Finally found a copy of this card!!!!

I have been looking for a certified Luis Tiant in a Pirates uniform for nearly 5 years. I knew that he had a few Topps Originals signed from the 1982 Topps release, but never found one up for purchase.

Finally after 5 long years of searching, I came across this 2004 Topps Originals signed by Luis numbered 31/51.  It cost me only $17 delivered and is a welcomed addition to the PC.

To me Tiant is a borderline Hall of Famer.  He had a few dominating years, but only appeared in 3 All-Star Games and never got higher than 4th place in Cy Young voting.  He finished his career with 229 Wins, 3.30 ERA, 2416 strikeouts, and a 1.19 WHIP. 

Tiant may be best remembered for his unusual delivery on the mound which Johnny Cueto has copied a lot. 

#tbt: A Trio of 61s

Every few months, my local mall has a cardshow where you can find some nice vintage cards for very cheap.  I generally get great deals from one seller in particular.  Below is a trio of 1961 Topps that I purchased for $2 combined.

Gene Baker

Vern Law

Smoky Burgess

#tbt: Then & Now Barry Bonds Dual Jersey

Barry Bonds was on the path to becoming one of the greatest baseball players ever in Pittsburgh Pirates history.  After much debate, I truly believe that he was on the path to a Hall of Fame career even if he didn't get involved in steroids conspiracies.

This card is a good example of Bonds Then & Now.

I grabbed it for $6 delivered as a personal consolation prize because I lost 6 Barry Bonds National Treasures auto/jumbo patch relic auctions over the past two months.  $6 is a much better price to pay compared to the $400+ that the Bonds auto/relics I wanted were going for.

#tbt: There's a Cobra in the Mailbox

It's been a long time since I added a piece of cardboard signed by the Cobra.  You'll have to go all the way back to October 2013 to see that post.  I was able to meet Dave at this past year's PiratesFest and got a program signed by him.

My latest addition is a card that I aggressively tried to win on nearly a dozen chances and I kept losing it.  I finally bit the bullet and bought one for $29 which is about $5 more than what I was willing to spend on it.

Notable Nicknames might be my favorite group of autographs from the National Treasures release.

Dave Parker may never make it into the Hall of Fame despite having similar numbers to Hall of Famer, Jim Rice.  A great article was written in 2013 about the very similar career accomplishments by both.  You can read the article on 30 year old cardboard's blog here.

Listen to this dog, it's mad!!!!

Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock was an incredible ballplayer in the 70s and  80s.  He was a member of the 1979 World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, but also said one of the dumbest things ever.

"Two grand slams in a week - man, that's seven or eight ribbies right there."

Topps produced a line of relic cards in their Bazooka series in 2004 and several Pirates have cards in the set.  I showed off the Willie Stargell 3 years ago which you can see here.  I grabbed the foiled version you see above numbered 19/25 for $12.  It's my 8th unique bat relic of the 4 time Batting Title champion.

On Card HOF AUTO: National Treasures Reverse Box Update #6

For the past month I have been showing off my reverse box of 2014 National Treasures and I have already shown some incredible cards.  I will recap them all at the end of this post.

My latest addition of National Treasures is an on card autograph numbered to 10 of Hall of Fame Second Baseman and the only player to ever have a walk off Home Run in Game 7 of a World Series, Bill Mazeroski.

I've shown a handful of Maz autographs on this blog before with my most recent being a sketch card autograph last November.  The last On Card Auto I showed of Maz was from way back in 2013.

The back of the card talks about his dramatic World Series Home Run.

The above low numbered logoless on card autograph ran me $42 delivered which was under budget and brings my total to $234 for the $425 box.  I need 1 more autograph and 1 more auto/relic/or gem hit to complete my 8 card reverse box.  As previously stated once I complete the reverse box, I will just pick up cards I like until I reach the $425 limit.

Other cards I have shown already in my reverse box of /50 copies and all Pirates include

Roberto Clemente bat relic 6/25

Willie Stargell Cut AUTO and jumbo bat booklet 7/10

Gerrit Cole on card AUTO and jumbo jersey 32/49

Jameson Taillon Jersey Patch 2/25

Gregory Polanco Colossal Prime Jersey Patch 14/25

The rarest Barry Bonds 1989 Topps you will ever see

1989 Topps isn't known for their scarcity.  That's a simple fact.  However, a few years ago Topps opened their vault to some error cards that were produced and Chris Henderson, who has worked for Topps on projects such as Allen & Ginter Highlight sketches got a large amount of the misprint blank front cards and has been doing sketches on them through his ebay site.

