A Ram walks into a bar and signs the Sounds...

Sounds like a very bad bar joke, but I recently grabbed this on card autograph of Aramis Ramirez from his days with the Nashville Sounds.  The card is from 1999 Just Minors and isn't numbered.  As a bonus the seller sent me the base card.  All for the low low low cost of $1.99

Under $2 for an autograph of a guy who has hit nearly 400 career Home Runs in the Show.

Trade Post: Phungo, It's where the fun goes...

I recently made a trade with Paul of the blog Phungo, a Phillies card blog.

 

Paul had posted his thoughts on a rack pack of 2014 Allen & Ginter he bought back in August and had pulled an Andrew McCutchen mini.  I instantly jumped on calling dibs on it.

In addition to the A&G mini, Paul sent a package with his usual Phungo cards he produced himself.  Some of my all time favorites were included.

He also included a bunch of new cards I didn't already have in my Pirates collection including the well worn, but brand new to me 1993 Fleer Atlantic Collector's Edition Andy Van Slyke.  All 10 cards pictured above are new to my collection except for the Cutch which I have one signed in person.  The 75 mini of Al Oliver and Bowman Heritage Aramis Ramirez are probably my runner up favorites to the playing card of Barry Bonds.  I just love those unique oddball items featuring players from the 80s and 90s.  I wish they would do stuff like that again.

He also included this unique 2007 Upper Deck NL Central Pennant Chasers insert of Freddy Sanchez.  The Bucs actually had a shot at winning the NL Central Pennant in 2007 despite having a losing record.

Paul thank you so much for the awesome cards.  Your package should be arriving next week.  I went to a card show last weekend and got some extra stuff for you.

Prime 9 in Card Form: Evaluating Pirates Worse Trades at each position

As the trade deadline draws near, I figured it would make sense to show off the Pirates worse trades over the past decade.

I'm sure anyone who has the MLB Network has seen the show Prime 9.  Well it got me to thinking about who the top players at each position the Pirates have given up on since the new millennium began. I'll take a look at each position and say who I think the top player is.  I'll show off some cards I own of that player in a Bucs uniform and move on to the next position.

Why Prime 9?
9 Players
9 Innings

This is my Prime 9 of the Players the Bucs gave up on for nothing.

1) Pitcher
Jason Schmidt

When thinking about pitchers that the Pirates had let go for nothing 2 names came to mind and oddly enough they are both connected.

In 2001 the Pirates traded Jason Schmidt to the San Fransisco Giants for Ryan Vogelsong.  Schmidt went on to have 3 All-Star appearances and a 78-37 record with the Giants while averaging a strikeout per inning.  Damn! Imagine that type of pitcher taking the hill every 5th day with the bats of Kendall, Giles, Ramirez, and later Bay, Sanchez, and Wilson.  

Consequently the player the Pirates acquired Ryan Vogelsong went on to have a terrible career with the Bucs.  He appeared in 2 games before needing Tommy John surgery.  Once returned from the surgery he struggled mighty and was later sold to a Japanese team.  His return to the states though in 2010 showed vast improvement in his performance.  Since begining anew with the Giants, Ryan went on to become a 2011 All-Star and a key piece in the 2012 Giants World Series Championship run. 

The card pictured above is from 2006 Topps Update. There aren't any hits of Schmidt wearing the black and gold that I know of, but for $2.84 shipped I couldn't pass up this card of the former Bucco wearing the black and gold at the 2006 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh representing the National League and the Giants.

2) Catcher
Jason Kendall

2001 Upper Deck eVolve AUTO Bat/Jersey

Sure, Jason's career was on the downward path when the Bucs traded him to Oakland after the 2004 season.  He was a 30 year old catcher whose main offensive tools (contact and baserunning) were trending in the wrong direction.  In 9 seasons with the Bucs, Kendall had an average of .306 with 140 SB and 65 runners caught stealing.  Those are numbers you normally don't see come from the catcher's position.  However after leaving the Pirates, Kendall went on to hit .271 with 22SB and a .321 slugging percentage in 2 1/2 seasons with Oakland.  Good numbers, but nothing great.

A more interesting choice is a player the Pirates decided to non tender a contract that signed a one year deal with the Minnesota Twins last year, then a 2 year extension.  Yes I am talking about Ryan Doumit.
Doumit is one of those players that is made for AL baseball.  He can't play any position well, but can play corner outfield positions, 1B, and Catcher well enough so he doesn't make too much of an embarassment of himself.  Well then I remembered this play and it reminded me that Kendall was the player the Pirates wish they had probably kept.

