Black is the New Black: Big Willy Style!!!

Bowman Black is one of my favorite autograph series of all time.  Since it's debut I have added nearly every Pirates prospect that has appeared in the series.

Jameson Taillon
Gerrit Cole
Starling Marte
Gregory Polanco
Tyler Glasnow (I have 3 of these)
Austin Meadows
Reese McGuire
Harold Ramirez
Connor Joe
Alen Hanson

Today I am adding another to the list and it's unlikely that he will see any playing time at the Major League level due to the current Pirates young outfield.  The prices on Willy Garcia cards are very cheap right now and I am starting to pick them up as I think he will be moved at the trade deadline and emerge as an everyday outfielder.

With the addition of Garcia to the Bowman Black collection, the major ones that I am missing are Cole Tucker and Kevin Newman.  A Kevin Newman recently sold for $60 which is just stupid. 

This Garcia addition was grabbed for $10.

Black is the New Black: HarRam Auto

I love Bowman Black!!!
I have a copy of every top Pirates Bowman Black autograph made except Cole Tucker.  I've actually got 3 Tyler Glasnow.

My latest pickup is of Harold Ramirez. Ramirez is only 20 years old hitting for a very high average in A ball as a corner outfielder.

Through most of his minor league career he has been splitting time between CF and RF. Due to Austin Meadows playing most of his time in CF this year, Ramirez was moved to RF due to having a stronger arm.

Ramirez is currently batting .356/.402/.477 through 37 games. Featuring the potential for all 5 tools he has stolen 11 bags already while driving in 21RBI.

One thing that Harold will need to work on is his K% which is currently 2.3x his walk rate.

#JHayAllDay: My 1st Certified Josh Harrison Auto

One type of cardboard that I consistently seek out to add to my collection is silver sharpie on card autographs on top of a black background.  I have many of the Pirates top players and prospects rookies as part of Bowman Black's line of cards.

Topps Tier 1 and Tribute have slowly been adding these type of cards into their sets as well and last year I grabbed the Jason Grilli "Grill Cheese" Inscription.  Today I am showing off a card that I have literally been waiting 3 years for Topps to produce.  A Josh Harrison certified on card autograph.  When Josh Harrison and Chase D'arnaud debuted in 2011, I became very excited for the Bucs as I saw both of these energetic young athletes being able to produce at a premium position up the middle with Harrison being a 2B and D'arnaud being SS.  I saw Walker moving back to 3B and Pedro Alvarez at 1B.  Some of that scenario happened, but one thing I desperately wanted at the time was autographs of guys not named Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Tabata, and strangely enough Andrew McCutchen.  I wanted the role players to have signed cards.

Now that Josh Harrison has emerged as an All-Star everyday player that is a switch army knife in the field, Topps is finally producing a certified auto of the man known as JHayAllDay in their products.

There were several to choose from in Tier 1, but this one stood out to me.

Low numbered, on card, silver sharpie, black background, and JHayAllDay?
Doesn't matter how much it cost, this card is awesome!!!!

Black is the New Black: Willy Style

My latest autograph in my pursuit for the Willy Garcia rainbow is a black parallel

Black is the New Black: Silver Lambo-graph-ini

If you've followed my blog for awhile you know that I love silver ink and black borders.  I've got a large collection of Bowman Black autographs of all the Pirates top prospects (Cole, Taillon, Marte, Polanco, Glasnow, Hanson, Joe, McGuire, Meadows).

I've decided that I wanted to start seeking out Topps Chrome black autographs with silver ink also.
Up first is Andrew Lambo.

When Lambo came to the Bucs in 2010 for Octavio Dotel, I was extremely excited.  He was in his early 20s and already smashing AA pitching which lead to him being a top 100 prospect.   5 years later and he still hasn't been given his full shot to produce at the major league level.

The above on card autograph ran me less than $7 delivered which is an incredible price for a card numbered to 25 copies. Lambo is currently on the DL which is a shame because of the uncertainty revolving around Starling Marte's early exit yesterday.

McCutchen Mailday Numbers 42, 43, and 44: A lot of Shine!!!!

Big mailday today as 3 new Andrew McCutchen cards came in the mail from eBay in my pursuit for 100.

These three beautiful low numbered parallels hailing from 2014 Topps Chrome, Prizm, and Finest cost me a grand total of $32.  That might seem pricy for only 3 pieces of cardboard that don't have any relics, signatures, or manufactured pins on them.  That's all true, but if you looked at these 3 cards and the way they refract light and shine on a page, you'd change your mind.

All 3 cards are numbered to 100 or less copies and are part of a bigger rainbow project I intend to complete of Cutch this year.