I've previously had Chris do several commission sketches for me (Morton, Marte, McCutchen) and thought this was a perfect opportunity to purchase an extremely unique (1/1 sketch) of the HomeRun king on his actual 1989 Topps card.

Here's the sketch Chris came up with

What a great image of a presteroids Bonds.

If you're interested in purchasing some of his work, please be sure to visit his ebay site

Throwback Thursday: 1970 Willie Stargell Scratch Off

I am not a completest when it comes to my Pirates collection.  I don't intend to have every card ever produced with a Pittsburgh baseball club logo (or lack of logo for that matter).  However, when cool things like this 1970 PlayBall Scratch Off end up being buried in a stack of cards for 10 cents, I have to jump on it.  Cards like this help balance out the Willie Stargell card I showed off yesterday.

It lacks mint condition.  It lacks multiple colored parallels.  It lacks a lot of resale value.  BUT....one thing it doesn't lack, is that vintage smell and feelings of being a young kid collecting cards because it was fun.

I think with all the instant gratification in the world today due to technology, many of us forget those times when we had to actually work hard to find the cards we wanted aka busting packs after packs.  Then if you wanted rare giveaways by the companies you had to buy cereal, win scratch offs, save lots of wrappers.

I miss those days.

A NEW HALL OF FAMER ENTERS THE COLLECTION, First Goal of 2015 Complete!!!!

Last year was a great year for my collection.  I completed my first 2014 Goal within a week and day of making my list by adding a Goose Gossage Pirates autograph.  This year, I followed suit and completed my first 2015 Goal within a few weeks of the new year.

Following the same pattern as last year, I sought out a new Hall of Fame autograph to add to the collection.  There's a long list of Pirates in the Hall of Fame that I currently don't have, but 1961 inductee Max Carey can now be crossed off that list.

Max Carey never received more than 51% of the votes for Hall of Fame eligibility during his 15 years post retirement.  However 3 years after his last year of eligibility he was inducted in by the Veteran's Committee.  The fleet footed outfielder won the Stolen Base crown 10 times while a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates and still ranks 9th All-Time.

Carey finished his 19 year career with a .285 batting average, 2664 hits, and a patent for sliding pads to protect your legs and hips when sliding.  His numbers don't jump off the page, but during a ten year stretch he was one of the best in the game patrolling the outfield.

I've seen Carey autographs sell for as much as $200 in the past and I was very happy to win this auction with a best offer in the $50 range.  Obviously getting sticker autos or on card autos of many of the Pirates in the Hall of Fame besides Bill Mazeroski and the recently deceased Ralph Kiner are going to be tough to come by so I don't mind a cut auto when available.  However, I do have one rule for cut autos and that is it must show an image of the player.  I don't care if the logos have been cut out or it's unlicensed, but I want to see an image of the player.

Throwback Thursday: this is soooo great I need to post them...

I don't collect much nonsports cards anymore.  I used to collect all kinds of cards when I was a kid especially Marvel Flair, Fleer Marvel Metal, X-Men Ultra and the Skybox Comics Series (Marvel, Batman, etc).  When I ordered a high ticket autographed card I found these 9 cards protecting my beautiful on card auto.  However, I was more excited to look at these and remember, "I had this.  Oh man!!!  I remember this artwork."

It was a total blast from the past.

The above cards might have a resale value for a couple quarters, but I gotta say it was great to remember the joys of collecting again without needing giant swatches of relics, autographs, fancy parallels, or snow flake themed die cuts. The above 9 cards brought me back to my youth and for a brief time I remembered what it was like to just enjoy cardboard without attaching a huge dollar figure to it.

Throwback Thursday: My Name is Earl

Last Month, I attended the local mall sports card show that is put on every 8 weeks and grabbed a small amount of vintage needs, some supplies, and a few Jackson Jaguars cards for my brother as a Christmas gift.  

