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 #223: Pure Badass Patch

I've added a few triple threads Cutch cards to the collection this year, but this is the first that features 3 players who played in the Post Season this year for multiple teams.

Joey Bats hit a mammoth and memorable HomeRun against the Rangers to send Toronto to the Championship Series.  As many of you may know, I am a huge Jose Bautista fan, but am starting to sell off my Joey Bats collection including the 1/1 bat knob.

Cutch will continue to be my main focus on my PC.

Cespedes will be a free agent this year and it should be interesting to see where he ends up.  Over the past two years he has played on 4 teams.  I actually like New York's chances of resigning him.

I previously showed off this card almost a year ago to the day, but have now added a more rare version of it as my Cutch PC this year added over 200 new cards to the collection. 

SICK SICK PATCH OF KE'BRYAN HAYES USA JERSEY

I couldn't pass up this amazing patch for less than $15 delivered.

It's the "S" from his Team USA jersey and is numbered to 8/21 which just happens to be today's date.

McCutchen Mailday #86 & a new AJ

Tonight is the All-Star Game and the Pirates will be well represented with 4 participants. Andrew McCutchen is making his 5th consecutive All-Star game (2nd starting) and is batting leadoff.

Gerrit Cole will be pitching the 3rd and 4th innings with AJ Burnett scheduled for the 7th.

Mark Melancon isn't scheduled for a full inning, but will be ready to come out of the bullpen should anyone get in trouble.

To honor the participants, I'm going to show off a pair of cards I have recently picked up.

Up first is a low numbered 2015 Prizm Gold parallel (3/10) that I snagged for $20.

For $4 delivered I also grabbed a new AJ Burnett card. As a reminder I am looking for any and all AJ cards.

Sick Jumbo Patch Autograph of Gregory Polanco

Couldn't pass this up a few weeks ago.

Polanco has been having a lot of late inning heroics in the recent games.

Austin Meadows Patch & On Card AUTO!!!!

I've purchased a few of the Leaf Trinity patch cards in the past like my Tyler Glasnow I showed off last year.  I have also grabbed a Cole Tucker for only $13 that I haven't had a chance to show off yet.  This on card autograph of the Pirates prospect, Austin Meadows, cost me only $17 delivered.

It is my 3rd on card auto of the young outfielder who is hitting very well as a teenager in the Florida State League.

MORE SICK MOJO GERRIT COLE!!!!

Yesterday I went to the Bucs home opener and IT WAS AWESOME!!! Gerrit Cole pitched an incredible game racking up 8ks thru 6IP. He ran into trouble in the 7th by loading the bases before recording an out, but groundball specialist, Jared Hughes came in to get a double play and pop out minimizing the damage to only 1 run. The Bucs offense was supplied by Buccos Blasts by Harrison, Alvarez, and a 2 run shot by Corey Hart. The bullpen's only struggle was by Mark Melancon in the 9th when he almost blew a non save 4 run lead. Overall though great pitching from Cole and the 3 round trippers is what gave the Bucs the win.


I've been adding more and more Gerrit Cole National Treasures cards over the past month.  The Notable Nicknames on card autograph continues to elude me, but I've added another sick On Card Auto and Patch of The Cole Train along with a Jumbo Jersey.

 Check out the beauty of that card!  On card autograph.  Sick patch!  Low numbering!

The Cole above is a lot like my Polanco I showed off in February.

As you may recall I was going to be adding as many National Treasures as possible until I ended up spending $425 on this product.  I've seen some people with sick boxes containing 1/1 bat barrels, but I have also seen some breaks that produced a lot of rookie autographs along with HOF jersey cards numbered /99.  I think I will get a lot more value out of my reverse box. Every card I have acquired is less than 50 copies.

SICK ON CARD AUTO & PATCH OF POLANCO!!!!

My latest addition to the National Treasures bonus reverse box I grabbed is a stunning ON CARD autograph and HUGE 3 color patch of Gregory Polanco.

What I like the most about this card is the extension that Gregory did when signing the card.  It will likely cause BGS to grade the auto less than a 10 because it's out of the allowed box he was supposed to sign, but I like that kind of stuff.

Check out this sick patch!!!  And AUTO!!!

Reverse Boxin: Update #5 SICK SICK PATCH OF GREGORY POLANCO

I just showed off a nice 2 color jersey from Jameson Taillon, but it fails in comparison to this colossal jersey of sophomore right fielder Gregory Polanco.