The lack of Spring Training at bats and now his knee problems are a sign of concern for the Bucs as they start the season 1-4. Every single game they lost in Cincinnati could have gone to them just as easily, but you can't make excuses for the loss column. 3 Games under .500 and 4 games out of 1st isn't worth panicking over in April. They've been there as recent as last year. Cutch's health, however, is a little worrisome. I thought he was Fearless as depicted in this card.

Black is the New Black: Rinku Singh Autograph

It should be no secret that I love Bowman Black cards which feature the on card silver sharpie autographs of baseball's top prospects.  Back in 2009, those did not exist, but Bowan Black parallels did in Bowman Sterling.

For $23 delivered I nabbed this auto of one of the subjects of the Million Dollar Arm, Rinku Singh numbered 13/25.  It's a longshot for Rinku to make the majors after having not pitched professionally since 2012 due to Tommy John surgery and several other injuries.

In 2012 he looked like a decent prospect posting a 1.25 WHIP along with a 8.1K/9 coming out of the bullpen.  If he is healthy, he could one day catch on with another club and make his MLB debut.  Singh will begin the 2015 as a 26 year old.

Black is the New Black: Connor Joe Auto

Yesterday I posted a page worth of old Batman cards that I received as protection for an on card autograph I purchased.  Today, I'm going to show that on card autograph that was safely protected inside a thick top loader and those old Batman cards.

It's Connor Joe!!!!

Who you ask?

Joe was a supplemental 1st round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He's already 22 and has yet to debut in the minors due to injury problems.  He will be the last hope in keeping the legend of the Ricardo Rincon trade alive which I highlighted back in January 2012.  The legend of Rincon could potentially end with Connor Joe since all other pieces have since been traded or released and are no longer in the organization.  The trade that has just kept giving started in 1998 when the Pirates traded Ricardo Rincon for Brian Giles who later was traded for Oliver Perez and Jason Bay who netted Xavier Nady who later became Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen, Jeff Karstens, Craig Hansen, Bryan Morris, Andy LaRoche, and Brandon Moss.  Of all those players only Tabata remains in the organization and he's not even on the 40 man roster.

As many of you that have followed my blog in the past, you should know that Bowman Black is my favorite kind of On Card Autograph.  I've acquired a large portion of the Pirates over the years as you can see by clicking here.

Another 2014 Goal Accomplished

Two weeks ago I showed off one of the toughest (and most expensive) Bowman Black autographs I have ever picked up.  That Austin Meadows autograph brought me done to needing only one Bowman Black autograph of the Pirates, Alen Hanson, who I recently purchased just in time to close out the new year.

Alen Hanson entered the 2014 season with the expectation that he could be a mid season callup along with Gregory Polanco if he showed continued improvement in the field.  The 21 year old middle infielder put up strong numbers at the plate in AA despite some minor injuries and an extended period of time missed that the reason still hasn't been revealed.

In 118 games, the switch hitting Dominican hit .280/.326/.442 with 11 HomeRuns and 25 stolen bases.  Many see Hanson as a future leadoff hitter that can play 2B, SS, or 3B.  Despite the struggle that Hanson suffered last year which dropped his elite prospect status, I personally still think that Hanson will be a very good major leaguer and given the right opportunity in 2015 could have a season like 2014 Josh Harrison.  He has incredible bat speed from both sides of the plate and possesses a good bit of pop for being only 5ft10.

Bowman Black will continue to be one of my favorite autographs to collect every year going forward.  I will most likely add Connor Joe and Cole Tucker to the list of players I want to get Bowman Black autographs from in 2015.  I may also continue to pick up Tyler Glasnow's bowman black cards as well since 3 out of 25 just isn't enough.

If you want to see the other Bowman Black autographs I got in 2014 click here.

Black is the New Black: Austin Meadows Edition

One of my 2014 Collecting Goals was to add as many Bowman Black autographs as possible of the Pirates Prospects.  I specifically set out to add  Tyler Glasnow, Gregory Polanco, Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, Reese McGuire, and Alen Hanson Bowman Black autos.

My latest Bowman Black ran me A LOT of money, but because I had nearly $40 in ebay bucks and was able to take advantage of the triple ebay bucks on items over $50 I was able to get this card for a fair price considering how rare the card is and how much talent Austin possesses.

With just a few weeks left in the year, I will be looking on ebay for the Alen Hanson Bowman Black to complete another 2014 goal.  It's been a very successful year for collecting and hitting my goals.