Among the overpriced Clemente cards I needed were these two vintage beauties stashed away in a box labeled 2 for $1.  Grabbing early 1960s cards for a half buck?  Count me in!!!

I needed both of these cards for my vintage needs.

There's not much on Earl Francis on the internet.  He was born in 1935, and passed away in 2002.  He was a member of the 1960 World Series Pirates, but wasn't part of the World Series roster.  He finished his career having pitched in 103 games for 405 innings pitched.  Based on what I can view from his Baseball Reference page, he was mainly a mopup middle reliever/spot starter with poor command (4.0BB/9)

Throwback Thursday: Rick Rhoden Auto

I've been on the hunt for a Rick Rhoden autograph for my collection for several years.  To my knowledge he had 2 certified autos available and quite frankly I hated them both.  Thanks to my patience and not much of a desire to settle for anything less than the best, I finally added The Man, The Myth, The Mustache to my collection.

Rhoden was a member of the Pirates for 8 years (1979-1986) and in 1984 he had an 11 game hit streak.  He was a 3 time winner of the Silver Slugger for his outstanding hitting abilities as a pitcher and was elected to the All-Star game twice (only once with Pirates).  He was a 151 game winner and finished his career with a 3.59 ERA.

Rhoden was part of the trade that sent a young pitcher named Doug Drabek to the Pirates from the Yankees.  While a member of the Yankees, Rhoden was used a designated hitter in 1988.

The above on card auto ran me $8 which is a little more expensive than the Topps certified sticker autos go for, but the fact that it's on card, low numbered, and features that bright yellow uniform and pill cap hat, well I think it was worth every penny.

Throwback Thursday: Vintage 58s

It's been too long since I've shown off some true vintage (pre60s) on my page.  

I managed to grab the above 8 cards I needed for my Topps Flagship sets for $4.90 delivered.  In addition to the 8 cards above I also grabbed Gene Freese, Frank Thomas, Dick Groat, and Buddy Pritchard in the same lot.  None of these cards are museum worthy, but for the price I just couldn't resist adding more vintage cards to the collection.

Throwback Thursday: I completed a 69

If this title doesn't draw you in, maybe these two sweet 1969 cards of Hall of Famers Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski will.  The former Bucs greats were the last two cards I needed to complete my 1969 Topps Pirates Team Set and it ran me just shy of $18 to do so.

Both cards are in beautiful shape and feature no major creases, chipping, or writing.  Absolutely awesome deal I got for these two at my local sports collectors show at the mall.

Throwback Thursday: Tracking down the Holy Veale

I needed one card to complete my 1965 Pirates Team Set and that was a card that featured the 1964 NL Strikeout Leaders including Bob Veale.  Veale lead the National League in punchout in 1964 with 250 in 279 innings pitched.

The card which also features Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale ran me $3.20 and helped me complete 3 Topps Team sets with a recent COMC purchase.  I will show off the others as part of my Throwback Thursday segments.

Throwback Thursday: Pink Raines Edition

Well the Pirates baseball season is over in embarassing fashion and since they didn't win, I'm not going to give the card below away for free, however it is available for trade.

All month long, I am doing a charity event to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness.  As a baseball fan and fan of boobies, it's important to save second base.  All the details can be seen (here).

2014 Topps Tribute Tim Raines AUTO 12/45

Today's pink parallel hails from 2014 Topps Tribute.  It features an on card autograph of Tim Raines in a Chicago White Sox uniform.  Raines is mostly known for his time in Montreal, but since Topps doesn't like to aknowledge that the Expos existed, they chose to picture Raines in his later years with the South City guys.

The card pictured above is for sale or trade if you are interested.  

In my humble opinion I think that Tim Raines belongs in the Hall of Fame even though the writers have yet to give him more than 50% of the votes.  He's currently 5th all time on the stolen base list with a 84.7% stolen base percentage.  He finished his career with 2,605 hits and was a 7 time All-Star.  I don't think that he's a first ballot hall of famer by any stretch of the imagination but if you look at the top 2 leadoff hitters of the 80s and 90s, Tim Raines name comes up behind only Rickey Henderson.

Throwback Thursday: Cannonball coming....

If you've ever listened to a Pirates telecast or Roots Sports Pittsburgh highlights, you have probably heard Greg Brown's call of "Cannonball Coming!!!" everytime the Pirates hit a HomeRun.

