Just a pair of random relics as the year draws near the end

2015 is coming to an end and I have drastically cut down on my cardboard spending during December.  All said though, i managed to grab some incredible cards this year including nearly 40 1/1s of Cutch, several handsfull of Charlie Morton cards, and even some nice vintage i needed.

Here's a smattering of random relics I picked up recently. It's nothing special, but I do like the unique batting practice cap of Jason Kendall.

Ahhhh 90s inserts, you were fun

I just came across this awesome Jason Kendall 1997 Metal Platinum Portrait insert when going through a bunch of old Pirates cards.  This thing is sweeeeeet!!!

Pirates Rookie Cup Lineup Analysis: Every blogger should try to do this....

2005 Topps Rookie Cup Yellow 195/299

It struck me while I was putting away my latest Jason Bay card seen above that the Pirates haven't had too many Topps Rookie Cup winners over the years despite having a top 10 draft pick for nearly two decades.  Off the top of my head, in recent memory Cutch and Walker stood out to me.  So with that being said, I went through my binders from 1987 (my first year collecting baseball cards) and decided I would show off every Pittsburgh Pirate to have the Topps Rookie Cup.  As I was going through the 12 players selected to Topps Rookie teams, I noticed that essentially every position was filled.

Here's the lineup I came up with for the position players

Jason Kendall - C (R)
Andrew McCutchen - CF (R)
Neil Walker - 3B (S)
Jason Bay - LF (R)
Craig Wilson - 1B (R)
Warren Morris - 2B (L)
Jose Guillen - RF (R)
Al Pedrique - SS (R)

Bench Bat- Carlos Garcia (R)

First, some minor details...I put Walker at 3B because he played 6 games at the position in 2010 (which qualifies in fantasy baseball) and the Pirates don't have any Rookie Cup 3B winners, but have 3 that qualified as 2B (Morris, Walker, Garcia).  I think that Walker had the best statistical season as a rookie second baseman, BUT after putting him at 3rd, it came down to the side of the plate Garcia and Morris hit.  My lineup is already loaded with right handed bats so I went with Morris over Garcia.

Jason Kendall leading off and catcher was kind of a no brainer to me.  It was a place in the lineup that he was often used and he posted a ridiculous 35 walks to 30 strikeouts during his 1996 rookie season.  He would almost certainly put the ball in play and get on base for the guys behind him.

Cutch finished his rookie season with 22 stolen bases, 54 RBI, 74 Runs, and a .286/.365/.471 line.  He often hit in the leadoff spot during his rookie season so that the Pirates could utilize his speed at the top of the lineup.  Personally I think Kendall is a better leadoff guy though.

This is where I started to experiment with the lineup a bit.  Neil Walker might not seem like a typical #3 hitter on most clubs, but during his rookie season he batted .296/.349/.462 with 66 RBI.  After the 2010 All-Star Break, Neil was one of the top 5 NL players in RBI during that span.  He hit really well with runners in scoring position during the 2010 season.  I put Walker in the 3 hole also because of his ability to switch hit.

Jason Bay is the only Pirate to ever be a unanimous decision when it came to Topps Rookie Cup players.  He is also the only rookie to ever win the Rookie of the Year (hopefully Gregory Polanco wins it this year).  He posted a 2.2 WAR during his rookie season while playing in 120 games batting a .282/.358/.550 line with 26 Home Runs, 82 RBI and  61 Runs.  Having him in the cleanup spot makes the most sense.

Craig Wilson's 2001 rookie campaign got him acknowledged as the best rookie first basemen ahead of Albert Pujols (who was listed as a 3B).  Wilson was a slugger who played multiple positions for the Bucs including Catcher, 1B, and both corner outfield positions.  In 88 games he posted an obsurd .589 slugging percentage to couple his .390 OBP.

Because of the pop that both Bay and Wilson brought, I didn't want a high strikeout guy batting behind them so I went with the left handed hitting second baseman Warren Morris instead.  Morris had a great line for a secondbaseman while batting .288 and having only 88 strikeouts in 147 games.

Jose Guillen had a cannon for an arm in right field, but could also handle the stick during his rookie season.  He hit at a below average with a high strikeout rate, but did collect 14 HR and 70 RBI enroute to his rookei season.

Al Pedrique looked like he could be a future All-Star shortstop in his rookie season in 1987, but wound up being a below average player for the rest of this career and will often be remembered as the manager that intentionally walked Barry Bonds 12 times during 3 days when Barry was sitting at 699 career HomeRuns.  His 1987 season saw him have a 1.4 WAR season which included a .301/.354/.362 line.  He did collect his only career homerun during that 1987 season.

My bench bat is Carlos Garcia, a current manager for the Pirates AA affiliation Altoona Curve.  Garcia posted a 1.4 WAR with 12 HR and 18 SB during his rookie campaign.  As a former infield coach, he is my utility player and bench bat.