3) 1st Base

2007 Allen & Ginter Adam Laroche

Adam LaRoche
Ok so Adam LaRoche is generally thought of as a slow starter.  His April and May numbers are generally down right awful.  However come mid summer, LaRoche is downright scary what he can do with the bat and glove.  He never gets recognized, but will put up 25+ homeruns every year and play above average defense at 1B.  The Pirates traded away LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox for two minor leaguers.  LaRoche lasted only 6 games with Boston before being traded to the Braves for Casey Kotchman.
The above 2007 Adam LaRoche was picked up for $1.40 from COMC and I gotta say I didn't overpay one penny for this card.

4) 2nd Base

2008 UD Jersey

Freddy Sanchez
When you ship out a player who won a batting title a few years after winning it, your organization is generally looked upon as dumping salary.  When that same player is a fan favorite, your organization is generally looked upon as not caring for the fans.  When that same player is traded for a failed prospect who hasn't pitched successfully at AA even at the age of 25, well you can be sure that you have made a pretty bad trade.  Such was the case in 2009 when the Pirates sent fan favorite Freddy Sanchez to the San Fransisco Giants for Tim Alderson.
The above Freddy Sanchez UD Jersey card was won for $2 with free shipping on ebay.  The seller tried to stuff the card into a normal size toploader, then must have realized the card wasn't going to fit properly so he proceed to ship it in a PWE with a piece of cardboard and half the card sticking out of the case.  The card above is the results of AN IDIOT.  It would have been a nice addition to my collection and I guess still is for the price paid, but c'mon use some common sense.  

5) 3rd Base
Aramis Ramirez

2002 Stadium Club License to Drive Bat Relic

Aramis Ramirez was still very young and had his prime years ahead of him when the Pirates dumped his salary to the Chicago Cubs in 2003.  He was traded with Kenny Lofton and became part of the Chicago Cubs team that would reach the NLCS that year after losing 95 games the year before.
Ramirez committed the most errors at the hot corner among all 3B in 2003, but would go on to hit 239 HRs in 9 seasons with the Cubs before joining the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent in 2012.  He currently has the 9th most career homeruns at the hot corner with 342 round trippers.

The License to Drive card above is one of my favorite ARam in my collection.  Something about the simple design made to mimic a Pennsylvania driver's license with the bat relic just makes me love this card.  The fact that it was just a couple bucks makes me appreciate it even more.


6) Shortstop
When you think of the Pirates shortstops over the past decade, there is one name that stands out above the rest...Jack Wilson.  Jack was a fan favorite and one of the most undervalued players at the position.  He deserved to win gold gloves, but was never considered.  He was traded to Seattle in 2009 for a bunch of players that didn't work out for the Pirates.
However, the player the Pirates should have held onto, but was never given a fair chance to perform is a guy the Red Sox picked up for nothing.  NOTHING!!!!
Pedro Ciriaco

1/1 Blank Back 2011 Topps Heritage Pedro Ciriaco

Ciriaco was acquired from the Diamondbacks in 2010 when we traded 3 bad offseason signs for the expensive contract of Chris Snyder.  Ciriaco was a throw in and immediately became our top fielding SS prospect in the organization.  He played in only a handful of games in 2010, but had clutch hits and stellar defense.  In 2011, the same thing happened, BUT was never put in the game.  He really racked up frequent travel miles though going from Indy to Pittsburgh.
The Red Sox grabbed Ciriaco and he played in 76 games for the team as they battled through injuries at 2B, SS, 3B, and the outfield.  In only 76 games he posted a .293/.315/.390 line which means his OPS was .705.  Pedro is a slap hitter that doesn't take many walks, but he does have a habit of turning singles into doubles by swiping 16 bags and being caught only 3 times while with Boston.  Pedro has since gone on to be acquired and released with 3 teams this year (Boston, San Diego, Kansas City).  If John McDonald can continue to get work, I'm sure the speedy Ciriaco will continue to find a role as a super utility pinch runner, defensive substitution with some team.

I don't have many cards of Ciriaco, but this blank back 1/1 Topps Gimmick card seemed appropriate to highlight.  I won it a few years ago for $9.99 when I was trying to put together the entire 2011 Heritage Blank Back Pirates set..

7) Right Field
This is probably the hardest one because there are two players that went on to have successful careers at the corner outfield position after being traded by the Bucs
Brian Giles and Jose Bautista

2011 Topps All-Star Jersey Relic 19/60 (jersey number)

I honestly have to give it to Joey Bats though just because he is still playing and the Pirates got practically nothing for Joey Bats who has gone on to hit 160 HR since leaving the Steel City.

