The similarities of these two cards

I was going through some of my smaller player collections and trying to organize my commons a little better when I realized that these cards are very similar.  Both feature the Pirates big bat swinging from the left side of the plate in PNC park with a Cubs catcher behind the plate while wearing #24.

Pedro hit his first (and second) homeruns of the season last night.

DUAL JERSEY RELIC: JASON BAY & BRIAN GILES

It's good to have goals.  It's crazy to add another goal before you've started any of your previous goals, but here I am on January 2nd with another goal to my already extensive 2014 goals.  Last year, I managed to complete my Jason Bay partner project idea which I had 38 unique players on a card with Jason on either an auto or relic card.  I've decided to up that project and make a goal of 38 unique players on just a relic card by the end of 2014.

For $10 shipped, I grabbed a VERY low numbered 12/25 dual jersey relic of Brian Giles and Jason Bay.

What I like most about the card above is that Jason Bay was one of the key parts of the trade that sent Brian Giles from Pittsburgh to San Diego.  Giles would go on to have a decent career in San Diego, but his numbers were nothing like what he was putting up with the short porch in Pittsburgh's right field.  Giles had 165 HR over 2541 at bats in Pittsburgh (1 HR per every 15 at bats).   His SD numbers were still good 83 homeruns over 3129 (every 38 at bats) but were not what the Friars were hoping they were getting when they traded for Giles.

Jason Bay on the other hand had 6 memorable seasons with the Bucs, winning the Rookie of the Year in 2004 and being selected as an All-Star in 2005 and 2006.  He finished his Pirate career with 139 Homeruns which ranks him 8th overall in Pirates franchise homerun leaders (Giles is 6th).

Here's a list of the players I have relic cards with Jason Bay.

Albert Pujols
Alex Rios
Alfonso Soriano
Andruw Jones
Bill Madlock
Bobby Crosby
Brian Giles
Carlos Lee
Craig Wilson
David Wright
Edgar Martinez
Erik Bedard
Freddy Sanchez
Gary Carter
Jacoby Ellsbury
JD Drew
Jose Castillo 
Justin Morneau
Ken Griffey Jr.
Kenny Lofton
Lenny Dykstra
Mario Lemieux
Mark Teixeira
Manny Ramirez
Matt Holiday
Nick Markakis
Nick Swisher
Ralph Kiner
Rich Harden
Russell Martin
Shawn Hill
Torii Hunter
Xavier Nady

That brings me to 33 unique players on a relic card with Jason Bay.  Only 5 more to go....

I got myself a Brian Giles patch

I still need a Brian Giles logoman patch, but at least I have a patch of the one time Pirates slugger.

Trade Post: GCRL

FIRST THING'S FIRST!  THE RUBBER MATCH BETWEEN THE 1ST PLACE REDS AND 2ND PLACE PIRATES IS TONIGHT.  IF THE PIRATES ARE ABLE TO DEFEAT MIKE LEAKE AND THE REDS TONIGHT, THEY PULL WITHIN 1 GAME OF FIRST PLACE!!!!  LET'S GO BUCS!

Since the Reds series has already started, entries for that contest are over, but the Bucs take on the AL Central in Interleague games starting tomorrow.  First up, the Kansas City Royals.  The Pirates will return to Pittsburgh for a 3 game series with the Royals Friday.  If the Pirates win the series against the Royals, here's the cards up for the contest.  Same rules apply as always.  Leave a comment saying Let's Go Bucs and if the Pirates win or split the series, I randomize the entrants equal to the number of games in the series.  The person whose name appears on top of the final randomization wins.

LET'S GO BUCS!

Now onto the actual trade post

I recently made a trade with Jim from the Dodgers blog GCRL  for my Dee Gordon auto I offered up for the Dodgers vs. Pirates series earlier this year.  Since the Dodgers swept the Pirates I still had the Gordon auto available.

In exchange for the Dee Gordon and a few random Dodgers, I received 49 (!) Brian Giles base cards, some random 2010 Bucs and 2 hits of Brian Giles.

