Amazing In Person Graphing Success - Tim Lincecum

I had one of my best IP autograph success today, almost by accident.  I am in Baltimore with my sister and have tickets to the Orioles series against the Angels.  My goal was to try to get Mike Trout on a ball.  I was actually really close to getting him, but I wasn't quite lucky enough, but I did get someone pretty awesome, Tim Lincecum.  You can see the ball that I got signed, it turned out great.

When Lincecum came up to where I was at, a small kid in front of me who had already had his ball signed offered to get mine signed as well, since he was right up against the wall.  This helped my ball get to the front, and Tim signed it.  While he was signing, I told him "You are my son's favorite player, ever.  He loves you!"  Tim looked at me, smiled and said "Make sure you tell him I said hello!"  I got out of the crowd and jumped on my cell phone to call my mom.  Chris, my son, is visiting my parents, so she had to get him out of the pool and to the phone.  I told Chris what Lincecum said and he was speechless.  I really wish Chris had been able to make the trip, but my fear is that had he been here, Lincecum wouldn't have been signing.

I was graphing with my friend from Instagram, Stefan, and another Instagrammer, Brian.  Stefan was able to get Lincecum twice and then got Trout!  Stefan has pledged to help me get Trout tomorrow, so maybe I will come away from this trip with some really good autos!  I had a really good time hanging out with the guys.  I am now getting into meeting up with fellow graphers, and have hat a lot of fun.  I know I'm really late to the game, but these kids have a lot of knowledge and expertise!

As far as the game, I hope that I am able to say that I saw Ubaldo Jimenez's last start as an Oriole.  You hate to see someone lose their job, but with the $50 million contract that he signed, he isn't hurting.  Let's hope Buck can find some decent starters somewhere, lest the Orioles lose their grip on the AL East lead.

Pickups From Our Trip

Chris and I were able to pick up a bunch of good stuff while we were in Baltimore this past weekend.  I got two game used balls; one thrown to Matt Wieters in the first game of the series, and a foul ball that Manny Machado hit in the last game.  I really wanted one from that last game, since it was Davis's last game as an Oriole.  They were $35 each, and I can type in the authentication number online and it will tell me who was pitching and who was batting, and the result of the play.  This is always really cool.  These will be put up with the other game used balls that I have.

I got this cool jar of field dirt from Camden Yards, which is something I have wanted for some time now.  I paid $20 for it, which I thought was fine, but a couple drunken "experts" at the Authentics store made their point known about how stupid it would be to spend $20 on a jar of dirt.  I guess they just don't "get it."

A family of Orioles fans in front of us during the second game gave Chris this foul ball hit by a Yankee during the second game.  It was hit down the line in the 5th inning, I think, which makes me think it was Brian McCann who hit it.  Not bad.  He mashed the crap out of the label, whoever hit it.

We did a little "graphing" before the first game, and both of us got Steve Pearce on OMLBs.  Not bad, since I didn't have Pearce yet.

I got my Orioles knit bomber hat before the second game, and Chris got one from a group of Yankee fans who didn't want theirs.  Before the last game, I got this Steve Pearce bobblehead.  Chris really wanted one, so I tried to get one for him from the entrance, but the guy was less than courteous.  It didn't make sense that it was all fans 15 and over, when a few weeks ago it was advertised as ALL fans.  Oh well, there were plenty of Yankee fans who didn't want theirs, so Chris ended up getting one from a nice lady in Yankee gear.  See, not all Yankee fans are bad (cough cough Drew cough cough).

We had such a good time.  I just added up everything that I spent, and it was quite a bit, but it was well worth it to be able to spend time with my son.  He is at a good age to hop in the car and take somewhere.  Soon, he may not be interested in stuff like this, so I have to enjoy it while I can.

A Good Way To Spend a Rainy Saturday

I surprised my son with a trip to see the Orioles play the Yankees this weekend.  I picked him up from school on Friday right after he had lunch; with all of the rain in the area, he was actually going to have an early release, but I got him anyway.