I picked up the above Joey Bats jersey relic for less than $10 a year ago.  It's an "ebay 1/1" cause the card is numbered 19/60 which is his jersey number.

8) Center Field
It's hard to imagine the Pirates without a good centerfielder since Cutch arrived.  Before Cutch there was Nate McLouth who was also pretty good (All-Star, Gold Glove, 20/20 production).  Before McLouth though there was Tike Redman who was not so good.  However if you can go way back to 2003 there was the speedy Kenny Lofton patrolling center for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2003 Donruss Signature Series 125/500

Lofton was already in his age 36 season when he signed with the Pirates during the 2002 off season.  Proving that he still had plenty of gas left in his tank he went on to hit .305 with 96 stolen bases through the next 4 years.  What I find to be the most impressive though is that Lofton stole bases at a 82% rate from his age 36-40 seasons.  That's incredible!  Lofton went on to finish his career with the Indians, but was part of the "Salary Dump" to the Cubs in the 2003 season along with 3B Aramis Ramirez.

The above Lofton is from 2003 Donruss Signature Series and is numbered 125/150.  I managed to grab this auto of the potential HOFer for a small fee of $14 shipped.  I've often seen this card sell in the $40 range so I was pretty excited to grab it for such a great price.  

9) Left Field
Jason Bay

2005 UD Artifacts AUTO 317/599

The single worse trade the Pirates have done in the past 5 years.  Bay should have brought in a good return, but instead he failed to bring in even one top 10 organizational prospect.  Only one player remains with the Bucs from that trade (Bryan Morris) and he just got called up last year. Granted Morris has been a quality late inning bullpen arm, but the Bucs needed more for a guy that went on to hit 45 HRs in 200 games for the Red Sox.  To make matters worse, you guys all know that Jason Bay is one of my favorite players.

The above 2005 UD Artifacts (on card) AUTO of Jason Bay is the cheapest Bay AUTO I've ever purchased.  Numbered 317/599 this gem cost me a measly .99.  I love buying AUTOs off the dollar menu.  

ADDED BONUS: Relief Pitcher
Juan Carlos Oviedo aka Leo Nunez

2003 Just Minors x/25

Ok so "Leo Nunez" may have been an illegal immigrant and the subject of controversy once it was revealed that his name wasn't really Leo Nunez, but the Pirates had the one time shutdown closer signed as a teenager before trading him to the Kansas City Royals for Benito Santiago who played in only 6 games as a Bucco.  Talk about giving away something for free basically.

The above 2003Just Minors Leo Nunez was purchased from COMC over a year ago when everything came out about Juan Carlos Oviedo.  I decided to use that opportunity to grab an autograph because most likely his stock would never be lower.  I was right as I managed to grab the above card for $2.25.  


So to recap who took the Pirates Prime 9 players.

Looking at this makes me really happy that the deal with the Red Sox this offseason for All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt for the best setupman in baseball (Mark Melancon) and prospects is working out well.  Our Red Sox trades never work out in the past.
Boston Red Sox:
Pedro Ciriaco, Adam Laroche, Jason Bay

San Fransisco Giants:
Freddy Sanchez, Jason Schmidt

Chicago Cubs:
Aramis Ramirez & Kenny Lofton (same trade!!!)

Oakland A's:
Jason Kendall

Toronto Blue Jays:
Jose Bautista

A unique item added to the Treasure Room

Baseball card manufacturers have used jerseys, bats, and patches as box hits for well over a decade now.  Very often, these cards feature an image of the player not wearing the same style jersey on the card as what's contained in the card.  This can become frustrating, but let's admit it we still love those plain white jersey cards that are guaranteed 1 in every 24 packs.

Upper Deck has always been thought of as being innovative in the card collecting industry.  Remember in 1989 when they debuted their first baseball card set and they had holograms in the corner.  FUCKING HOLOGRAMS!!!  Damn, that was cool.  As collectors sought out game used materials for their card collections, Upper Deck continued to innovate what was placed in our cardboard collections.

While this card won't get an induction into the Baseball Card Hall of Fame, I have to say this card is beyond cool.

Pictured on the card is Brian Giles and Aramis Ramirez of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Giles is swinging and ARam is fielding.  In the direct center of the card is a piece of officially game used baseball complete with some red stitching and faded letters of AGUE BASE.  The card has nice symmetry with the two players and even pictures both players wearing the same style home uniform.

