NumerOlogy

…At least when it comes to the Orioles’ starting rotation. Over the weekend, the Birds farmed out #18 Garrett Olson in favor of #62 Radhames Liz, who had regained his form in AAA Norfolk. Of course, he seemed to lose it again in Friday’s start vs. the Yankees, which I had the misfortune of seeing in person. Tonight’s starter is also a familiar face who’s back from a brief exile to Norfolk: #56 Brian Burres will try to keep his momentum going against the White Sox. He replaces #31 Kam Mickolio on the roster, but don’t cry for Kam. He’s all but assured of a return to Baltimore after the rosters expand on September 1. Hopefully he’ll be less prone to overthrowing by then.

I’m back from another week’s vacation with a few roster changes to discuss. I would have loved to have been the 50 Millionth Fan last night, but I had a dental checkup instead. That’s almost as fun, isn’t it? Ugh.

Anyway, two weeks ago the O’s bid goodbye to submarining reliever #53 Chad Bradford, who was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for the ever-popular PTBNL (player to be named later). Tampa had claimed Bradford on waivers, and the Birds decided to work out a deal. To replace ChadBrad, the team summoned the delightfully-named Rocky Cherry from Norfolk. Cherry originally wore #38 when Baltimore acquired him from the Cubs in the Steve Trachsel deal last year, but he re-emerged in #57 for this go-round. He is the twelfth Oriole to sport that number, and the forty-first different player to spend time on the 2008 roster.

Just yesterday, Flat Breezy himself (a.k.a. #52 George Sherrill) hit the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation. He has been replaced by another member of the Erik Bedard Five, the very tall righty reliever Kam Mickolio. Kam will be wearing #31 tonight, previously worn this year by fellow reliever Bob McCrory. Let’s hope he has better luck in Birdland than McCrory had. Kam’s just the tenth Oriole in #31, as it’s been a coach-heavy number for much of the club’s history. His addition to the 2008 roster brings the running total to forty-two players. Whew!

One other tidbit that I picked up while reading a very worthwhile book: Tales from the Orioles Dugout by Louis Berney. The book features interviews with about three dozen former Orioles, running the gamut from Jim Palmer and Earl Weaver to Jeff Ballard and Jack Voigt. Each chapter includes a photo of the featured player, and I did a double-take when I saw Tippy Martinez wearing #36. Sure enough, a few of my best sources list him in both #23 and #36 in 1976, when he joined the O’s in the huge mid-June trade with the Yankees. My best guess is that he was given #36 when he first suited up, and later requested #23, which had been worn by Grant Jackson, one of the outgoing players in that trade. As always, if anyone has more information, let me know. Until next time, enjoy the Orioles’ continued push for .500!

…This guy being the first, of course. The Orioles gave me one heck of a birthday present last night, confounding the Angels, 3-0. The man of the moment was one of the most unlikely heroes you could find, 27-year-old rookie #29 Chris Waters. Waters, a Braves draft pick in 2000, took seven years to make it to AAA. The lefty finally got the call to start for the O’s, who don’t really have a lot of viable options for the rotation. All that he did in his debut was hold the best team in baseball to one hit over eight innings, making him the sixth pitcher in the last 50 years to have such an auspicious introduction to the bigs. He also led the Birds to their fifth straight August 5th victory, which I personally appreciate. Waters took #12 Brandon Fahey’s roster spot, as “Fay-Fay” was optioned to AAA Norfolk once again.

It was a bit of a surprise for me to turn on the game and see Chris wearing Adam Loewen’s number. It was just last month that the young Canadian shut down his pitching career due to his latest elbow injury, and this sort of drove home the fact that he may never wear the O’s uniform again. In the meantime, Chris Waters is the 22nd #29 in team history, and he’s at least got a shot to wear it through his 28th birthday on August 17.

What would the Orioles do for an encore? Get creamed by the Angels, sadly. But there was another excellent first impression in today’s getaway game. Outfielder #3 Lou Montanez became the first Birds position player to hit a home run in his first plate appearance (pitcher #35 Buster Narum did the deed in 1963). Lou is another Y2K draft pick (3rd overall by the Cubs) who waited forever for the call. The circumstances are unfortunate, as his opening came with the placement of emerging rookie center fielder #10 Adam Jones on the disabled list with a broken bone in his foot.

According to MASN reporter Mark Viviano, Montanez had been wearing #21 at AA Bowie, which he was unlikely to wrest from Nick Markakis in Baltimore. The team assigned Lou #3, which he had apparently worn as a high schooler. He’s the 20th Baltimore baseballer to wear this number; the most recent had been alleged shortstop Freddie Bynum.

As the summer wears on, the roster continues to turn over. Waters and Montanez are the 39th and 40th players to suit up in orange and black in 2008, and the third and fourth to to wear recycled numbers. It’s a good thing I’m keeping track of the dates; two players to a number in any year can get confusing!

You know it’s been an unusual season in Baltimore when the O’s demote a pitcher who’s tied for the team lead in wins. That’s exactly what they did on Friday, optioning #56 Brian Burres to AAA Norfolk to make room for shortstop #13 Alex Cintron, whose gimpy ankle has finally healed. Fortunately, Garrett Olson and Jeremy Guthrie shut down the Mariners in the first two games of the weekend series, allowing them to both surpass Burres in Ws.

I also updated the roster and bio pages to include some unsung personnel: bullpen catchers #67 Ronnie Deck and #68 Ruben Felix.

Lastly, I uncovered another bit of Orioles uni number trivia while writing about former first baseman #4 Norm Siebern for one of my baseball card blogs, The Great 1965 Topps Project. The Orioles traded their previous #4, first baseman “Diamond” Jim Gentile, to the Kansas City A’s along with $25,000 to acquire Siebern. I’ve added this transaction to my “Trading Places” list on the Odds and Ends page.

Let’s hope the Birds are thinking sweep today! This is the final game of the season series against Seattle, and I miss the Mariners already.