Monday, November 28, 2011

30 Teams in 30 Posts: #13

The '30 Teams' posts are back, which means that I'm ready to start trading again. I got a tad bit overwhelmed with non-cardboard related duties lately and was temporarily avoiding anything involving responsibility that I wasn't getting paid for. Hopefully, things are on the right track again. As always, the real point of these posts are to get rid of cards. If anyone has contacted me about a trade and hasn't heard anything, feel free to give me another nudge.

Baltimore somehow fails to evoke much feeling out of me one way or another. It's probably because the team has been largely irrelevant and invisible for so long that sometimes I forget that they exist. If it weren't for baseball cards, I'm not even sure I would have the faintest idea who guys like Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts even are. I know Luke Scott because he's a gun-toting nutjob and I know Adam "Not PacMan" Jones because the Mariners gave up on him and he turned on to be a solid player.

I also know that the Orioles play in Camden Yards, which was the greatest thing since bread came sliced... when I was in high school. There's also the cartoon bird, a World Series title that I somehow missed completely and... oh yes, The Streak. What's missing from this post? Probably that 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken card. Of course, if I still had a copy I would probably hang on to it and you wouldn't see it here anyway. I think I sold one for $20 back in the day.

Favorite current Orioles player: Adam Jones. He seems talented but pretty unspectacular at the same time. I just don't know very many of these players.

Least favorite current Orioles player: Luke Scott. Like I said earlier, Luke Scott is a gun-toting nutjob and I've disliked him ever since I first learned of his existence when he played for the Astros.

Favorite Orioles player of all-time: Mike Mussina. Yeah, I know, he went on to be a dirty rotten Yankee, but Moose came into his own as an Oriole and was a pretty great pitcher.


Least favorite Orioles player of all-time: Cal Ripken. Two shortstops always stood out to me when I would have fits of Ozzie Jealousy. This was the phenomenon where I would suddenly get frustrated with anyone who might dare suggest that Ozzie Smith wasn't the greatest shortstop in the game at any given time, let alone the greatest player who ever lived. I think my dislike for Ripken came from overexposure. My dislike for Barry Larkin didn't last like the Ripken thing, so that has to be the reason.

The Baltimore Orioles check in at #13 in my reverse-ranking of favorite teams as of the moment I picked them on October 4th, 2010. Yes, that was more than a full calendar year ago! All of these cards are very much up for trade, so please contact me if you're interested.

4 comments :

  1. It's funny, when you said "Two shortstops always stood out to me when I would have fits of Ozzie Jealousy.", I knew the other would be Barry Larkin, after all, he had the audacity to start in the All-Star game when Ozzie was still around. I felt the same way about him for a long time. I never quite had a real dislike for Ripken, but a good friend lived in Baltimore for awhile so I always like to mention how his greatest achievement is the perfect

    ReplyDelete
  2. ...attendence award.

    Comment got cut off somehow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can agree with your point of view as a Cardinals fan and Ozzie. I'm one of the biggest Ripken fans around but I try my best to see through other people's eyes. Cal did get a lot of exposure during The Streak and for "saving baseball" after the players strike. I think Ozzie was a fantastic player also but not quite the offensive player that Cal was during his career. In the age of offense I can sympathize with you on the level that Ozzie was the true shortstop wizard and didn't get his due glory.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am not an Orioles fan, but I am a huge Ripken fan, so I was wondering if I could put my name on the ?Ripken/ Miller card. I have more Cardinals cards with your name written all over them. Thanks...Tim

    ReplyDelete

Comments are highly encouraged, but then again, so is eating your fruits and vegetables.