Feels like something magical is happening in Buctown

The Pirates kicked off the series with the Royals with a 4-2 victory.  Heads up baserunning again played a huge part in this ball game.  Rod Barajas was able to score from second on a single by Clint Barmes on a ball hit to left field.  Rod is huge guy and looks like a locomotive trying to get started when running the bases.  The throw had beaten Rod to the plate, but with cat like reflexes dodged the tag by Quintero, then crawled to homeplate to avoid a second tag. 

Another heads up play was when Jose Tabata got picked off first base with Pedro Alvarez on 3rd.  Tabata was able to keep the fielders distracted long enough in a rundown for Pedro to score. 

It looks like something magical is happening in Pittsburgh at the start of this summer as the Bucs keep winning series after series and opening with series wins.

I found this video on youtube today when checking out the comments section in bucsdugout.com
I highly encourage you to watch this video.  It's really well put together and will make you believe in the Bucs in 2012. 

The song was actually used a lot for promos during the early 90s when the Pirates were heading into the post season year after year thanks to their All-Star loaded lineups of Bonds, Van Slyke, Bonilla, Drabek.

What's amazing about this video is that it features Chris Resop's fist pump striking out Ryan Ludwick when he picked up his 2nd career save in last night's extra inning affair with the 1st place Reds.  Resop was the last available pitcher for the Pirates in a seesaw battle with the Reds.  The video also features Tabata's shotgun throw from right field to nail Joey Votto at home which proved to be a game saving run.

Since this is a baseball card blog first and foremost, here's an Andrew McCutchen dual auto with Royals CF Lorenzo Cain (currently on the DL) numbered 6/25.  It marks my 5th Cutch dual auto just minors auto.

To recap here's my other Cutch dual autos
 

 Cutch with Cole Hamels

Cutch with Gio Gonzalez

Cutch with Pirates 1st round draft pick Daniel Moskos

Cutch with Jason Heyward

LET'S GO BUCS!

Dual Auto: McCutchen & Cole Hamels

In recognition of tonight's On Deck series of Pirates vs. Phillies, I thought it would be a good time to show off one of my latest Andrew McCutchen pickups.  I'm not a huge fan of Just Minors products.  They all looked very similiar from year to year and are not officially licensed by the MLB. However, some of the dual autographs they have put out are just awesome.  This is my 2nd Just Minors dual auto of Andrew with another player I've added to my collection.  The other one was Cutch and first rounder Daniel Moskos.  Prior to McCutchen's MLB debut he would sign his full name on cards.  Now he just signs it ACutch.  I think I will do an evolution of a signature post in the future.

This 2008 dual auto of the Pirates face of the current franchise and the 2008 World Series MVP is numbered 7/25.  Just minors seals their autographed products in a toploader and penny sleeve with a sticker at the top, hence why the scan shows the card in it's toploader. 

Here's a look at the back for those that have never seen this product before.

The best thing about these cards is that they are very affordable.  If these two dudes were on a Bowman product together and numbered this low, this card would probably be fetching over $200.  While it's still pricey, I was able to pick this up for $40. 

Tonight, the Pirates face the Phillies in Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia.  I'm going to the game and will be in the 1st row near the Pirates dugout.  Thank you StubHub.  Yesterday Andrew tied the game up in the 6th inning with a homerun.  The wind was blowing in hard last night so that shows the strength that Cutch hit that ball with.  With the tension between the Flyers and Penguins at the boiling point right now, it's not exactly the best time for a Pittsburgh fan to go into Philly.  Wish me luck!