The above prime jersey patch of "El Coffee" ran me under $19 and brings my total for the reverse box to $192 with 3 cards left in the reverse box (2 more autos and 1 more auto, relic, or gem hit.)  The prime jersey patch looks like it could be part of the number 5 which would be awesome!!!!

I think that once I complete the reverse box I will just continue adding cards of players I like until I reach that $425 limit ignoring the under 50 rule.

To recap my other items in the reverse box featuring only Pirates and only cards numbered to 50 or fewer copies see below

Roberto Clemente bat relic /25

Willie Stargell Cut AUTO and jumbo bat booklet /10

Gerrit Cole on card AUTO and jumbo jersey /49

Jameson Taillon Jersey Patch /25

National Treasures Reverse Box Update #4: SICK JAMESON TAILLON PATCH!!!

I've been showing off my 2014 National Treasures reverse box eBay winnings a lot over the past 2 weeks.  I figured with only 8 cards per pack I should be on pace to show off the entire reverse box by the end of February without losing track of my other scheduled posts.

My most recent addition is

A very nice patch from Pirates pitching prospect Jameson Taillon numbered 2/25.  The above card ran me a winning bid of $2.99 with $3.50 shipping.  Considering that it came from less than an hour away, I wish I could have paid far less for shipping, but still getting this sweet relic card for under $6.50 very quickly put me in line to finish this reverse box with every card being a Pirate and less than 50 copies of each.

So far I have shown

Willie Stargell Cut AUTO and jumbo bat booklet /10

Gerrit Cole on card AUTO and jumbo jersey /49

Roberto Clemente bat relic /25

This is going to a great reverse box when it's all said and done.  I will have relics and autos of HOFers along with autos and prime jersey pieces of the Pirates bright future. For the above 4 cards I have spent $173 on a $213 budget for being halfway done.  I know I can easily obtain another 2 autographs and 2 other cards for much less than $252.  

Who else got Cole in their stocking?

Having a massive card collection is great for getting Christmas gifts.  When people need to get you something small, it can just be a pack of cards and that will most likely make you happy.  If you get a gift card because they don't know what you have....well that makes it even better.

So because Santa left me a lil bit of spending money, I am proud to say

I got Cole in my stocking and I couldn't be happier.

For $15, I just couldn't pass this up.  It's numbered to 20, has a sweet two color stitching and features an autograph of the future ace of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Football Sunday: Saved by Le'Bell

My fantasy football team has been an absolute force to be reckoned with the past few weeks.  The past three weeks, my team has posted over 200 points which is just crazy numbers for those of you that do fantasy football.  I play in a PPR League on NFL. com and my team name is Saved By Le'Bell.  I chose the name because every year I pick a Pittsburgh Steeler (my favorite team) and draft a player and name the team after him.  I went overdraft and got Le'Veon Bell (after the drug arrest) in the 2nd round with the 14th overall pick.  I had a good feeling about what he could mean to the Steelers offense and boy have I been rewarded with my instincts.  Last week thanks to his 3 Touchdowns I was rewarded with 52.5 fantasy points.  He almost beat my opponent by himself as my opponent only mustered up 56.46 points.

The Steelers post season hopes as well as my own will be riding Le'Veon Bell hard today.  Let's see if both teams can be "Saved by Le'Bell"

My second Cole Tucker Team USA card

One of my recent COMC purchases had another Cole Tucker Team USA jersey patch in it.  The card ran me just north of $2 and features a great image of Cole sporting his awesome fro.

I'm looking forward to picking up a lot of Cole's parallels when he appears in a Bowman release next month.  Despite a slow start to his career, I think this kid is going to be something special.  He batted .267 with 48 hits in 48 games as a 17 year old playing in the Gulf Coast League.  He's still probably 4 years away, but with his ability to stick at shortstop, bat from both sides, and speed he will likely be a very good baseball player.

15 bucks lil man, put that Grilli in my hand....

I had that Jay & Silent Bob quote in my head when I realized how much I paid for this card.
For $15 I received an autograph of the former closer Jason Grilli.  It's funny how saturated Grilli's autograph has become with Topps.  A few years ago before he became an All-Star closer and Sports Illustrated cover material, tracking his autograph down was almost impossible.  Now Topps is putting him on everything.

