1st Goal of 2012 Complete!

I finally picked up the last letter needed for my Daniel McCutchen Topps Finest Nameplate.  The letter E had been escaping me for about 4 1/2 months as only 2 became available during that time.  I didn't want to get a different print run like /50 or /25.  I wanted them all to be the same.  For the price of a Subway meal, I picked up this DCutch "E" completing my nameplate.

The Pirates are currently down 1-0 in the rubber match against the Mets.  The Bucs will need to win this game to win the series.

Tomorrow is an off day for the Pirates followed by a 3 game series against the division rivals Chicago Cubs.  The cards available for the Let's Go Bucs Contest will be some vintage and a throwback manupatch of the Ryno.

Cheer for the Bucs by leaving a comment.  If the Pirates win the series, one lucky person will randomly win these cards below.

Is this a 1/1 auto? Probably not...

The quality control of baseball cards is terrible.

I notice a lot of companies even ones that are named Topps make an awful habit of screwing up names for Pirates players.
Who the hell is Pat Maholm?
Why is that bum shortstop Ronny Cedeno pictured on the future right field star Jose Tabata's card?

Why is Andy pictured on Adam LaRoche's card?  Andy and Adam despite being brothers don't exactly look alike.  I don't own the above card, but would like to add it to my collection one day through a trade, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend money for a card with Andy's face and Adam's name on it.

But this card below absolutely baffled me so bad I had to overpay for it.  I already have a lot of Daniel McCutchen autographs.  I almost have his nameplate from 2010 Finest completed (just need the E).  I've got about half a dozen other autographs from him on top of those 8 lettered autographed cards.  I made a promise with myself after my last trade with Greg that the only other DCutch auto I would buy would be that darn letter E to complete the nameplate.  I don't care if it's a $1 I'm not buying it.  Well, I apparently lied to myself and just had to buy this 2009 Tristar autograph that features Andrew McCutchen pictured on Daniel McCutchen's card.  The card cost me $2 shipped, but I think it was worth it for the chuckles.

On top of screwing up the front, Tristar also screwed up the back by saying that he was drafted by Pittsburgh.  DCutch came over from the Yankees as part of the Xavier Nady trade in 2008.

To further clarify my black and white point of needing better quality control at card companies I present the below image which shows Andrew and Daniel together during their time with the Indianapolis Indians when this card would have been produced.  They don't exactly look similar do they?

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.

Can I buy a vowel?

One of my collecting goals of 2012 was to complete Daniel McCutchen autographed nameplate from 2010 Topps Finest.  I had McCUTC heading into February and only needed H, E, N.  After winning 2 bids from the same seller for $10 shipped, I am now down to only the "E" to complete the nameplate of DCutch.  I'm going to be patient trying to win that final letter and would really love to get it for under $5.  I doubt that will happen though.

On a related note, I have to say that despite all the negative things people in NJ say about AJ Burnett's time with the Yankees, he just won me over before the season even started.  I just read an article that he is going to help pay for Daniel McCutchen's daughter's college tuition since DCutch gave up his jersey number (34) upon AJ's request.  That is a very noble thing to do.  I can't wait to see some of those infamous pie tossings too after some Bucs walkoffs.  LOL!

2012 Collecting Goals pt1

I recently won this card on ebay for .99 with $2 shipping.  Not a bad price for an autograph manufactured letter card.  Daniel McCutchen or "No Relation" as he's known to Pirates fans is a very reliable bullpen swingman that can do it all on the mound.  He can come in and get that needed groundball double play.  He can throw mid 90s heat past a batter to get a much needed strikeout.  He can pitch multiple innings in relief and even make a spot start if needed.  Daniel McCutchen was the "losing" pitcher for that blown call Jerry Meals made in July of last year that started the Pirates collapse from first place.  In relief he threw 92 pitches before the most recognized blown call of 2011.  I really like D Cutch a lot and he helps make the Xavier Nady trade to the Yankees one of the most lopsided trades the Pirates have had in recent years. 

