McCutchen Monday: Face to Face with Kershaw

Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers are in playoff contention for the National League.  Both players also have MVP caliber performers on their team in Andrew McCutchen and Clayton Kershaw.

I recently came across a lot of Panini Elite Baseball inserts that included 2 copies of the card you see above.  They are numbered 775/999 and 165/999.  I don't have much of a need for two copies so if someone is interested in ONE of them please let me know by leaving a comment.  Sorry for the terrible cropping job, but it's late and I am too tired to go back and rescan the cards.

Unless the pitcher is just downright filthy with an ERA in the 1.00s with over 25 wins with double digit complete games I don't think that pitchers should be considered MVPs.  Don't get me wrong, without Kershaw the Dodgers probably aren't nearly as good as they are, but let's be real he plays in only 20% of the games and at best of those 20% of games he's only playing in 80% of the innings for those games.  Most position players perform in 150 games and often times for 9+ innings of those games.  If you completely disagree with me, feel free to leave a comment.

BTW...who do you think wins the NL MVP this year?  Could Cutch repeat?  Is Josh Harrison a possibility?

Roberto Clemente bat for trade/sale

I have a Roberto Clemente bat relic card for trade/sale.  If interested leave a comment below.  I'm primarily looking for Pirates autos or Vintage Needs.

I've included a scan of the front and back for your reference

.The card is from 2005 Donruss Greats Hall of Fame Souvenirs.  It's unnumbered.

Today would have been Roberto's 79th bday if he hadn't passed away tragically in 1972.

Who wants this card? Red Sox fans? Yankees Fans?

I had been waiting for a redemption of Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole to come from Topps for about 6 months.  Today, I finally received my replacement.

2013 Topps Redemption DUAL AUTO ARod & David Ortiz 6/10

WTF!!!!  Don't get me wrong a numbered /10 dual auto of two players with 1,055 career Home Runs is incredibly nice, BUT I'M A FRICKING PIRATES FAN TOPPS!!!!!  C'mon send me a dual auto using all those Ralph Kiner and Neil Walker stickers you have in the vault.  I am incredibly disappointed that this is my replacement.

I'm throwing this out there as trade bait.  Let me know if anyone wants it.

Gerrit Cole AUTO for Trade/Sale

I'm trying to downsize my collection a little and am offering up some extras that I no longer need to have in my collection.  If anyone is interested, leave a comment below or email me.

This Gerrit Cole autograph is ON CARD!!!!

2011 Leaf Valian AUTO (ON CARD)

Trade Bait and First Impressions of 2013 Topps

I was at my local Wally World cause I was in the mood for a $5 foot long at Subway.  While there I decided to pick up a blaster of 2013 Topps.
I like the design of this year's set a lot.  I also like the inserts a lot more than of years past.
Everything below is for trade except the emerald Pence.

So there's some cool parallels and inserts available if anyone is interested. The Trout blue parallel is a pretty neat grab for a Wal Mart blaster.  I wish that my rookie patch card was someone besides Derek Jeter.  I'm really hoping to get the Clemente in my collection this year.

I didn't get anything too exciting in Pirate players, but am pleased  that I was able to get a few Bucs including the Batting Average leaders blue parallel featuring Cutch and the Calling Card insert of Willie "Pops" Stargell.

In addition to the 2013 Topps cards I have for trade, I also picked up a bunch of Japanese import cards.
I bought all these through my LCS which he said were from overseas. I'll highlight the Pirates ones I got tomorrow.

Kemp and Kershaw are on hold for Greg at Plaschke if he doesn't already have them.

These are really unique cards and are meant for a Trading Card Game similar to what Topps Attax was.

I showed the back of the Kemp (base) and Ruiz (WCB "insert") to show the size comparison between the two.  The WCB cards are more like the 1975 Topps minis found in Lineage.  
Let me know if anyone is interested.

On another note...I know that I probably owe some cards still. If that is the case, shoot me an email and let me know what I owe you. 

Dimwit break and trade bait

I participated in Dimwit's group break and chose the Pirates.  The thought of getting something nice like a Roberto Clemente or Willie Stargell cut signature was just too enticing not to participate.  Unfortunately I got shut out in terms of getting any hits.

 The biggest hit for me was this 2012 cloth sticker of Andrew McCutchen.

I also managed to get 9 other Pirates cards (some of which are new to my collection)
The Bays, Clemente, and Stargell are available for trade.

The Mets cards produced some numbered parallels, a gold Archives Ike Davis, and a mini straight cut Gypsy Queen mini of Ike Davis.

It also gave me 16 Mets cards total for trade.

McCutchen Monday: Cutch jersey, prospect trade bait, and the contest winner is....

I recently saw a nice lot of 5 prospect autographs and a 2012 Heritage McCutchen jersey on ebay for a low price of $15.  I pulled the trigger and am happy to list some new trade bait.

