My quest is over! These autographs, obtained over the last few months, represent the end of my goal of collecting the entire 2012 Baltimore Orioles roster. While I had been writing full profiles on each player, the last batch of guys didn't exactly have a lot to write home about, so let's take care of them in a group and reunite some old teammates.
Dana Eveland's finest game as an Oriole was his first, where he pitched six innings against the Rays, allowing three runs (but walking six) in a game the Orioles eventually took thanks to a seventh-inning two-run home run from Nick Johnson. The win pulled the Orioles above Tampa Bay and gave them sole possession of first place, as both teams entered with identical 20-12 records. Darren O'Day earned his third win and Jim Johnson picked up save #10. Eveland would not make another start in his next thirteen appearances before being designated for assignment following a miserable 2/3 of an inning on July 13, where after a Prince Fielder groundout, he allowed consecutive singles to Delmon Young and Brennan Boesch before a three-run home run to Jhonny Peralta to turn a 4-1 Tigers lead into 7-1. Eveland ended his Os career with an 0-1 record and 4.73 ERA. After a year in Korea for the Hanwha Eagles in 2013, he's back in the states and pitching well in relief for the New York Mets with a 1.42 ERA over 12.2 innings.
A former 10th round pick of the Florida Marlins, Matt Lindstrom had developed into a capable bullpen arm (saving 15 games for the 2009 Marlins and 23 for 2010's Astros) before he came to Baltimore following a 2-2, 3.00 campaign for the Rockies along with Jason Hammel in the Jeremy Guthrie trade. Lindstrom was in the midst of a career year, pitching to a career-low 2.72 ERA over 34 games when the Orioles sent him to Arizona in the trade that brought eventual Wild Card game hero Joe Saunders to the Birds. His finest Orioles moment? Striking out three Red Sox and allowing only one hit to hold down the 12th and 13th innings in the May 6 game the Orioles won in 17 to give Chris Davis his first career win. Lindstrom has spent 2013 and 2014 with the Chicago White Sox, where he's seen action in 95 games as of July 1 and fashioned a 3.16 ERA.
A seven-year veteran of the Boston and White Sox systems, 25-year-old Miguel Socovich made his big league debut for the Orioles in the 11th inning of a 4-4 tie with the Tigers on July 14. He allowed consecutive singles to Prince Fielder and Delmon Young, but kept the Tigers off the board thanks to consecutive forceouts on a bunt popfly and ground out. Unfortunately, Troy Patton, called on to get the third out, allowed a single to Alex Avila, giving the Tigers the lead and setting Miguel up for the loss. Alas, the offense bailed him out, as a two-out single in the Oriole half of the inning by Adam Jones off Jose Valverde tied the game at 5-5 by plating Nick Markakis, and despite the Tigers taking a 6-5 lead in the top of the 13th on a two-out single from Quentin Berry, two home runs in the 13th from JJ Hardy and Taylor Teagarden off Joaquin Benoit gave the Birds the win and the Tigers their second blown save of the game. Miguel went on to allow earned runs in each of his first four appearances, before calming down to pitch a scoreless two innings against the Mariners on August 8 to close out a 9-2 win. He was released by Baltimore after allowing another run in his next appearance, giving him a 6.97 ERA in 10.1 innings. He finished the season with a 4.50 ERA in six more innings for the Cubs, and after a stint in Japan, he is currently pitching in AAA in the New York Mets' system.
A 6'6" first baseman, Joe Mahoney was a sixth-round draft pick of the Orioles in 2007 and the organization's 2010 Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .307 with 18 home runs, 73 RBI and 13 stolen bases across the single-A Frederick Keys and AA Bowie Baysox. His Orioles career consisted of two games - an 0-3 performance July 7 in a 3-0 loss to the Angels, and a single at-bat on August 17 in a 5-3 loss to the Tigers. His next chance at the majors came in 2013, where he spent nine games with the Miami Marlins, hitting .276 and hitting his first major league home run off Scott Feldman of the Chicago Cubs. His promising start was cut short by a hamstring injury, and he is not signed to a major league baseball organization for 2014.
