The Supercollection just keeps growing

My Charlie Morton supercollection doesn't stop with cards found in packs.  It extends to give aways the Pittsburgh Pirates do as well.

Here's my latest addition.  It's a postcard size card of Ground Chuck that the Pirates gave away to fans at Fan Fest prior to the 2011 season. I attended FanFest that year and got one signed, but here's the unsigned version.

The Pirates and Orioles game got rained out again today. Charlie was supposed to pitch Tuesday then got moved to Wednesday. I wonder if he will pitch tomorrow on 7 days rest or if they will just skip his turn in rotation. Hopefully with the extra rest, the Bucs can start winning.

Seeing Red: Tony Sanchez 2011 Heritage Minors

I've missed 2 straight McCutchen Mondays and for that I'm sorry to those of you that care about that sort of thing. Last Monday I got into an accident that came a foot away from likely killing me. Yesterday I spent 14 hours car shopping before I finally decided on a used Pontiac Sunfire.

Since this is a card blog though I'll show off another Tony Sanchez for the PC.  This 2011 Topps Heritage Red Tint parallel ran me just a few bucks and is numbered 308/620.

2011 Heritage Minors Red Tint 308/220

Starting to reunite the family...(again)

It's been nearly 3 years since I posted a Tony Sanchez 2011 Bowman Top Prospects printing plate and I recently purchased several from the same seller.  This marks the 2nd of the 2011 Bowmans Topps 100 Prospect printing plates of Tony that I own.  I have the cyan and now the yellow.  Gotta keep my eyes open for the black and magenta.

Tony is back in the majors due to an injury to Russell Martin. Let's hope he can jump start the Pirates offense.

I've noticed that I have a bunch of half started printing plate projects that never seem to get finished

Garret Jones 2013 Gypsy Queen Cyan and Magenta
Andrew McCutchen 2010 Topps Triple Threads Unity AUTO/RELIC Cyan and Black
Luis Herredia 2012 Bowman Black and Yellow
Andrew McCutchen 2012 Topps Archives Cloth Sicker inserts Cyan and Magenta

Another Nick Kingham AUTO

Back in January, I showed off the $5 Nick Kingham auto I purchased at a local mall card show.  For $5.95 shipped, I added the refractor version numbered /150 to my collection.

Nick Kingham Bowman Sterling Refractor 87/150

My scanner is acting up right now, but trust me the card looks really nice in person especially for the low price I paid.

It will go nicely with the green refractor I won in a giant lot earlier in the month.

It's very likely that Nick will finish the 2014 in AAA as he continues to impress at the AA level.  In 96 AA innings between the end of last year and start of this year, Nick has amassed 88 strikeouts (8.3K/9), 1.34WHIP, and a 2.45 ERA.  He's still relatively young for the league at age 22 (average age is 24.5) so they will likely keep him there to lower the number of free passes he's allowing (3.8BB/9)

Black is the New Black: Tyler Glasnow is ridiculous!!!!

I've shown off several Bowman Black autographs in the past which you can see by clicking on their names below
Jameson Taillon
Gerrit Cole
Starling Marte

It was just a little over a month ago when I posted my Taillon Bowman Black and stated "Taillon is the one that most excites me."  Well Jameson is currently undergoing Tommy John Surgery and will likely not make it to the majors until 2015.  It's very likely that the young man I am showing off today could join him in that rotation at some point next season.

The below auto ran me $70 and is one of 3 black Glasnow autos that I currently own

2013 Bowman Black Tyler Glasnow 20/25

Tyler Glasnow!

This young right hander is exciting to watch pitch.  I got a chance to see him pitch for the West Virginia Power last year and he looks to be practically unhittable as evidenced by his 54 hits allowed against 452 batters faced.  Go ahead and read that again if you want.
54 hits allowed against 452 BATTERS FACED!  That's ridiculous, right?
Want some more numbers?
Ok how about of those 452 batters faced, he struck out 164 of them in only 111 innings.  That translated to a 13.3 SO/9 rate.  Insane, right?
Well how about the fact that he did all that as a 19 year old.
Yeah this kid is something special.  He makes his season debut tonight for the Florida State League Bradenton Marauders.

Another loss, another win

The Pirates opened the season 6-3 during their first three series.  Since then, the Pirates have gone 3-10 putting the team 4 games under .500.  The biggest reason for the massive swing in performance is the starting pitching.  Outside of Edinson Volquez, the Pirates pitching staff hasn't looked to be nearly as dominant as it was last year.  This includes the relievers.  Bryan Morris has been the highlight of the Pirates bullpen this year and many thought he didn't even deserve a spot on the roster.

Another reason for the Pirates lack of wins over the past 10 game stretch has been the ongoing issue of rightfield.  With Jose Tabata and Travis Snider both greatly struggling at the plate, the Pirates will need to upgrade their corner outfield position soon as Pirates right fielders are hitting .209 with a .272 on base percentage.  Snider has proved to be a valuable bat off the bench going 3 for 4 with a homerun.  Those stats aren't going to get the job done though for a player often hitting in the 2 or 6 hole of the lineup.

One possible solution the Pirates have is to call up Gregory Polanco from AAA.  I know that the Pirates don't want to start that arbitration clock too soon, but he has shown that he belongs in a higher class through the first 19 games of the AAA season.  Playing exclusively in right field, Polanco has been hitting .403/.439/.623 with 3 stolen bases, 3 homeruns, and 20 RBI to go with his 4 doubles and 2 triples.  Add in the fact that he is striking out in less than 13% of his plate appearances makes him look like a sparkplug for this Pirates offense.

I finally got my hands on a Gregory Polanco Bowman auto for less than $20 and am very happy to add it to my collection.

Let's Go Bucs!!!

My Favorite Morton (one of them at least) and a life altering story

Anyone remember that TV show My Favorite Martian?

Well today, I'm going to show off (one of) my favorite Mortons.

I purchased this card a long time ago, probably close to 3 years ago right after Lineage had come out, but just never got around to posting it because that's when I was really struggling with family issues, health issues, relationship issues, and power outages.  I don't remember exactly how much it was, but I think it ran me close to $40.

There's that famous saying that if these walls could talk, well I've also heard people throw around the term, if this card could tell a story....

This card does tell a story.  I missed the opportunity to buy the first one that I saw, but was able to grab the second.  It not only represents how I was able to overcome all that adversity, but also how the player depicted was able to change his performance on the field from being one of the worse seasons historically by a Pirates pitcher in 2010 (-2.3 WAR, 7.57ERA, 2-12 record) to being a valuable part of the Pirates pitching staff for years to come (1.9 WAR in 2011, 3.26ERA in 2013).   It shows that no matter what life throws you, you can shine on (like a canary diamond or whatever silly parallel this is).

I got into a major car accident Monday (hence why there was no McCutchen Monday this week) and am fortunate that I am able to walk, albeit with a limp.

But like this card, my life has given me a second chance and I'm gonna shine bright like this card.