Pirates autos for less than $5 total

So I decided I needed some more Pirates autos in my collection. For $5 shipped I was able to add these two Pirates autographs.

 Jason Grilli 2012 Golden Moments Autographs
The Grill Cheese is now the closer for the Bucs after they sent Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan to Boston.  We'll be seeing Grilli pitch in the World Baseball Classic in March for Team Italy.

Matt Hague Topps Chrome Refractor 453/499
Matt Hague made his MLB debut last year and was involved in a very bizarre walkoff when Carlos Marmol of the Cubs hit him with a pitch when bases were loaded in the bottom of the 9th. 

#Hockeyisback

The Pens had to face their Keystone rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers in the season opener yesterday.  There is plenty of bad blood still lingering between these teams who faced each other 8 times to finish out the season last year.  Marc-Andre Fleury looked really sharp between the pipes allowing only 1 goal and making 27 goals. 

Tyler Kennedy, Chris Kunitz, and James Neal contributed goals in the Penguins 3-1 victory on the road. 

Here's a look at some hockey cards I picked up last year before going MIA for six months.

James Neal 2010-11 Leaf Limited Monikers AUTO 15/50
I wanted to add a James Neal auto to my collection for less than $5.  Now I want to add one where he's in a Penguins uniform.

Kris Letang is my favorite player on the ice.  I need to add some more Letang autos to my collection, preferably on card autos.

If anyone has Penguins base cards from 2008 to present that they are looking to trade please let me know.  My goal is to really amp up my hockey collection this coming year. 

Some stats you can't find on Baseball-Reference

Now that I'm officially back to posting once in awhile, I thought it would be fun to look at my Pirates collection by player.

I will state the number of individual unique cards of each player in my collection
followed by the number of autos, relics, auto/relics, manucards (patches/pins/rings/etc)

I will start with the 2 main stays of my collection: Andrew McCutchen and Jason Bay.
After this post I encourage you guys to leave comments about Pirates past, present, and prospects you want me to give a tally on.  I'd like to do a couple of these a week. 

Andrew McCutchen
Cutch is by far my favorite current player in the majors.  I've met him about half a dozen times at PiratesFest and Spring Training games and he is a really cool down to Earth dude.  I've gotten 4 IP autos (2 cards, 1 ball, 1 wooden sign) from him and hope to keep adding to my collection for many years to come.

Number of Unique Cards (base and parallels only): 124
Autos: 40 (2IP)
Relics: 29
Auto/Relics: 18
Manucards: 7 (1 Bat Barrel, 1 Glove, 3 Patches, 2 Silks)
Printing Plates (Non Auto): 8
Printing Plates (Auto): 1
Printing Plates (Auto/Relic): 2

Total Number of Unique Cutch Cards: 229

Here's some of my favorite Cutch cards

 My first white whale Cutch printing plate

 another 1/1 of Cutch (pre dreads)

 a sketch card AJ from The Lost Collector drew up for me as part of a trade

 A nice booklet with an auto and 3 pieces of patches including the U in "McCUTCHEN"

 The above card took me forever to track down

 Auto and a piece of the Jolly Rodger, yup that makes it a favorite

 see above for reasons why I like this card too

When Tabata debuted in 2010, he became a favorite of mine.  Since he got his contract extension, I have had nothing but repulsive feelings for the guy as he has become lazy in the outfield and terrible on the basepaths (caught stealing 12 times in 2012 compared to only 8 steals).  However I won't hold it against this piece of cardboard of my disgust of Jose Tabata for I love this on card auto of Cutch numbered 1/15

 dual IP autos of Cutch and Jones

 ok! This is my favorite booklet.  It's got Cutch's bat barrel in it for crying out loud!!!!!  Pedro Alvarez jersey letters and being a 1/1 help make it a favorite.

 metal frames and silver ink on card autos....it's no wonder this is one of my favorites

Nothing like some black chrome refractory auto goodness to say this is a sweet looking rookie card.  I also have the red refractor auto numbered to only 25, but for some reason I like the black more

I just love this card so much.  For some reason I just picture Cutch running from space aliens attacking PNC Park when I see this card.  That makes me smile thinking about it.