Anyway, I'm going to try and spell out McCutchen.  I found the c and C cheap on COMC and recently won another auction for the U on ebay.  That could put me at McCUTC in a little over a week.  I still need the H, E, N.  Because I don't want them to look odd when fully assembled it has to be the numbered out of 106.  None of the blue, green, etc. limited refractors.  Just the base only.

Also, I'm trying to assemble the black bordered /61 Pirates cards this year.  I've never attempted to put together a parallel team set like this before and be completely committed to it.  Last year I bought a few of the 2011 Heritage blank back 1/1s off Topps site, but some of them are now in permanent collections so I have no shot at obtaining that team set.  This seems a bit more realistic.  Not to mention that the black borders this year really look great on the Pirates cards.

Here's what I have so far.
-D'arnaud
-Alvarez
-McDonald
-Hughes
-McKenry

I picked up Kevin Correia off ebay for $7 (hasn't arrived yet) and I assure you I will never pay more than $1 for a Kevin Correia card again in my lifetime had it not been for trying to complete this set. 

I'm still looking to add Neil Walker, Jeff Karstens, and Jose Tabata.

Are the Pirates moneyballing?

Moneyball featuring Brad Pitt came out today on DVD.  I haven't bought my copy yet on bluray, but I did see the movie in the theatre.  I thought that the movie was really good for a mainstream audience and showed how tough the business side of sports can be especially when trying to compete against the Red Sox and Yankees in the American League.  Having the movie focus entirely on sabremetrics would have been a bore so I'm glad that they focused more on the thoughts and feelings that Billy Beane was going through during this transition. 

I bring this up because a lot of people bash the Pittsburgh Pirates.  I mean let's be honest, they've had 19 losing seasons after all.  This doesn't mean that they aren't trying to get better.  Signing free agents like Albert Pujols or CJ Wilson would cripple the team if they were to not perform above expectations.  A similiar situatin happened in Texas awhile ago when they signed Alex Rodriguez to that ridiculous contract.  Texas didn't make the World Series and the team went bankrupt.  Now Texas is doing good, but it was because they built a Championship caliber team through the draft and international signings.  They built a strong young core of players and have been piecing things together with veterans to fill the gaps. 

The Pirates also have a strong young core of players at the major league level in Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, and Jose Tabata.  The jury is still out on Pedro Alvarez.  Alex Presley looks like he will be above replacement level in the outfield and there's lots of talented pitching coming up in the next few years.  Unfortunately, I believe that some of the young core will be traded off by then.  Why?  Because they won't be competing for a championship and would like to remain under the payroll budget saving up money for when they are finally close and can go out and get a key free agent.

Now....getting back to the Moneyball movie.....

In the movie, Billy Beane expresses interest in Ricardo Rincon and says that he wanted to get him for $1 million.  Rincon was playing for Cleveland at the time, but he got there from being traded by the Pirates for Brian Giles.

Brian Giles, all domestic abuse cases aside, was a phenomenal player for the Pirates and broke out in a big way when he came to Pittsburgh.  He was an all star in 2000 & 2001.  He was the first player in club history to hit .300 with 30+HR and drive in more than 100 runs in back to back seasons.  He was sensational!!!!!

After playing 4 1/2 seasons with the Bucs, Giles was traded to his hometown San Diego Padres for Oliver Perez and Jason Bay along with a minor leaguer whose name escapes me. 

We all know the story of what happened to Jason Bay.  He went on to win the NL rookie of year in 2004.  He was an All-Star for the Pirates in 2005 and 2006.  Then he was involved in a blockbuster trade with the Red Sox sending Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and the Pirates receiving 4 players that amounted to nothing (yet).  They included former 1st Round draft picks: Bryan Morris, Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss, and Andy Laroche.  I was a huge fan of Jason Bay while in Pittsburgh and still root for him with the Mets.  He's just a very classy hard working ball player.