For the pitching side, I was fortunate in the 27 years of collecting baseball cards that the Pirates have had a right handed and left handed starting pitcher along with a relief pitcher.

I'll start with the most recent of the bunch, Mike Gonzalez.  Gonzo's rookie season in 2004 had him as one of the best relief pitchers in baseball that season.  In 47 games and 41 innings, Gonzo posted a 9:1 strikout per walk rate.  Reread that if you need to cause that is just crazy numbers.  He struck out 55 batters while walking 6 and posted a 0.877 WHIP and 1.25 ERA.  With Oliver Perez looking like a Cy Young candidate, Jason Bay winning the Rookie of the Year, and Gonzo shutting everyone down in middle relief, it's amazing the Pirates finished so poorly with a 72-89 record.  I guess it's a good thing though because they were able to use that poor record in the 2005 draft and selected Andrew McCutchen.

Steve Cooke, the 1993 rookie LHP winner went 10-10 for the start of the Pirates two decade long losing streak.  Nothing really stands out for Cooke as his ERA, strikeouts, and walks were all average or below average, but the competion that year was very limited.

Mike Dunne, was a pitch to contact pitcher who in his 1987 rookie campaign went 13-6 to lead all qualifying pitchers with a .684 winning percentage.  He completed 5 games and pitched 163 innings despite making only 23 starts.  That means that he pitched on average almost 7 1/3 innings per start during his rookie season.

I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THE ANALYSIS I PUT INTO THIS AND AM CURIOUS IF ANY OTHER TEAMS HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS SINCE 1987 TO FIELD A TEAM AND IF SO, HOW COMPETITIVE WOULD IT BE?

Prime 9 in Card Form: Evaluating Pirates Worse Trades at each position

As the trade deadline draws near, I figured it would make sense to show off the Pirates worse trades over the past decade.

I'm sure anyone who has the MLB Network has seen the show Prime 9.  Well it got me to thinking about who the top players at each position the Pirates have given up on since the new millennium began. I'll take a look at each position and say who I think the top player is.  I'll show off some cards I own of that player in a Bucs uniform and move on to the next position.

Why Prime 9?
9 Players
9 Innings

This is my Prime 9 of the Players the Bucs gave up on for nothing.

1) Pitcher
Jason Schmidt

When thinking about pitchers that the Pirates had let go for nothing 2 names came to mind and oddly enough they are both connected.

In 2001 the Pirates traded Jason Schmidt to the San Fransisco Giants for Ryan Vogelsong.  Schmidt went on to have 3 All-Star appearances and a 78-37 record with the Giants while averaging a strikeout per inning.  Damn! Imagine that type of pitcher taking the hill every 5th day with the bats of Kendall, Giles, Ramirez, and later Bay, Sanchez, and Wilson.  

Consequently the player the Pirates acquired Ryan Vogelsong went on to have a terrible career with the Bucs.  He appeared in 2 games before needing Tommy John surgery.  Once returned from the surgery he struggled mighty and was later sold to a Japanese team.  His return to the states though in 2010 showed vast improvement in his performance.  Since begining anew with the Giants, Ryan went on to become a 2011 All-Star and a key piece in the 2012 Giants World Series Championship run. 

The card pictured above is from 2006 Topps Update. There aren't any hits of Schmidt wearing the black and gold that I know of, but for $2.84 shipped I couldn't pass up this card of the former Bucco wearing the black and gold at the 2006 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh representing the National League and the Giants.

2) Catcher
Jason Kendall

2001 Upper Deck eVolve AUTO Bat/Jersey

Sure, Jason's career was on the downward path when the Bucs traded him to Oakland after the 2004 season.  He was a 30 year old catcher whose main offensive tools (contact and baserunning) were trending in the wrong direction.  In 9 seasons with the Bucs, Kendall had an average of .306 with 140 SB and 65 runners caught stealing.  Those are numbers you normally don't see come from the catcher's position.  However after leaving the Pirates, Kendall went on to hit .271 with 22SB and a .321 slugging percentage in 2 1/2 seasons with Oakland.  Good numbers, but nothing great.

A more interesting choice is a player the Pirates decided to non tender a contract that signed a one year deal with the Minnesota Twins last year, then a 2 year extension.  Yes I am talking about Ryan Doumit.
Doumit is one of those players that is made for AL baseball.  He can't play any position well, but can play corner outfield positions, 1B, and Catcher well enough so he doesn't make too much of an embarassment of himself.  Well then I remembered this play and it reminded me that Kendall was the player the Pirates wish they had probably kept.

