2015 Orioles Fan Fest Autograph Station 3 - Gamboa, Bordick and Davis

Our third autograph session was at 3:20 and this time, I went through the line with Chris, since he wanted to meet Chris Davis.  The first player at the table was Orioles minor leaguer, Eddie Gamboa. He has been in the Orioles system for some time now, but just recently signed a major league deal with the club.  Recently trained by Hall of Famer, Phil Niekro, on the art of the knuckleball, Gamboa should be an interesting name to watch this coming season.

I got a baseball signed by Gamboa for my buddy, Michael, and I also picked up the above post card.  Michael was glad to get another name off of his want list, and I was happy to help him out.

I have met Mike Bordick several times, and this time was no different.  Bordick didn't say a whole lot, but I didn't really know what to say, as well.  He gave me two post cards in addition to the baseball that he signed for me.

The ball I had signed by Bordick was a 2000 All Star Game baseball.  It has Braves colors for the seams, since that game was played at Turner Field.  Funny how the Braves are already vacating that stadium in favor of a new one.  The ball turned out great.  I have another (faded) Bordick baseball, but this one will make a great upgrade and will allow me to trade the other one.

Finally, I was able to meet Chris Davis for a second time.  I met him a couple Fan Fests ago (back in 2013) and had him inscribe a ball with his pitching record from the 18-inning affair against the Red Sox.  That ball has a special place in my collection.

This baseball was a 2013 All Star baseball with Mets orange and blue seams.  I really liked these, and was happy to pick one up.  Davis even inscribed it the way I wanted, with an Orange Crush inscription.  I love the Orange Crush nickname and was glad to finally get it on one of my baseballs.  He usually will inscribe "Crush", but I asked for Orange Crush and he obliged.

Davis was sporting a really nice-looking beard, to which I asked if he would be keeping it for the season.  He said no, he would be shaving it soon.  I asked him if Buck was making him shave it and he laughed and said probably so.

Davis seemed a bit wore out, so I didn't press him too much.  One might have mistaken his being tired as being in a bad mood, but I understood.  I was wore out by then, too.  I imagine a bunch of folks had probably made mention of his suspension, but I hope people were respectful enough to realize, again, that he wasn't doing steroids.

Anyway, I was really happy with these autographs, especially the ones on the specialty baseballs.  I think they turned out great!

August 6, 2012 - Orioles vs. Mariners

We went to Oriole Park at Camden Yards today for the first time since 2010.  If you remember, I skipped my annual trip to Baltimore last year to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  I made it back this year and had a blast.  I did my third ballpark tour, but this time I was able to see the new statues that have been unveiled (Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer and Earl Weaver).

Here is Frank's statue.  It looks really cool.  I wish the Brooks statue had been unveiled, but it has been pushed back to September because he had been sick at the time.

We enjoyed the tour, as always.  They took us into a luxury suite this time that had photos on the wall of the historic Baltimore Orioles of the American Association.

They also had this photo of the old Baltimore field.  I love photos of old ballparks.  I need to find one of these to hang up in the man cave.

One thing I like about the tour is that I get to see the Orioles awards, such as the World Series trophies from 1970 and 1983.

Here is one of Brooks Robinson's 16 Gold Glove awards below.

Now, you can see the Orioles Cy Young Awards.  These are copies of the ones given to Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer (3 of them), Mike Flanagan and Steve Stone.

Below are copies of the 5 MVP awards won by Orioles Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Cal Ripken (2).

I was able to see Roch Kubatko's seat in the press box during the tour.

This time during the tour, I was able to get down on the field, so Chris and I posed for a picture.  We also got to sit in the dugout, which was really cool.  I don't remember being able to go down there before during the tour.

Here is a really cool shot of the Warehouse right before the game.  I set my camera to 'Sepia' and took the picture.  I might make a copy of this and hang it in the man cave.  I think it'll look really good on the wall.