Despite missing much of the 2014 season, Meadows still managed to post very solid offensive numbers while playing Center Field for low A ball as a 19 year old.  His final line for the season after 38 games was .322/.388/.486.  He's striking out twice as much as walking, but his overall strikeout percentage is 17.9% (very good for a 19 year old in A ball)

Entering the draft, Meadows was garnering a lot of Jay Bruce and Colby Rasmus comparisons.  I honestly see a higher ceiling for Meadows, but maybe that's just me looking through rose colored glasses.

Black is the New Black: The White Sox are trying to rebuild using the 2007 Pirates

I was looking for some autographs on COMC a few months back and came across this card which I absolutely needed to add to my collection for the price paid ($5).  I don't have many Adam Laroche autographs in my collection and this card was low numbered and signed in silver sharpie (one of my favorite kinds of signatures).  I decided to grab it.

Upon receipt of the card I realized that maybe the 2015 Chicago WhiteSox will look similiar to the 2007 Pirates.  They just signed Adam Laroche and Zach Duke for a combined $40 millions.  Wow!!!! Good Luck with that ChiSox!

Update: This was scheduled for Saturday but I messed up the dates. It looks like the White Sox will be more aggressively contending in 2015 more that they have traded for Scrabbleboard and signed David Robertson.

Football Sunday: It was a Good Time to be a Steelers Fan!!!

The Steelers were steamrolling through the NFL putting up ridiculous offensive numbers being lead by 2 time Super Bowl Winner Ben Roethlisberger.  Big Ben has a number of offensive weapons in Antonio Brown, Le'veon Bell, Martavis Bryant, Heath Miller, and Markus Wheaton.

Then last week happened in which the Steelers were embarassed by the 1-8 New Jersey NY Jets.  I chose not to go to the game and am glad that I didn't see that disgrace in person.

For years, it was always the Steelers defense and running game that kept the Steelers as top contenders.  It's so nice for the black and yellow to be putting up monster numbers this year.

The above black border parallel from 2011 Topps was part of my recent ebay steals and I won this for $1.75 delivered.  Not a bad price for such a great photo of a Steelers celebration .

Black is the New Black: Nick Kingham Heritage

For the second time this week, I'm showing off a Topps Heritage Minors Black Parallel card that literally ran me just a few pennies...well in this case 99 to be exact.  The above Nick Kingham 2014 Topps Heritage Minors black parallel numbered 102/105 ran me 99 cents delivered and is my most recent addition of the future major leaguer.  Many people were thinking that Kingham might receive an early cup of coffee last year due to top pitching prospect Jameson Taillon suffering from Tommy John surgery and many of the Pirates rotation having multiple stints on the DL.  Fortunately Jeff Locke and Vance Worley helped solidify the rotation lead by Edinson Volquez over the course of the season.  Yup, you just read that all correctly...that's how the Pirates 2014 season went.

I have high hopes for Kingham to make an impact at the major leagues, but don't see him much more than an innings eater with mid to high 3s ERA.  Basically I see him as a Bronson Arroyo type without the crazy delivery.  When put that into the back end of a rotation, the Pirates rotation plans look pretty good for 2016 and beyond.

At one time I considered super collecting Nick's cards especially since I have his superfractor, but that mustache was just too terrible to ever bear witness on a baseball card consistently.

Black is the New Black: Tyler Glasnow is Back!

I'M NOT SURE WHY THIS DIDN'T POST 4 MONTHS AGO, BUT HERE IT IS...

I have stated numerous times how much I love Bowman Black autos.  I've got autographs of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, and Tyler Glasnow.  I recently added another Tyler Glasnow Bowman Black to the collection because the price was right.

This is the second I own and just recently purchased another, giving me 3 of the 25.  Maybe I can hunt down the other 22.  If you want to see the other Glasnow Bowman Black I bought, you can click here.

Black is the New Black: Reese McGuire Auto

One of my silly 2014 collecting goals was to obtain Bowman Gold rookies of the Pirates top prospects.  After realizing how much I really don't like the designs on some Bowman products and the absurd prices that most of them were going for, I quickly killed that goal and changed it to the Bowman Black line that Bowman puts out each year.  I prefer silver sharpie autos on black and also like the horizontal design of the Bowman Black card line.

I've acquired quite a handful already and still have a few more that I want to grab.  One player that I won't be grabbing the Bowman Black card from is Blake Taylor, who was traded for Ike Davis earlier this year.

2013 Bowman Black AUTO 18/25

My latest addition is the second of the Pirates two 2013 draft picks, catcher Reese McGuire.
It will fit in nicely with my 3 Tyler Glasnow autographs, Gregory Polanco, Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, and Starling Marte Bowman Black autos. 