The card is not numbered nor do I know the print run.  Upper Deck was a great company for baseball card collectors and it's a shame that we don't get to see their unique items year after year anymore.

The Pirates had a rain delay earlier today which caused the game to start a bit over 2 hours after it was scheduled.  Charlie Morton was pulled after only 4 innings and 61 pitches.  They are currently losing 4-0.  Let's hope for a big late innings rally by the Bucs to gain some more ground on those first place Reds. 

McCutchen Monday: Dimwit's break & Contest Update

Sam from The Daily Dimwit busted a couple boxes in his latest group break.  I chose the Pirates and got the Expos as my random.  All the Expos are for trade if anyone is interested or you can win what's not grabbed in trades by cheering on the Pirates as they face off against the formerly called Expos, Washington Nationals.

Sam also included this Andrew McCutchen 2012 Topps Museum base card that I had expressed interest in.  Cutch has been given a couple days off as he was fighting off flu like symptoms, but is expected to return in Tuesday's game against the Nationals.  Don't forget to root for the Pirates to win some great cards of Expos/Nationals.  Cards given away will be listed after I show off the group break stuff.  

Here's my Pirates from Topps Gallery.  Topps Gallery was a beautiful set.  Kenny Lofton played for lots of teams over his MLB career, but only half a season was with the Bucs.  This is without a doubt the nicest Lofton I have in a Pirates uniform.

 Also in the break was Topps HD.  This is a set that I had never collected, but now I have the complete team set plus a numbered Brian Giles parallel.

2001 Fleer Game Time was also included in the group break.  I managed to get only 3 Pirates in the break, which oddly enough is the complete team set.    

Bazooka baseball cards are a lot like their gum.  Not exactly the tastiest, but certainly fun and you get value for what you pay for it.  I managed to only get a few of the Pirates collecting 40% of the team set.  I still need Jason Bay, Kip Wells, and Jack Wilson.

 

The final box that got busted was Upper Deck Vintage.  Vintage looks awfully similar to 1971 Topps.  I got 5 of the 9 cards in the team set.   

From the Expos side, I got 18 cards which are all pictured below.  If you're interested in any of them let me know.

 

Any cards not claimed by Tuesday evening will be included in the Let's Go Bucs Contest! along with these two relic cards and Strasburg mini pictured below.  The Randy Johnson Topps Gallery card is stunning!

LET'S GO BUCS!!!! BEAT THE NATIONALS!!!!

Another Trade with Plaschke

This marks my 3rd trade with Greg from Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.  I sent him a handful of jersey cards and a Madison Bumgarner auto for the below cards.
You can see the first trade we made here and second here.

Aramis Ramirez was just an up and coming star when the Pirates dumped him to the Cubs with Kenny Lofton to shed some salary in the 2003 season.  During his six seasons with the Pirates, Aramis hit .263 with 76 HR.  Defensively, he was below average at third base.  He finished his 6 year Pirates career with a total 1.0 WAR.  Once he was traded to Chicago, Aramis became one of the top 3B in the National League and has composed a 23.7 WAR over his 9 year career with the Cubbies.  His 15 year career totals include an average of .283, 315 HR, and 1127 RBI.  He's now playing with the Milwaukee Brewers and struggling early in 2012. 

I have a lot of Daniel McCutchen autographs.  Not nearly as much as his no relation partner, Andrew, but that's probably a good thing.  DCutch is a great signer at games and evidently Topps seems to recognize his willingness to sign anything too as he appears in a couple autograph releases each year by the monopolized baseball card company.  Of all the autographs I have so far of Daniel, I think this is my favorite though.  In my opinion, nothing beats on card framed Allen & Ginter autographs (except maybe 2012 Topps Tribute's release). There's currently only one other AUTO of DCutch I'm seeking to add to my collection and that's the darn letter "E" for completing his 2010 Topps Finest nameplate.  Other than that card, I think I'm done with DCutch autographs for awhile.

I had posted that I wanted this card from ebay earlier in the year and asked for anyone's help obtaining it.  Greg was kind enough to pick it up for me in exchange for a Madison Bumgarner auto from 2011 Lineage.  I'm still not sure why a Dodgers fan wants a Giants auto though.  This serially numbered Jason Bay is 14/83. 

