Roy Hodge worked to play well over 9 seasons, made AA

Orioles farmhand Roy Hodge made it up to AA Bowie in 1995, but, by July, he was back down at high-A High Desert, The Victorville Daily Press wrote.

Joining him for the trip down was three others. Hodge told The Daily Press they all came down disappointed.

"But we realized that we can't do anything about it," Hodge told The Daily Press then. "The best thing for us to do is just to play well and hopefully get sent back up. If not, just have a good season and hope we win the whole thing."

Hodge spoke in his sixth pro season. He saw three more. He never made it higher than AA.

Hodge's career began in 1990, taken by the Orioles in the ninth round of the draft out of Shea High School in Rhode Island. 

Hodge started with the Orioles at rookie Bluefield. He got into 26 games and hit .229. He then played 1991 in the rookie Gulf Coast League, then 1992 between Bluefield and single-A Kane County.

With Bluefield in July 1992, Hodge hit a go-ahead three-run home run in a game, The Johnson City Press wrote.

"I was looking for a fastball and he threw it high," Hodge told The Press afterward. "I just threw the head of the bat out."

Hodge played 1993 between high-A Frederick and single-A Albany, then 1994 back at Frederick. He made AA Bowie for 29 games in 1995, then played the rest at High Desert and Frederick.

Hodge played 1996 back at High Desert and Frederick, his last year in the Orioles system

For 1997, he turned to independent ball and Elmira. He got into 80 games and hit .272. He returned to Elmira for 1998 and also played at Waterbury. That August, he and his team worked to get back in the race after a losing streak.

"Personally, I feel confused," Hodge told The Elmira Star-Gazette. "Every day I come out here, I don't expect us to lose."

Hodge saw 75 games in all that year between Elmira and Waterbury. He hit .264 to end his career.

• Johnson City Press, July 22, 1992: Cards
• Victorville Daily Press, July 1, 1995: New kids in town
• Elmira Star-Gazette, Aug. 6, 1998: Pioneers extend skid with 8th straight loss

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,447
Made the Majors:1,423-32.0
Never Made Majors:3,024-68.0%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Stewart Ruiz signed out of Venezuela, played 3 seasons

Kane County Cougar Stewart Ruiz tried his best to get into scoring position late this night in July 1992. Instead, he ran into a sterling defensive play, The South Bend Tribune wrote.

Down 2-1,  Ruiz hit one down the line. But, South Bend right fielder Corey Austin fired the ball back in and got him at second, The Tribune wrote.

"The ball got down the line and I was just fortunate to get over there as fast as I could and get the throw off," Austin told The Tribune of the throw that got Ruiz. "It turned out to be a good throw."

Ruiz hit that ball in his third season as a pro. It also proved his last. He topped out at single-A.

Ruiz' career began in 1990, signed by the Orioles as a free agent out of his native Venezuela. Ruiz was also credited by his given name, Estuar Ruiz.

Ruiz started with the Orioles at rookie Bluefield. He got into 22 games and hit .206.

He then returned to Bluefield for 1991. He saw 47 games that year and hit .257. He went 2 for 4 in a game that July. He picked up another two hits in a game that August.

Ruiz moved to single-A Kane County for 1992. He saw 77 games there. He knocked in the extra-inning go-ahead runs in an August win. Overall, he hit .195, with 14 RBI to end his career.

Ruiz continued to play in Venezuela into 1994. He has since gone on to be a scout in Venezuela and coach in Dominican and Venezuelan summer leagues.

• South Bend Tribune, July 27, 1992: S.B. Sox

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,446
Made the Majors:1,423-32.0
Never Made Majors:3,023-68.0%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Dan Ramirez played at Memorial Stadium, saw 5 seasons, AA

Dan Ramirez got to play in a major league stadium in 1993 - with the AA Bowie BaySox.

Ramirez got into 16 games that year for Bowie, a team that played its first year at the newly vacated Memorial Stadium in Baltimore as it waited for its permanent home to open.

"It was a real nostalgic feeling for me to play where so much history was made and to get a sense of that," Ramirez told The Baltimore Sun as he and his team wrapped their Memorial stay.

For Ramirez, though, that stay would be the closest he'd get to the majors over five seasons. He topped out at AA.

Ramirez' career began in 1990, taken by the Orioles in the 21st round of the draft out of the University of Tennessee.

Ramirez started with the Orioles at rookie Bluefield. He went 2 for 2 after coming in as a pinch hitter to help Bluefield to a July win, then hit a three-run home run two nights later.

Overall, Ramirez hit .289 in 57 games, with two home runs at Bluefield. He moved to single-A Kane County for 1991. He hit .264 in 120 games there.

For 1992, he arrived at high-A Frederick. He returned to Frederick for 1993, then made AA Bowie. He saw 15 games at Bowie, going 2 for 31.

Ramirez moved to independent Saskatoon for 1994. He saw 35 games and hit .238 to end his career.

• Baltimore Sun, Sept. 6, 1993: Yanks club Baysox; playoffs next

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,445
Made the Majors:1,423-32.0
Never Made Majors:3,022-68.0%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Brett Benge had rough start, saw 3 pro seasons, single-A

Bluefield starter Brett Benge had a rough start in this July 1990 game, but it could have been worse, The Martinsville Bulletin wrote.

An inning-inning double play in the first stopped a potential opening rally. Continued problems in the second, though, led to an early end of Benge's night, The Bulletin wrote.

"We finally got him (Benge) in the second but we should have put him away earlier and we should have had more runs," manager for opposing Martinsville Roly DeArmas told The Bulletin.

Benge had that tough outing in his first season as a pro. He went on to see two more campaigns. He topped out at single-A.

