The Best Ebay Lot EVER!!! Only 5 cents a card!!!!

While browsing for some good deals on ebay, I stumbled across this ridiculously cheap lot of 670 Pirates cards for $35 with FREE SHIPPING.  When you break that down, it's only a little over 5 cents a card.  Forget about your dimebox heroes, these are nickel heroes.

As part of the lot were 4 autographs from Francisco Cordova, the last Pirate to be involved in throwing a No-Hitter. Mike Kingery, Jon Liever, and Steve Cooke were the other signatures in the lot.

Also were 10 new Andy Van Slyke cards for my collection which I showed off yesterday.

It was overflowing with complete team sets from Topps, Upper Deck, Fleer, Donruss, Gypsy Queen, Pro Debut, etc.

It had over half a dozen minis.

Plenty of duplicate Andrew McCutchens (31 to be exact)

Plenty of new Andrew McCutchens (8)

More Jason Kendall, Brian Giles, Freddy Sanchez, and Jack Wilson cards than I will ever know what to do with

A Garrett Jones 2010 UD Biography card I've been chasing for awhile along with some more favorites that are all new additions to the collection

Several gold, blue, sparkle parallels (but my favorite is the blue Alex Presley shown below)

Oddballs and Diamond Kings

Some Hall of Famers

and a boatload of rookie cards for Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell, Luis Heredia, Tony Sanchez, Nick Kingham and Austin Meadows including a 2013 Bowman Refractor mini of Jameson Taillon

Of course there was junk in there, but considering that the cards were only 5 cents a piece, I think I got my money worth.  What do you think?

Who says size doesn't matter?

Before I talk about the player on this card, I have a major gripe with it.  Topps currently is the exclusive producer of licensed baseball cards.  That's a pretty big honor to have.  Why do they keep fucking up by producing garbage?  If you're going to create a brand new design in 2013 for your online exclusive mini cards, why can't you use images from 2013?  No, instead we get this recycled and reused image of Jose Tabata (a right handed platoon outfielder) from 2011.  How do I know the image is from 2011?  The Chuck Tanner patch on Jose's right arm gives it away.  In 2011, the Pirates all wore Chuck Tanner stars to remember their recently passed away former manager.

Well....I do like this card for only $2 shipped even with the recycled image.

Now onto the player...

Jose Tabata....
what can I possibly say about you?

When the Pirates extended Jose Tabata in August of 2011, I could not have been more happy.  It was a long extension for a player that was viewed as a key core of the Pirates recent rebuilding.  In his rookie season, Jose showed patience at the plate and looked like he would be the long term plan for the Pirates leadoff position and man one of the corner outfield positions.

2011 and 2012 became lost seasons for Jose as he battled multiple injuries including several hamstring problems that would not go away.  Fans often claimed that Jose was dogging it and was lazy because of his attempts to chase down fly balls in the outfield, but I think it had a lot to do with him playing through his injuries.

In 2013, Jose returned to form in a limited role, posting a 1.2 WAR while mainly being used as a right handed hitting platoon partner in the outfield.  Jose made $1 million last year so posting a WAR of that significance in a limited role still looks to be a great deal for the Bucs.

Keeping in mind that Jose is still just 25 years old entering the 2014 season, should make the deal continue to be of value to the Pirates organization even when super prospect Gregory Polanco arrives.  Tabata may build up enough trade value that the Pirates could trade him at the deadline for a piece to help push the playoffs or he may produce enough that one of the other outfielders may be used as a chip.  Either way, for $2 I'll add this card to my collection without any regrets.

Jose Tabata MLB Logoman 2010 Bowman Platinum

It's been over a year since I showed off a Jose Tabata card on my blog.  After signing a very team friendly contract extension, Jose has been average at best.  Looking at the stat WAR (Wins Above Replacement), Jose put up a 0.8 WAR in his debut season (2010) during 102 games.  Since that year, Jose has put up 0.8 WAR over the course of 3 seasons and 286 games.  Once prized as a key player the Pirates hoped build around, Jose is now mostly a pinch runner and platoon partner in right field.

Even though he's just average, I still root for the guy harder than most other Pittsburgh fans.

To paraphrase the most interesting man on earth..."I don't always look for Jose Tabata cards, but when I do...I prefer logoman patches."

2010 Bowman Platinum AUTO MLB PATCH 9/199

I don't have Tabata cards saved as a search on ebay, but after putting up a 3 for 4 performance with 2 RBI earlier in the month, I decided to see what all was available of the former top prospect.  When I discovered this card for $20 shipped, I decided to pull the trigger.  I like cards wtih logo patches or laundry tags.  This fits that nicely.

Another Contest Winner: Free Tribe Cards go to....

The Pirates beat the Tribe today 9-5.  Yesterday, they won 9-2.  Pedro Alvarez now has 4 homeruns in his last 7 at bats.  I hope he's starting to heat up again because he can carry this offense when his bat is hot. 

