Team USA Autographs pt1

To celebrate Memorial Day Weekend I thought I would show off a few players that I have modest Team USA collections of.

Up first is none other than my main PC, Andrew McCutchen

I only have 2 cards signed by Cutch of his Team USA youth teams.  I will be showcasing some Team USA cards on my main blog Collecting Cutch this weekend.

Here is an awesome hat patch though

Other players I will be showcasing are Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Austin Meadows, Ke'bryan Hayes, and Cole Tucker.

My First Auto From The ColeTrain trade

Gerrit Cole has been absolutely ridiculous this year for the Houston Astros.  He along with former Pirates teammate Charlie Morton are creating one of the best rotations in baseball with Verlander, Keuchel, and McCullers.  When the rumors were circulating that Cole might be on the block I wanted to see the Pirates get a good haul back for the 2011 number one overall pick.  After all, the Bucs had to lose 100 games in 2010 to get the right to draft the former UCLA star.

So far the pieces acquired from the Astros have been performing well, albeit none at an elite level like Cole is.

Colin Moran is batting .278 with two homeruns and 15 RBI with an OPS nearing .800.

Michael Feliz, who took over Cole's number 45, has struck out 19 batters in 14 innings while posting an ERA of 3.21 in 16 appearances out of the bullpen.

Jason Martin, a twenty two year old outfielder, has been hitting the hell out of the ball in AA Altoona.  He currently has an OPS of .899 with 2 HR and 4 triples in 22 games.  He could be an interesting prospect to keep your eyes on as he continues to develop.

Joe Musgrove, who was used as a starter and long man in the Astros bullpen last year, will begin his rehab starts today.  I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do as I think he will be a valuable piece to the Pirates retooling of the roster over next few seasons.

Even though he has yet to make his Pirates debut, Panini put him in their Diamond Kings release as a member of the Pittsburgh baseball club.  This blue foil autograph ran me $5.20 for my winning bid.  Not a bad price to pay for a card numbered to only 25 copies.

As always, I love the look and design of Diamond Kings.

Blog Bat Around: Pirates Autograph Edition

There was recently a blog bat around started to show off autograph cards you have in your collection at each of the primary positions, a DH/utility player, starting pitchers, relief pitchers, and a closer.

For this edition I am only going to show off my cards of players who have played for Pittsburgh.  Therefore I won't be showing off too many recent Hall of Famers like Glavine, Ripken, Griffey, Piazza, and Biggio who I have autographs of.

Let's get this thing started.

Batting leadoff for my team and playing in Left Field
Hall of Famer Fred Clarke

Clarke was the player manager for the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates.  He finished his 20+ year career with a .312 batting average and averaged less than 30 strikeouts a season (Stanton already has more in this very young season).  With 509 career stolen bases he could also tear up the base paths.

Batting in the two hole and playing Center Field
5 time All Star and 2013 NL MVP, Andrew McCutchen
Plenty of him has been written about on Collecting Cutch

Well, Dave Parker said it's just him and the boys boppin and that is who is getting things started to drive in runs in the 3 spot and right fielder.

The single most dominating stretch of home run dominamce was held by Ralph Kiner in the late 40s.  He will be the team's designated hitter and batting cleanup.

As if Kiner needed additional protection, we have the team's 1B and leader of the clubhouse fam a lee,
Hall of Famer, Willie Stargell

Because I lack a Pie Traynor autograph, I had to go with a 3B that is going to provide Pops with some protection as this mult time All Star is a switch hitter.
Batting 6th, 3B Bobby Bonilla (honorable mentions Pedro Alvarez and Jose Bautista)

To get the line moving again and playing catcher is one of the greatest hitting catchers to ever play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jason Kendall

One of the most under rated shortstops of the 90s and a natural at both bunting and hitting for some pop, Jay Bell.

And to wrap the lineup back around, the hero of the 1960 World Series, Hall of Famer, Bill Mazeroski.