Next up some nice vintage of Pirates 1960 Award Winners
In 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates had the NL MVP and NL Cy Young Winner.  Dick Groat and Vern Law won the awards respectively and Greg included 1960 and 1962 Dick Groat Topps to my collection in addition to a 1962 Vern Law.  I'm making a lot of progress on completing the team sets from the early 70s, but anything prior to 1968 needs serious attention.  The 1962 are only my 4th and 5th cards from that set so I still have a LOOOONNNNNGGGG WAYS to go.

In addition to a collection of random Pirates goodies, I got 2 Bowman rookie cards.  The Jason Bay is going immediately into my Jason Bay binder and I'm happy to be adding a shiny chrome Bronson Arroyo rookie to my collection.  I didn't collect much in the late 90s so I never had an Arroyo rookie card...until now.  I give Bronson a lot of credit for his strange mechanical pitching technique as I can't do that high leg kick he does once let alone 100+ times every 5th day. 

Thanks again Greg for the awesome trade especially the bonus vintage.  As always, looking forward to our next trade.

Trade Post with Play at the Plate

I recently made a trade with Brian from play at the plate and am very happy with the trade.  In exchange for some 2012 Heritage and a couple jersey relics, Brian sent me this Pirates loot.

Up first 2 Brian Giles and Jason Kendall cards and their baseball shaped minis from 2003 Upper Deck Standing O.  I had never seen these cards before and am happy to add them to my collection.  I am currently working on my 8th page of Jason Kendall cards and 9th card of Brian Giles.  I only collect those guys in Pirates uniforms and keep all my "hits" in cases.

 Gold and blue parallels.  I've been looking for the 2011 Morton blue parallel for awhile, but couldn't find one cheap enough on ebay or COMC.  More sweet additions to the collection.

Topps 205 from 2003 and their mini counterparts.  It didn't make sense to show the fronts of the minis so I showed the backs.

 I frickin love the Playoff Portraits cards.  They're beautiful and feel like they were actually painted.

 4 McCutchen cards.  2 new ones (2012 opening day and 2012 heritage sticker).  The others are for my girlfriends collection.  Yup she collects baseball cards too. Maybe I'll do a post someday soon showing off her collection.

The 2 Pirates outfielders that will likely be joining Andrew McCutchen in the outfield for many years to come.  Tabata has already been signed long term with option years running through 2019.  Marte has yet to make his MLB debut so he may very well be patrolling the outfield through 2019 too.

Here's the highlights of the trade that Brian sent me.

 a 2002 Donruss Diamond Kings Diamond Cut jersey of Aramis Ramirez numbered 125/500.

a 2003 Topps 205 bat relic of the Pirates all-time slugging percentage leader Brian Giles.

Thanks so much for the great trade Brian.  I'm looking forward to trading with you again in the future.  I recently pulled a 2012 Heritage CJ Wilson Clubhouse Collection jersey if you're interested. 

trade with Cards from the Quarry

Johnny aka hiflew at Cards from the Quarry made a trade with me when he saw my blue parallel Drew Pomeranz 2012 Topps card I pulled from a blaster.  The deal was gong to be the Pomeranz and a large assortment of Rockies for the 2012 Andrew McCutchen '87 Topps mini and an assortment of Pirates.  For some reason, I couldn't find all my pre 2011 Rockies so I decided to give up a pack pulled Todd Helton relic from 2002 (?) that I was hoping he didn't have. 


Here's some of the highlights of what I got:

up first is the centerpiece of the trade.  As everyone know's Cutch is my favorite player to collect.  The dude is a future superstar.  I actually needed 2 of these.  One for the PC and one for my '87 Topps minis set.  I had one and am now happy to put this in the McCutchen binder for safe keeping.

 2 Pirates Hall of Famers.  The Clementes are the Archive reprints, but I don't own the reprints (or originals for that matter) so I'm happy to get them.  The Maz is a card I had never seen before.  It's copyrighted CMC 1989 and is number 67 of a Baseball Greats set.  Anyone have any information about this set?  Were there other Pirates in the set? 

 Bazooka minis are fun.  I have a binder of Jason Bay and Jason Kendall and a plethora of Mike Williams cards.  These are all new additions to the collections.

I just love getting new cards I didn't have before and every single one of these is new to my collection.  Doumits and McCutchens I don't already have are always the highlight of a trade package for me.  I just love adding to my player collections. 

Holy crap! I miss SportsFlics cards!!!!!!  Nothing says late 80s awesomeness like a SportFlics card.  I remember when these things came out, they were awesome.  Come to think of it, they still are.  John Smiley is my favorite left handed Pirates pitcher of all time so this makes me remember what it was like being 9 years old again.  GO BUCS!!!!