Since the series was three games I'm going to randomize the entries 3 times

 Our winner is Coronado2010

You will be receiving the 4 Indians cards for this contest's winnings.

Since today's father's day I thought it would be nice to show off some recent pickups that remind me of my father.  When I was younger, my dad would always buy me baseball cards if we went out together.  There was a thrift store near the barber shop that would sell baseball stickers.  Every time my dad or I got our hair cut he would take me there and buy me a pack.  While I don't have any of the old stickers from the 80s or 90s, I did manage to recently buy a complete team set of the Bucs for $1.99 off ebay.  Stickers are fun!  They remind me of my childhood.  Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

The Pirates are off tomorrow then will head back home to Pittsburgh to face off against the Minnesota Twins.  I'm excited to see Ryan Doumit back in the burgh.

Here's what's available if the Pirates win the series against the Twins.

2 jersey relics: 1 of Christian Guzman and the other of 2012 draftee DJ Baxendale
a 2012 Heritage rookie card, a TC Mascot card, and a Miguel Sano top prospect card

Pirates win 4th straight series so we've got another contest winner

The Pirates have been on a terror beating up the NL Central lately.
They've managed to beat the Reds 2 of 3 at home, sweep the Cubs at home, take 2 of 3 in Milwaukee, then take 2 of 3 of the Reds in Cincy.

Let's see who our winner for the most recent Let's Go Bucs contest is

 it was a 3 game series

 so I have to hit the random button 3 times

Jeff won this contest.  I will need your address to mail you the Barry Larkin jersey card.

For most of June, the Pirates will try their skills against the AL Central.  Up first the Kansas City Royals in Pittsburgh.  This looks like a series that the Bucs should be able to possibly sweep.

In addition to the cards shown yesterday, I've decided to include this Brooks Pounders auto card too if the Bucs can win the series against the Royals.  Brooks Pounders was traded from the Bucs to the Royals last year and is a strikeout machine.  He is still struggling with his command though as he has 19 walks in only 50 innings so far this year.

Jose Tabata's heads up baserunning and rifle throw to nail Joey Votto at home played a huge part in yesterday's game.

Hopefully he can continue to make those clutch plays.

LET'S GO BUCS!!!!

BEAT THE ROYALS!!!!

Another collecting goal for 2012

The Pirates logo worn on their sleeves is badass!  Need proof?  Look at this guy!

I would like to get a card of some of my favorite Pirates players of the past decade with a patch featuring the Pirates logo.

So who are some of my favorite players of the past decarde that might actually have a card with the logo on it?

• Jason Bay
• Ryan Doumit
• Brian Giles
• Jason Kendall
• Andrew McCutchen
• Freddy Sanchez
• Jose Tabata
• Neil Walker
• Jack Wilson
• Oliver Perez (but only for a season and a half, hahahaha!)

Finding Giles, Kendall, and Doumit will most likely be the toughest ones to find.

I recently picked up a Freddy Sanchez to jumpstart my collection which you can see below.

Check out the nice patch of the Pirates logoman's earing.  LOVE IT!
The card was picked up for about $20 if I remember correctly.  The card is numbered 2/50


I already had 2 cards featuring the logoman of Cutch which I will show below as well.

 This one features the bottom part of the Pirates logoman bandana and bat.

In the part of this card that says "1st 2" it features the bats of the left of the logoman.

I'd still love to add another logoman of my favorite player Cutch

Last year I picked up a Marquee Jose Tabata auto/dual jersey card with the beard of the logoman in the first swatch. That's just a nice looking card with the beard and biting lip of the logoman.  Having a Tabata signature on it makes it even better.

LET'S GO BUCS!!!!
BEAT THE BREWERS AND TAKE THE SERIES!

This card is naked

This card is almost nude.  The foil is so faint, you can barely see it.  The Jose part is missing entirely and the Tabata part is very faint. A neat misprint of a player I actually enjoy collecting. 

Group Break with JABO

I participated in JABOs 2 box Gypsy Queen break and chose the Pirates.
No major hits, but I did get an almost complete team set (missing Neil Walker) and some cool minis.
Here's what I plundered from the break

 2 minis of HOF Ralph Kiner.  The Moonshots series is really nice.  I like that purple border going around the cards.  The black bordered Tabata is 1:12 packs.  Jose had a nice 2 RBI night last night against the Braves and went 3 for 4 at the plate.

There's 3 HOF Pirates players in the team set (Clemente, Stargell, and Kiner).  It's nice to see some of the greatest Pirates get recognized although I wouldn't mind seeing next year's set include guys like Arky Vaughan, Bill Mazeroski, or Paul Waner since they don't nearly enough recognition.  