With a lineup like that, there won't be much need for lights out pitching, but I got a pair of recent arms to go with a pair of former NL Cy Young winners and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven.

The bullpen won't need much else with rubberband arms Elroy Face and Kent Tekulve willing to take the mound every day, but two other former closers Joel Hanrahan and Goose Gossage will be there to nail things down.  The longman in the bullpen will be former 1979 champ John Candaleria.

My bench would have Barry Bonds, Jack Wilson, Tony Pena, Freddy Sanchez, and Brian Giles.

The list of autographs I would love to add to my collection include
Roberto Clemente
Honus Wagner
Pie Traynor
Paul Waner
Arky Vaughan
Vic Willis

Ground Chuck Did It!!!

I made a bold prediction that Charlie would get the chance to hold up a World Series Trophy by pitching 10 scoreless innings.

While it wasn't 10 scoreless, he did pitch his ass of in Game 7 of the ALCS to get the Astros to the World Series then pitched 2 hit ball in game 4, followed by 4 innings in relief of Game 7 to give the Houston Astros their first World Series title.

I am still a Charlie Morton super collector.
Here's my 5 recent Morton additions.

I have the pink, blue, negative, vintage stock, and black parallels.

The Flemington, NJ born pitcher is a World Series Champion!!!!
Congrats to Ground Chuck, The Houston Astros, their fans, and the entire city of  Houston!!!!

Be sure to check out my post on Collecting Cutch later today where I show off all my Cutch cards featuring Houston Astros.

It Matters The Most

I don't post much on this blog anymore as my main collecting transactions have all been geared towards Collecting Cutch.

I recently made a COMC purchase that included almost 100 new cards to the PC.

Included in that purchase was a few cards that I will be sending out to some of that blog's most consistent commenters.

It also included about 30 Roberto Clemente cards I got for the cheap and close to 50 new Cutch cards.

There were also 3 Charlie Morton cards purchased too including a 1/1 Bowman Rookie printing plate.

However this post will just show off this Topps Heritage Ad panel from last year featuring Ground Chuck.  I snagged it for only a pair of dollar bills.

The card also features Dodgers post season star Charlie Culberson.

Ground Chuck will be making the most important start of his career tonight.  If he gets aWin, the Houston Astros are going to the World Series for the first time since 2005.

No pressure Charlie.  No pressure.

Ho hum another 1/1

My blogging energy today for posting new Cutch cards at Collecting Cutch is tapped out.  I can't think of anything worth posting except a few Topps Chrome cards I picked up in a group break.

It's been awhile since I have shown off any non Cutch cards in my collection so I thought I would show my other main PC, the Charlie Morton collection.

While he is no longer with the Pirates, I am still grabbing Morton cards whenever I come across them.

Here's two I have got in the past 6 months.

Let's start with the big one.

The Superfractor!!!!  This is my second Superfractor of the NJ born pitcher, but my first in a Pirates uniform.

This card hails from the 2016 Topps Chrome Sapphire Blue set.  There weren't many parallels to chase for this set, but I'm happy I was able to snag this new 1/1 for the collection.

I also grabbed this miscut double foil card of Ground Chuck.

Notice the foil in the top left corner with the Topps logo upside down

This is why I only collect one player now

The title and thumbnail should give it away, but Topps consistently uses the wrong images of players.  Last year we got a Gregory Polanco Gypsy Queen base card pictured with Aramis Ramirez.  Ok, maybe with all the"quality control" a mistake can happen but here's the thing one bats lefty, the other righty.

Fast forward to 2017 and Topps is still using images of Aramis Ramirez for Gregory Polanco cards.  Ramirez retired in 2015!!!!!

I guess if it was a low budget set it wouldn't bother me, but this is Topps Museum.  The card is numbered to only 10 copies in the world.  I took the image off eBay while browsing to see what Pirates have been pulled from recent releases (Series 2 and Museum).

Absolutely pathetic!!!

Cmon Topps. Get your shit together!!!!

Be sure to follow my new blog CollectingCutch.