He was surprised to see that I didn't have my work truck with me when I got him.  I told him that I had the day off and he and I were going to go for a ride.  I also told him that we would be gone for the weekend, and that we had a suitcase packed in the trunk.  About an hour into the trip, he guessed that we were going to Baltimore.  He didn't guess that we were going to a game until we got to the hotel, though.

The plan was to catch the 7:05 game this evening, but the Friday game was postponed to noon Saturday, making the day a double header.  I decided to walk to the box office and pick up some seats for the noon game.

Chris and I got into the first game really easy.  There was hardly anyone there at all, even tough the Yankees were in town.  We were able to walk right down to the wall and do a little bit of "graphing."  We were both able to get baseballs signed by Steve Pearce.

The Orioles won the first game with a score of 9-2.  The O's offense looked great, and Wei-Yin Chen looked really good in his final start for the Orioles.  Nolan Reimold reached base 4 times, and scored three runs, which was nice to see.

Chris and I had a good time at the game.  The rain held off for the first game, but it was pretty cold.

Between games, Chris and I hit the hot tub at the hotel to warm up, then headed back to the field.  It was a giveaway game (I got a free knit bomber hat), and there were quite a few more people there.  Chris was given a free hat from a Yankee fan who didn't want theirs.  We got to see Nolan Reimold lead off the game with a home run; this was Nolan's first leadoff homer in his career.  We also got to see Manny Machado hit homers in each game.

A light mist occurred for most of the game, and the score remained 3-3 for a good portion of it.  Ubaldo Jimenez was pretty tough to watch, since he threw a ton of balls out of the zone, but he held the Yankees in check for most of the game.  TJ McFarland pitched two scoreless innings, and Zach Britton got the save after Paul Janish scored in the bottom of the 8th on a wild pitch.

Chris and I enjoyed our first double header with an Orioles sweep over the Yankees.  I'm so glad I planned this trip with him.  He and I have jad a good time so far, and we are seriously considering going to the final game of the season tomorrow.  He has school on Monday, but since the game is at 3:05PM, and it is a bobblehead giveaway, we may still go.  I think he will be ok, but we will see how the weather is in the morning.

Birthday Present From Myself To Myself - 1996 Fleer Ultra Diamond Dust Cal Ripken

I did a google search recently to try to find out what the first "game used relic card" was.  I read a few threads that said that Donruss first issued a jersey card in 1997.  I thought I had read somewhere that Upper Deck issued some in 1996.  I can't seem to find where I read it, but I do recall seeing it somewhere, or at least discussing it with someone.

That being said, something did pop up in the search that interested me.  I found a very early "game used" card of Cal Ripken that I was certain that I didn't own.  The card was a 1996 Fleer Ultra Diamond Dust card.  The significance of the card is that is contains dirt from Camden Yards that was collected following the 1995 season, when Cal broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record.  Initially, I thought I was buying the card, and the certificates, etc were extras.  I didn't know that the card was a smallish booklet (about the size of two 4 x 6 photos together.

The card is really cool, I just won't have a top loader for it, which is fine, I have somewhere to display it.

Also included was this COA from Fleer/Skybox.  This was nice to get as well.  Apparently, the dirt was obtained directly from the Orioles head groundskeeper at the time.  It is hand numbered 463/2131.  When I saw it, and the fact that I could get it at a really good price, I decided to buy it for myself for my birthday. Turns out, and I hadn't even considered it, but my birthday wasn't too long after the 20th anniversary of Cal breaking Lou's record.  Nice way to celebrate.

Ebay Pickup - 1993 All Star Game OMLB Ball

I was browsing Ebay last week and saw a great price on a 1993 All Star Game OMLB ball and decided to pick it up.  The 1993 game was thelast All Star Game that was held in Baltimore. Rumor has it that Camden Yards will be the site of the 2016 All Star game, but it has not been confirmed, yet.

I got the ball for $18.00, which is about typical for a normal OMLB ball, so I feel like I got a pretty good deal on it.

