Jameson Taillon Debut Patch

I've been waiting almost 6 years for this day to come.  I remember sitting in my small apartment on my busted up chair using my PC to watch the 2010 MLB Draft as the Pirates had the number 2 overall pick.  The 3 big names of the draft were all prep athletes.  Two of them have already become All-Stars (Bryce Harper and Manny Machado).  The third was the hard throwing highschool pitcher Jameson Taillon.  Man am I excited to see Jamo finally pitch in the big leagues.  I've had this card since August of 2013 patiently awaiting for his big debut to debut it.

This beauty was had for under $20!!!!!

2013 Pro Debut Patch 1/5

It features a large patch of the Jolly Roger from his 2012 All-Star Future's Game sleeve.  From the box score, Taillon didn't have a good outing.  He pitched 1 inning and gave up 2 hits (both doubles), allowing 1 run.  He didn't walk anyone, nor did he strike anyone out.  However he did throw 12 of his 17 pitches for strikes.  I remember watching the game and thinking damn, this kid is gonna be awesome in a few years.  He did an amazing job mixing up his speeds on his 4 pitch arsenal.

The back of the card has the normal small print text about not being from a specific season, blah blah blah.

McCutchen Mailday #250: Another Logoman!!!!

I started the year with 0 Andrew McCutchen logoman cards.

I will end it with 3, maybe 4 depending on the expediency of holiday shipping.

The first two can be seen here and here

Throughout the year, I have managed to grab some absolutely astonishing cards of Cutch and I think that my PC of Cutch may be one of the best out there. 

Unlike the other Cutch cards I have, this one we do know where the relic is from.

Be sure to check out the rest of my Cutch pickups I will be showing off this week. With only a bit over two weeks left in the year, I am finally almost entirely caught up with the Cutch cards I have received this year.

McCutchen Mailday #199: My Second 1/1 Logoman of Cutch

Not too long ago, I showed off my first 1/1 Logoman of Cutch.  Today, I have added a second. 

This one is a little nicer as it features Cutch's home white uniform and perfectly centered logoman. 

I am one card away from doubling my goal to add 100 new Cutch cards to the PC this year.

I have already received it and gotta say it's one of a kind and my 1st to be added to the Cutch PC.  

McCutchen Mailday #160-165: Logoman 1/1 MOJO!!!!! and a bunch of /25 cards

I've been adding some ridiculous 1/1 cards to my Cutch PC this year, but this is my very first 1/1 Logoman added to my collection. 

Some of the other cards I bought from the guy selling his collection include several /25 relics.  Not a bad haul, I'd say. 

SICK SICK SICK!!!! MAJOR MOJO!! GREGORY POLANCO TEAM PATCH

A few weeks ago, I showed off an insane Gerrit Cole PC addition and today I am doing the same with another young core member of the Pirates team, Gregory Polanco.

Polanco has a beautiful swing at the plate and there is no doubt in my mind that he will blossom into a key piece of the Pirates future as they battle for the division year after year.  He's been struggling against lefties in the majors thus far in his career and it wasn't until Joey Gallo's promotion that I realized something.  Most lefties don't have crazy platoon splits until they reach the majors and that's because in the minors there aren't any dominating left handed pitchers.  If you're a dominant lefty in the minors, you quickly ascend to the majors faster than any other player type.

This will likely be my last addition of Gregory Polanco to my second 2014 National Treasures reverse box as I have already shown off 3 other beautiful cards of the former top prospect.

While I love the patch to this Polanco more than the Cole I showed, it brings me such great disappointment that this patch was 

used at an event and not a game.

At least Panini was willing to admit that.

SICK JOLLY ROGER PATCH AND GERRIT COLE ON CARD AUTO!!!!

This card is without question, my favorite Gerrit Cole card in my collection to this point.  It's very low numbered (only 10 copies).  It's got an on card autograph.  It's got the bandanna for the Jolly Roger patch.  It features his Futures Game jersey.  Even the image of Gerrit without a Pirates logo of him, makes sense for how the card was designed.  Beautiful job Panini.

The back goes on to talk about how awesome Gerrit is in addition to authenticating the blue jersey swatch is from his 2012 Futures Game appearance.

I dream of the Post Season....

The 2013 season was a magical season for the Buccos.  2014 looked like it would be an absolute disaster in the beginning of the year with the terrible start of the season, losing a few top prospects to injury, and the lack of proven depth in AAA.  As September comes closer to an end, the Pirates are still in a chase for Post Season play.

Pedro Alvarez 2013 Post Season Relic Patch 72/100

Earlier in the year, Topps produced a series of jersey relics called Post Season Relics.  The Pirates were represented by NL MVP Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez.  Alvarez became the first player in baseball history to collect an RBI in each of his first 6 postseason games.  Unfortunately he wasn't able to knock in the tying run in Game 5 when he struck out on an Adam Wainwright breaking ball.

