Back in Black: Gerrit Cole Bowman Black AUTO/25

We all know that baseball players are very superstitious.  For the 7th game in a row, the Bucs have worn black uniforms.  The Pirates also won their 7th game in a row.  Coincidence? Probably.

Last night Gerrit Cole became the first Pirates pitcher since Nick Maddox in 1907 to win his first 4 games he appeared in since making his debut.

I love Bowman Black signed in silver sharpie.  The silver paint pens just look so nice displayed in the Treasure Room.

2012 Bowman Black Gerrit Cole Autograph 12/25

The above card was picked up last year for around $150 I believe.  Prices on these have skyrocketed since.
I still have 2 more Gerrit Cole cards that I haven't uploaded yet but plan to get them scanned in the near future and show off.

BTW...how about them 1st Place Bucs!!!!

2 PWE filled with blues

I have 2 main player collections.

One is of the Pirates All-Star MVP candidate and face of the franchise Andrew McCutchen

2013 Topps Anderw McCutchen Wal Mart Blue

The other is of a sinkerball pitcher who has born in my town and has had to reinvent himself over the past couple years, Charlie Morton.

2012 Topps Charlie Morton Wal Mart Blue

I enjoy adding new cards to my collection of both players, but enjoy when I get packages in the mail of similar cards for both players.  Such was the case today.

Each of these was purchased for just over the price of a stamp.  Inside each was something blue.  Now I don't feel so blue.

Future Ace Autos: Big Arms, Big Sigs

The beauty of having two arms with future ace potential come up through the minors together is something Pirates fans have never had before.  The last time the Pirates got excited about a pitcher coming up through the minors was Brad Lincoln and that was more out of not wanting him to fail than truly being excited.  As much as I liked Lincoln professionally and personally, he was never a top 10 prospect in baseball.

The Pirates have 2 top 10 prospects pitching in the upper minors right now.  Both will likely be in the starting rotation by next year.  While many view Gerrit Cole as the better pitcher, I personally think that Jameson Taillon will be the stronger of the two aces.

I grabbed a 2009 Upper Deck USA Big Sig of each player to further get excited for the future right handers.

2009 Upper Deck USA 18U National Team Jameson Taillon BIG SIGS  GOLD AUTO 21/25  

I was stoked when the seller accepted my best offer for nearly 50% off this card, getting for $35.  The only problem was that it took forever to get to me.  The seller on ebay had provided tracking and everything, but the package got lost in a New Hampshire post office for about a month.  I was pretty much starting to freak out as it got closer to 45 days with no card.  Fortunately the seller kept hassling the post office and eventually it made it's way to me in lovely NJ.

2009 Upper Deck USA National Team Gerrit Cole BIG SIGS SILVER AUTO 31/75

The Gerrit Cole Big Sigs ran me $35 also with free shipping.  Cole Autos typically go for $40+ now that he's on the doorstep of becoming a big leaguer.  While I would have liked to pay less, I've actually seen this card sell for upwards of $75.  I've also recently seen one sell for only $20 shipped so who knows.  Either way, it's a nice silver ink auto that I'm happy to add to the Future Ace collection.

There's currently some trade rumors that Taillon might be sent away as part of a trade package to land someone like Giancarlo Stanton. No! Just no! I have no desire to send away elite (while unproven at major league level) pitching for a head case who's often injured.

What to do with this guy????

The Pirates pitching staff has been nothing short of amazing this year. Its on pace to be the best pitching staff in the franchise's 127 year existence.

2013 Topps Museum James McDonald Momentous Material JERSEY 28/35

What happens though when James McDonald is due to come off his rehab assignment? JMac has not been the same pitcher since he was snubbed from last year's All-Star game. He's walking more batters than striking out and is a fly ball pitcher. As much as I would hate to see him go, the Bucs are the 2nd best team in baseball and have no room for him on the 25 man roster. He needs to be let go when his stint on the DL is up.

McCutchen Mondays: 1 of 1 Printing Plate 2013 Gypsy Queen

My current favorite player in baseball today is Andrew McCutchen.  Quite honestly, he might be my favorite player I've ever gotten a chance to see play. I currently own almost 300 unique cards of Cutch and hope to get that number closer to 400 by the end of the year.  Amongst my cardboard collection of Cutch are many autographs, over a dozen 1/1s, and almost enough jersey material to put his jersey back together.  Back in 2011, I created Morton Mondays, but with the lack of Charlie Morton cards available, I changed it to McCutchen Mondays so each Monday I will show off one new card from my Cutch collection.

