Orioles Victory Card Number 12

Orioles Victory Number 12: 6-3 over the Tampa Bay Rays

2007 Topps Generation Now Nick Markakis


Congratulations to David Hess for winning his big league debut. After surrendering a three-run home run in the first, the rookie settled down and pitched six innings (honestly he probably could have gone at least 7) to pick up the 6-3 win.  Good for him.

Also, good for Nick Markakis. The longtime Oriole, now in his fourth season with the Braves, is having a bounce-back season for the surprising Atlanta ball club. He is hitting .340 with 7 home runs (he hit 8 in 160 games last season) and has a .420 on-base percentage.

Markakis was an Oriole for nine seasons and over 1300 games. Never a true power hitter he had 141 home runs, topping out at 23 in 2007.  His flat swing was more conducive to gap-to-gap doubles and he was able to spray the ball all over the park when he was on. 

I remember sitting at an old ballpark in 2006 in Jupiter Florida with my brother-in-law's dad watching some young, skinny kid launch line drives all over the park. It was quite invigorating at the time.  The Orioles had not had a winning season since 1997 (a streak that would continue until 2012) and they weren't exactly churning out the prospects. The only position player that they had developed that had a regular spot in the line-up was Brian Roberts.

So to see this lanky outfielder with a smooth swing drill the ball all over the field with authority was refreshing. Here was a first round pick that was actually panning out, something that had not happened for the O's since...Jeffrey Hammonds? That was all the way back in 1992.  The Orioles are seriously bad at first round draft picks.

He went on to be a hell of a player for some bad teams and was still producing when the Orioles started winning. For some reason his any power he did have all but abandoned him and he was a singles hitter getting paid $15 million a year. That was a bit too rich for Orioles management and they bought out his option sending him to free agency. He signed with Atlanta, closer to where he grew up and went to college and has been a veteran presence for a rebuilding squad.

As for the Generation Now card featured above - well that was an obscene waste of cardboard. For some reason at that time Topps and Upper Deck fell in love with bloated sets featuring the same card repeated time and time again based on some random stat.  There were insert sets featuring Mickey Mantle home runs, Barry Bonds home runs and Joe DiMaggio hitting streaks.

There are 582 cards in this set. This insert set. An insert set spread over Series 1, 2 and update. For Markakis there are 10 cards featuring the 10 games he had 3 or more hits. If you are a Markakis collector that isn't too bad, but for other players there were upwards of 35 or 40 cards just in the set alone.  Not exactly the easiest thing to get your hands on.

Orioles Victory Card Number 11

Orioles Victory Number 11: 9-4 over the Tampa Bay Rays

2018 Topps Heritage Kevin Gausman

I'm going to have to find some new cards to scan if this keeps up. The Orioles are starting to find their game a little bit.  Is it enough to dig themselves out of the hole they've dug over the first month of the season? Most likely, no, but it is fun to watch.  When this team is swinging the bats at their full capacity they may be the most entertaining team in the league.

As I type this, Manny Machado and Jonathon Schoop just went back-to-back against Chris Archer and there were a bunch of smiles in that dugout (and a lot of sunflower seed tossed in the air.  Has anyone gone on the disabled list with a scratched retina due to a sunflower seed bath? That would be awesome). The nine runs against the Rays on Friday marked the fourth game in a row that they've scored five or more runs and they're 3-1 in those games.  That's what they have to do to win ball games.

It's nice when a starting pitcher mixes in a nice start every once in a while. And Kevin Gausman did that on Friday. It wasn't pretty as he "scattered" 11 hits over 7.1 innings, but he got the outs when he needed and only gave up 2 runs. It was his fifth quality start in eight starts and the seventh time he's worked into at least the sixth inning. Those are the bulldog types of starts that help save bullpens and break losing streaks. With Dylan Bundy suddenly giving up home runs on every other pitch he throws and Chris Tillman hurting, the Orioles needed someone to step up and give them some decent starts. That someone was Gausman.  Hopefully he keep it up for a few more months.

Orioles Victory Card Number 10

Orioles Victory Number 10: 11-6 over the Kansas City Royals

1992 Donruss Leo Gomez

For the first time in a month the Baltimore Orioles managed to string two wins together. Of course, they did it while I was on a brief 24-hour visit out of town forcing me to compose this on an Amazon Fire's portable keyboard cover. Therefore I apologize for any typos. Blame it on a compressed keyboard and slightly chubby fingers.