It's been a long time since card manufacturers highlighted defensive skills in addition to offensive skillsets.  Back in the late 80s and early 90s though, these were commonplace for card companies to insert as part of the base set.  Yes, defensive talents were recognized as base cards.  Everyone that collected the set, got to admire highly defensive players skill level on the diamond.

Above is a collection of those highlighted.

As you all know, Andy Van Slyke is one of the main reasons I became a Pirates fan.  The dude could flat out play defense.  He was efficient with the bat too.  Bobby Bonilla, like Pirates current former 3rd baseman, Pedro Alvarez showed immense power at the plate, but also had a cannon for an arm.  Unfortunately like Bonilla, Alvarez doesn't know where it's going.

Throwback Thursday: the Candy Man can

John Candelaria was a force in the late 70s that never got the recognition he deserved.  He never put up huge strikeout numbers because that's not the kind of pitcher he was.  He was however, a finesse pitcher that painted around the strikezone and got lots of outs.

Prior to his age 35 season (last year of being a primary starting pitcher), the Candy Man had an ERA over 4 only once when it was 4.01 in 1980.  The reason I didn't include his last 5 years as part of that was because as a relief pitcher, one bad outing can drastically cause your ERA to skyrocket.

As a starting pitcher for 14 seasons, Candy was an All-Star once and received the 5th most votes for the 1977 Cy Young.  How good was he in 1977?  Well he finished the year with a 20-5 record, a 2.34 ERA, and 2.66 strikeout to walk rate.  The four guys that finished above Candy in voting that year all had higher win totals, but worse ERA, strikeout/walk ratios, and WHIP.  As we all know, the voters looked at stats a little bit different back in those days.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, or Tommy John, but I think Candelaria could have been ahead most of those guys for the 1977 season.

Throwback Thursday: Emil Brown AUTO

Normally I use Throwback Thursdays for players before the 90s, but due to a lack of time and the fact that I was given this card from a friend out of those repack Target "guaranteed autos" packs I thought it was a good time to highlight the baseball career of today's subject...

EMIL BROWN!!!!!


The End!!!!

Just Kidding!  The fact that anyone makes it to the major leagues is quite an accomplishment so I won't make fun of Emil anymore.  Emil was drafted in the 6th round of 1994 draft by the Oakland Athletics.  A few years later he was in the majors as a 22 year old playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  His performance in Pittsburgh was what most fans saw of the "talent" levels in Pittsburgh during The Losing Streak years.  In parts of 5 seasons wearing black and gold, Emil hit .205 with only a .310 slugging percentage.  His best season came during his age 31 and 32 seasons when he was hitting .286 and averaging 16 HR and 84 RBI while a member of the Kansas City Royals.  He last played for the New York Mets on June 6th, 2009.

Throwback Thursday: former All-Star Danny Jackson

In looking through some of the 20th century cards (that makes it sound more Throwback than 19 year old cardboard) I came across this 1993 Fleer Danny Jackson card.  Jackson was a 2 time All-Star (1988 and 1994) who never really got a lot of credit despite being one of the game's top 20 pitchers every year for nearly a decade.

Fleer unlike Topps didn't photoshop their cards.  If a player got traded they showed him in his old uniform then put a little blurb on the card about being traded.  Danny Jackson was traded by the Cubs to the Pirates for the great 1992 pennant run the Pirates went on and eventually lost in the NLDS to the Braves.  During the offseason he was the first Pittsburgh Pirate to play for the new Florida Marlins franchise being selected by the Fish with the 54th overall pick after the Rockies selected Brad Ausmus with the 53rd pick.  Jackson would never suit up for the Marlins though.  Instead he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993 and became a part of the NL Pennant winners.  He would finish his career with 112 victories (4 of which were for Pittsburgh).  The card above pictures Jackson in his Pittsburgh uniform with a statement that he was traded to the Phillies from the Marlins.  It is one of only 2 cards that feature Jackson in a Pirates uniform, the other being 1993 Donruss.

The Pirates are finishing up hosting their 3 game series against the Marlins tonight and I'm hoping for another Buccos Win as they face off the 36 year old Brad Penny.  Let's Go Bucs!!!