Trade with Bryan of Golden Rainbow Cards

I've been pretty busy lately and haven't had too much time to spend on my hobbies but I was able to complete a quick trade with Bryan of Golden Rainbow Cards.  He's working on collecting the entire Braves "rainbow" for 2013 Topps among other things.  He saw a few cards he needed from my trade list and sent these in return:

A Frank Robinson shiny insert from series 1

A Luis Ayala that my scanner didn't scan correctly.  I'm leaning toward user error though.  Also, Note to Buck Showalter:  Please do not allow Luis to enter the game with runners on base!

Last but certainly not least, this slick manu-patch of Cal!  While I'm not the biggest fan of manufactured "relics" I do appreciate a new card of Cal that will have a permanent home in my collection.

Thanks a bunch for the trade Bryan.  Good luck on your project!

Trade with Ryan of Ryan's Pitch

Here's a trade that came together rather quickly last week.  Ryan from the excellent blog Ryan's Pitch posted up a wantlist for some 2012 sets he's trying to finish up last week and I was happy to help out (and clear some room out of my commons boxes).  I was very happy to be able to get these cards in return:

A Javy Lopez patch card!  If I remember correctly, this one is numbered 70/100.  I vaguely remember Javy's time in Baltimore since it was a time when I wasn't collecting much or paying that close attention to the Orioles.  I do remember my roommate at the time who was a Braves fan being pretty upset that Javy switched teams.  I guess it was the personal connection he had since he had seen him play in person for the Braves Triple-A team at the Diamond here in Richmond.

There's a rumor that the Orioles are interested in bringing back Matt Lindstrom to the flock for the upcoming season.  I'd welcome that move since he pitched really well during the 2012 season before he was shipped off to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Joe Saunders.  To be quite honest Lindstrom would be preferable in my eyes over the re-upping of Saunders.  You can't teach a 98 MPH fastball that Lindstrom possesses but  we don't need to sign Saunders to a multi-year deal that blocks the path of Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman to the major league rotation.

Luis Ayala pitched really well of the O's this past year.  I really hope that he can keep it up this year.  For once, the Orioles bullpen has some stability and reliability.  This particular card is one of my favorites of 2012.  It's like Luis is pointing the bat at the photographer saying "don't even think about making fun of my pink batting gloves, my daughter gave them to me!"

The next big offensive prospect in the Orioles pipeline is Jonathan Schoop.  I've gotten his autograph in person a few times and he has been quite pleasant each time.  I believe he is going to start the year in Triple-A Norfolk playing everyday.  He played very well in the Arizona Fall League after having an average season at Double-A Bowie.  I'll be following him closely this year to see how he's progressing!

Thanks for the trade Ryan.  I hope we can get together on another trade soon!

Orioles @ Tides IP Autograph #3

It's IP autograph weekend here at "O" NO!!! Another Orioles Blog.  I'm featuring each and every in-person autograph that I obtained this past Wednesday when the Orioles played an exhibition game against their AAA affiliate, The Norfolk Tides.

#3) Luis Ayala

Luis was nice enough to sign for fans after he was done throwing in the outfield.  I look forward to seeing him pitch.  I remember seeing him pitch in the World Baseball Classic and subsequently walking off the mound after blowing out his elbow.