To see all my Andrew McCutchen relics, autos, printing plates, manupatches, etc ... check out this link.

It's no secret that I really like adding rare 1 of 1 Andrew McCutchen cards to my collection.  I've added bat barrels, All-Star nameplates, printing plates, etc of Cutch.

Everytime I see a new Cutch 1 of 1 hit the open market, it's like a new holy grail is available.  Sometimes I pounce, sometimes I don't. This time I decided to pounce.

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Yellow Printing Plate

This one got a little pricey, but I just love the design of Gypsy Queen too much to pass up this yellow printing plate from 2013 Gypsy Queen.

Some more vintage needs crossed off

I recently grabbed 9 of my Topps Vintage Needs.  The cards ranged in years and all 9 were acquired for the low price of $19.  Just over $2 a card to help me complete my Topps team sets.

McCutchen Monday: 2013 Topps Slate 10/10

My current favorite player in baseball today is Andrew McCutchen.  Quite honestly, he might be my favorite player I've ever gotten a chance to see play. I currently own almost 300 unique cards of Cutch and hope to get that number closer to 400 by the end of the year.  Amongst my cardboard collection of Cutch are many autographs, over a dozen 1/1s, and almost enough jersey material to put his jersey back together.  Back in 2011, I created Morton Mondays, but with the lack of Charlie Morton cards available, I changed it to McCutchen Mondays so each Monday I will show off one new card from my Cutch collection.

To see all my Andrew McCutchen relics, autos, printing plates, manupatches, etc ... check out this link.


If you haven't had the opportunity to see these cards in person, you're missing out.  These are beautiful looking cards and the borders going around the card make them look museum quality.

I grabbed this on ebay from brentandbecca shortly after it's release.  The card ran me just $30 which is much lower than current rates for these cards and is numbered 10/10.

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.  My dad has been a tremendous influence on my life.  He has taught me strong morals and helped develop me into the person I am today.

In baseball during the 70s there was a player in Pittsburgh who helped mold other athletes with his influence. Of course I'm talking about the deceased HOFer Willie "Pops" Stargell.  Pops was a member of the 71 and 79 World Series Champions.

I recently picked up a lot of the 1992 Front Row Autograph set for $12 shipped.

This is my 3rd Stargell autograph and I couldn't pass it up for the price.

A pair of 50s Bowman invade the Treasure Room

It's not often that I add vintage Bowman, but when I do I like to do it on the cheap.

1950 Bowman Dale Coogan and Eddy Fitzgerald

One of the dealers at a local mall card show gave me a super sweet deal on the above two Bowmans.  Both for $4 TOTAL!!!!  I always go to his booth looking through boxes upon boxes of vintage Topps trying to complete my Pirates team sets and pick up any star players I can grab cheaply.

There's not much information on these two guys on the web.  Dale Coogan played in only one season for the Pirates as a 19 year old.  His OBP was .338 over 53 games.  Not a bad on base percentage, BUT when you're a 1st basemen and have a slugging percentage of .326, you're likely not going to get too many reps especially when Johnny Hopp is slugging a ridiculous .522 with an OBP of .420 at the position.  I'm guessing Hopp got injured and Coogan played during that stretch then was released or sent back to the minors.

Eddy Fitz Gerald was the team's primary backup backstop in the late 40s and early 50s. He played 6 seasons with the Pirates, then went on to play 7 seasons with Washington, before retiring at the age of 35 as a Cleveland Indian.  His lifetime stats are .260/.323/.336 with 19 Homeruns and 542 career hits.

Dual Auto of Dualing Aces

I can't contain my excitement for these two pitchers making it to the majors.  While I'm more excited about Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole has already made his debut and delivered on every expectation placed upon him.

It would be great to have them both up so they can learn from AJ & Wandy before we part ways with them during the offseason.

