NumerOlogy

A few things worth mentioning in the afterglow of an 8-2 thrashing of the Yankees:

Adam Jones wore #42 as planned on Tuesday for Jackie Robinson Day. Incidentally, it was the same night that the O’s gave away t-shirt replicas of Adam’s regular #10. It wasn’t a great night for the home team, as Toronto handled them 11-3, but Jones made Jackie proud by slugging his first home run as an Oriole. I’ve updated the All-Time Roster and the Forties page to reflect the temporary uni number change. Image credit: baltimoresun.com

For some reason, country music star Kenny Chesney took batting practice before Thursday’s 6-5, 10-inning win over the White Sox. He did so wearing a #7 jersey. In actuality, no one has worn that number for the Birds since Cal Ripken, Sr. last manned the third base coach’s box in 1992.

The LaTroy Hawkins saga has taken another turn. The relief pitcher, who toiled for the 2006 O’s, has gotten off to a rough start as a Yankee. His struggles have been exacerbated by the fact that he is the first pinstriper to wear #21 since Paul O’Neill. After the Yankee Stadium “faithful” serenaded him on a few occasions with chants of “PAUL-O-NEI-LL!”, Hawkins relented and switched to #22. It hasn’t seemed to help, as he was racked for two runs in Baltimore’s seven-run outburst in the sixth inning last night. Apparently a seven-run deficit is all it takes to silence the interloping Yanks fans in Camden Yards. Here’s hoping we can give them plenty of reasons to stay quiet tonight!

…Well, sort of. You may remember last April 21, when former O’s outfielder Corey Patterson put aside his regular #17 to wear #42 as part of a league-wide tribute to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut. Robinson, of course, became the first black player in the major leagues in baseball’s modern era. His #42 was retired across baseball in 1997, with the players who were wearing it at the time (including O’s catcher Lenny Webster) receiving a pass. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is the only one of those players still active. Last year was the first time that #42 was “unretired” for players and coaches who wished to honor Robinson. This idea came from Reds outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr.

Yesterday, manager Dave Trembley informed Adam Jones that he had chosen the center fielder to be the Orioles’ representative in the #42 jersey. This year’s Jackie Robinson Day will be held on Tuesday, April 15, which just happens to be the birthday of Jones’ mother. Jones says it’s “an honor” to put #10 on the shelf for one game only.

For what it’s worth, I’m glad to see the O’s stick with one #42 honoree each year. Several teams had everyone wear the number last year, and one or two are planning to do so again this year. I just think that cheapens the honor somewhat; it strikes me as a bit of politically-correct pandering. If you’ve got more than one guy who wants to wear it, and you’re worried about hurt feelings, just follow the Brewers’ lead and pick a name out of a hat.

Of course if you read the article I just linked to, you’ll see that commissioner Bud Selig encourages the “everyone in #42” approach. Big surprise.

That’s right, it’s finally here! I’m realistic about the Orioles’ chances this year (as in, they have a chance to win 65-70 games), but they’re starting out even with everyone else at 0-0. There’s something refreshing about the feeling, however small, that anything is possible.

The final roster spot was claimed by Scott Moore, who will see time as a backup at the corners of the infield, and maybe even some second base. This meant that the O’s took another mildly surprising step in the rebuilding process by releasing #31 Jay Gibbons and treating the two years and $11.9 million they owed him as a sunk cost. The move isn’t surprising based on merit: as I stated last week, Gibbons has been chronically injured, has declined as a player in recent years, and is limited defensively. But it is surprising that Peter Angelos gave Andy MacPhail the green light to dump him and to eat all of that money. Although I (and most Baltimore fans) have been rough on Jay recently, this is still a bittersweet moment. He had been the second-longest tenured Oriole behind Melvin Mora, having spent his entire seven-year MLB career in orange and black. He seemed like a nice guy and a good teammate, and he was once a productive power hitter. But there’s just no room for him on this team any more, especially not at his current level of play. Best of luck to Jay wherever he goes from here.

