Tony Tuesday: It's Finally Mine!!!!!!!!

One of my 2015 Collecting Goals was to try to grab a few more of my 2009 Bowman Chrome Tony Sanchez Autographs.  I've previously shown off the Gold, Blue, XFractor, and Base.  That left me to add 3 very low numbered cards (1/1 Super, /5 Red, /25 orange) and the refractor (/500).  My goal for the year was to add 1 more to the collection.

I did it in a big way by grabbing the Red /5. 

I submitted a best offer for only twice what the base refractor was selling for and the seller accepted!!!!

Behold the beauty of RED!!!!!

Since Tony didn't receive a September call up for the Pirates this year, I think that it's safe to assume that his days catching for the black and gold are pretty numbered.  His bat and glove never lived up to the hype of being an elite defender with a plus hitting tool.  He still has team options so it's likely that the Pirates will keep him on the 40 man roster for catching depth next year.  Elias Diaz and Reese McGuire have likely surpassed him as being the backstop of the future though.

McCutchen Mailday #77: Graded 10 Bowman Heritage Rookie

Variants are fun to chase even if you're grabbing them 10 years after the fact.  2005 Bowman Heritage saw Andrew McCutchen get two versions of his card, one running in the field and another with a bat on his shoulder.  I've had the regular (fielding) version for well over half a decade.  I can proudly saw the bat on shoulder is now in my possession.

I don't necessarily trust this grading company, but for a slabbed copy selling for less than an unslabbed copy I just couldn't pass it up.

And because of that, it marks card #77 in my Quest for 100 new Cutch cards added to the collection in 2015.

Morton on the Mound: Graded rookie 9.5

I recently picked up a 2002 Bowman Chrome rookie of Charlie Morton graded 9.5

It seems appropriate to show it off today since Ground Chuck is facing off against his former team. It was just a little over 6 years ago when the Braves traded Morton along with 2013 All-Star Jeff Locke and minor league depth Gorky's Hernandez for Nate McLouth.

McLouth was coming off a 2008 All-Star appearance along with winning a gold glove in Center field.

Since the trade Morton and Locke have produced 1.3 WAR for the Bucs. Granted, it's nothing great but both men are still contributing to the Pirates success unlike McLouth who posted 0.1 WAR over his 3 years with Braves.

A Joey Bats rookie graded for less than $5.

I have no idea how trustworthy this grading company is, but for $2.58, I couldn't pass it up.  The grade is perfect and it's a Joey Bats rookie.

Triple Auto: Jamo, Thor, Archie Bradley graded 9.5

Archie Bradley is set to make his MLB debut today against the LA Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw.  Talk about a tough matchup for your MLB debut.  I grabbed this graded 9.5 triple autograph of Jameson Taillon, Noah "Thor" Syndergaard, and Archie Bradley a few months back for $100. The card is numbered to only 10 copies and a few that I have seen raw sell on eBay often aren't as nice as this one.

It is very likely that barring unforseen injuries all 3 of these young men will make their MLB debuts this season.

Double Sickness!!!! Kemp & Bautista Dual On Card AUTO!!!!

I've been picking up some nice Jose Bautista cards lately and my most recent addition is no different.

A Dual On Card Autograph of Matt Kemp and Jose Bautista numbered to 25.  The grade is a little low (only 9) but that is mostly due to an 8.5 grade on corners.  I'm willing to bet that Greg at Plaschke wouldn't mind having this in his collection.

I'm happy I was able to grab this for only $31 delivered.

I'm heading to Baltimore today for the Orioles home opener against the Jays.  It should be a lot of fun.

Tony Tuesday: Another Graded 9.5 & 10 AUTO

If you have been reading my blog for the past few years, you know that Tony Sanchez is one of my favorite players in the Pirates organization.  I had high hopes for Sanchez to one day become a staple in the Pirates winning lineup as a 2 way catcher who could provide elite defense and provide solid offensive numbers.  Tony has been on fire this spring training and has earned a spot on the opening day roster.

I am always on the look for adding Tony Sanchez high grade cards to my collection and for under the price of a blaster I snagged this 2009 Donruss Elite Status Signatures numbered to 50 copies graded 9.5 with 10 autograph.  It's my 6th graded autograph of Tony I have added to my collection.

