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

Mike Wiley started and relieved over two pro seasons

Kane County's Mike Wiley made the move from relief to starting in 1991 and found success The Appleton Post-Crescent wrote.

He won five games in eight starts by late July his fifth a 5-2 victory over Appleton, The Post-Crescent wrote.

"He's been in the rotation a few weeks, and he's done a great job," Kane County manager Bob Miscik told The Post-Crescent afterward. "He changes speeds well, throws strikes and doesn't do anything to beat himself."

Wiley went on that run in his second season as a pro. That season, however, also proved his last. He topped out at single-A.

Wiley's career began in 1990, taken by the Orioles in the 41st round of the draft out of Connors State College in Oklahoma.

Wiley started with the Orioles at rookie Bluefield. He went 5-2, with a 3.84 ERA over 11 games, nine starts. He picked up his first win in a late June game.

Wiley then moved to single-A Kane County for 1991. He went 5.2 innings of relief in a May game for his second win of the year. He went 5-4 overall, with a 2.43 ERA in 23 outings, nine starts.

Wiley had been slated to return for 1992. In November 1991, he served as a caddie at a Maryland golf club for Vice President Dan Quayle, The Baltimore Evening Sun wrote. The paper also added that Wiley was headed for Frederick in 1992, but Wiley did not play. His season at Kane County marked his last.

• Appleton Post-Crescent, July 27, 1991: Foxes fall prey to Cougars

More: The 1990 Bluefield Orioles

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,440
Made the Majors:1,423-32.1
Never Made Majors:3,017-67.9%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

1990 Bluefield Orioles player profiles, Baltimore

Features on each member of the 1990 Bluefield Orioles, rookie affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, as included in that year's team set. 

Bluefield Orioles (9)

1. Matt Anderson couldn't wait to turn pro, saw six seasons, 10/8/11
2. Mattie Asencio joined Wausau Dominicans, saw 2 seasons, 7/1/21
3. Brett Benge had rough start, saw 3 pro seasons, single-A, 10/27/24
4. Shawn O'Connell threw hard in high school, saw 4 seasons, 10/21/24
5. German Paredes got hot Bluefield start, saw two seasons, 10/20/24
6. Dan Ramirez played at Memorial Stadium, saw 5 seasons, AA, 10/28/24
7. Keith Schmidt hit 1st Kane County home run, saw 6 seasons, 1/25/16
8. Brad Tippitt started, relieved over three pro seasons, 10/26/24
9. Mike Wiley started and relieved over two pro seasons, 10/19/24