1993 was the 64th All Star Game and was won by the American League 9-3.  Kirby Puckett won the All Star Game MVP award by hitting a solo home run and later, a run-scoring double.

Future Hall of Famers on the NL side were Tom Glavine, Tony Gwynn, Barry Larkin and Ryne Sandberg.

Hall of Famers playing for the AL were Roberto Alomar, Wade Boggs, Paul Molitor, Puckett, Cal Ripken and Frank Thomas.

My First Pennant Race Game

In what has been an unbelievable season, I have finally been able to experience what a pennant race feels like at Camden Yards.  I went to last night's game with Ryan from 'O No Another Orioles Blog' to catch the Brooks Robinson statue unveiling (which I will post later).

People were still filing into the stadium as the game started at 7:15PM.  You can see the crowd on Eutaw Street.  We tried to look around in the team store down there, but you had to grease yourself up just to squeeze in there.  It wasn't worth dealing with that mess to pay $30 for a Dylan Bundy T-Shirt.  I didn't buy anything except for a game program as we walked into the stadium (I also got a free Brooks Robinson statue; which, like I said, will be posted later on).

Check out these crowd shots.  The place was jumping as the game went on.  It gave me goosebumps to hear the whole crowd screaming for the Orioles.  There were a few Red Sox fans there, but they were well outnumbered, for once.

Here is a shot of Jim Johnson closing out the game for his 49th save of the season.

The Orioles won the game with a score of 5-4, reducing their magic number to 2.

The crowd went nuts after the final out was recorded.  I was screaming pretty loud, and so was Chris.  At the game, it was me, Chris, my wife, Ryan and his wife.  We all had a really good time.  I hope I can experience more games like this in the future.

Oh yeah, with the win, the Orioles pulled into a tie for first place with the Yankees, with 4 games left to play.  Who would have thought, at the beginning of the season, that the Orioles would be in this position.

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.

Trade With Weston From Fantastic Catch

One thing I love about blogging is that I have been afforded the opportunity of meeting and trading with people all over the country.  I received an email the other day from Weston who happened to discover my blog when he joined a site called 'Sportscard Radio.'  He expressed an interest in possibly hooking up for a trade of some Cardinals for some Orioles.  My Cardinals cards haven't really been spoken for by anyone, so I had a decent amount of stuff to offer to him.  As you can see, one of the major highlights of the trade was the above Eddie Murray 2011 Topps Cognac parallel.  I really love the diamond parallels, so this card was a necessary addition to my collection.  He also added some more cards to the pile:

Here is a Matt Wieters from 2010 Upper Deck.  It is really hard to get any Wieters cards, so whenever I can get my hands on one, I have to strike.  I really hate the player exclusive deals.  I hope his deal with Upper Deck is over soon so I can finally get him on some Topps products.

 Weston sent me this 2011 Topps reprint (original back) 1983 Cal Ripken.  Always a nice set, for some reason when I was building  the 1983 set, it was real hard finding commons.  I don't know why, but it doesn't matter now because I finished that set a long time ago.

Here is a nice Topps Attax Camden Yards card.  I have a few stadium cards for the O's in an album that I put together back in 2005, so I will add this one to that.

Weston added this 1988 Topps mini Cal Ripken to the trade because I was 'nice to him.'  Well, I try to be.  I really appreciated the card, though, and as far as I can tell, I don't think I had this one in the collection, so score one for Weston!!

I really appreciated the trade and it seems like trades are becoming the norm for me lately.  It is really refreshing to see young kids getting into cards and also getting into blogging.  That is definitely a good sign for the future of the hobby.

I encourage all of you to check out Weston's blog and continue to encourage him to keep up the good work.  His blog, Fantastic Catch, can be seen here:  http://fantasticcatch.blogspot.com/

Oriole Park at Camden Yards Tour

We decided to kill some time on Friday before the game by paying $9.00 and doing the ballpark tour of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I had done the tour once before, back in 2005, so I figured it was about time to do it again.