Thanks so much for the trade and I look forward to trading with you again.

50% off sale ebay winnings

One of my favorite ebay sellers Kruk Singles was running a 50% off sale their entire inventory for 2 days and I picked up a ton of stuff with the bulk of it for $2.50 each with free shipping.  I was able to get a few game-used cards of Pirates that I didn't know existed. 

To start things off, I got this really nice Jason Bay Upper Deck Goudey autograph for $4.69.  Anytime I can add a Bay auto for less than footlong sub is a good day. 

I also managed to get a dual jersey relic of Jason Bay and Bobby Crosby numberd 14/25.  I've been looking to add a dual relic of these two for awhile, but never pulled the trigger until I could get it for about $4.

This is a 2005 All-Star Stitches of Jason Bay.  Not much needs to be said for this $2.50 purchase.

I also managed to get a few Brian Giles cards for cheap $2.50 a piece to be exact. 

 2001 Donruss Diamond Dominators BAT 193/725

This card recognizes Brian Giles team leading HR achievement in 2001 when he smacked 37HRs.

 2003 Fleer Platinum Heart of the Order BAT 70/400
This quite possibly is my favorite design for a relic that Fleer ever did.  Fleer often times had very plain and boring bat/jersey hits, but this one is very well layed out featuring the team's actual lineup card along with a bat in the center of the card and the 3 "heart of the order" player's pictures on the left.  I'm wondering if there's a triple relic out there with all three of Kendall, Giles, and Ramirez.  If so, I must own it.

2002 Upper Deck SP Superstars Swatches JERSEY 105/400
Just a very typical Upper Deck jersey swatch of Brian Giles numberd to 400.  Not much to see here.

2002 Fleer Platinum Fence Busters BAT
Another Fleer Platinum Bat relic of Giles.  The design is ok, but nothing great. 

Ok, so this cad was actually $4.69 so I lied about $2.50 a piece.  But again, how can I pass up an autograph of the Pirates all time slugging percentage leader for less than the price of a sandwich?  Quite simply, I can't.  Food is over rated

John Van Benschoten 2008 Upper Deck Signature AUTO
I always wanted to get the autograph of John Van Benschoten for two reasons.  First, his name is awesome and sounds like he should be the lead character of a video game hunting demons and monsters.  Second, he is an all-time stat leader, but more on that later.  JVB was supposed to be one of the Pirates top pitching prospects and a fixture in the Pirates rotation for years to come when he was selected 8th overall in the 2001 draft.  He was the Pirates top prospect in 2003 and 2004.  Unfortunately for JVB, he never lived up to his potential and is currently the major league's all time highest ERA leader with a minimum of 75 innings pitched.  In 90 innings pitched he has a career ERA of 9.20 and a WHIP of 2.144.  I wish JVB the best of luck getting back to the majors and hopefully lowering that ERA.  This AUTO cost me only $2.50.

Matt Lawtcon 2005 Upper Deck Midsummer Swatches

Matt Lawton was aquired by the Pirates during the offseason of 2004 from the Cleveland Indians for reliever Arthur Rhodes.  The Pirates had lost Jason Kendall to free agency and asked Lawton to be the team's leadoff hitter and help increase the offense.  Lawton was selected to be a Pirates representative at the 2005 All-Star game. After 101 games he was traded to the Cubs for Jody Gerut.  After 19 games with the Cubs, he was traded to the Yankees.  

2007 Upper Deck Star Signing Ian Snell AUTO

Ian Snell has gone by many names during his MLB career.  He began as Ian Oquendo after adopting the name from his wife.  Then he became Ian Snell.  Then Ian Davilla-Snell.  Now he's known as Ian Snell again.  I'm glad to see that he's no longer with the team. 

This was the most expensive card I bought from Kruk.  It was $7.81 shipped.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CARD!!!  The Playoff Portraits are just beautifully painted cards and have the autograph on the back is a nice touch.  This is my first Ramirez auto I own and I am happy to cross him off the want lists for getting a certified autograph.  Aramis was traded along with Kenny Lofton from the Pirates to the Cubs strictly as a salary dump when the previous owner Kevin McClatchy said they needed to cut payroll.  I've enjoyed watching Aramis develop into one of the NL's best 3B over the past decade.

Aramis Ramirez 2002 Tools of the Trade Materials JERSEY 91/300
Continuing the Playoff and Aram trend, here's my first jersey relic of the newest Brewer 3B.  Another $2.50 bargain.

So there you have it.  My mega lot of cards I bought from Kruk Singles on ebay.