Old School O's From Alfredo

Holy crap it's August already! The 3rd in fact, and I haven't posted since July. You could say I'm a slacker, for which I'd resent you, even if you are correct, which you would be. Even though I've been busy checking out possible wedding venues (Zzzzzzz...) and riding my new bike, no new posts in 3 days is inexcusable. My slacking this past weekend was so severe that I managed to mess up my "cards to be scanned and posted" piles, and as a result, I have received cards in trade from people who may not receive the proper recognition, because as of now I am unsure who sent me what. If you happen to catch me giving credit to someone incorrectly, for cards that they sent, feel free to correct me, and call me a jaggoff. Once again, you would be correct.

As luck would have it, I do know for a fact that all of these cards were sent to me by Alfredo, of My Past Time... I Love It fame. He sent over a fat stack of O's cards, spanning various decades. Here are some of my favorites, presented in chronological order:

1975 Topps Don Baylor

I remember seeing Baylor play towards the end of his career, with the Red Sox, and then with Oakland. If I'm not mistaken, he was in the Red Sox lineup for the greatest baseball video game ever made, RBI Baseball. Even though Baltimore was still great in the 70's they seem to have done the same thing to Baylor as they did with all thier promising prospects of the 90's & 00's. By that I mean they gave him a few years to mature, and then promptly traded him away so he could break out and become an All-Star with another team. 1975 was Baylor's last season with the O's and statistically his best year with the club.

1978 Topps "Record Breakers" Brooks Robinson

Not much to really say about this guy that hasn't already been said. 1977 was Brooks' 20th with the Orioles, and the final year of his illustrious career. You just don't see that kind of loyalty anymore, at least not commonly. Jeter comes to mind, but he's about the only modern example I can think of. That's a sweet hat Brooks is sporting!

1978 Topps "1977 Victory Leaders"

Check out my man Jim Palmer! 1977 was the third season in a row he had been a 20 game winner, winning exactly 20 in '77, which was good enough for at least a share of the league lead. He wouls go on to win 21 in '78, which would give him 4 straight 20 win seasons, for the second time in his career. Pitchers now aer sissys! When was the last time someone registered even back to back 20 win seasons? Palmer is another guy who spent his whole 19 year career with the Birds. He's sporting a fine cap as well, and what appears to be a throwback uni. This has to be an old picture, because I don't think they wore those in the 70's. Perhaps the all Orange unis were so ugly Topps refused to immortalize them on cardboard?

1979 Topps "Record Breakers" Sammy Stewart

Motherscratcher's favorite Orioles convict is back! I see from reading this card that Sammy fanned 7 straigt batters in his first Major League game. They must have been focusing on his eyebrow(s) and not ball. Can't really say I blame them. For those of you who don't know, ammy is currently serving an 8 year prison sentance for being an "habitual felon". According to wikipedia he has been charged with crime 46 times since 1988. Not exactly a lightweight. I'm only joking Sammy, please don't kill me.

1980 Topps Denny Martinez

Lock it down like El Presidente! That's exactly what Denny did while winning 100 games in both the A.L. & N.L. I remember this guy from my childhoood, and always thought he an Tippy Martinez were brothers, which in fact they are not.

1980 Topps Dave Skaggs

Brother of Boz, cousin of Ricky. Played 4 years in the bigs, and was pretty unremarkable for all 4 of them. There is however nothing unremarkable about that trash stache.

1980 Topps 1979 Victory Leaders

Look at Ol' Flanny! Long hair and super sweet mustaches must have been a running theme for the 1980 O's. It's cool to see both of the Niekro boys together on this card as well. Flanagan won 23 games in 1979, the most he would ever win in a single season. In fact, he never even cracked the 20 win barrier ever again.

1981 Topps Steve Stone

1980 Cy Young Award winner, former Cubs & current White Sox color commentator, ladies man.

1981 Topps Eddie Murray

Mutton Chop Eddie is my personal hero, and this is a great shot of them, in all their glory. Would you mess with that guy? I sure wouldn't. He means business.

1981 Topps Orioles Future Stars

I'm running out of things to say. Those sure are some sweet caps! I guess this is Mike Boddicker's rookie card. He was awesome in the postseason of '83, and has a World Series ring to prove it. He was eventually traded to the hated BoSox for Brady Anderson & Curt Schilling. It's really too bad Baltimore didn't hang on to Schilling for just a few more seasons. I don't think they even knew what they had till it was too late. Floyd Rayford was the guy who Cal Ripken Jr. replaced in the first game of his historic consecutive games streak. He appears to be puzzled by the decision. Mark Corey I know nothing about, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

1989 Fleer Randy Milligan

Forget Mike Mussina, this guy is the original "Moose". Milligan was my favorite Oriole for a little while. It was right after Eddie left, and he was my choice to fill the void for some reason. Randy wasn't terrible, but he was nothing to write home about either.

2006 Upper Deck "UD Game Materials" Rafael Palmeiro

This is the card that pretty much sparked this trade. Alfredo picked it up for me at a card shop, without even knowing that I would want it, which was awfully nice of him. Who wouldn't want a game used card of a disgraced Italian slugger? Would you believe people actually believe I'm serious when I refer to him as an Italian? I got crap for it in the comments on one of Mario's posts recently. I mean c'mon guys, being named after a famous Rennaisance reptilian pizza loving artist does NOT make you Italian, and neither do steroids. Remember that kids.

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Nick Markakis

Getting a Nick the Stick card that isn't already in my collection makes any trade package instantly better. This just happens to be the last card, chronologically. I didn't do that on purpose or anything.

Alfredo, thanks a lot man! Your cards went out on Friday, so they should arrive soon. It was a pleasure trading with you, and thanks a lot for all the 70's & early 80's cards.

I also made some Ginter trades last week, with JD's Wild Cardz and Sharpe Since '92. These trades helped get me a little closer to finishing this year's Ginter set before the first snowfall arrives. My wantlist can be found on the top right of my sidebar or HERE, and is freshly updated. I also still have a fat stack of doubles available to trade away, so please contact me if you'd like to work out a trade.