First up are some of my favorites of the Giles base cards. 

Here's some others.  These look retro, but they're not.

Of the 49 unique Brian Giles cards sent to me, 36 were new to my collection.  That's an impressive average.

and finally the hits...

Prior to last month I had never owned a baseball card with an actual piece of baseball in it.  While this card doesn't look as well as the Giles/Ramirez I purchased the stitching of the baseball is relevant and I like the player selection more.  Jason Kendall is still one of my favorite Pirates of all time.

This 2001 Fleer Feel the Game bat relic of Giles has a nice design to it.  It's nothign too flashy nor is it too dull like many of Fleer's inserts.  The card isn't numbered nor can I find a print run online for it.

Jim also included 2 new Clemente cards for me to add to my collection. 

Check it out a KMart Topps card from 1982.  SWEET!!!!

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!!!!

Trade Post with It's Like Having My Own Card Shop

Dan from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop is a Diamondbacks fan.  I like the D'backs.  They're a good young team and have a really solid pitching staff. Dan and I set up a trade in exchange for a Justin Upton jersey relic I had purchased earlier in the year.  In exchange for the Upton jersey amongst other D'backs I sent him, I received some really nice vintage for my ongoing Topps team sets needs. 

2 nice vintage cards (58 and 59 Topps) of the 1960 MVP Dick Groat and a World Series Celebration card from 1961 featuring a very happy Maz.

Dan also included some other Pirates cards.  These were my favorites.

Trade Post with the Sandlot

I saw that Joe from The Sandlot had a 2012 McCutchen card that I needed and arranged to make a big trade sending out a bunch of Mets in exchange for a bunch of Pirates.

First the only agreed upon card in the trade, a 2012 Topps Opening Day Elite Skills Andrew McCutchen.  This card shows Andrew showing off his elite skill of bunting.

The two hits of the package included a Matt Capps Clear Path to Greatness AUTO and a 2011 Lineage Jason Bay jersey.

Some numbered parallels were also included.  I recently got my Andrew Lambo Topps 100 signed by Lambo prior to a game, so now I can add an unsigned back into my numbered binder.

Joe sent me the entire team set of 2006 Fleer in the package.  If the Billy Ripken F-ck Face card taught us anything, it's that Fleer doesn't like to airbrush their cards.  This Sean Casey shows how Fleer deals with offseason trades and free agent signings.  Slap a Pirates logo on the card and leave the player in last year's uniform.  Print and package.

Some Hall of Famers and one of the most electrifying outfielders in the 70s and 80s was also included.

I'm not sure if Joe included this card because of my featured post on Bobby Bradley and the slide that some top prospects take, but I am very glad he included it in the package.  Bobby could have been one of the game's elite pitchers if he hadn't gotten injured.

Joe also hit some of my player collections by adding 4 new Andy Van Slyke, 3 Jason Bay base cards, and 3 Jason Kendalls.

Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon combined to throw the most recent no-hitter in Pirates history in 1997 (something his Mets have never accomplished through over 7000 games).  Cordova pitched 9 innings of no hit ball before Rincon came in to throw a scoreless tenth.  Mark Smith hit a walk off homerun in the 10th to give Rincon the win.  That's the last time a relief pitcher won a game while being part of a no hitter.

Earlier in the year I did a post regarding the movie Moneyball and how the Pirates had "moneyballed" their way from a relief pitcher (Ricardo Rincon) to a Rookie of the Year, K/9 leader, 4 All-Star appearances, and very useful players for years to come.  If you haven't read that post, please go check it out.  It was probably one of my most thought out posts I ever did.  The Ricardo Rincon Pacific Online card pictured above was included in the trade that Joe sent me and made me rethink about the concept of moneyball.

I also got some of my favorite Bucs from the 90s in the trade.  I really miss all those designs from the 90s.  They were sooooo 90s.  LOL!

To close it out here's some more of my more recent favorite Pirates that were included in the trade.
Casey McGhee looks so bad ass in a Pirates uniform this year.  

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. 

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