Tony Tuesday: Another Slabbed Edition

One of my 2014 collecting goals was to try to get half of Tony Sanchez' 2009 Bowman Chrome Autograph rainbow BGS graded 9.5 or higher.

Here's the list so far
Blue /150
Xfractor /199 (posting soon)
Base (not numbered)

Here's what I don't have...
Refractor /500
Superfractor /1
Red /5
Orange /25

Once I post the XFractor that I have had for a long time, I will be sitting at half complete.  Unfortunately three of the four remaining are very tough and expensive to track down.

Here's my recent addition to the list though...a gold refractor numbered 12/50

McCutchen Monday: Another Slabbed Cutch

Here's my latest Andrew McCutchen slabbed 2008 Bowman Futures Game graded 9.5.  I got this for using up some ebay bucks that I had lingering from a few months back.  It only cost me $2.70 shipped after discount.

It's my 6th graded card of Cutch

McCutchen Monday: Slabbed, signed, delivered...

When I finally got this in my hands, the first thing I thought of was that Stevie Wonder song.
Slabbed, signed, delivered...Baby it's mine!!!

While this doesn't equal the greatness of the Holy Grail Printing Plate 1/1 Rookie Auto of Cutch...this slabbed autographed rookie is a close second.

This is the 3rd autographed slabbed card I have of Cutch.

Happy Monday folks!  Go Bucs!!!

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!

Walk it off....sometimes it's ok to be blue

The first two games of the Pirates 2014 season opened with walk off winners from former first round draft picks Neil Walker (2004) and Tony Sanchez (2009).  What's more interesting though is that these two walkoffs were both MLB firsts for the former first rounders.

One of my collecting goals for 2014 was try to and get half of the 2009 Bowman Chrome Tony Sanchez autos graded 9.5 or better.  I had previously shown off the base auto from January.

I've had this blue refractor for sometime, probably since the beginning of January or maybe even the end of December.  I remember getting it for a steal of a price, $40 or so if I remember correctly.

I decided now was a good time to show it off though as the Pirates just lost their first game of 2014 and I'm feeling a little blue.

Tony got slabbed

My latest Tony Sanchez BGS 9.5 or higher acquisition ran me just $15 delivered.

Even though it's not from the 2009 Bowman Chrome series I am trying to collect from, I couldn't resist this slabbed Tony to add to my collection.

The Start of Something Crazy

As part of my 2014 Collecting Goals, I stated I wanted to create a rainbow of graded cards for one of my favorite fresh faces of the Pittsburgh Pirates, backup catcher Tony Sanchez.

Thanks in large part to the girl I am dating, I can now get this collection off the ground.  The first card of my crazy rainbow project is the base version of the 2009 Bowman Chrome AUTO.

McCutchen Monday: 2009 UD Signature Stars GRADED

My current favorite player in baseball is Andrew McCutchen.  Quite honestly, he might be my favorite player I've ever gotten a chance to see play. I currently own over 350 unique cards of Cutch and hope to get that number closer to 500 by the end of the year.  Amongst my cardboard collection of Cutch are many autographs, over a dozen 1/1s, and almost enough jersey material to put his jersey back together.  Back in 2011, I created Morton Mondays, but with the lack of Charlie Morton cards available, I changed it to McCutchen Mondays so each Monday I will show off one new card from my Cutch collection.

Last October, I made a COMC purchase and showed off a few Upper Deck rookies of Andrew McCutchen that I had added to my collection.  I recently just purchased one of them graded off ebay because I had about $10 in ebay bucks and couldn't figure out what to do with them.  After using my ebay bucks the below graded Gem Mint 2009 UD Signature Stars rookie ran me under $7 delivered.

I don't collect a lot of graded cards, but have started to add more and more to my collection over the past year.  This is my 5th graded Cutch rookie (all 9.5)

How did I never post this card?

It's a 2011 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor of Starling Marte graded as a 9.  Maybe because it's a PSA grade that's only a 9, but I remember winning this card for less than $100.  There's currently a copy of it on ebay as a 9.5 graded for $235. I bought this before Starling made his MLB debut because I really liked meeting him when he was playing in AA Altona. He gave me a game used bat for crying out loud.

