Saturday, September 10, 2011

just a few more ebay pickups

Today's theme is autographed cards of pitchers using the bat. 
We haven't seen much offense from Pirates pitchers this year.  To be perfectly honest, we haven't seen much in terms of pitching from these guys either.


Evan Meek had a breakout season last year as he was selected as a 2010 All Star and was one of the best setup men in baseball.  Due to injuries and a loss in velocity, this year has not been so kind to Super Meek.  He has only pitched in 15.1 innings despite appearing in 18 games.  Compare that to 2010 when he appeared in 70 games with 70 strikeout in 80 IP and a WHIP of 1.05.  Evan is back after a lengthy stay on the DL and pitched a scoreless inning in his return last night.  This 2011 Bowman Platinum (460/1166) features an autograph and jersey swatch.  It also shows Evan and his 1.000 average and 2.000 OPS swinging the bat.  Evan has only had 2 plate appearances in the majors and is 1 for 1.



 Justin Wilson has yet to make the majors, but I suspect he may be a mid-season callup next year if he continues to improve as a prospect.  Justin performed superbly earlier in the season at AAA Indy before running into some trouble mid season.  He regained form and finished the season strong.  It was reported that his fastball touched 97 towards the end of the season which is really incredible for a LHP.  He had 94 Ks in 124 IP at the AAA level.  Unlike the other autographed cards of pitchers swinging the bat, Justin actually performed well with the stick.  He batted .231 with 2 RBI in 13 AB.  He also had 2 doubles.  Pictured above is his 2010 Bowman Sterling AUTO

2009 Tristar Pursuit Zach Von Rosenberg 16/199 Autograph.  Of the three of these guys Zach Von Rosenberg performed the worst statistically.  Zach was signed as a big draft bonus baby out of high school in 2009.  He has a very projectable frame at 6ft5 and is still only 20 years old.  His K/9 is still very good and he lowered his walk rate, but he needs to continue to make progress on keeping the ball in the park.  He had a 8.2K/9 and lowered his BB to 1.6/9 in 2011.  He's still looking for his 1st professional hit in the minors. 

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!!!

A couple days ago I thought I was going to be celebrating my 30th birthday in the dark, because I was still without power for the 8th day thanks to Hurricane Irene.  My girlfriend told me that because our post office was closed for a couple days I may not have my birthday gift for a couple more days.  No big deal.  Shortly after that, the power came back on and all seemed right with the world.

Well today I got the present I was hinted about.  It was in a tiny box so I suspected some kind of random cards of Cutch or Doumit for my PC.  Boy was I pleasantly surprised when I opened up and saw this.

My reaction was "Are you f&*#ing kidding me?" I was stunned.  Jameson Taillon autos go for quite a bit of money, but a dual auto with Bryce Harper. HOLY SHIT! This card is so awesome, I had to show the back too.

BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!



I also got these 2 Bat relic cards of Dave Parker & Bill Madlock

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Trade post with Ryan's Memorabilia Blog

Mike at Ryan's Memorabilia Blog had seen the Jim Palmer/Brian Matusz dual auto I had up for trade and sent me a plethora of Pirates & Steelers cards in exchange.  He saw that I was searching for more Ryan Doumit cards to add to my collection and sent me 2 Autos, a 2011 Topps Silk Collection (48/5), 2011 Diamond Anniversary, and 2 Bowman numbered parallels.  As an added bonus he also included a Willie Stargell Triple Threads, and a very cool Dave Parker/Willie Stargell bat rack card.  I really like that Fleer Bat Rack card.  I had never seen that before and am very glad to add the card to my collection.




He also included 8 Steelers cards including 2 Roethlisberger, 2 Hines Wards, and a Maurkice Pouncey rookie.  Sweet additions to the treasure room.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Maz Monday: Celebrating the greatest defensive 2nd Baseman of all time

What a wild and crazy week I had.  It took the electric company 8 days to restore my power due to the massive flooding, broken poles, and uprooted trees from Hurricane Irene.  Fortunately, all I lost was power and there was very minimal flooding in the basement.  When the power came back on yesterday, it was the best birthday present I could have asked fore as it restored life as I knew it "back to normal".  The aftermath of Irene truly made me appreciate how much I take for granted everyday.  Without phone service, electricity, and having to take many detours on my road just to get into town to work I am truly more grateful for all that life has blessed me.  Thank you to those that sent messages and wished me well during the week.

I have received several trade packages as the post office began delivering mail again and will highlight those in future posts.

Today though I wanted to do something a little different and highlight the birthday of Bill Mazeroski.  Being a young dude, I didn't get a chance to see Maz play obviously.  However, I have seen numerous videos, interviews, and read many articles/books about Maz.



Last year I made the trek from NJ to Pittsburgh to celebrate my birthday and see Bill Mazeroski's statue unveiled on September 5th.  It was an awesome weeked overall, even though the Pirates lost to the Nationals for both games I was out there.  Here's some of the highlights



























SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAZ! AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO YOUR STATUE

Now for the cards












Above is the relic cards I have of Maz that I previously had not posted.  I really like that Topps Stadium Series Seat card with the iconic image of Maz rounding 3rd after hitting the walk-off homerun in the 1960 World Series.  And because this card is so damn awesome I have reposted the Three Rivers Stadium Seat with Maz, Parker, and Madlock.  I have added a Bill Mazeroski folder to my Picasa photopage

On another note I went to my local card store yesterday and picked up a bunch of randomness along with supplies and some Jerome Bettis cards for the PC.  If anyone is interested in anything below, let me know.