regular season with a bit of a wider perspective. If the Orioles catch fire and make another surprising charge into October, all the better. But if not, it's not for a lack of effort and they've done plenty to entertain me and the rest of their fans since April. This is not the rudderless, faceless team of my twenties. Manny Machado and Adam Jones and Chris Davis are legitimate major leaguers who will be around for a while. There aren't gaping holes to be patched with Band-Aids, as was so often the case for 15 years in the wilderness. It's not bad to be an O's fan.

Joe Carter, 1998 Pacific Revolution #19

Do you know what I like most about 1990s Pacific? The subtlety.

Wayne Gross, 1985 Topps #416

On this date in 1985, Wayne Gross and Larry Sheets hit back-to-back pinch home runs in a losing effort, as the Orioles fell to the Indians 8-5. Scott McGregor had a true disaster start, allowing five runs without getting an out. Ken Dixon saved the bullpen by pitching eight and one-third innings of relief, but the Birds trailed 8-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Mike Young and Jim Dwyer made two quick outs against Cleveland reliever Jerry Reed, and then Earl Weaver sent Gross up to bat for Rick Dempsey. The third baseman responded with a solo homer, his tenth of the year and the penultimate of his career. Next, Weaver called upon Larry Sheets to replace Rich Dauer at bat...and Sheets also went deep, his 13th on the season. But just as things were getting interesting, Floyd Rayford popped out to second baseman Tony Bernazard to end the game. If only Earl Weaver had a few more pinch hitters in his arsenal.

As an aside, I just looked at Wayne Gross' stat line for the season: 11 home runs and 18 RBI in 217 at-bats, with a .235/.369/.424 triple slash. That's pretty incredible. He drove himself in 11 times, and drove in other players only seven times. What's more, a couple of his homers were three-run shots; so he only had three RBI that didn't come via the home run. I'm sure that means...something.