Lots of Autographs from Pirates vs. Phillies game

So the Pirates may have lost 7-2, but I left in the middle of the 5th inning because I had to travel back home for work.  At that time the Bucs were up 2-1 thanks to one of my favorite prospects to collect Robbie Grossman. 

Before the game started I saw Robbie out on the field warming up with the Bucs and he seemed extremely happy that someone recognized him and asked for his autograph.  He signed a baseball for me on the sweetspot and thanked me for his support. 

Also before the game started I was able to add to my sign I started in Spring Training a few weeks back.  This wooden sign is turning out great.  I added Matt Hague, Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Jeff Karstens, and team president Frank Coonelly. 

I also managed to get a few other balls signed between the two game series.  Joel Hanrahan, Pedro Alvarez, and Matt Hague all contributed to my solo signature balls collection.  The Hague was a game-used ball with some small dirt marks on it.  Matt actually tossed me a ball after the 4th inning when the Bucs were coming off the field, but I gave the ball to a little kid sitting behind me. 

I got a few cards signed as well.  Cards are a pain in the ass to get signed at games in Philly because you can't get near the dugout to seek out autographs.  I rarely bring cards unless I know that the player is very fan friendly and will accept a card being thrown at them like Gambit from the X-Men.

 2012 Topps Heritage Clint Hurdle

2011 Topps Opening Day Stadium Lights Pedro Alvarez

Former Dodgers Top Prospect and current Pirate Prospect Andrew Lambo
2010 Bowman Chrome Topps 100 numbered 82/499

The absolute best thing that my girlfriend and I got signed though was this 8x10 photo below.  We attended the Monday night On Deck game and the Red Philly Phanatic was taunting Pirates slugger Garrett Jones before the game.  Jones was trying to avoid him and shuffling back and forth.  My lady took a picture of the incident and printed out the picture before the Tuesday game in hopes that Garrett would sign it.  When he saw the photo he started cracking up and said this is the best thing he ever signed.  We prepared for that and gave him his own copy to keep as he signed ours.

Here's some other pictures that she took from the game.  For those wondering how close we were, try row 1 behind the Pirates dugout.  With pictures like this, she might have a job at Topps right?

My 2012 Topps Wants

I want your 2012 Pirates.  Even if I have duplicates or triples, I don't care. Base, parallels, inserts, hits.  Send them my way.
Here's what I have so far.

I'm missing base cards of James McDonald (have the gold) and Jared Hughes (rookie)

I need all the gold parallels except JMac and need all the inserts, but like I said I will gladly accept doubles of the Pirates base to try and get autographed.

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

NEED SOME HELP FINDING A CARD

So the Pirates lost last night and are now going to a rubber match with the San Fransisco Giants who are 8-1 in rubber matches this year.  Not sure if that statistic really means anything, but I have faith in Jeff Karstens pitching well enough to get the Buccos another win.  BTW, if anyone has or knows where I can find this 2009 SP Authentic Signatures card of Jeff Karstens I would really appreciate it.  I've only seen it pop up once on eBay and sadly I didn't win it.  I need it badly for my PC.

On another note, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite multiplayer cards I have in my Pirates Relic collection.

2004 Topps Best Seat in the House 

Dave Parker, Bill Madlock, Bill Mazeroski 

Three Rivers Stadium Seat Relic

This card is just flat out awesome!  It features the Cobra, Mad Dog, and Maz along with a piece of a Three Rivers Stadium seat.  The thing that I really like most about this card is that it features Dave Parker and Bill Madlock wearing the alternate yellow jersey which looks great with the yellow seat relic.  Perfectly placed in the middle is the man responsible for the most famous HR in World Series history (even though it was done at Forbes Field and not Three Rivers).  This card is permanately in my Pirates PC and was won on eBay last month for about $12 shipped.