Pirate Oddball AUTO!!!!

While browsing ebay for some RAZOR autos I came across this Nam Le autograph.

Needless to say, I had to add it to my collection.  Check out the hat!!!

$8 later and it's now in a safe home

Another Cutch AUTO!!!!!!

I grabbed this card last year off ebay, but somehow forgot to post it until now.

2012 Topps Tier 1 AUTO numbered 12/50 

It's just your standard Andrew McCutchen on card AUTO in nice blue sharpie on a Topps Tier 1 card.  No biggie?  LOL!  Anyway this card is a real beaut in person.

Hopefully Cutch can turn things around and get out of his 2 for 27 slump he's been in for over the past week.

Pirates Prospects: Stetson Allie

2011 Bowman Chrome AUTO

Stetson Allie was a highly touted raw pitching prospect when the Pirates selected him in the 2nd round of the  2010 draft.  The Pirates had already grabbed the highest ranked high school pitcher Jameson Taillon in the 1st round with the 2nd overall pick.

2011 ITG DUAL AUTO Jameson Taillon & Stetson Allie

Allie went on to sign for $2.25 million and debuted with the short season State College Spikes in 2011 putting up sub par numbers.

2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Back to the Future AUTO /220

2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition AUTO 83/599

He had a 6.58 ERA with a 28K to 29BB ratio over 26 innings.  He did reach triple digits a couple times in his outings, but it became obvious he was a thrower and not quite ready to be a pitcher yet.

2011 Topps Heritage Minors Red Tin /620

2011 Topps Heritage Minors Jersey Relic

In 2012 he made he began the season in A ball retiring only 2 outs while walking 8 and allowing 1 hit over the course of two games.  Shortly after his walk infested outing, the Pirates announced they would convert the flamethrowing million dollar draft pick to a corner infielder.

He played in the Gulf Coast leage batting .213 and collecting 3 HR over the course of 42 games.

Fast forward to the 2013 season.

Stetson Allie has become the most raw power hitter the Pirates have in the organization.

2012 ITG Heroes & Prospects Lumbergraphs AUTO

He leads the team's affiliates in nearly every offensive category.  He's hitting at a .367/.435/.658 line with 6HR and 20 RBI over the course of 19 games.  His OPS is an incredible 1.093.

Who needs the NFL draft?

At the end of last week, there was a lot of sports fans watching the NFL draft.  I checked out who the Steelers selected at the end of each day and that was all.  Afterall, if you don't follow college football...who needs the NFL draft.

Willie Parker sure as hell didn't.  Willie was an undrafted running back from the University of North Carolina.   He was the primary backup for Jerome Bettis during his rookie year and would later go on to be a 2x Pro Bowler and 2x Super Bowl Champion.

My football card collection is not nearly as exciting as my baseball card collection, but I couldn't pass up this dual autograph of early millenium Steel City fan favorites Willie Parker and Jason Bay.

The above dual auto from the 2008 Hawaii Trade Conference was picked up for $12.50 a signature.  For $25, I'll grab cards like this every chance I get.

This makes my 28th unique individual to appear on an auto or relic with Jason Bay that I own.  My goal is to get to 38 by the end of the year.  ONLY 10 MORE TO GO!!!!

Here's a list of the others that I have memorabilia cards with Jason Bay 
*if bold it means I also have an autograph of them with Bay too
Albert Pujols 
Alex Rios
Alfonso Soriano 
Andruw Jones
Bill Madlock 
Bobby Crosby
Carlos Lee
Craig Wilson 
David Wright
Edgar Martinez
Freddy Sanchez
Gary Carter 
Jacoby Ellsbury
JD Drew
Jose Castillo 
Justin Morneau  
Ken Griffey Jr.
Kenny Lofton 
Mario Lemieux  
Manny Ramirez 
Matt Holiday 
Nick Markakis
Ralph Kiner

And here is a list of the players that I have autograph cards with Jason Bay

Bill Mazeroski
Casey Kotchman 
Dale Murphy
Dave Parker
Willie Parker

It's not complicated...

We've all seen those AT&T commercials where "it's not complicated".
I can't promise that I'll discuss strapping a cheetah to your grandma's back or an island full of candy in this post, BUT it's not complicated....saving money is better than not saving money.

A few months ago, I went on a Jameson Taillon buying spree.  I just had a feeling that he would further elevate his status as an elite prospect.  By saving some round objects of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, I cashed them in for two paper versions of Hamilton and Jackson.  Yup the cards you see below were picked up for only $30.

2009 UD USA Baseball Inscriptions AUTO "Til I Collapse"

2011 ITG Autograph Heroes & Prospects

2009 UD USA Winning Materials JERSEY 44/499

2011 ITG Heroes & Prospects In the Game Lumbergraphs AUTO

Granted none of the cards are of the future ace wearing a Bucs uniform, but for 3 signatures and a jersey relic, I'll take em for $30 every chance I get.

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.

Big Cutch, Little El Toro

I won myself an Andrew McCutchen 2013 Topps Heritage Box Topper jersey relic numbered 23/25 on ebay with a submitted best offer of $65.  I had seen these sell for up to $100 so even though $65 is a bit more than I would like for a plain grey swatch, I felt the need to get it now rather than wait.

2013 Topps Heritage Box Topper 23/25 Jersey Relic

Cutch has been struggling a lil this year, batting only .243 in the first 20 games.  However, there are some good signs though as he has 2 HR and 12 RBI which are both higher than last year's total at this time.  His slugging percentage for April 2013 is higher than it was last year too, which shows that he's driving the ball more, it's just not finding the gaps (YET).

There's no doubt in my mind that Cutch will end up the season hitting around .300 with 25+HR and 30+SB while driving in close to 100.  Will he make his 3rd consecutive All-Star game? Hopefully, but Starling Marte is looking pretty good too so the All-Star lineup might include 2 Pirates outfield substitutes after the likes of Upton and Braun leave.

2013 Topps Heritage Box Topper Back

The back of the box topper has an interesting note about how Cutch hit 2 multihomer games in a 3 game span making him just the second Pirates player in a quarter century with 2 multi homer efforts in a 3 game span.  The other was Pedro Alvarez who did it in 2010.

.......speaking of Pedro Alvarez

I was at the Pirates Phillies game on Monday and leaned over to the girl I'm dating in the 2nd inning and said, "2nd pitch this at bat El Toro is going to hit a HR." Wouldn't you know that Pedro connected for a solo shot giving the Bucs a temporary 1-0 lead.  

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Pedro Alvarez Framed Mini Jersey Relic

I grabbed this 2013 Gypsy Queen framed mini relic of Pedro Alvarez off ebay for just over $3 shipped.