Cutch in a throwback uni with 4 pieces of jersey including one that is a patch and autograph.  Yeah! This card is fricking sweet too



Jason Bay
Jason Bay was my favorite Pirate before he got traded in that summer blockbuster that sent Manny to Hollywood and netted the Pirates.....Bryan Morris and a bunch of guys no longer with the team.  Bay was the first Pirate to win the Rookie of the Year when he captured it in 2004.  He appeared in 2 All-Star games for the Bucs and once with the Red Sox.  Since his release from the Mets, he's been picked up by the Seattle Mariners.  I will still cheer for Jason to get back to his glory days, but I fear that his career is coming to an end. 

Unique cards (base and parallels only): 147
Autos: 23
Relics: 57
Auto/Relics: 8
Manucards: 1 Bat Barrel
ManuAutos: 6 (1 Patch, 4 Letters, 1 Ball)
Printing Plates: 1

Total Unique Jason Bay Cards: 243 (total autos 37)

Some of my favorite Jason Bay cards include

A crummy sticker auto by Upper Deck with 2 nice pieces of patch.  I really like that the one is all yellow and the black has just a hint of yellow showing.  It makes me think of Wiz Khalifia's song Black and Yellow cause I know what it is

I like the manupatch on this card commemorating Jason for his ROY performance in 2004.  Not to mention that he has an awesome very legible signature.

one of Canada's all time HR leaders (behind only Larry Walker and Matt Stairs) was originally drafted by the Expos in the 22nd round of the 2000 draft.  He would later be traded to the Mets then to the Padres then to the Pirates then to the Red Sox...Then would sign a monster contract with the Mets only to be released and still collect on that contract while playing for another team (Mariners). 

 I just really like this photo.  You could say that this image is exquisite.

 Finally another on card auto of Jason.  The Stroke of Genius cards from UD Masterpieces are similar to Topps Five Star autos if you ask me. 

 Dale Murphy could one day be a Hall of Famer, although I personally don't think that he deserves it.  Jason Bay will never be a HOFer which saddens me a lil.

 Patches are cool.  I miss Upper Deck!!!! Their logo on cards just made me appreicate foil more than I ever did before 1989

  Penguins owner and HOFer Mario Lemieux joins Jason Bay on this card to show off the great city of Pittsburgh in this ITG release.  I don't know how authentic ITG products are, but with their big hits appearing in cases, I like the classness of it.

 A really nice Matt Holiday patch and a pure black Jason Bay patch.  I like the images used for both players too on this Ultimate Tandems card.

 I'm not crazy about Bay playing for the Mets, but everyone loves The Kid, right? Who wouldn't want a Gary Carter bat relic in their collection?  I sure as hell wanted one.

 Ok. This picture of JB is just a cool shot from the sides as he is getting ready to step up to the plate.  Having a bat relic helps.

 Holy Jumbo Patch with a bit of dirt!

 My only 1/1 printing plate of Jason Bay has to be one of my favorite even though it's for Topps Total and features the smallest image of Jason Bay I have ever seen on a baseball card

Finishing out my Jason Bay favorites is this 4 jersey Sweet Beginings Team Canada card.  I love this card as it's one of only a few Team Canada cards I have of Jason.




SO WHO DO YOU GUYS WANT TALLIES ON?
Current players like Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata, maybe even Neil Walker?
Prospects like Gerrit Cole or Tony Sanchez?
Pirates of Yesteryear like Manny Sanguillen or Dave Parker, perhaps even Bob Walk and Andy Van Slyke?
The HOF Bucs like Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Barry Bonds, Maz, or Ralph Kiner?

Leave a comment and let me know....

Finally it's mine

I've been after this card for awhile now, but never wanted to pay more than $5 for one.

I finally picked one up for $2.25 shipped.

