#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

Buc Hill Aces: 1961 Edition

The Pirates pitching staff looked incredibly strong last year lead by veterans AJ Burnett, Fransisco Liriano, and closer Jason Grilli.
Back in 1960, the World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, had 2 other aces that catapulted their record to the best in the NL with a 95-59 record.
The Pirates pitching staff in 2013 allowed 577 runs compared to the 1960 pitching staff which allowed 593 runs.  If the Pirates are going to continue their success in 2014, they will have to depend on the arms of Gerrit Cole, Fransisco Liriano, Charlie Morton, and the effectiveness of the bullpen.  It's only been one game so far, but it looks like the Buc Aces are back!

Here's hoping for success from the aces in 2014, so that the Pirates can be champions much like Vern Law and Roy Face pictured above.
I bought this card for $6 when I went on vacation in February.

Some more vintage needs crossed off

I recently grabbed 9 of my Topps Vintage Needs.  The cards ranged in years and all 9 were acquired for the low price of $19.  Just over $2 a card to help me complete my Topps team sets.

Huge chunk of 1962 Topps Pickups

As you all know I am trying to complete the flagship base Topps Pirates team sets dating back to 1952.  You can see my vintage needs here if you would like to help me.

At a recent mall card show I managed to grab 8 Pirates from the 1962 set.  These cards ranged in price from $1 - $4.  I'm now 10 cards away from completing the 1962 team set.

Another Trade with Plaschke

This marks my 3rd trade with Greg from Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.  I sent him a handful of jersey cards and a Madison Bumgarner auto for the below cards.
You can see the first trade we made here and second here.

Aramis Ramirez was just an up and coming star when the Pirates dumped him to the Cubs with Kenny Lofton to shed some salary in the 2003 season.  During his six seasons with the Pirates, Aramis hit .263 with 76 HR.  Defensively, he was below average at third base.  He finished his 6 year Pirates career with a total 1.0 WAR.  Once he was traded to Chicago, Aramis became one of the top 3B in the National League and has composed a 23.7 WAR over his 9 year career with the Cubbies.  His 15 year career totals include an average of .283, 315 HR, and 1127 RBI.  He's now playing with the Milwaukee Brewers and struggling early in 2012. 

I have a lot of Daniel McCutchen autographs.  Not nearly as much as his no relation partner, Andrew, but that's probably a good thing.  DCutch is a great signer at games and evidently Topps seems to recognize his willingness to sign anything too as he appears in a couple autograph releases each year by the monopolized baseball card company.  Of all the autographs I have so far of Daniel, I think this is my favorite though.  In my opinion, nothing beats on card framed Allen & Ginter autographs (except maybe 2012 Topps Tribute's release). There's currently only one other AUTO of DCutch I'm seeking to add to my collection and that's the darn letter "E" for completing his 2010 Topps Finest nameplate.  Other than that card, I think I'm done with DCutch autographs for awhile.

I had posted that I wanted this card from ebay earlier in the year and asked for anyone's help obtaining it.  Greg was kind enough to pick it up for me in exchange for a Madison Bumgarner auto from 2011 Lineage.  I'm still not sure why a Dodgers fan wants a Giants auto though.  This serially numbered Jason Bay is 14/83. 

Next up some nice vintage of Pirates 1960 Award Winners
In 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates had the NL MVP and NL Cy Young Winner.  Dick Groat and Vern Law won the awards respectively and Greg included 1960 and 1962 Dick Groat Topps to my collection in addition to a 1962 Vern Law.  I'm making a lot of progress on completing the team sets from the early 70s, but anything prior to 1968 needs serious attention.  The 1962 are only my 4th and 5th cards from that set so I still have a LOOOONNNNNGGGG WAYS to go.

In addition to a collection of random Pirates goodies, I got 2 Bowman rookie cards.  The Jason Bay is going immediately into my Jason Bay binder and I'm happy to be adding a shiny chrome Bronson Arroyo rookie to my collection.  I didn't collect much in the late 90s so I never had an Arroyo rookie card...until now.  I give Bronson a lot of credit for his strange mechanical pitching technique as I can't do that high leg kick he does once let alone 100+ times every 5th day. 

Thanks again Greg for the awesome trade especially the bonus vintage.  As always, looking forward to our next trade.