McGuire has had a decent year at the plate in A ball as a 19 year old backstop hitting .257 with 26 RBI in 66 games.  The power numbers aren't there yet as he's only slugging .302 with 1 HR, but he's also hitting at a level he is nearly two and a half years younger than the competition.  When McGuire was drafted, there was no doubt about his advanced defensive abilities and he has shown that at a tremendous rate this year gunning down 43% of potential baserunners (33 Caught stealing compared to 43 stolen bases allowed).  Could he be a future gold glove Yadier Molina type catcher in the Pirates organization?  Only time will tell.

Black is the New Black: Tyler Glasnow Bowman Black Auto AGAIN

This is my 3rd copy of the 2013 Bowman Black auto numbered to 25.  This copy is numbered 2/25.

I didn't get it for a steal, but it was the cheapest of the bunch that I have grabbed.

Black is the new Black: It's happening...it's really happening Gregory Polanco Black AUTO

Gregory Polanco will be making his much anticipated MLB debut tonight.  After posting video game like numbers in AAA for the early part of the season, the Pirates will be calling on the left handed right fielder to jumpstart their lineup as they try to push for another post season run.

One of my 2014 collecting goals was to get autographed gold parallels from Bowman of the Pirates top prospects each year.  After a few days of thinking about it, I quickly changed my thoughts and goals to the Bowman black autographs with silver ink.  These just look so much nicer to me and I already have shown off the Bowman Blacks for Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, and Starling Marte.  I am hoping to be adding Reese McGuire, Austin Meadows, and Alen Hanson by the year.

2013 Bowman Black 5/25

The above Bowman Black ran me $125 which is significantly cheaper than what some of them were going for at the start of the season ($300 plus range)

Russell Martin Returns!

I thought about doing some kind of X-Men Days of Future Past tie in today since the movie is coming out and I am a HUGE X-Men fan, but just couldn't wait to show off this Russell Martin any longer.  I've greatly missed Russ' bat and glove in the lineup everyday despite Tony Sanchez being one of my favorite players in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

2013 Topps Black 45/62 Russell Martin

This low numbered black parallel (45/62) is my only parallel of the 2013 base set from Russ that I own.  Remember though I am trying to complete the trifecta to the 2013 Topps Chrome rainbow of Russell.

Grill Cheese 1/1!!!!! and a great story

Jason Grilli has struggled early in the 2014 season.  His strikeout rate is nearing the lowest of his career and his walk rate is nearing the highest of his career.  Combine that with his rising batting average balls in play and you have a recipe for disaster.  None of that really matters to me though because I love watching Jason Grilli take the mound in high pressure situations.

Grilli is currently on the DL for the Pirates and even if he never closes out another game for the Bucs, he will always remain one of my favorite Pirates relievers of all time.

The dude flat out got pumped everytime he stepped foot on the mound.  Need proof?  Check out his recent cards for Topps flagships or last year's Heritage release.

What impresses me most about Jason Grilli though isn't the fist pumping or the Pearl Jam entrances or the funny nickname.  It's how he reacts to his fans.  I remember attending a 2012 spring training game he was signing autographs for fans for close to 30 minutes.  A very young boy (probably no older than 4) had drawn a bunch of Pirates players and write one sentence under each of the pages in his sketchbook.  The very proud father was showing it to Evan Meek, who was drawn wearing a Superman cape with the sentence "Super Meek saved the day".  Jason Grilli came over and asked the young boy if he was in the book and the boy said "No. Who are you?"  Jason said "I'm the Grill Cheese"  The boy started laughing then told Jason how much he liked grill cheeses.  Jason told him he wanted to be drawn in the boys book the next time he saw him.  The boy said "Ok Mr. Grill Cheese"  It was such a cute moment and a joy to watch Jason interact with this young boy.  When I initially joined twitter, my first follower was Jason Grilli.  He has such a way of interacting with his fans that you can't help but root for the guy to be successful.

It's because of this that I needed to add a 1/1 Jason Grilli to my collection.

I didn't want just any 1/1 though.

There was no way a Topps Blank back or printing plate would be displayed proudly when it came to finding a great Grilli card for the collection.

I needed this!

That's how you do an autographed 1/1 of one of your favorite players.  Beautifully designed high end product with an on card autograph and inscribed with his nickname on a black background signed in silver.  This card is fricking beautiful.  It ran me $84 delivered, but is worth every penny to me.

Black is the New Black: Graded Style

I have a confession to make....

I really like collecting baseball cards.

Even if I already have them.

If they're graded and mine isn't.  I buy it.

Hello Charlie!  Welcome to the club!