Eat, Sleep, Live Orioles

Eat

Sleep

Live

It's official, my 5 day old son has more Orioles gear than I do. A big thanks to My Uncle for all the new schwag.

Arrival of The Kid

Not Ken Griffey Jr. My son.

Born April 17, 2012 at 5:55 pm.

Both The Kid and Wifey were amazing and are doing wonderful.

My brother projected his stats to be: .312 avg, 32 HR, 117 RBI.

Not sure which year yet, or if it videogame stats or not. An uncle can dream can't he?

Ronny Paulino's First Appearance

Prior to the season, William from Foul Bunt, reached out about Ronny. He had a pretty sweet auto laying around and I was more than happy to take it off his hands.

Ronny Paulino 2008 Stadium Club Beam Team Autographs #RP

Ronny had torn the cover off the ball in his limited appearances this year. Seven hits in 13 at bats filling in for Matt Wieters, can't ask for more from a backup.

I am working on a return package. Not sure when it will get out, Wifey has a scheduled induction tomorrow.

Wish us luck.

Can't Keep Up This Pace

After the first series of the season, I am quite impressed with my home town Birds. Only three earned runs during a three game sweep of the Twins. Why not, 2012? All I hope for is for the team to be competitive. Bring on the Yankees.

The other trend that cannot keep up is all these new look Orioles. During opening weekend, eight different players made their Oriole debut. Wilson Betemit and Matt Lindstrom on Friday. Ronny Paulino, Ryan Flaherty and Luis Ayala donned the orange and black on Saturday and Endy Chavez, Nick Johnson and Jason Hammel on Sunday.

Eight players, three games, and I only have one of their autographs, Ryan Flaherty. So who has any of the other guys available? Looking for any autographs and base cards of Luis Ayala.

Orioles Needed

Looking to add a few base cards to get autographs. Below is a list of the players I need at all levels of the organization.

Orioles:
Pitchers
Luis Ayala- Anything
Wei-Yen Chen- Anything
Jason Hammel- Orioles/Postcard
Tommy Hunter- Orioles
Matt Lindstrom- Orioles/Postcard
Darren O'Day- Anything
Pedro Strop- Anything

Catchers
Ronny Paulino- Orioles/Postcard

Position Players
Wilson Betemit- Orioles/Postcard
Nick Johnson- Orioles/Postcard


AAA Norfolk Tides:
Pitchers
Dana Eveland- Orioles Minors/Postcard
Willie Eyre- Orioles Minors/Postcard
Chris George- Orioles Minors/Postcard
Steve Johnson- Anything
Jon Link- Anything
Zach Phillips- Orioles Minors/Postcard
Miguel Socolovich- Anything
Oscar Villarreal- Anything
Dontrelle Willis- Orioles Minors/Postcard

Catchers
Zach Booker- Anything
John Hester- Anything
Chris Robinson- Anything

Position Players
Matt Antonelli- Orioles Minors/Postcard
Xavier Avery- Anything
Scott Beerer- Anything
Jamie Hoffmann- Anything
Jai Miller- Orioles Minors/Postcard
Steve Tolleson- Anything
Zelous Wheeler- Anything

AA Bowie Baysox:
Pitchers
Timothy Bascom- Anything
Bobby Bundy- Anything
Zach Clark- Anything
Oliver Drake- Anything
Pat Egan- Anything
Eddie Gamboa- Anything
Sean Gleason- Anything
Robert Hinton- Anything
Daniel Klein- Orioles
Luis Lebron- Anything
Cole McCurry- Anything
Wynn Pelzer- Anything
Jacob Pettit- Anything
Stuart Pomeranz- Anything
Pedro Viola- Anything
Ross Wolf- Anything

Catchers
Allan de San Miguel- Anything
Caleb Joseph- Orioles

Position Players
Travis Adair- Anything
Edgardo Baez- Anything
Buck Britton- Anything
L.J. Hoes- Anything
Manny Machado- Orioles
Antoan Richardson- Anything
Jonathan Schoop- Anything
Tyler Townsend- Anything
Brandon Waring- Anything
Robbie Widlansky- Anything

A Frederick Keys
Pitchers
Scott Copeland- Anything
Jason Gurka- Anything
Andy Loomis- Anything
Justin Moore- Anything
Nathan Moreau- Anything
Kenny Moreland- Anything
Ryan O'Shea- Anything
Chris Petrini- Anything
Clayton Schrader- Anything
Kyle Simon- Anything
Ashur Tolliver- Anything
David Walters- Anything
Mike Wright- Anything
Richard Zagone- Anything

Catchers
Joe Oliveira- Anything
Scott Thomas- Anything

Position Players
Aaron Baker- Anything
Steven Bumbry- Anything
Michael Flacco- Anything
Tyler Kelly- Anything
Trent Mummey- Anything
Jeremy Nowak- Anything
Michael Rooney- Anything
Kipp Schutz- Anything
Bobby Stevens- Anything
Matthew Sweeney- Anything
Chris Tremblay- Anything
Ronnie Welty- Anything

Please let me know if you have any of these players, base, parallel or even autographs available and what you need in return.

Questions Answered

Opening Day answered a few of my questions, albeit, prematurely I'm sure.

Nope, Wifey did not give birth to our son. In fact, she is still very much pregnant, and not happy about it.

Mark Reynolds would have hit his first fan, but Chris Davis saved a life at first base.

