NumerOlogy

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 He has been replaced by another member of the Erik Bedard Five, the very tall righty reliever Kam Mickolio.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!

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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