3) 1st Base

2007 Allen & Ginter Adam Laroche

Adam LaRoche
Ok so Adam LaRoche is generally thought of as a slow starter.  His April and May numbers are generally down right awful.  However come mid summer, LaRoche is downright scary what he can do with the bat and glove.  He never gets recognized, but will put up 25+ homeruns every year and play above average defense at 1B.  The Pirates traded away LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox for two minor leaguers.  LaRoche lasted only 6 games with Boston before being traded to the Braves for Casey Kotchman.
The above 2007 Adam LaRoche was picked up for $1.40 from COMC and I gotta say I didn't overpay one penny for this card.

4) 2nd Base

2008 UD Jersey

Freddy Sanchez
When you ship out a player who won a batting title a few years after winning it, your organization is generally looked upon as dumping salary.  When that same player is a fan favorite, your organization is generally looked upon as not caring for the fans.  When that same player is traded for a failed prospect who hasn't pitched successfully at AA even at the age of 25, well you can be sure that you have made a pretty bad trade.  Such was the case in 2009 when the Pirates sent fan favorite Freddy Sanchez to the San Fransisco Giants for Tim Alderson.
The above Freddy Sanchez UD Jersey card was won for $2 with free shipping on ebay.  The seller tried to stuff the card into a normal size toploader, then must have realized the card wasn't going to fit properly so he proceed to ship it in a PWE with a piece of cardboard and half the card sticking out of the case.  The card above is the results of AN IDIOT.  It would have been a nice addition to my collection and I guess still is for the price paid, but c'mon use some common sense.  

5) 3rd Base
Aramis Ramirez

2002 Stadium Club License to Drive Bat Relic

Aramis Ramirez was still very young and had his prime years ahead of him when the Pirates dumped his salary to the Chicago Cubs in 2003.  He was traded with Kenny Lofton and became part of the Chicago Cubs team that would reach the NLCS that year after losing 95 games the year before.
Ramirez committed the most errors at the hot corner among all 3B in 2003, but would go on to hit 239 HRs in 9 seasons with the Cubs before joining the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent in 2012.  He currently has the 9th most career homeruns at the hot corner with 342 round trippers.

The License to Drive card above is one of my favorite ARam in my collection.  Something about the simple design made to mimic a Pennsylvania driver's license with the bat relic just makes me love this card.  The fact that it was just a couple bucks makes me appreciate it even more.


6) Shortstop
When you think of the Pirates shortstops over the past decade, there is one name that stands out above the rest...Jack Wilson.  Jack was a fan favorite and one of the most undervalued players at the position.  He deserved to win gold gloves, but was never considered.  He was traded to Seattle in 2009 for a bunch of players that didn't work out for the Pirates.
However, the player the Pirates should have held onto, but was never given a fair chance to perform is a guy the Red Sox picked up for nothing.  NOTHING!!!!
Pedro Ciriaco

1/1 Blank Back 2011 Topps Heritage Pedro Ciriaco

Ciriaco was acquired from the Diamondbacks in 2010 when we traded 3 bad offseason signs for the expensive contract of Chris Snyder.  Ciriaco was a throw in and immediately became our top fielding SS prospect in the organization.  He played in only a handful of games in 2010, but had clutch hits and stellar defense.  In 2011, the same thing happened, BUT was never put in the game.  He really racked up frequent travel miles though going from Indy to Pittsburgh.
The Red Sox grabbed Ciriaco and he played in 76 games for the team as they battled through injuries at 2B, SS, 3B, and the outfield.  In only 76 games he posted a .293/.315/.390 line which means his OPS was .705.  Pedro is a slap hitter that doesn't take many walks, but he does have a habit of turning singles into doubles by swiping 16 bags and being caught only 3 times while with Boston.  Pedro has since gone on to be acquired and released with 3 teams this year (Boston, San Diego, Kansas City).  If John McDonald can continue to get work, I'm sure the speedy Ciriaco will continue to find a role as a super utility pinch runner, defensive substitution with some team.

I don't have many cards of Ciriaco, but this blank back 1/1 Topps Gimmick card seemed appropriate to highlight.  I won it a few years ago for $9.99 when I was trying to put together the entire 2011 Heritage Blank Back Pirates set..

7) Right Field
This is probably the hardest one because there are two players that went on to have successful careers at the corner outfield position after being traded by the Bucs
Brian Giles and Jose Bautista

2011 Topps All-Star Jersey Relic 19/60 (jersey number)

I honestly have to give it to Joey Bats though just because he is still playing and the Pirates got practically nothing for Joey Bats who has gone on to hit 160 HR since leaving the Steel City.

I picked up the above Joey Bats jersey relic for less than $10 a year ago.  It's an "ebay 1/1" cause the card is numbered 19/60 which is his jersey number.