It was just announced today that El Toro will likely be out for the rest of the season. Its unclear what his future with the Pirates is and with the emergence of Josh Harrison this year, the decline of Alvarez at 3B, and having a variety of cheaper options at 1B (Davis, Sanchez, Lambo, Bell) he could be non tendered.

One of my ongoing goals that started in 2013 was to acquire jersey relics of my favorite Bucs with a piece of the Jolly Roger sleeve patch.  This is my first Pedro Alvarez logoman relic.  You can see my others by clicking on the name below
Tony Sanchez Bradenton Marauders Jumbo Patch
Jason Bay
Joel Hanrahan
Neil Walker
Starling Marte
Andrew McCutchen
Andrew McCutchen, Freddy Sanchez, and Jose Tabata

My newest Tony: Check out this SICK PATCH!!!!

This card has been a thorn in my side for nearly 2 years.  I have tried prying it away from the ebay seller since it first became available.  He put it in his store with a Buy-It-Now of $90 or best offer.  NO WAY WAS I GOING TO SPEND $90 for a catcher who hadn't even made his debut yet.  Well, finally after all the times that he has pulled it from his store and relisted and pulled it and relisted it, I finally managed to grab this incredible Bradenton Marauders logo patch of the Pirates backup catcher Tony Sanchez.  $30 is a big dropoff from the $90 asking price he's had and I am ever so grateful that I can FINALLY add it to my collection.

Jose Tabata MLB Logoman 2010 Bowman Platinum

It's been over a year since I showed off a Jose Tabata card on my blog.  After signing a very team friendly contract extension, Jose has been average at best.  Looking at the stat WAR (Wins Above Replacement), Jose put up a 0.8 WAR in his debut season (2010) during 102 games.  Since that year, Jose has put up 0.8 WAR over the course of 3 seasons and 286 games.  Once prized as a key player the Pirates hoped build around, Jose is now mostly a pinch runner and platoon partner in right field.

Even though he's just average, I still root for the guy harder than most other Pittsburgh fans.

To paraphrase the most interesting man on earth..."I don't always look for Jose Tabata cards, but when I do...I prefer logoman patches."

2010 Bowman Platinum AUTO MLB PATCH 9/199

I don't have Tabata cards saved as a search on ebay, but after putting up a 3 for 4 performance with 2 RBI earlier in the month, I decided to see what all was available of the former top prospect.  When I discovered this card for $20 shipped, I decided to pull the trigger.  I like cards wtih logo patches or laundry tags.  This fits that nicely.

MOJO LOGO!!!! The Jolly Roger invades my Jason Bay Collection

Team Logo patches are some of the most sought after cards available.  When they feature a grimacing pirate, they just look f***ing sick!!! Case in point, the card below...

2008 UD Premier Swatches 23/50 LOGOMAN!!!!

You can see part of the scowl of the Pirate and his gold earing.  The only thing that could have made this card better was if the Pirate was facing the right way.  Matter of fact, I think Jason Bay is doing his best impersonation of the Jolly Roger on this card.


Numbered 23/50, I grabbed this for less than the price of a discounted blaster.

McCutchen Monday: 2013 Topps Museum Primary Pieces LOGOMAN PATCH with 2 HOFers

My current favorite player in baseball today 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.

Cutch has been appearing in more and more of the high end releases year after year and Topps has been making some really nice cards as part of their Museum Collection.  When you put those two things together along with a pair of HOFers and a Cuban sensation, well you get a really nice card featuring Cutch and a Team Logo patch.

2013 Topps Museum Primary Pieces
Yoenis Cespedes, Reggie Jackson, Andrew McCutchen, Willie Stargell
45/75

As you all know, one of my collecting goals this year was to acquire 2 more LOGOMAN patches.  I've actually added 5 so far.  This marks the 3rd that I have shown on the PTR.  The Joel Hanrahan 2013 Gypsy Queen Framed Mini Relic numbered to 10 and Neil Walker 2012 Topps Museum Signature Swatches were previously highlighted.

1st Goal of 2013 COMPLETE!!!!!!

One of my 2013 collecting goals was to add another 2 cards to my collection featuring the Pirates Jolly Roger logoman.

Last month I showed off my Neil Walker logoman patch I picked up for a bit over $30.

NOW....

IT'S HAMMER TIME!!!

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Relic #6/10

NUMBERED 6/10

While Joel Hanrahan is no longer with the Pirates, he was a 2 time All-Star with the Bucs and was one of my favorites when he stepped up to the mound.  I'll still be rooting for the Hammer when he recovers from his season ending surgery and hope that his career isn't over.

This Hanrahan Gypsy Queen mini framed relic cost me $29 shipped.  Of the 10 copies, this is the only one that I've seen pop up on ebay so far.