As you walk into the park, along Eutaw Street, you may notice some plaques dotting the street.

These plaques represent the 54 baseballs (as of July 23, 2010) that had been hit onto Eutaw Street. When the ballpark was constructed, it was thought that the warehouse would be an easy target. Each of the windows of the warehouse was fitted with shatterproof glass. As it turns out, the dimensions of the warehouse itself creates a wind tunnel effect that blows balls toward the ground once they reach that area. This is why only 54 baseballs have reached Eutaw Street.

One would think, that with all of the 'performance enhancing drugs' that were allegedly consumed by baseball players in the 1990s, SOMEONE had to hit the warehouse more than once. Since Camden Yards opened in 1992, the warehouse has been tagged by a ball only one time, and it was NOT during an official major league game.

Some guy no one has ever heard of, Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a ball during the 1993 Home Run Derby that came into contact with the warehouse. It is really awesome to walk along Eutaw Street and try to find the plaque for the ball that Griffey crushed. He had to tattoo that ball for it to make it that far... I wish I could find that on video.
Of the 54 baseballs hit onto Eutaw Street as of July 23, 2010, Rafael Palmeiro holds the record of balls hit onto the street with 5. Luke Scott has 4 and BRADY Anderson has 3.

Inside the park, in the club level, the Orioles have many of their achievements on display. Below, are replicas of the Cy Young Awards that Oriole pitchers have received in the past. 3 for Jim Palmer, one for Mike Cuellar, one for Mike Flanagan, one for Steve Stone. Here are the replicas of the MVP awards won by Orioles. Brooks in 1964, Frank Robinson in 1966, Boog Powell in 1970, Cal in 1983 and Cal again in 1991.
The Orioles have jerseys showing all of their retired numbers on display: 4 - Earl Weaver, 5 - Brooks, 8 - Cal Ripken, 20 - Frank Robinson, 22 - Jim Palmer and 33 - Eddie Murray. The Orioles, of course, have 42 - Jackie Robinson retired, but since he was never an Oriole, they don't have a jersey retired. I wonder if the Orioles have the most players named Robinson with retired numbers. Maybe they should lobby to have the last name Robinson retired, or at least demand that they get first dibbs on any player named Robinson.

I love that the flash in my camera emphasised the gold of this replica Gold Glove award which was on display to represent the 16 gold gloves that Brooks had won. It looks amazing.

I liked these 'autographed baseballs' they had displayed. What's even cooler is that I own 3 of the four. If anyone is looking for gift ideas for my birthday (which is coming up), the Frank Robinson would look awesome in my collection.They have 2 of their 3 World Series trophies on display. The trophies on display are from 1970 and 1983. The 1966 championship is missing because a trophy was not given out until... 1967.

I really liked this quote that was on the ceiling. I've seen the quote before, but seeing it again is always good. I don't think a truer statement has ever been spoken...Also, nothing is complete without a quote from Earl Weaver. Good thing they didn't ask him about team speed when they were obtaining this quote...Finally, I close with the warehouse... The warehouse is the former B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad warehouse and was used by B&O until the 70s. It is the longest building east of the Mississippi river and is longer than the Empire State Building is tall. The warehouse sat vacant from the late 70s until the late 1980s. It was in very bad shape and wa sin danger of being torn down, until the Maryland Stadium Authority bought the property formerly owned by B&O Railroad and began restoring the building to incorporate it into the newly planned ballpark that was slated to replace Memorial Stadium.

Since the warehouse had been used in the railyards, the building was covered with soot and grime. Attempts to power wash the bricks failed because the bricks and mortar couldn;t handle the water pressure. The bricks were, then, cleaned by hand using muriatic acid. Workers stopped counting the bricks at 3,000,000. The floors inside the warehouse were rotten and falling in, so the entire inside of the warehouse was gutted and completely restored. The warehouse now serves as a retail/office complex, housing the offices of the Orioles, the Maryland Stadium Authority, Aramark, etc.