I’ve been eager to update the site for the 2008 season ever since new players and new numbers started trickling into Fort Lauderdale nearly two months ago, and now that the roster is official, that’s just what I’ve done! There are updates to all of the number countdown pages where applicable, and of course the All-Time Roster. Let’s summarize the new guys, as well as a few number switches:

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It seems like only yesterday that pitchers and catchers reported to Fort Lauderdale for the Orioles. That’s probably because it was yesterday. As soon as I see more pictures and everyone gets to camp, I’ll try to roll out a Spring Training Roster, so we can keep ourselves occupied with numerical comings and goings from now until the games start to count. We already have one confirmed number change for 2008; Roch Kubatko reports that Daniel Cabrera has switched from #35 to #40. Hopefully we’ll find out why, but considering his recent performance, it couldn’t hurt to change things up. Glancing over the Baltimore Sun’s roster, there are some other items of interest:

• Greg Aquino is listed as #35; he would replace Cabrera in that number.
• Fernando Cabrera might supplant Kris Benson as #34; he wore #23 late in 2007.
• Speaking of #23, that now seems to reside with Rocky Cherry, who was last seen in #38.
• Jon Leicester still claims #52, so it appears that George Sherrill will make do with #51.
• Radhames Liz jumps up to #64, with nonroster invitee Matt Wieters taking Liz’s old #58.
• Steve Trachsel is back in #41, which briefly resided with Victor Zambrano after Trachsel’s trade to the Cubs.
• Among other pitchers who have a good shot at making the team, Troy Patton is assigned #43 and Dennis Sarfate looks to have jumped on Erik Bedard’s new available #45.
• Guillermo Quiroz, the early favorite to back up Ramon Hernandez at catcher, sports a number familiar to O’s backstops - #24.
• Only notable digits among infielders go to Scott Moore, who swaps #43 for #9 (formerly the property of Paul Bako).
• In the outfield, new Orioles Adam Jones (#10) and Luke Scott (#30) will likely keep the numbers they’d most recently worn in Seattle and Houston, respectively.
• Has Aubrey Huff turned over a new leaf? He may have given up #19 in favor of #17.  Aubrey has worn #19 for his entire major league career except for the second half of 2006, when he wore #9 with the Astros.

Of course, for now these numbers should all be taken with a grain of salt. After all, that same roster currently lists Chris Tillman’s age as -1, and several numbers have changed just today.

Lots to get to today. First of all, the slowest-developing trade in MLB history has been consummated. Erik Bedard is now a Seattle Mariner, so I’ve updated the roster and the 40-49 page to reflect his departure. Best of luck to Erik…except when he’s facing the O’s, of course. If yesterday’s press conference in Seattle is any indication, he’ll continue to wear #45 for the Mariners. Time will tell which numbers Adam Jones and George Sherrill will wear; Jones wore #10 in Seattle last year (recently vacated by Miguel Tejada) and Sherrill wore #52. The most recent #52 in Baltimore was Jon Leicester, who seems to be a long shot to make this year’s team. Welcome to Birdland, guys!

In other news, we’ve got our first confirmed Orioles player to have found this little site! I got an email this morning from reliever Dick Hall, whose grandson showed him NumerOlogy. He says the following:

“Some of players were into numbers. I remember one time in the bullpen paying a game (we were safely way ahead - we didn’t play games much if the game was close) where someone would say a number and then people would name all the players in the league with that number. Milt Pappas especially knew everyone.”

Dick was also fairly certain that when he first arrived in Baltimore in April 1961, he wore a number other than #29. He thought it might have been #38, but wasn’t sure. He also didn’t know when he switched for good. I did a little sleuthing, and Baseball Almanac lists him as #29 and #38 in 1961. I had already confirmed pitcher Dick Hyde for #38, but he didn’t appear in a game until May. This would support Hall’s claim that he started out in #38, and switched to #29 either before or when Hyde joined the team. I’d like to thank Dick for helping me make that correction, and if anyone has more specific dates for the switch they can let me know.

I wanted to acknowledge a few blogs that have had some positive things to say about this site and that were kind enough to toss a link my way:

Neal Shaffer at the Baltimore-centric sports blog The Loss Column asserts that “this is what the Internet is really for”.

Bill Ordine of the Baltimore Sun’s O, by the Way sports blog says, “Count on a great read”.

Finally, Ben Penserga of The Daily Times in Salisbury, MD was kind enough to interview me for his O’s Chat blog. I answered Ben’s questions by email, so hopefully I’ll actually come across as articulate.

Thanks, guys! The feedback for NumerOlogy is already exceeding my expectations. Don’t forget, pitchers and catchers report to Fort Lauderdale in four days!