2014 Topps Triple Threads AUTO/PATCH 3/10

Which is fine because it keeps the prices low and allows me to grab awesome pieces of cardboard like you see above.  Numbered to only 10 copies and having a really nice patch piece along with an autograph of the former first rounder for $15, well....

For $15 I couldn't resist it especially since I'm putting together a reverse box.  You'll see more Triple Threads appearing on the blog over the next few months as I try to reverse a box.  So far though I have been very successful.

Football Sunday: Le'veon Bell Book with On Card Auto and patches!!!!

The Steelers are rolling lately with Big Ben leading the charge.  Ben is the first QB in NFL history to throw back to back 6 TD games.  Think about that for a second...

2013 Topps Five Star Booklet 8/15

One of the Steelers best offensive weapons this year is running back Le'veon Bell.  Bell is a dual threat to both run and receive the football.  So far this season, Bell has 1 rushing touchdown and 2 receiving touchdowns.  He's already got 711 rushing yards and 433 receiving yards.  In recent weeks, Bell has been used more as a receiver while on the field and you've seen the results of the Steelers offense exploding because of the dual threat.

The above 2013 Topps Five Star Booklet is the nicest football card I own.  Bell is my current favorite player, just slightly above Antonio Brown, and I really wanted to get 1 nice card of him.  I've decided that for my Steelers and Penguins collections that I would go with the less is more way of collecting.  Less quantity, but better quality.  The above Bell card is what can be expected going forward for my Steelers collection.

The Steelers got the Jets today and I'm hoping to score some tickets to go to the game.  If not, it's looking like another day at the pub cheering on the black n yellow.

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

World Cup vs. World Baseball Classic

The World Cup started yesterday and so many people throughout the world tuned in to watch their country's teams try to win the World Cup.  Why doesn't the World Baseball Classic generate as much credit as the World Cup throughout the World?  Is it because baseball isn't played globally?  Is it a lack of talent participating in the WBC?

As part of my ongoing quest to add cheap Jameson Taillon cards to my collection while he recovers from Tommy John surgery, I was able to add this nice patch card of the Texas native prospect for the small price of $8.

The NEW Core 4: BUCN Style

The Yankees often used a phrase called the core four to discuss the four guys who were a part of the Yankees stretch of winning world series.  That list included Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera,  Derek Jeter, and Andy Pettite.  Jeter was the last member of the Core Four to not choose retirement, but his time will be coming to an end this year.

The Pirates had their first winning record in over 2 decades last season thanks in large part to four impact players who are under team control through at least 2016.
That list includes
Starling Marte (signed through 2019 with team options through 2021)
Gerrit Cole (under team control through 2019
Andrew McCutchen (signed through 2017)
Pedro Alvarez (team control through 2016)

It's highly unlikely that the Pirates will keep all four of these guys past their contracts expiration, but with these four under team control through the next 3 seasons, the Pirates have a legitimate chance to contend in the post season each year.

I won the quad relic seen above for $36 delivered about a month ago and am happy to add such a nice card featuring these four players together.  Topps has been paying a greater deal of attention to Pirates fans lately mostly because of all the exciting young talent coming through the past few seasons.

Good Jordy, this card looks nice!

One of my favorite blogs, BobWalkThePlank recently showed off their copy of a Jordy Mercer patch card from 2013 America's Pastime.  I recently grabbed a copy of the card as well.

2013 America's Pastime Future Fabrics Jordy Mercer Patch 4/10

Sadly I paid $5 more than what my blogging buddy paid for his copy though.

Based on the color of the patch, I think that the material used could be from an alternate uniform used by the Pirates in 2013 (Memorial Day uniforms perhaps?)  The jersey material is more brown than grey.

Any ideas?

Tyler Glasnow Patch and OnCard Auto!

Keith Law recently released his Top 100 Prospects in baseball and I was surprised to see that Tyler Glasnow ranked higher than Jameson Taillon.  While I considering them both to be incredible talents, I still consider Taillon to be higher.  Glasnow was ranked 20th by Law which was the highest anyone ranked him prior to the start of the 2014 season.

2013 Leaf Trinity Tyler Glasnow AUTO/PATCH

Recognizing how incredibly talented he is, I decided to buy this on card auto and patch of the teenage flamethrower.  This ran me $17.50 delivered around Christmas time and I couldn't be happier to add it to my collection.

Its not quite as nice as yesterday's dual relic/auto of Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole but damn is this a great looking on card auto and patch for less than the price of a blaster.