Still, how about that O's offense! These were the types of wins I was looking forward to when the year started. A poor starting performance (5 runs allowed in 1.1 innings by Chris Tillman) that is bailed out by a pretty potent offense (11 runs, 14 hits and  home runs). In all three games against the Royals the Orioles scored at least 5 runs. Is that the offense waking up or a bad Royal pitching staff? (checks the team stats - yup. It's the Royals pitching)

Still, O's fans need to take what we get.  Snapping a few hits together and putting a couple of balls on the right side of the fence is just what this team needs to get people interested again. Besides, it might drive up the value of a couple of these players when other teams come a calling for trades.

Why Leo Gomez today? Well he's my all second all time favorite number 10 in Orioles history. He was a middling prospect back when the O's were searching for a solution at third base. Over six seasons he managed to hit 62 home runs and drive in 203 runs in a Baltimore uniform. He also played a year for the Chicago Cubs before jumping over to the Japanese professional league for another few seasons.

He also played in some bitching glasses.

Orioles Victory Card Number 9

Orioles Victory Number 9: 5-3 over the Kansas City Royals

1986 Topps Denny Martinex 

Welcome back to the win column, Baltimore!  Following an 0-6 west coast road swing and 7 straight losses overall, the Orioles returned to their winning ways by knocking off the Royals 5-3 to pick up their first win in the month of May.

Once again proving that the win is a nebulous stat at best, the winning pitcher was Richard Bleier. The lefty reliever now has 3 wins (a third of the the O's total victories) in 22 innings pitched.  Not bad work if you can get it. Would it be hilarious if a reliever led the Orioles in wins this season - yes, yes it would.

The big hit of the game was from Chris Davis, a three run blast that cleared the left field wall by about three rows. For the slugging first baseman it was just his fourth home run on the season, but his second in as many nights.

It seems the big man's bat is slowly waking up. While his average is still below .200 he has picked up hits in four of his last six games, with several being to the opposite field. Could the return of Mark Trumbo to the line-up be just what he needed in order to get back into the groove?

Probably not since Davis is hitting below him in the order, but the re-addition of Trumbo does make the overall line-up much, much better. In fact, the games over the last week are as close to the full roster that we've seen this year. Yes Tim Beckham is still out, but would he be that much of an improvement over Danny Valencia at third base? Probably not.

So, are the O's primed to go streaking now that their line-up is in order? More importantly, will a brief winning streak keep the ownership from doing what needs to be done (blow the roster to smithereens)? Most likely no to the first unless their pitching can average more than one decent start a week and god I hope not to the second.

They need to completely overhaul this roster from the minors to the majors. This season is lost no matter how many games they win.  Accepting it now instead of later will allow them to maximize the assets they have. Get that bidding war going between  Chicago and L.A. for the services of young Mr. Machado.

Orioles Victory Card Number 8

Orioles Victory Number 8: 5-3 over the Detroit Tigers

2007 Upper Deck Corey Patterson

For the first time since April 11th, the Baltimore Orioles didn't lose two games in a row or more after a win. They end April with a record of 8-20 which leaves them 12.5 games behind the Red Sox. Of course, General Manager David Duquette isn't quite ready to blow the team up. He's giving them until Memorial Day (where they could be 20 games out!) to see what kind of team they are.

Their 5-3 victory over the Tigers on Sunday was their second win in three nights. It was also the second time in three nights that Pedro Alvarez hit two home runs. Alvarez now has six home runs for the season which is good for second on the team behind Manny Machado. He's done all of that in only 59 at-bats .

He also started at third base. That meant that the Os defense was:

3b - Alvarez
SS - Machado
2b - Jace Peterson
1b- Trey Mancini

That's...that's not what we were expecting when the team rolled out of Sarasota at the end of March. Injuries have played a huge factor in the changes, Jonathon Schoop and his messed-up oblique are the biggest hole that has to be filled, but Alvarez was only starting because Danny Valencia had a hamstring problem. So the back-ups are getting hurt now, which really cuts into a team's depth.

It also gives other players an opportunity.  Jace Peterson is one of those players. The former first-round pick was picked up off of waivers a week ago to fill the utility role after Schoop was hurt. He may have played his way into a permanent utility role, not by hitting a ton (he has 3 hits in 18 at-bats) but by doing pretty much everything else. Despite only having three hits he has driven in four runs and stolen three bases while playing flawless defense.

All three bases he has stolen have been third. Once on a double steal and twice off of the pitcher. With both Detroit and Tampa playing the shift against Chris Davis, Peterson gambled that he could beat the pitcher to the bag and in both cases he was correct.

Hopefully, more players take advantage of this play. If the team is going to give you a free base - take it. Heck, then maybe Davis can bunt him in on the next play and start picking up some cheap RBIs.

