This is without a doubt one of the highlights of my Cutch PC now.
I know what my top 5 cards in the collection are and this is in the talks to be in the top 10.
I was very excited when I added a dual button relic of Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano last year because I didn't have any Pirates relics with Francisco. Being able to add this is up there in terms of my excitement.
Cutch is on a path for a Hall of Fame career and Adam Jones will be an Oriole legend if he finishes his career with them.
Andrew McCutchen
Mike Trout
Jacoby Ellsbury
Adam Jones
Who's the best all around centerfielder in the game today?
In 2014 Topps Museum begged us to ask that question when they placed these stars together on a single piece of cardboard. Trout is by far the best with Jones and Cutch 2A and 2B if you ask me. Adam Jones is a very under rated star in today's game. His numbers have been consistent with Cutch's numbers each year, but for some reason more fans think that Cutch is significantly better.
The main reason I finally decided to pony up on this card was the patch for Cutch. I've seen a lot of versions of this with Ellsbury patches, but rarely does a Cutch patch pop up on this card. Since he's the main player I collect, I needed a nice version of black and gold on it.
In terms of contracts, it appears that the Pirates got the most value for their buck in extending Cutch before the 2012 season. Here's a breakdown of the players depicted on this card current contract status.
Andrew McCutchen thru 2017 (6 years/$51mil) team option 2018
Adam Jones thru 2018 (6 years/$85 mil)
Jacoby Ellsbury thru 2020 (7 years/$153mil) team option 2021
Mike Trout thru 2020 (6 years/$144mil)
Last night, the Pirates beat the Royals 5-3 ensuring yet another series win for the Bucs, their 5th straight series win.
I will be putting the randomizer to work again either after the game today or sometime tomorrow to see whose going to win the Royals swag.
The Pirates will have an off day tomorrow before heading in to face the AL East Division leaders Baltimore Orioles for a 3 game series in Baltimore. I live about 3 hours away from Baltimore and am thinking about attending the game on Tuesday.
If the Pirates can sweep the O's in the 3 game series I'm going to include this
Adam Jones 2012 Topps Tribute AUTO
If the Pirates just win or split the series, here's what's available to the lucky winner
a vintage Jim Palmer Topps Boyhood Photos of the Stars, Brian Roberts jersey relic, and a small sampling of 2012 Topps Orioles
Normal rules apply
1)Leave a comment prior to the first pitch of the opening game of the series saying Let's Go Bucs! Beat the O's and you get entered into the randomizer for possible card winnings
2)If the Pirates win or split the series I will randomize all the entrants. The person's name who appears at the top of the final randomization wins the cards
3)If you pimp the contest and provide me with a link you get entered twice
4)If the team the Pirates are playing are your favorite team and you root against your favorite team cheering for the Bucs, you get entered twice. (Just let me know that _____ is your favorite team in the comments.)
LET'S GO BUCS!
Andrew McCutchen now has 500 career hits since arriving 475 games ago on June 4th 2009.
I picked up this 2012 Limited on card auto off ebay for just a bit over $12. Not a bad price to pay for another Cutch in my collection.
The Pirates swept the Cubbies yesterday marking the Pirates first sweep of 2012. If the Pirates can win the series against the Reds starting today, that will put the Bucs at .500 for the season.
The team is currently last in nearly every offensive category through out the major leagues. Take away Andrew McCutchen and his .342/.402/.544 line and this team looks absolutely embarrassing offensively. Cutch is putting up numbers that may get his name nominated a few times for MVP this year. He also has double digits in steals and has been one of the league's best defenders the past couple seasons in center field. He's an electrifyng personality and one of the game's most exciting young players.
Topps Museum issued an autograph redemption in their product this year and I saw one of the redemption cards online for $12 shipped. A few short weeks later, this beautiful on card blue pen auto arrived at my doorstep.
Numbered out of 299, this card is gorgeous in hand and the signature really pops. If you have a chance to pick one up cheaply like I did it's a worthwhile investment if Cutch continues to play at the All-Star level he's shown in just under 50 games so far this season.
Let's Go Bucs! Beat them Reds! Get back to .500
On another note, the 1st place Orioles recently extended Adam Jones for an additional 6 years with a full no trade clause and part of his annual salary will go to Orioles charities. It's nice to see the Orioles locking up a stud athlete like Jones for the foreseeable future.
I think it's appropriate to show off this Jones/McCutchen dual auto that I picked up during the offseason. Nice looking isn't it?
I'll admit I was wrong. I got excited to see the Pirates sign Nate McLouth to a minor league free agent deal. I thought that this would give the Pirates an extra left handed bat off the bench and provide more depth in the outfield. Nate could also be used as a defensive replacement late in games or as a pinch runner. On top of that he's incredibly fan friendly and WAS a fan favorite.
Nate McLouth in 2012 isn't even close to being what he was in 2008.
Nate currently has a worse batting average in the month of May than 2 of the Pirates pitchers. Yup 2!!!!!
For the year he has 18 strikeouts in only 57 at bats (32% of the time). He's been bad defensively too despite having a 1.000 fielding percentage he has taken lots of bad routes which have lead to base hits.
To put into perspective how bad he has been, he is 13th on the team in OPS (on base plug slugging). Very closely behind him are three Pirates pitchers.
Quite honestly, whether he's ready or not, I'm ready for Starling Marte to make his MLB debut. I'm sure it will happen in June so the Pirates get an extra year out of him before he goes to arbitration by being a Super Two. When I did my interview with Phungo I stated that Marte wouldn't be called upon based on how he's doing, but more than likely how poorly Presley or McLouth might be. Presley has already been sent down to AAA. I suspect McLouth won't be with the team come July.
Earlier in the year, I did pick up a few Nate McLouth cards that I didn't have in my collection previously. They were bought very cheap which in hindsight I'm still happy about.
picked up for $2.99 shipped (.99 with $2 shipping)
Not a bad card featuring a steroid user MVP
picked this up for $0.75 shipped
miraculously it was shipped in only a penny sleeve between 2 pieces of cardboard and arrived safely
This was the most expensive of the bunch costing me $4.25
Overall I am happy with picking these up for under $10, but wow is Nate McLouth terrible now.
Gone are these type of memories seen in the highlight film below
One thing is for sure though, the dude picks awesome entrance music to walk up to the plate to.