We were in the upper deck for the game, so my pictures taken up there weren't all that great.  We got to see Chris Tillman throw a really good game against the Mariners.  The Orioles won 3-1, behind the great pitching of Tillman and a 2-run home run by Nick Markakis.

Chris got the Oriole Bird to sign one of his baseballs (a ball he got after the guy shagging around first base during batting practice for the Mariners missed a catch) before the game.  After the game, he and I got Mike Bordick while my wife got Casper Wells.  She tried to get Jesus Montero's autograph while waiting with several other folks but he wouldn't sign for her.  He signed for all the guys toting binders full of cards, but wouldn't sign for her because she had a pad of paper that she has carried around for autographs since she was a teenager.  He told her that he doesn't sign pieces of paper.  She was pretty upset at that, especially since he signed for the guys who were clearly going to put his auto on Ebay.  I felt bad for her, but I told her I wouldn't let it bother me too much.  She just won't be a Montero fan.  She has liked the Mariners since they signed Ichiro.  It looks like she will be a Casper Wells fan now.

One thing I also wanted to mention was that we got the crab cakes in the park and they were just phenominal.  If you go to an O's game, make sure you try one.  The are priced a little high, but well worth it.  We also tried a Natty Boh (Natural Bohemian beer) and it was really good. 

So, we had a great time, regardless of Montero's inexplicable fear of paper.  I'm glad the O's got a win, let's hope they can keep it up.

Lots of Mail From Ryan Part One - Some Orioles IP Autos

Ryan from "O No Another Oriole Blog" is a heck of a guy.  He just purchased a new house (Congrats man!) and is purging some Orioles stuff and was kind enough to send some my way.  There was so much stuff that I had to break it up into multiple blog posts, so here we go.

This first post concerns some of the in person autos he sent my way.  The first of which is the below Oliver Drake signed baseball.  I believe I traded this ball to Ryan at Fan Fest this January for a Joe Mahoney signed ball.  I kind of regretted trading the ball away, but at the time my buddy Ryan needed it, so I wanted to make sure he was happy, first.  Little did I know that the ball would be back in my collection a few months later.

Drake is a mid-level prospect for the O's at the moment, but I'm hoping he can turn it up and get on their radar.  With Matusz's struggles, Tsuyoshi Wada's elbow issues, etc, The Orioles need more pitching depth in the minors.  If Drake can have a solid year at AA Bowie, he might work his way onto the 2013 roster.  Only time will tell.

Here is a signed 2010 Topps RC of Jake Arrieta.  Jake is off to a decent start to 2012, after having bone chips removed from his elbow.  Apparently he is pitching pain free for the first time since he played in college.  I expect a good year from Jake, if he can keep his ERA down.  I wouldn't be surprised if he wins 15 games this year.  We'll see!

Brad Bergesen is struggling at AAA Norfolk.  He can be a pretty effective pitcher if he can get his sinker going.  I definitely like Bergy and hope he turns it around and makes it back to the big club this year.

Of all the young pitchers that the Orioles have stockpiled thae second most disappointing (aside from Matusz) has to be Chris Tillman.  He is still 24, so there is time for him to get it together, but he really needs to get on the fast track.  Tillman has the stuff, but not the command.  He also might not have the mental makeup as of yet to be a major contributor to the rotation.  Here's to hoping he becomes what all the scouts and front office types saw in him.

Finally, the last IP auto Ryan sent was this Mike Bordick signed 2000 Upper Deck.  Bordick might be one of the most underrated shortstops ever.  Bordick, until this season, was the only major leaguer to hail from the State of Maine (from what I heard on a MASN broadcast).  He was a solid defensive shortstop who was brought into Baltimore to replace an aging Cal Ripken at shortstop when the Iron Man was moved to third base.  I met Bordick in Norfolk in 2010 and he was really nice.  He now does commentary on select Orioles' broadcasts on MASN.

Thanks so much for all of the awesome stuff, Ryan.  I don't think I will ever be able to repay you, but I'll definitely try.