Little Jerome Hoes! A Washington, DC native signed to the team he grew up watching, LJ made his major league debut for the 2012 Birds and saw action in games 155 and 156, entering each game late and enjoying a single at-bat. Hoes' time in Baltimore ended on July 31, 2013, when he and Josh Hader were sent to the Houston Astros for Buderick Norris after LJ had played in a single game for the Birds. He hit .287 with a home run and seven steals in 46 games for the Astros in 2013, but has struggled to a .190 line over 33 games in 2014.
Backup catcher Luis Exposito saw his only nine games in the big leagues for the 2012 Birds, and notched his lone career hit - a leadoff single to start the 5th - against Texas' Derek Holland in an eventual 7-3 loss in the Orioles' 32nd game of the year. The former 31st round pick of the Boston Red Sox has spent 2014 in the minor leagues for the Triple-A affiliates of the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics.
Utility infielder Steve Tolleson's proudest Birdland moment was likely his June 10, 2012 three-run home run off Cliff Lee to score Mark Reynolds and Steve Pearce and tie up what was previously a 4-1 Phillies lead. That game was deadlocked until the bottom of the tenth, when Matt Wieters hit a walk-off double off Philly's Joe Savery after Adam Jones reached on a one-out error. Tolleson appeared in 29 games for the 2012 Orioles and hit .183. He's currently enjoying his longest stay in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he's seen action in 48 games and is hitting .230 with two home runs and a .309 OBP.
I already wrote about Jason Berken's season here. I scanned his card again because I chose to forget.
Zach Phillips saw 14 career innings with the Orioles, pitching to a 1.13 ERA over 8 innings in 2011, and a 6.00 over 6 innings in 2012. The 27-year-old managed to take a loss in 1.2 innings for the 2013 Marlins and is currently in Japan with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
Following a 32 save campaign for the 2008 Florida Marlins, Kevin Gregg saved 29 in 2009 and began a streak of four consecutive 20+ save seasons for four different teams. 29 with a 3.41 ERA for the Marlins, 23 with a 4.72 for the Cubs, 37 and a 3.51 for the Blue Jays, and 22 with a 4.37 for the Orioles. By and large, despite being by all accounts a good, helpful teammate willing to fight David Ortiz, Gregg simply was not a terribly good closer. He appeared in 40 games for the 2012 Birds and pitched to a 4.95 ERA. He returned to the Cubs in 2013 to the tune of 33 saves and a 3.48 ERA, which was good enough to get him signed to a minor-league deal with the last-place Miami Marlins, who called him up on June 19. Gregg's finest moment for the 2012 Birds - like with Matt Lindstrom, Gregg pitched two innings in the marathon win on May 6, holding the Sox scoreless in the 10th and 11th innings, allowing one run and striking out a season-high four batters.
Bill Hall spent eight years with the Milwaukee Brewers and simply couldn't consistently keep it together after a breakout 2006 where he hit .270 with 35 home runs, 39 doubles and 85 RBI. Hall had hit .291 with 17 home runs and another 39 doubles the year before, but after 2006, his average dropped to .254, then .225, then .201, and he found himself on the way out of the Brew Crew after expressing displeasure at being moved around the field and frequently platooned. Despite a flash of his former self in the form of 18 home runs over 120 games for the 2010 Boston Red Sox, the Hall who landed in Baltimore for seven games in 2012 was the same one that had failed to catch fire in Houston and San Francisco the season before, although Birds fans may have been fooled by Hall's 8th inning home run in his first game for the Orioles - the last run of a 5-3 victory over the Rays on May 12.
He then had one hit over his last six games, returned to Triple-A Norfolk, and was last seen playing for the independent Long Island Ducks.
Reliever JC Romero found himself the bearer of postseason glory in the 2008 World Series, when he won Game Two and the deciding Game Five for the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Not bad for 4.2 scoreless innings at the right moments. The Orioles were the seventh team of Romero's 14-year career, and he pitched five games for them in August, allowing three earned runs in four innings for a 6.75 ERA with one strikeout. He spent 2013 in the minor leagues for the Nationals and Cleveland Indians and is a free agent at 38.
What a whimper. Thank you, gents. You may not have had a glorious time, but damn if you weren't a part of a truly special team.