I doubt that there will be any more Jason Bay All-Star jersey relics in the future unless he can turn his career around in Seattle.  Best of luck to him out in the AL West.

Cutch makes the cover

I'm back with my second post in 2 days.  Playstation just announced the winner of MLB The Show 2013.  It's none other than the Pirates superstar centerfielder Andrew McCutchen.

To celebrate here's a card of Cutch looking quite dapper.

It's the variant from Updates and Highlights featuring Cutch at the All-Star game in Kansas City.

I'm so happy that the Bucs are getting some recognition mainly due to Cutch.  #BUCN 2013

CUTCHing up on where I've been

I've been gone for a little over 6 months. A lot has happened in my life to say the least.  There were times that I was even contemplating suicide because of how bad things were getting.  But through the strength of friends and family I pulled through. I'm ready to get back to the blogging world of trading cards.  However, I doubt I will ever return to daily updates nor will I ever attempt to run a contest as insane as the Let's Go Bucs contest last year. 

I have thought out a new idea for a contest to root for the Bucs in the coming season so that the Pirates don't hit the legal drinking age of 21 consecutive losing seasons.  Any suggestions are appreciated though.

So enough chatter, let's see some cards.

Of course I will start off with the Treasure Room's blog hero...Andrew McCutchen.
I've added a few new Cutch cards to my collection, but the majority of what is shown below was purchased before things went south for me.

First up are a pair of printing plates.  1/1 printing plates are nice to have. 1/1 printing plate autos are nicer.  The 2012 Tribute is the magenta plate while the 2010 Triple Threads is the Cyan plate.  You may remember from previous entries that I already have the black plate of the 2010 Triple Threads Rising Stars.  I'm half way to making my own Cutch cards.

 Next up is another printing plate of Cutch.  This one is from 2011 Bowman.  I don't remember how much I paid for this, but I remember it was much cheaper than I thought it would end up being.

2011 Gypsy Queen Auto/Relic number 14/25.  I was after this card for what seemed like forever.  It kept eluding me everytime it popped up for sale.  I'm happy to never have to try to track this down again.

The Museum Collection framed autos are some of the nicest autographs I have ever seen.  If you ever get a chance to own one of a player you like you have to take that opportunity and purchase it.  This beauty below is numbered 7/15.

This here? Well this is only my 53rd certified auto of Cutch.  53 CERTIFIED AUTOS!!!!

 My final Cutch update is from 2012 Topps Mini.  Check out his face as he's rounding the bases. 

Next up is the other blog hero, Jason Bay.

Check out the patch on this card! I have no idea what it's from though.  It doesn't look quite like the bat used on the Jolly Roger found on the sleeves of the Pirates jerseys.  I think I got this for under $7 if I remember correctly and it's numbered to only 99.

A nice dual jersey and auto from Upper Deck Black.  I have the basic auto of this card, but am happy to have added the dual jersey version to my collection too.

Here is a jersey card of the future ace of the Pirates pitching staff.

I am seriously contemplating buying a lot more Gerrit Cole cards before the price goes all Strasburg after he makes his debut, but they are already out of my price range so I think I will just pick them up when I get a chance.  The below manupatch of the Bradenton Marauders featuring Cole from 2012 Heritage Minors is just the type of card I hope to keep picking up for less than $10

Because all Pirates fans love prospecting, I picked up another Jose Osuna autograph for .99 +$1.50shipping.

Jose had a decent year as a 19 year old playing A ball.  He finished the year with 16 HR/72RBI/68Runs
His line .280/.324/.454 is very respectable for a 19 year Dominican player.  He has been quietly compared to Albert Pujols and looking at the stats I see why.
Below is Albert's line as a 20 year old playing at the same level
17HR/84RBI/62Runs
.324/.389/.565

Now by no means do I think that in 2 years Jose Osuna will be hitting 30+HR at the major league level like Albert did at his age 21 season.  However, it is nice to have a bat like his beginning to develop for the 1B position.