Benge's career began that year in 1990, taken by the Orioles in the 18th round of the draft out of Rend Lake College in Illinois.

At Rend Lake, Benge threw a shortened two-hitter in a March game and went on to win three-straight decisions.

With the Orioles, Benge started at rookie Bluefield. He saw just four outings and started two. He gave up 13 earned in 9.1 innings of work.

He returned to Bluefield for 1991. He picked up two saves over a weekend in July, among five he secured on the year. Overall, he went 4-1, with a 3.18 ERA in 23 relief outings.

For 1992, he arrived at single-A Kane County, but his stay proved brief. He saw two games, three inning of work. He didn't give up a run, but those two innings marked the end of his career.

• Martinsville Bulletin, July 22, 1990: Pitching woes catch up with Phillies in loss to Orioles

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,444
Made the Majors:1,423-32.0
Never Made Majors:3,021-68.0%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Brad Tippitt started, relieved over three pro seasons

Brad Tippitt's manager called him the story of the game. In that July 1992 game, the Frederick Key hurler Tippitt went six innings for the win in an emergency start, The Newport News Daily Press wrote. 

"It's hard to get ready for a start that fast," Tippitt told The Daily Press. "I just tried to stick to the same routine I always go through when I'm not starting. I did everything normally."

Tippitt made that start in his third pro season. That season also proved his last. He topped out at high-A.

Tippitt's career began in 1990, signed by the Orioles as an undrafted free agent out of Northwest Missouri State.

At Northwest Missouri, Tippitt played as both a pitcher and as a catcher. But he signed early that July in 1990 as a pitcher. Tippitt's name was also incorrectly spelled Brad Tippett.

Tippett started with the Orioles at rookie Bluefield. He picked up a relief win in a July game, one of three he picked up on the year to three losses. 

That August, he seemingly threw the right pitch to a batter struggling against that type of pitch, but it didn't matter, The Roanoke Times wrote. The result was a three-run home run.

"(Tippitt) started me off with a changeup, a good pitch, for a strike," hitter George Virgilio told The Times. "Then he threw me another one and I stayed back and got it."

Overall, he saw 15 games, two starts and had a 3.65 ERA.

Tippitt moved to single-A Kane County for 1991. He went  4-6 there, with a 3.35 ERA in 18 games, 12 starts.

For 1991, he arrived at high-A Frederick. He went 6-2 there, with a 4.66 ERA in 27 outings, five starts to end his career.

• Roanoke Times, Aug. 31, 1990: Williams, Virgilio pace Pulaski 5-3
• Newport News Daily Press, July 8, 1992: Emergency starter sinks Pilots

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,443
Made the Majors:1,423-32.0
Never Made Majors:3,020-68.0%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Shawn O'Connell threw hard in high school, saw 4 seasons

The San Francisco Examiner ran through the area's top potential draft picks in late May 1989 and, there at the end under "Sleepers and Question Marks," was high schooler Shawn O'Connell.

The pitcher out of Campolindo High School had gone 6-5 and "throws hard enough to bear watching," The Examiner wrote.

O'Connell did get taken in that draft and he eventually signed and turned pro.  His pro career lasted parts of four seasons.  He topped out at single-A.

O'Connell's career began that year in 1989, taken by the Orioles in the 38th round of the draft out of Campolindo High in Moraga, Ca.

O'Connell didn't make it to the field with the Orioles, though, until the next year, 1990, at rookie Bluefield. He saw 18 games in relief and went 1-1, with a save and an 8.16 ERA.

He returned to Bluefield for 1991. He threw two hitless relief innings that July. He earned a save that August.

For 1992, he moved to single-A Kane County. Early that April, he admitted to his new manager Joel Youngblood to getting tired on the mound in an outing where he gave up two runs in three innings, The South Bend Tribune wrote. Youngblood wasn't impressed.

"I went out and  asked him, 'Are you tired?'" Youngblood told The Tribune afterward. "He said, 'Yeah.' I said, "You've only thrown 39 pitches. I throw 200 every day (in batting practice).'"

That May, O'Connell entered a game in the 10th inning and saw seven batters over two innings for the win. Overall, O'Connell saw 22 relief outings, with a 9.71 ERA. The Orioles released him in July. 

O'Connell signed on with independent Sioux Falls for 1993, but his time there proved brief. He saw a single game to end his career.

• San Francisco Examiner, May 30, 1989: Bay Area's Top Draftees
• South Bend Tribune, April 12, 1992: S.B. Sox

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,442
Made the Majors:1,423-32.0
Never Made Majors:3,019-68.0%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

German Paredes got hot Bluefield start, saw two seasons

New Orioles farmhand German Paredes started strong for rookie Bluefield in 1990, The Baltimore Evening Sun wrote.

Paredes picked up six RBIs in the team's first three games and went 8 for 22 over the club's first six contests, The Evening Sun wrote.

Paredes, however, couldn't keep it up. He ended the year with a still-respectable .266 average in 60 games. But he saw just one more campaign. He topped out at single-A.

Paredes' career began that year in 1990, signed by the Orioles as a free agent out of his native Dominican Republic.

Paredes started with the Orioles at rookie Bluefield. He went 3 for 5 in that opener, with three RBI. He then hit a in a game soon after, one of six he hit on the year. He hit another two-run home run in a July game. He hit .his .266 in 60 games on the year.

For 1991, he went to single-A Kane County. He saw just 21 games. He hit .171 to end his career.

• Baltimore Evening Sun, June 29, 1990: German Paredes

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,441
Made the Majors:1,423-32.0
Never Made Majors:3,018-68.0%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356