What was the most exciting offseason move to you?

[Frobby]

Of all the offseason player moves the O’s have made over the years, which one excited you the most at the time (no hindsight involved)?    

I wasn’t a fan yet when the O’s traded for Frank Robinson, so I can’t choose that one.   Of the ones since then, there’s no doubt in my mind that I was the most excited when we signed Miguel Tejada.    By that time, we’d been losing for 6 years, and had been saddled with several bad contracts that had pretty much kept the O’s out of the free agent market for several years.   There was a lot of noise that winter about now the O’s were one if the few teams with money to spend.   Not only was the Tejada signing seemingly great in its own right (and the terms were very good), it seemed to signal that there were more deals coming, especially a possible deal with Vlad.    Needless to say, that never happened, though we did sign Javy Lopez, Sidney Ponson and Rafael Palmeiro That winter. 

None of it quite turned out as planned, but the day we signed Miggy was electric.     I should add that the earlier Raffy and Alomar signings in the mid-90’s obviously were very big, but at the time, the one that excited me the most was Miggy, probably because it seemed like the team was emerging from the wilderness.    

[mdbdotcom]

The Frank Robinson trade. I was 12. As soon as I heard about it I called my best friend and told him we were going to the World Series.

That was my last correct baseball prediction.

[wildcard]

53 years ago this coming Sunday.    Every O's fan  was excited about Frank.    He was a huge move for a team that had challenged for the AL pennant for a few years.  Frank taught the O's how to win.

[Orioles0615]

I was super excited when they got Sammy Sosa and Miguel Tejada the year before. I was in high school at the time. I was also excited when they resigned Chris Davis, and signed Ubaldo. I don't have a good track record apparently. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, andrewochs615 said:

I was super excited when they got Sammy Sosa and Miguel Tejada the year before. I was in high school at the time. I was also excited when they resigned Chris Davis, and signed Ubaldo. I don't have a good track record apparently. 

The Tejada signing wasn't bad.  Shame Vlad held out for another offer, would have been a fun team to watch.

The Sosa deal was just classic Angelos hitching a wagon to a falling star.

[TonySoprano]

Man, you guys are old.   I was 4 when the Frank trade went down. Having said that, I realize the large majority of posters here weren't yet born.

Postseasons here are largely non-consequential, so there's not much to select from.  I'll go with December 21, 1995 when the Orioles signed Roberto Alomar.   That's also the offseason Davey Johnson was hired to manage.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

The off season when Raffy was signed.  It was a sign to me Angelos meant real business about investing in the team.  (Little did I know what the next 25 years would bring.)

[Orioles0615]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

The Tejada signing wasn't bad.  Shame Vlad held out for another offer, would have been a fun team to watch.

The Sosa deal was just classic Angelos hitching a wagon to a falling star.

Yea I mean if you look at numbers he was still coming off an .849 OPS season. I don't know his problems that last year as a Cub, but 15 year old me just thought holy crap Sammy Sosa and with Raffy it was 2 500 hr guys in one lineup. 

I was also excited when we signed Vlad, again an aging star but I just saw the name and previous year peripheral  numbers and thought this is cool.

[now]

Of course F.Robby, hands down.

Glenn Davis, I'm sorry to say, had me projecting 50 dingers in Balt. Sort of like Earl Williams coming off 33 HRs in the NL. (Sigh).

After Frank, I would go with Alomar, especially following his postseason success with Toronto--the only team I could follow on TV in those days from my home in the BC wilderness.

For that matter, Jimmy Key was big too.

P.S. Reggie Jackson, anyone?

[wildcard]

7 minutes ago, TonySoprano said:

Man, you guys are old.   I was 4 when the Frank trade went down. Having said that, I realize the large majority of posters here weren't yet born.

Postseasons here are largely non-consequential, so there's not much to select from.  I'll go with December 21, 1995 when the Orioles signed Roberto Alomar.   That's also the offseason Davey Johnson was hired to manage.

Sorry you missed it.  The Frank years were the best time I have had as an O's fan.

[TonySoprano]

Just now, wildcard said:

Sorry you missed it.  The Frank years were the best time I have had as an O's tan.

4 World Series in 6 years.

[wildcard]

8 minutes ago, TonySoprano said:

4 World Series in 6 years.

Yes and Golden Gloves everywhere.   Everyone followed Frank's lead.  And he led from the day he arrived.   Earl was a trip when he arrived in '68.  Brooks, Palmer, McNally, Blair, Powell, Belanger, what a joy to watch.

[now]

8 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Yes and Golden Gloves everywhere.   Everyone followed Frank's lead.  And he led from the day he arrived.   Earl was a trip when he arrived in '68.  Brooks, Palmer, McNally, Blair, Powell, Belanger, what a joy to watch.

I went to a lot of home games in those days, and kept track: they won eighty percent of them.

[Ohfan67]

Raffy and Alomar. Tejeda  was fun but not the same for me. Alomar was the most exciting player I’ve ever seen and I knew the Orioles were going to be really good. I didn’t think Tejeda was as exciting and I didn’t believe in the team/supporting cast nearly as much

[BarclaySouthway]

Reggie Jackson.  He was 2 years removed from an MVP and one of the biggest stars in baseball.

Of course, 12 year old me didn't even know what free agency was in 1976, and didn't understand that we would only have him for one year.

Actually, less than that since he didn't show up until May, and basically pissed off the fans for the majority of that season.

He was pretty damn good when he finally did show up, though.