First up though is the 2012 Topps Heritage jersey relic of Cutch.  This is not for trade.

Cutch had a huge game yesterday driving all 3 of the Pirates runs.  He hit a double in the 1st inning to put the Bucs ahead 1-0 then hit a 2 run two out linedrive homerun over the left field wall to put the Bucs up 3-0.  There was some shananigans when Cutch came up in the bottom of the 7th inning as Mitch Maier dove over the wall in foul territory and appeared to catch the ball, but once his glove hit the ground, he flipped over causing the ball to roll out under his back.  As the umpire was running up the line he reached behind him and showed the ball and Cutch was called out.  Karma came back though as Maier struck out looking with the bases loaded in the 8th on a borderline strike call. 

So who wants to see some prospect autographs up for trade?

First up are two Tampa Bay Rays autographs that Troll might be interested in, but no one has claimed yet.

The most notable is Mike Mahtook (card on right) who was taken in the 1st round by the Tampa Bay Rays last year. 
Mahtook is currently the Rays 3rd best prospect in one of baseball's best farm systems.
The Mahtook is numbered 207/299 and features an on card autograph.


Jeff Ames is the Rays 18th best prospect.  He currently has a very good 11.6 K/9 in his first season in proball.  The Ames sticker auto is numbered 142/299

The Pirates play the Arizona D'Backs again this year, so if there is no interest I may put the Anthony Meo auto (middle card above) in for the Let's Go Bucs contest instead of my Randy Johnson patch I was planning on using.  Meo is numbered 216/299 and is currently the D'Backs 13th best prospect.  In 62 professional innings he has a 3.47 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 10.1 K/9.

Neither Jared Hoying (Texas) or Hernan Perez (Detroit) are in their team's top 20 prospects as ranked by Jon Mayo.

If you're interested in any of the cards, shoot me an email or leave a comment. 

Now to find out who won the Royals free card swag since they got swept by the Bucs

 It was a 3 game series

 that the Pirates were able to sweep from the KC Royals

Our winner is superduperman99 who runs the blog Fantastic Catch.  I will need your mailing address Mr. SuperDuperMan99

Remember to cheer for the Bucs all season long for a chance to win free cards as the Pirates attempt to have their first winning season since 1992.

LET'S GO BUCS!

2012 Heritage & 2011 Ginter for trade

Over the weekend I attended a small local card show and picked up a box each of 2012 Heritage and 2011 Allen & Ginter that were priced really well.  The Heritage box was loaded with great pulls!!!!

EVERYTHING IS FOR TRADE!!!!

this Kemp photoswap card has already been claimed by Greg at Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle

 here's the chrome I got in my box.  None are refractors and all are numbered to 1963

 the inserts from the packs pulled

 ooohhh stickers

The big hit that's not a hit.  A SSP Dan Haren with Mark Trumbo photo.  These cards are selling for around $100 on ebay, but it won't cost you nearly that much if you're interested in trading for it.

a Juan Marichal 1963 mint coin card redemption.  Another big hit as these are selling around $40+ on the bay.

my official hit of the box. WooHoo! Can you sense sarcastic excitement via the interwebs?

The box topper ad card.  Features 2 Phillies if anyone's interested.

I also got a bunch of singles if anyone needs any just let me know.  I'm probably not going to chase this set even though I like the design a lot and the player selection is pretty good.  Whether I collect the entire set or not, I definitely am looking to complete the Pirates team set.  Here's my needs.
151 Pirates Team card
184 Jared Hughes
259 Neil Walker
323 Chase D'arnaud
364 Jose Tabata
393 Clint Hurdle (have one already but it was damaged)
477 Derrek Lee
492 Joel Hanrahan

I'm also looking for any of the hits
McCutchen Clubhouse Collection
any of the Real One Autographs
Stargell or Clemente coin cards
Clemente Forbes Field seat
McCutchen sticker
any Pirates chrome



My Allen & Ginter box didn't yield such success

I was pretty unfortunate in getting no superstar relics in my box.

My topper was this Albert Pujols 

I'm not going to post every card that I got or even type them.  There's plenty of minis and inserts and sp so if you're still chasing this set, leave me a comment with your needs and I'll see if I pulled them.


ON A FINAL NOTE!!!!
I know that there are some pending trades that I need to follow up on.  If you have not received your end of our agreed trade, just shoot me an email to remind me what you were getting and they will be in the mail by the end of the week. GUARANTEED!  Sorry for any delays folks.
maruaderx [at] rocketmail [dot] com

Eric Hosmer 2012 SP For trade/sale

I just pulled a 2012 Topps Eric Hosmer photo variant SP.  Let me know if anyone wants to trade for it.

Lots and lots of trade bait

I've got a lot of trade bait for anyone that's interested.  Leave a comment below if you see something that you like.  As always, I'm looking for Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers.  It doesn't have to be relics or even "hits" you send.  I gladly welcome base cards too.