I've been on a mad hunt for any cards featuring the future mound stars and this 2012 Bowman Sterling was a nice pickup for $60 a couple months ago.  Some of you may think, I can buy a box of Series 2 for the price of that card, but I would rather have this one card than a bunch of commons for teams I don't root for.  Just my thought process.

Without further delay, I present you my 2012 Bowman Sterling Dual Auto of Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon numbered 18/38.

2012 Bowman Sterling Jameson Taillon & Gerrit Cole Dual AUTO 18/38

Speaking of aces, I managed to complete the 2013 Gypsy Queen Dualing Aces insert set after picking up a handful at a mall card show.

Here's my favorite from each card suit.

I chose Adam Wainwright for one reason and one reason only, he looks the part of a baseball player.  He still wears the old school socks and is a competitor on the mound.

I chose Yu because he was my first pitcher I grabbed in fantasy baseball this year and has been lights out so far.  Hell, he almost threw a perfect game on his first start this year.

Kershaw was a fantasy baseball classic for me dating back to 2009, but this year he was ranked too high for me to grab.  I love this kid.  He's a strikeout machine with low walk numbers that racks up Ws.

Chris Sale has been a dark horse since he was drafted in 2010.  My ex girlfriend's sister was a classmate of his so I rooted for him from the moment he was drafted.  The fact that I am a closet White Sox fan probably helps. LOL!

98/99 Cole delivers in debut

Gerrit Cole made his MLB debut last night and touched 98/99 a few times.  As a matter of fact, his 3rd major league pitch was a 99mph fastball to strikeout Gregor Blanco.

2012 Leaf Limited Draft Hits ON CARD AUTO

Yesterday, when I was showing off my Gerrit Cole collection, I had a feeling that Cole was going to deliver and purposely didn't show off the card above.

Cole didn't disappoint any expectations of the 22 year old flamethrower as he went 6.1 innings and throwing 59 of 81 pitches for strikes.  He did have 2 punchouts (Blanco and Posey) and allowed 7 hits while walking none.  To make it even better he got a single with the bases loaded in the 2nd inning and put the first two runs on the board for the Bucs.

To show off my excitement for what Cole and his near triple digit fastball brings to the Steel City, I'm going to show the card above that I recently grabbed for $15 numbered 98/99 for an on card auto.

98/99

and here's the back of the card.

98/99 with filthy movement that will get guys out....

MY ENTIRE GERRIT COLE COLLECTION ON DISPLAY!

To celebrate Gerrit Cole making his MLB debut tonight on National TV against the defending World Series Champions San Fransisco Giants, I am going to show off two new Gerrit Cole autographs I recently picked up along with my entire Gerrit Cole collection.
I now have
8 autographs
6 dual autographs
4 autographs/jersey
4 jersey
1 manupatch

First up the new stuff...

2009 Upper Deck USA Prospects AUTO Jersey 363/399

2009 Upper Deck USA National Team Red Ink AUTO 4/25

I grabbed these two Team USA autographs of the 1st overall pick a couple months ago.  The Red Ink auto is on card and numbered to only 25 copies.  I think both cards ran me the price of a blaster apiece.

Now for the rest of my Gerrit Collection...

just some random base cards I've picked over the past year and half.  Nothing really special here unlike the Team USA cards I have below.

or the unlicensed autographs I have

my jersey relics and manupatches...

THE PRIDE OF MY GERRIT COLE COLLECTION IS THE DUAL AUTOGRAPHS THOUGH
I got 2 Cole Dual Autos with Red Sox Prospects from his Team USA days

Dual auto with Red Sox Prospect Jackie Bradley Jr.

Dual Auto with Red Sox Prospect Matt Barnes

 And I have 2 dual autographs with the Pirates other top pitching prospect Jameson Taillon

and a dual auto with Pirates top positional prospect and 2011 draftee Josh Bell

 and my absolute favorite card from my Cole collection

McCutchen Monday: Dual AUTO Gerrit Cole & Cutch Franchise All-Stars

My current favorite player in baseball today is Andrew McCutchen.  Quite honestly, he might be my favorite player I've ever gotten a chance to see play. I currently own almost 300 unique cards of Cutch and hope to get that number closer to 400 by the end of the year.  Amongst my cardboard collection of Cutch are many autographs, over a dozen 1/1s, and almost enough jersey material to put his jersey back together.  Back in 2011, I created Morton Mondays, but with the lack of Charlie Morton cards available, I changed it to McCutchen Mondays so each Monday I will show off one new card from my Cutch collection.

