These cards are heartbreaking for one reason, they are from one of the best modern Orioles seasons to date (1997), and one of the most frustrating (2000). 2000 was the beginning of the bad in Baltimore, and the O's still haven't managed to claw their way back to the top.
Let's start with the wire to wire AL East champion Orioles:
1997 Topps Stadium Club Brady Anderson. Tell me this guy wasn't a juicer. 1 year removed from his 51 homer season in 1996, he only managed to jack 18 in '97. Regardless, the ladies loved Brady about as much as they love Grady these days.
1997 Topps Stadium Club Chris Hoiles. I always liked this dude. He was a decent enough catcher, and was always good for a clutch hit when you needed one. It looks like he might be grabbing the crotch of that baserunner though.
1997 Stadium Club Jimmy Key. This guys is gonna kick off a plethora of pitcher cards. Not much to say about Jimmy, he had a solid year for the Birds in '97, going 16-10.
1997 Topps Stadium Club Rocky Coppinger. I remember this guy. Despite being a 19th round draft pick, the Baltimore media hyped him up, and he failed to meet expectations. Not sure where he ended up after leaving Baltimore.
1997 Stadium Club Nerio Rodriguez. I don't remember this guy at all, and his Baseball Reference page pretty much explains why. Very forgettable.
1997 Stadium Club Randy Myers. Closing out the '97's with the closer. Myers had a great year in '97, picking up 45 saves and carrying a 1.51 ERA. If you're gonna go wire to wire, you need a good closer, and there were few better than Randy Myers in 1997.
Ok, now we'll move on to the miserable 2000 Orioles. All of these cards are 2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX, which I'd never seen before this little surprise package from Matt. They're pretty cool looking.
2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Albert Belle. What a mistake signing this guy turned out to be. I think the Orioles just finished paying his salary off last year. He sucked here, and had a terrible attitude to boot. The first of many mistakes the Orioles would make in the "new millennium".
2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX B.J. Surhoff. Beej! He's still well liked in Baltimore and was a solid player for what seemed like forever. Rarely spectacular, but always steady, B.J. played in Baltimore for 7 or 8 seasons before being released in 2003 at the age of 83. He is in the Orioles Hall of Fame.
2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Cal Ripken Jr. A man who needs no introduction. He was a third baseman at this stage of his illustrious career, and is still a God among men in Baltimore.
2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Stars of the System Matt Riley. This is a really sweet looking card of a not so sweet player. 3rd round draft pick in 1997, and much touted prospect who ended up having 2 Tommy John surgeries. Pretty much all you need to know right there. Man, this is a good looking card though.
Thanks Matt! Expect some Royals and xfractors heading your way in the near future.
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2 thoughts:
ReplyDelete1) You should be ashamed of yourself for besmirching the good name of Brady Anderson. To recklessly imply that he was a juicer without a shred of evidence is irresponsible. Of course, I guess that this is what we've come to expect from someone who blogs from his moms basement. First Raul Ibanez and now Brady Anderson. When will you terrible bloggers learn, and be more like a good journalist...like Rick Reilly.
2) I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that Albert Belle had a bad attitude in Baltimore.
Belle might have had a less than stellar attitude, but to say he "sucked" for the O's might be a bit harsh:
ReplyDelete1999 - 161 games 37 HR's 117 RBI's .297
2000 - 141 games 23 HR's 103 RBI's .281
The O's ran into bad luck with his degenerative hip problem, but they made waaaaaaaayyy worse signings then Belle.
It was a 5 year deal! Average those stats out over a 5 year period, and they're terrible!
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the bad luck though. Didn't change the fact that his attitude was repulsive.
Glenn Davis MIGHT have been a worse signing, or Scott Erickson, but Belle is definitely up there.
more importantly...
ReplyDeleteBraves 7
Orioles 2
Congratulations Canuck. I'm beyond frustrated with how the Orioles have been playing. It's not such a big achievment to kick a team when they're down.
ReplyDeleteHey Beardy...been reading about all these awesome trades you're making...do you have wantlists posted? I want to get in on the action.
ReplyDeleteAndy from Traded Sets.
No, sadly no wantlists yet. I'll work on getting some done eventually. As of now, my wantlist consists of all Orioles cards.
ReplyDelete