No one attempted a steal on Matt Wieters. Smart move.

Nick Markakis does not look hampered at all by his surgery and can still hit, hit, hit.

Adam Jones has not been traded. Yet.

Jake Arrieta looked awesome, I smell Cy Young.

Jim Johnson is 2.5% of the way to my predicted save total.

Damn this Kool Aid is good. Sure you don't want some?

Impulse Buys

Yesterday I was able to take a lunch break for the first time in a long while. I grabbed a quick bite then decided to do something scandalous, go to my LCS.

This LCS is unlike what I used to know. It is clean. It is huge. It has only a few card display cases and not a ton of cards. Their niche is signed memorabilia. Pricey signed memorabilia. I paid no attention to that and snagged three packs of cards.

2012 Topps Jumbo:
Johnny Peralta Golden Moments Relic #GMR-JP


Inserts

Adrian Gonzalez Golden Moments #GM-5
Albert Belle/Mike Stanton Timeless Talents #TT-18
Willie McCovey Gold Standard #GS-9
Brett Gardner 1987 Topps Mini #TM-22
Derek Jeter Golden Greats #GG-28
Brandon Belt Gold Futures #GF-3
Mike Pelfrey Gold Parallel #214

I got one of the two relics in the box so not too bad. Unfortunately the Tigers uni on the front threw me off, I thought I pulled a Miggy Cabrera. Oh well. Also have four Golden Giveaway redemption codes I will not be redeeming available.

2011 Topps Debut (2);
Josh Zeid Solo Signature #SSA-JZ


Corey Brown Double-A All-Stars #DA-19

I don't know why I bought the last two packs of this product. I don't really care for minor league stuff because I have no clue who these kids are. But I broke down, again, and snagged an auto for my efforts.

All are for trade, and if you are looking for any base cards let me know. By the end of the weekend I hope to have a list of base cards I am looking to add to snag autographs on. Thanks for the read.

Opening Day Question Marks

I let my Orange and Black flag fly yesterday at work, and local sportswriter Mike Preston laughed at me. For at least five minutes. He all but called me delusional and crazy. But isn't that the definition of fan, short for fanatic? According to dictionary.com, "a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal". Sounds like a pretty good description of me.

As I get prepared for opening day, I can't help but be uneasy. The Orange Kool-Aid has been coursing through my veins since I was four years old. I am the eternal optimist when it comes to The Birds. This year is no different. But as in the past decade, there are a ton of questions to be answered.

First Base
Will Chris Davis finally step up and become a full time big leaguer? Will he strikeout more than 200 times this season? Can he find a consistent power stroke? Can Nick "Journeyman" Johnson still play and provide a spark to the lineup?

Second Base
Will Brian Roberts ever play again? If so, will he ever be effective again? Can someone please get him some more HGH or clear, whatever he used in the past would be fine? Any chance Robert Andino or WIlson Betemit could fill his void?

Shortstop
How good can J.J. Hardy be? How long before he moves to second base? Is Manny Machado ready? Can we please find out?

Third Base
Did the demotion to first base make Mark Reynolds realize he has to field ground balls in order to play third? Will Reynolds injure a fan in the first row of the stands with an errant throw? Has he realized the right and left field lines are pretty damn short? Can he hit 50? Will he strike out more than Chris Davis?

Catcher
How good can Matt Wieters be? Will anyone steal a base against him?

Left Field
Can Nolan Reimold capture some of the magic from his rookie campaign?

Center Field
How long will Adam Jones be in Baltimore?

Right Field
Where did Nick Markakis' power go? Does he have the ability to protect the power hitters in our lineup?

Starting Staff
Can a staff loaded with #3 starters develop an ace? Will Jake Arrieta and Brian Matusz make strides toward their potential? Will the new Asian Persuasion be effective against MLB batters? Can Chris Tillman develop and build on his good Spring? Can Zach Britton get healthy?

Bullpen
Can Jim Johnson get it done in the closer role? How often will Kevin Gregg pour gasoline on a fire?

Fandom
Will Wifey give birth to our son in the stands today?

If the answers to these questions are: Davis will start 140 games, strikeout 195 times, bash 25 HR, as Nick Johnson fills in admirably at first; while B-Rob makes a full recovery with PED's, being backed by the excellence of Andino and Betemit's .285 average and 15 HR; where Hardy doesn't have to change positions to become an All-Star so Machado can become more seasoned in the minors; as Mark Reynolds keeps his head and ass down to field grounders, maims only one fan early in the season, sprays bombs down the lines to hit 50 HR with 188 strike outs, eight less than Davis; with Wieters winning another Gold Glove and starting in the All-Star game, allowing zero stolen bases; as Reimold locks himself in the starting lineup and anchors the back third of the order; while Adam Jones signs a long term deal to blow bubbles, steal bases and be adored by fans; so pressure is taken off Markakis and he can just hit, hit, hit and throw out base runners; while Arrieta, Matusz, Chen, Hunter and Tillman win at least ten games each with Jake falling into the ace role, so Britton can heal and be effective down the stretch; as Jim Johnson saves 40 and Kevin Gregg has a great start to the season so we can trade him for a well fit puzzle piece; and Yes: the Orioles will be relevant again.

Seriously it could happen. Anyone thirsty? I've got a fresh batch of the Orange stuff for ya. It tastes delicious.

Even if they lose and are awful this year, a birth in section 340 on Opening Day would be a big story.