8) Center Field
It's hard to imagine the Pirates without a good centerfielder since Cutch arrived.  Before Cutch there was Nate McLouth who was also pretty good (All-Star, Gold Glove, 20/20 production).  Before McLouth though there was Tike Redman who was not so good.  However if you can go way back to 2003 there was the speedy Kenny Lofton patrolling center for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2003 Donruss Signature Series 125/500

Lofton was already in his age 36 season when he signed with the Pirates during the 2002 off season.  Proving that he still had plenty of gas left in his tank he went on to hit .305 with 96 stolen bases through the next 4 years.  What I find to be the most impressive though is that Lofton stole bases at a 82% rate from his age 36-40 seasons.  That's incredible!  Lofton went on to finish his career with the Indians, but was part of the "Salary Dump" to the Cubs in the 2003 season along with 3B Aramis Ramirez.

The above Lofton is from 2003 Donruss Signature Series and is numbered 125/150.  I managed to grab this auto of the potential HOFer for a small fee of $14 shipped.  I've often seen this card sell in the $40 range so I was pretty excited to grab it for such a great price.  

9) Left Field
Jason Bay

2005 UD Artifacts AUTO 317/599

The single worse trade the Pirates have done in the past 5 years.  Bay should have brought in a good return, but instead he failed to bring in even one top 10 organizational prospect.  Only one player remains with the Bucs from that trade (Bryan Morris) and he just got called up last year. Granted Morris has been a quality late inning bullpen arm, but the Bucs needed more for a guy that went on to hit 45 HRs in 200 games for the Red Sox.  To make matters worse, you guys all know that Jason Bay is one of my favorite players.

The above 2005 UD Artifacts (on card) AUTO of Jason Bay is the cheapest Bay AUTO I've ever purchased.  Numbered 317/599 this gem cost me a measly .99.  I love buying AUTOs off the dollar menu.  

ADDED BONUS: Relief Pitcher
Juan Carlos Oviedo aka Leo Nunez

2003 Just Minors x/25

Ok so "Leo Nunez" may have been an illegal immigrant and the subject of controversy once it was revealed that his name wasn't really Leo Nunez, but the Pirates had the one time shutdown closer signed as a teenager before trading him to the Kansas City Royals for Benito Santiago who played in only 6 games as a Bucco.  Talk about giving away something for free basically.

The above 2003Just Minors Leo Nunez was purchased from COMC over a year ago when everything came out about Juan Carlos Oviedo.  I decided to use that opportunity to grab an autograph because most likely his stock would never be lower.  I was right as I managed to grab the above card for $2.25.  


So to recap who took the Pirates Prime 9 players.

Looking at this makes me really happy that the deal with the Red Sox this offseason for All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt for the best setupman in baseball (Mark Melancon) and prospects is working out well.  Our Red Sox trades never work out in the past.
Boston Red Sox:
Pedro Ciriaco, Adam Laroche, Jason Bay

San Fransisco Giants:
Freddy Sanchez, Jason Schmidt

Chicago Cubs:
Aramis Ramirez & Kenny Lofton (same trade!!!)

Oakland A's:
Jason Kendall

Toronto Blue Jays:
Jose Bautista

Trading Post: Screaming Line Drive

I recently made a trade with Daddyoho of the blog Screaming Line Drive.  For a couple Phillies jersey relics and a few Flyers, I managed to get 3 nice Pittsburgh additions to the Treasure Room.

2003 SP Legendary Cuts Historical Impressions 175/200

Up first is the card that started the trade, a 2003 SP Legendary Cuts Historical Impressions Honus Wagner numbered 175/200.  It's a nice looking manucard made to resemble Honus' autograph.

On the back of the card is an interesting fact about how Honus ranked in the top 10 in the entire league in average, RBI, hits, runs, OBP, slugging, extra-base hits, and total bases over the course of a 11 straight seasons.  It also shows his career totals for his Hall of Fame career.

Once we started talking, we added more cards to the mix.

2002 SP Authentix Jersey Jason Kendall 

Included is this 2002 SP Authentix Jersey of Jason Kendall.  It such a shame that he suffered such a major injury during his prime cause he could have been one of the best contact hitting catchers in MLB history.  As it stands he finished his career with 2,195 hits and a .288 batting average.  That puts him 4th all time on the catcher's hit list.  4TH ALL TIME!!! Ahead of Mike Piazza, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, and Gary Carter.  Do you think that Jason Kendall will ever be recognized as a HOF player?  Probably not.  Mainly because of his off field problems with his ex wife.  And that's a damn shame because it would have been nice to see a Pirate I rooted for get his plaque in Cooperstown wearing the Black n Gold.

2012 Black Friday Sidney Crosby

The final card of the trade was a Sidney Crosby 2012 Black Friday base card.  I'm sure that since he's a Flyers fan, he was more than happy to throw this in since, well.....Flyers don't like Sidney and Sidney doesn't like them.  Why? He just don't like them.

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!!!!

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 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.