I still need the Neil Walker base card, Ralph Kiner moonshots insert card and athe SP image variants, but I'm happy with my near complete team set.  I am really happy the Pirates traded for Casey McGehee during the offseason.  He's providing some offense for a team that is struggling at the plate in the early season.

The Andrew McCutchen sliding stars insert is really interesting card.  On the back it gives a cool fact about Cutch.  "Only 17 players in Pirates history have stolen three or more bases in a game.  McCutchen has already done it twice in three seasons.  The first came on August 11, 2009 when the rookie swifted third two times and took second once in a victory over the Colorado Rockies."  I love reading the backs of these Gypsy Queens cards.  Soooo much neat information for my brain.

Is this a 1/1 auto? Probably not...

The quality control of baseball cards is terrible.

I notice a lot of companies even ones that are named Topps make an awful habit of screwing up names for Pirates players.
Who the hell is Pat Maholm?
Why is that bum shortstop Ronny Cedeno pictured on the future right field star Jose Tabata's card?

Why is Andy pictured on Adam LaRoche's card?  Andy and Adam despite being brothers don't exactly look alike.  I don't own the above card, but would like to add it to my collection one day through a trade, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend money for a card with Andy's face and Adam's name on it.

But this card below absolutely baffled me so bad I had to overpay for it.  I already have a lot of Daniel McCutchen autographs.  I almost have his nameplate from 2010 Finest completed (just need the E).  I've got about half a dozen other autographs from him on top of those 8 lettered autographed cards.  I made a promise with myself after my last trade with Greg that the only other DCutch auto I would buy would be that darn letter E to complete the nameplate.  I don't care if it's a $1 I'm not buying it.  Well, I apparently lied to myself and just had to buy this 2009 Tristar autograph that features Andrew McCutchen pictured on Daniel McCutchen's card.  The card cost me $2 shipped, but I think it was worth it for the chuckles.

On top of screwing up the front, Tristar also screwed up the back by saying that he was drafted by Pittsburgh.  DCutch came over from the Yankees as part of the Xavier Nady trade in 2008.

To further clarify my black and white point of needing better quality control at card companies I present the below image which shows Andrew and Daniel together during their time with the Indianapolis Indians when this card would have been produced.  They don't exactly look similar do they?

I made a trade with Crack and I'm sending out an SOS!

I recently made a trade with Collector's Crack in exchange for some extra 2012 Heritage I had.  Mark helped narrow my 2012 Heritage Pirates Team Set needs to a few cards listed below
2012 Heritage Needs
151 Pirates Team Card
259 Neil Walker
477 Derrek Lee
492 Joel Hanrahan
any of the hits (Clemente, McCutchen, Stargell, or any of the real one autographs)

Here's the cards that Mark sent me

 some Heritage needs and a bronze Maholm T206

some minis and a Bowman Chrome Brock Holt along with some vintage stickers

The real highlight of the trade was this little oddball item of Andy Van Slyke.  I love getting oddball cards of Van Slyke, but this is my first noncard oddball of the 5x gold glover.  It's a Sports Viewer keychain from 1991.  I wish I could figure out how to take a better picture of the image through the view finder, but this is the best I can come up with.

Thanks so much for the trade Mark.  I'm looking forward to another future trade and finally having the Pirates kick the Brewers ass this year now that Prince is gone.

Trade Post with Ryan's Pitch

Ryan's Pitch recently completed a trade with me in exchange for a Craig Kimbrel relic I had laying around along with some Yankees and Braves.  Here's what I got in return.


2 Gypsy Queen minis that are both new to me....and one is HOF Honus Wagner!!!!

an assortment of Pirates

and the highlight of the trade, a 2009 UD Icons Letterman Nate McLouth "T" numbered 2/40.  2 is his current number with the Pirates so this year it's an ebay 1/1

I have packages that went out to the following zip codes today
10028
90230
71203
72758
85338
29063
12571
75201
91381
29229
21117

Trading Post with Napkin Doon

Napkin Doon had seen the SP Gatorade bath card of Eric Hosmer I pulled in a 2012 pack and was interested in trading for it.  Having no admiration for the Royals other than hoping Hosmer performs well on my fantasy team this year I decided to take him up on the offer.  I was pleasantly surprised to see what he gave up in exchange for that 2012 SP.

Here's what I got

 1953 Red Man Chewing Tobacco Murry Dickson.  Vintage tobacco cards are always welcome at the PTR.

 a collection of random Pirates.  I really miss those Topps HD cards.  They were sharp looking.

 a 1965 Manny Mota Topps that I needed for my team set.  I'm getting closer to completing that year.  Anyone got the Clemente or Stargell to trade cheaply?  LOL!

 1999 Topps HD Bobby Bradley.  Bradley never made it to the majors but was selected 8th overall in the 1999 draft.  I recently did a Former Prospect profile on Bradley which you can read here.

 1964 Topps Smoky Burgess

and finally a 1955 Gair Allie