Oliver Perez lead the NL in K/9 in 2004, the same year that Jason Bay broke out to win NL ROY.  Oliver's K/9 was an astonishing 10.97 and finished with a 2.98 ERA (tied with Roger Clemens that year).  He was a true ace pitcher, but got little run support (less than 2 runs per outing) and finished with a 12-10 record.  The next two seasons were not so kind and saw Perez begin to be hit hard as he posted an ERA around 6 for each season.  In 2006 he was sent to the Mets with pitcher Ramon Hernandez (a journeyman relief pitcher) for Xavier Nady.

Xavier Nady didn't do much of anything while in Pittsburgh, but he was viewed good enough along with reliever Damaso Marte to net Jeff Karstens, Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, AND Daniel McCutchen.  I've talked before about my love for the way Jose Tabata plays so I won't go into details again regarding that.  Daniel McCutchen is a very versatile pitcher and can be used to throw to one batter or do a spot start or pitch 6 innings in relief in needed.  He could be a future closer and demonstrated this year that he keeps getting better.  Jeff Karstens broke out in a big way last year as he mixed up all his off speed pitches to be in the top 10 in ERA.  Ross Ohlendorf, well.....he's been released because of two injury plagued seasons.

So I finish with this thought.  The Pirates have been playing to their market, but they have yet to get enough pieces in place to field a team that can be above .500.  I truly do think that GM Neal Huntington has done a sensational job building through the draft and just can't wait to see a team that is all homegrown take the field in 2013 and beyond. 

So to recap, 1 relief journeyman pitcher (Ricardo Rincon) helped net
4 All-Star appearances (2 by Brian Giles & 2 by Jason Bay)
a 2004 NL ROY(Jason Bay)
a 2004 Cy Young candidate (Oliver Perez)
a 2010 NL ROY candidate (Jose Tabata)
a 2011 top 10 ERA leader (Jeff Karstens)
the 3rd smartest professional sports player (Ross Ohlendorf)
more pieces for future trades

Now that I've talked waaaayyyy tooooo much, I will shut up and show off some cards that I haven't spot lighted yet of players all discussed in this post.  As a side note, I have finally updated my Jason Bay relics/auto hits.  I currently have 21 and hope to double that by the end of 2012.  I'm actually hoping to finish with 44 (his current Mets jersey number)

Brian Giles 2002 Leaf Statisical Standout BAT

2003 UD City All-Stars Mario Lemieux & Brian Giles JERSEY

 Jason Bay 2007 UD Black Lustrous 15/50 AUTO

 Jason Bay 2007 UD Black 31/75 AUTO, 4 JERSEY (one which is 2 color)

 2008 UD Generations Ralph Kiner BAT Jason Bay JERSEY

Jason Bay 2006 UD EPIC SWATCH JERSEY 15/50

 Adam & Andy Laroche 2009 Upper Deck SPX Winning Materials DUAL JERSEY

Brandon Moss 2008 & 2009 Topps Gold

Oliver Perez 2005 Upper Deck Origins ATUO

Xavier Nady 2007 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius AUTO

Jose Tabata 2011 Topps Next 60 AUTO

Daniel McCutchen 2010 Topps Triple Threads AUTO JERSEY 21/25

I want to be &%$@ing Batman too!

You're probably asking yourself, what the hell am I talking about?
Well I went on COMC about a week ago looking to buy a good size lot of Pirates Prospects cheap.  I find that I can find the cards on eBay, but most sellers overcharge for shipping.  If you do it right on COMC, you can pickup a lot of cool cards from the same seller, which I guess you can do on eBay too, it just takes longer.
Anyway, enough of blah blah blah.  Here's some of the cards that I manged to pick up for the price of a blaster and rack pack (about $30 shipped).

I really like that Colton Cain card a lot.  Here's why:
1) Colton Cain is a cool name and his signature is legible
2) Colton has a 3.64 ERA in 106 IP in A ball this year.  He also has a 81:31 strikeout to walk ratio.
3) I want to be Batman too

The second card on the top is a USA Jersey card of Robbie Grossman.  I've talked a lot about Robbie over the past couple weeks and yesterday he made minor league history.  He was the first minor leaguer to have 100 Walks and 100 Runs in a season since Nick Swisher in 2004.  Best of all he hit a game winning home run last night too.  Robbie is going to be an amazing athlete if he can continue this success in AA and above.

