Jose Bautista rookie printing plate

I've been adding some nice Jose Bautista cards to my collection recently including a 2007 Upper Deck Cyan printing plate.

This 1/1 printing plate ran me $28 and is my first printing plate of the former Bucco from his Pirates days.  Hopefully I can add a few more by year's end.

I still miss Upper Deck

Topps keeps putting out so many different kinds of parallels and it becomes frustrating to collect them all especially when the photography on most cards isn't the best.

2010 Upper DeckGold 16/99

That's why I miss Upper Deck because they always used nice full bleed photos and only had a few parallels for their base set.  There was First Edition and the Gold Parallels /99.

With news of Andrew McCutchen most likely heading to the DL for several weeks today, the P:irates will need to rely on the non superstars to keep them on the winning side of the scoreboard and have any hope of the playoffs.  Charlie Morton gets the task today for facing the Marlins in PNC Park.

Seeing Red: A Pair of Red Parallels hits the PTR

After last night's slugfest, the Pirates were seeing blood in the water as the Shark Tank proved to be better than the Brewers relievers. They ran over the Brewers 11-2 in an energetic PNC Park.  Most of the damage came in the 8th inning when they took advantage of Wei Chung Wang (a rule 5 draft pick from the Pirates).

I recently picked a pair of cheap red parallels for my player collections.

Up first is from one of my favorite images of Jason Bay numbered 49/50.

2006 Upper Deck Red 49/50

The above card, which cost me $5 perfectly shows why Jason was my favorite player for a very long time.  The guy hustled more than anyone else on the field, which eventually lead to his injury plagued years with the Mets and a shortened career.  While with the Pirates, it wasn't uncommon for Jason to go running into the left field wall to track a fly ball down.  He played with so much passion and emotion every single night. It's a shame that his career only had him playing for one and half seasons with a good team (Boston Red Sox)

And next is the only player I truly consider myself a super collector of, Charlie Morton.

2014 Topps Target Red Parallel

This marks my 12th different Charlie Morton 2014 Topps card.  Ground Chuck is on the hill tonight as the Pirates hope to gain more ground on the 1st place Brewers after last night's laugher win 11-2.  BTW...If you haven't checked out one of my favorite Charlie Morton cards, please check out yesterday's link.  It's a 2014 Topps Clear /10 and is one of the greatest parallels that Topps has ever done.  Everyone should grab one of their favorite player now!