Orioles Victory Card Number 7

Orioles Victory Number 7: 6-0 over the Detroit Tigers

1995 Topps Stadium Club Chris Hoiles

The Orioles snap their latest losing streak due to a brilliant performance by.....Chris Tillman?  That's right the former ace of the staff that was re-signed to a try-me one-year contract for $3 million shut down the Tigers over seven innings allowing only one hit and striking out five. In picking up his first win of the season, Tillman lowered his ERA to 7.03 and it's the first time since 2016 that he's worked 7 innings in a ballgame.

Those stats are interesting, but the stat that I enjoyed the most belonged to Adam Jones. The longtime Oriole is hitting .257 and his on-base percentage.... .265.  That is fantastic. Want an even better stat? Over the last 15 days he's hitting .288 and his OBP is... .278!  That's just...I don't know what that is. It's proof that Adam Jones is not here to take a walk. So how can a player have a lower OBP than batting average?

Apparently a sacrifice fly counts against a player's on-base percentage but not his batting average. So over a small sample size (like 15 games) a player who doesn't walk a lot can see his OBP dip below his batting average.  Jones, who had zero walks during that time frame, did have a couple of sacrifice flies.

On the season, Jones has two walks. One came during the second game of the season and the second April 4th. So he's gone almost a month without a free pass. And I have absolutely no problem with that. I love that Adam Jones is up there hacking. He's been hacking for 1500 games in the MLB and I don't think he's going to stop.

Jones is swinging no matter what the count is. More times than not he puts it into play and 255 times he's put it over the fence. So while he might not be a player that excites the advanced stats crew, he is entertaining to watch. Sometimes that's all we need out of a ballplayer.  Play hard and have a little fun.

That's who he is and he shouldn't have to change. No more than Chris Davis should change. This is the way the Orioles were built - home run happy power hitters that occasionally do something other than hit the ball out of the park. It's Buck Showalter's job to figure out how to win with the pieces he has. Until September of last year he managed to do it.


Regardless of what happens this off-season, Adam Jones is going to go down as one of the all-time best Orioles. He'll be in their Hall of Fame, hopefully his number is retired. I think he ends up re-signing with them - something along the lines of the a 3-year deal around $40 million. It'll be more than he should get based on his performance, but it'll be worth it to keep him around (after all they'll have some money left over once Manny Machado signs with the Yankees) so they Orioles should get it done.

By the time it's all time he should have 2,000 hits, 300 home runs and 1,000 runs batted in. All with less than 400 walks in his career. Not too shabby.

(For the record Chris Hoiles 435 times in his 10 year career with the Orioles)

Orioles Victory Card Number 6

Orioles Victory Number 6: 3-1 over the Cleveland Indians

2001 Topps Opening Day Mike Mussina

Finally, the O's are back in the win column and, despite being one of the best pitchers in the AL, Dylan Bundy finally picks up his first win of the season. So far in 2018 Bundy has made 5 starts, thrown 31.2 innings, struck out 40 while only walking 9, WHIP of 1.105, ERA+ of 286 and a FIP of 1.98.  And his record: 1-2.

I'm not sure I'm ready to go full Brian Kelly yet and call for the abolishment of the win as a statistic, but it's obvious that it's value is quickly diminishing. Richard Bleier has two wins on the season and has thrown a total of 14.1 innings. He's been good, but he hasn't been as good as Bundy. Hopefully, baseball writers (especially those that vote on awards) are starting to come around to the fact that wins aren't the be all, end all stat for pitchers, especially starters.


Would I like to see Bundy or any other Orioles pitcher win 20 games in a season? Hell, at this point I'm hoping the Orioles get to 20 wins as a team.  Seeing how no Baltimore pitcher has done it since Mike Boddicker in 1984 it would be nice to celebrate that arbitrary stat. Mainly because it means the team is successful.

The last Oriole to come close was the man pictured above. Mike Mussina got to 19 wins in 1996. He also won 19 in 1995. Mussina also had three seasons with the Orioles that he won 18 games. He never got to the magic mark in black and orange, waiting until his final season in New York to hit the 20 win plateau. No one in their right mind would argue that the 2008 version of Mike Mussina was better than the 1996 version. He just happened to play for a better team that scored him more runs.

This was the last season Mussina was featured in an Orioles uniform on a Topps card. He didn't sign early enough in the off season for Topps to airbrush him into a Yankees uniform so Baltimore fans had to suffer seeing him in the home whites one more time when they were opening packs that year. His debut in Yankee threads would come in Series Two Topps.

Since then the O's have been looking for a dominant right-hander that can take the mound once a week and shut down their opponents. It wasn't Erik Bedard or Chris Tillman. Zach Britton looked like he may take the honor, but couldn't transition to starting in the majors. Now it's hopefully Bundy.. At some point the Orioles are going to start scoring runs for him. Hopefully at some point the Orioles are going to start scoring runs for anyone. Once that happens his wins will start piling up.