The Jordy Mercer auto is my first Jordy Mercer card I actually own.  I've seen Jordy play a couple times this year with AA and AAA.  I also got to see him play in Citizens Bank Park during an exhibition game between the Pirates and Phils before the season opened.  I think Jordy has the potential to be a very solid utility ballplayer with some pop in the future.

The dual bat relic of Robbie Grossman and Quincy Latimore is really neat especially since it was less than a $1.00.  Numbered 61/250

I didn't have any Jarek Cunningham cards other than the Bradenton Marauders team set card.  This card is a numbered parallel 83/199.  I got this card for $0.55

Also on this scan is 2 Tony Sanchez Bowman cards for the PC.  

At the top of this scan are 2 Daniel McCutchen autos and a Jeff Clement auto. These on card autos were all had for $5.08.  How could I pass that up?  Daniel McCutchen has been pretty solid as a long swingman throughout the season.  He has also been used as a setup man from time to time.  Jeff Clement was part of the deal that sent beloved Jack Wilson to Seattle.  Jeff was selected by the Mariners as a power hitting catcher, but he was never able to live up to the hype that made him such a desired prospect.  After struggling for most of last season and then getting injured twice last year, Jeff is back in the Pirates AAA Indianapolis Indians.  In 13 games he has a .342 average with 4 extra base hits.  Yesterday he went 1 for 1 as a pinch hitter. 

On the bottom row is an autograph of pitching prospect Colton Cain and utility man Steve Pearce.  I like how Steve is blowing a bubble while running.  Really classy there Steve.  I also decided to pick up a Mark Buehrle jersey card.  I used to enjoy watching the ChiSox play when they had the Big Hurt, Ventura, and Black Jack together in the early mid 90s and still watch their games from time to time on MLB network.  This card of Buehrle is nice looking though because he's wearing a throwback uniform.  I love throwback uniform cards.

Last but certainly not least is another Robbie Grossman card.  This 2009 Donruss Elite Throwback Threads features a piece of Robbie's high school uniform and is number 7/250. 

There you have it 14 cards for $30 shipped.  Of that 14 I got 7 Autos, 4 relics, 2 player PC, and a numbered parallel.

I've got the 8th inning woes

For two nights in a row, the Pirates have blown the game in the 8th inning.  I'm tired of it.

James McDonald pitched not great, but well enough to deserve a win especially since he had a bases clearing double with the bat in the 6th inning.  Pictured is his 2011 Topps Heritage Blank Back 1/1 card from the Topps Vault.

Daniel McCutchen who has been a solid relief pitcher and long man all season long couldn't get an out as he loaded the bases in the 8th inning with a 2 run lead.  This 2011 Topps 60 Jersey relic states that he tied for first in wins in the International League in 2009 with 13.  He's now lost twice in the past week.

The Pirates desperately need to fix the 8th inning situation until this man comes back:
Pirates fans miss you dearly Evan Meek.

I've now posted all my Evan Meek jersey & relic cards I own.  Meek has been a favorite of mine for the past couple seasons.
In order from top to bottom
2011 Heritage Blank Back 1/1
2008 Topps Chrome AUTO
2008 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor AUTO
2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic Signatures AUTO
2008 Upper Deck X UDX signatures AUTO
2009 Upper Deck SPX game JERSEY AUTO
2008 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection AUTO
2010 Topps Allstar Game JERSEY
2010 Upper Deck Game Jersey JERSEY
2008 Upper Deck SP Authentic Rookie JERSEY AUTO 456/649

Maybe the Pirates should just let the Hammer pitch the 8th and 9th innings whenever it's a save opportunity.  Kent Tekulve used to pitch multiple innings all the time to close out games.

This is my favorite printing plate I own.  I really like the black printing plates more than the other 3 colors.  This Joel Hanrahan 1/1 Black Printing Plate is from 2011 Topps Series 2.