It's the little things in life...

In my haste to complete and organize every Topps flagship Pirates baseball card, I didn't realize I was missing card #611 from the 1973 Topps Set.  This high number card features a rookie card of Pirates outfielder Richie Zisk. 

Zisk was a member of the Pirates famous Lumber Company in the 70s.  However Zisk's best years came after leaving the burgh.  In 1977 and 1978 Zisk was a member of the American League All-Star team when he played for the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals respectively.  He finished his career batting .287 with 207 HomeRuns and nearly 792 Runs Batted In over the course of 12 seasons. 

The other players depicted on this rookie card went on to have meaningful careers as utility players and 4th outfielders.  Wohlford played 15 seasons, only getting more than 500 at bats in a season once and Coggins played 5 seasons finishing sixth in Rookie of Year voting in 1973. 

I won the above card for only 99 cents and as a bonus, the seller included these two stickers below.
He must've known that I was a big Pirates fan.  It's the little things like this that just put a smile on my face.

2013 Pirates Triple Play team set

I managed to find someone who was selling individual cards of 2013 Triple Play at my local mall card show. $4 later and I have a few new Cutch cards for the PC and a new Pedro Alvarez.

Here's the lot of them.

2013 Triple Play When I Was a Kid insert Andrew McCutchen 

 First off, I love this card.  It's so cute and silly.  On the back it talks about how good Andrew was when he was in 8th grade playing for the Varsity team at his high school batting .591.

2013 Triple Play Andrew McCutchen & Pedro Alvarez base cards

The base cards are pretty straight forward.  On the backs they have stats from the 2012 season along with a bit of knowledgable facts about the player.

2013 Triple Play Sticker Insert & All-Star Insert

Stickers are always welcomed to add to my collection.  They remind me of times when I was a kid and how fun collecting can be.  The All-Star card has an interesting fact on the back that stumped me and made me think that Marty McFly screwed up the space time continium.

Wasn't Chris Coghlan of the Marlins the ROY in 2009?  Granted Cutch should have won the award since he hit 3 more HR, 7 more RBI, swiped 14 more bases and posted a 1.33 better WAR while playing in 20 games less.  Oh yeah, he also played a more premium defensive position.

Another Contest Winner: Free Tribe Cards go to....

The Pirates beat the Tribe today 9-5.  Yesterday, they won 9-2.  Pedro Alvarez now has 4 homeruns in his last 7 at bats.  I hope he's starting to heat up again because he can carry this offense when his bat is hot. 

Since the series was three games I'm going to randomize the entries 3 times

 Our winner is Coronado2010

You will be receiving the 4 Indians cards for this contest's winnings.

Since today's father's day I thought it would be nice to show off some recent pickups that remind me of my father.  When I was younger, my dad would always buy me baseball cards if we went out together.  There was a thrift store near the barber shop that would sell baseball stickers.  Every time my dad or I got our hair cut he would take me there and buy me a pack.  While I don't have any of the old stickers from the 80s or 90s, I did manage to recently buy a complete team set of the Bucs for $1.99 off ebay.  Stickers are fun!  They remind me of my childhood.  Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

The Pirates are off tomorrow then will head back home to Pittsburgh to face off against the Minnesota Twins.  I'm excited to see Ryan Doumit back in the burgh.

Here's what's available if the Pirates win the series against the Twins.

2 jersey relics: 1 of Christian Guzman and the other of 2012 draftee DJ Baxendale
a 2012 Heritage rookie card, a TC Mascot card, and a Miguel Sano top prospect card