To see all my Andrew McCutchen relics, autos, printing plates, manupatches, etc ... check out this link.

The Pirates have seen a large influx of talent come through the major league roster and minor league farm system since Neal Huntington took over GM in 2008.  No longer thought to be a minor league system for other major league teams, the Pirates are starting to be in the conversations for contending for the past 3 years.

2010 was a disatrous season for the Pirates.

But there's a saying that for all bad things, you will be returned twice the glory.  That came true in the 2011 MLB draft when the Pirates selected Gerrit Cole #1 overall and were able to add Josh Bell in the 2nd round.  Gerrit Cole is a future ace pitcher.  He can reach back and hit triple digits from time to time and like Justin Verlander his velocity goes up as the game goes on.

Last month I showed off my Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz dual auto that Topps sent me as a replacement for my Gerrit Cole & Andrew McCutchen dual auto redemption from 2012 Bowman.  I informed you all how I was disappointed that I couldn't add the Dual Auto of the Franchise All-Stars.  I saw a couple copies of the card hit the open market and when I found one for a decent price, I decided I better pull the trigger before prices on this card sky rocket when Cole makes his MLB debut.

2012 Bowman Chrome Franchise All-Stars Dual AUTO 17/25

Since Gerrit Cole will be making his MLB debut tomorrow against the Giants, I figured this would be a good card to show off.  Tomorrow, I'll show off another Gerrit Cole auto that I recently picked up.

3,000 hits

On this date in 1914, Honus Wagner became only the 2nd player in baseball history to collect 3,000 hits.  He's currently 7th on the All-Time list with 3,420 hits.

1994 Upper Deck Baseball-The American Epic Documentary

While cleaning out a closet in my parents house a little box of Upper Deck Baseball cards was found.  The cards highlighted events from the Ken Burns BASEBALL documentary from the early 90s.  Inside was the card you see above.  I'm going to keep the Pirates from the set, but am willing to break up the rest if anyone is interested.

This is a look at what the cards from the back look like.

The Treasure Room gets a Museum Makeover

I know a lot of people prefer Tribute over Museum.  Personally I prefer the other way around.
There's just something beautiful about the frames going around the cards and the great shots of players that make me really appreciate these cards more than Tribute.

Here's a base green version of Cutch that I picked up for $5.25.  I actually paid more for shipping than for the actual card.  I HATE WHEN SELLERS DO THAT!!!!

2013 Topps Museum Collection 186/199

In addition to the above Cutch parallel, I grabbed the below Pedro Alvarez Quad Primary Pieces Jersey relic from 2013 Topps Museum.  I really like that Pedro is starting to appear more regularly as hits in Topps higher end products.

2013 Topps Museum Pedro Alvarez Primary Pieces 51/75

For those of you that haven't seen the back of a Primary Pieces quad jersey card, I present to you the back.  It contains 4 fairly obvious things about the player that many who follow the game know about.

One of the things I want to talk about is the 4th quality of El Toro.  It says that "teammates rave about how Pedro usually is the first to arrive to the ballpark adn the last to leave."  This is also true to how Pedro reacts to fans from what I have seen in person.  Every time I have gone to see the Pirates play on the road, Pedro is ALWAYS signing for fans and usually won't stop until the game is about to begin or everyone has gotten their autograph.  The same can be said for after the game is over and you try to get the players by the buses. Pedro is an incredibly friendly ballplayer and one that I will continue to root for long after his time in the Steel City has come to an end.

Black Friday McCutchen Auto

Since it's Friday and it's been just a few days since I showed off an Andrew McCutchen card, how about if I show you another Andrew McCutchen autograph?

The seller didn't even list auto in the description.  I swear sometimes collecting for your hobby can become a full time job.  But if you want to get steals, you have to do your homework.  This 2012 Black Friday Cracked Ice autograph was picked up a few months ago for around $8 if I remember correctly.

I know it was under $10.  The print run on the cracked ice NON AUTO is /25.  From a few sources I have seen these are /5, but they aren't numbered.

No matter what the print run, this brings me close to 60 certified autographs of Cutch now.