McCutchen Monday: The Nicest Cutch Auto I own

My current favorite player in baseball is Andrew McCutchen.  Quite honestly, he might be my favorite player I've ever gotten a chance to see play. I currently own almost 300 unique cards of Cutch and hope to get that number closer to 400 by the end of the year.  Amongst my cardboard collection of Cutch are many autographs, over a dozen 1/1s, and almost enough jersey material to put his jersey back together.  Back in 2011, I created Morton Mondays, but with the lack of Charlie Morton cards available, I changed it to McCutchen Mondays so each Monday I will show off one new card from my Cutch collection.

To see all my Andrew McCutchen relics, autos, printing plates, manupatches, etc ... check out this link.

Come with me McFly...

We're going all the way back to 2004 when Bowman introduced redemption cards for a set of cards from the AFLAC High School All American game.  Some of the notable players in the series included Cameron Maybin, Andrew McCutchen, Chris Volstad, CJ Henry, and Justin Upton.  Like all things Topps, the sets were delayed and not shipped until 2006.  The Gold Refractors which were originally intended to be a limited run of 50 accidently had over 50 redemption cards slip into packs which caused them to be delayed even more.  Topps asked customers if they wanted a 3 card auto set consisting of CJ Henry, Andrew McCutchen, and Cameron Maybin or the gold refractor set.  Number one overall selection Justin Upton was later added to the set as well.  The gold refractor set was shipped before the auto set and the final print run of the auto set was 125 copies with 90 in current circulation.

I've been after one of these since I can remember.  They typically start ungraded around $400.  If you want a nice grade, well...you can be looking at up to a grand for this card. I was fortunate though that mine ran me just over $400.

I decided I was going to splurge on the MVP candidate and grab this card graded.  It has two very nice subgrades with 10s on Centering and Surface.  The Edges are graded a 9.5 and corners are graded a 9.  The on card auto is graded a 10.

This is my second graded Cutch auto and I got to say, it's by far my favorite Cutch auto I own.  It's got everything I love about baseball cards.
Highly touted prospect - CHECK
On Card AUTO- CHECK
Low Print Number - CHECK
Chrome - CHECK
my favorite player - CHECK
high grade - CHECK

YUP! This is staying with me in the forever pile.

McCutchen Monday: Slabbed Rookie Edition

I'm not a big fan of collecting graded cards, but I do enjoy having a rookie card graded of my favorite players to wear a Pirates uniform.  This latest edition features none other than my favorite player in the major leagues today, Andrew McCutchen. 

I've been after this 09 SP Auto for a long time since copies of it can run for up to $60 and I wasn't really interested in it for that much.  Thanks to a terrible spelling mistake on the seller (McCuthcheon really?) I was able to pick this beauty up for $20.

The Pirates won today 5-4 vs. the Mets.  Go Bucs!

Cutch 10s for $10

I purchased both of these 2009 Bowman Andrew McCutchen rookies graded as 10s for $20.  $10 a pop for perfectly mint Cutch goodness.  I'm a happy camper today.

Spring Training Impact

Spring Training is in full effect and some players are battling for utility roles on the MLB opening day roster.  My opinion however is that most teams already have chosen their 25 players but aren't going to make any official announcements to keep the players "competing".  Even if Bryce Harper hits 7 HR in spring training, do you really think that the Nationals will let him travel north where his arbitration clock starts ticking away a full year earlier than if they wait until mid June? 

The reason I ask this is because the best hitters in the Pirates lineup through 6 games has been Starling Marte (ranked 40th overall prospect in baseball).  Marte had 8 consecutive at bats with a hit.  He's leading the Grapefruit league in batting average (.692) tied for first in HR (2) and has 1 SB in only 13 plate appearances. 

Granted it's a very small sample size, but should the Pirates bring Marte up because he battled to make the opening day roster?  Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen are practically guaranteed to be traveling north with the Pirates with their 6 year contract extensions.  Alex Presley proved last season that he deserves to be the everyday starter in left field after batting .298 with 4 HR and 9 SB in 215 at bats. 

Should any of the OF starters or (likely 4th outfielder) Nate McLouth struggle or face an unfortunate injury, the Pirates should call Marte up. 

I honestly doubt though that no matter how well a player does in spring training, if they never had any AAA experience they will not make the big league opening day roster.  This even goes for you Bryce Harper.

Pictured above is my latest batch of Starling Marte cards I purchased.