McCutchen Mailday #28: It's a Real Baseball!

The Andrew McCutchen PC continues to grow daily as today brought home another unique and awesome relic to the Cutch Collection.

Hailing from 2015 Topps Tribute Special Edition is this game used baseball from the game which Cutch hit his 1st career MLB Home Run.  The back details some of the game's events where Cutch lifted a 2 run Home Run off current team mate Francisco Liriano.

This is an awesome card and my first baseball relic to feature Cutch.  I have shown off a few other game used baseball relics in the past and I think these are some of my favorite types of relics.  If I had to rank them in terms of basic relics (not counting premium patches or bat knobs, etc) I would say baseballs, unique clothing (cleats, hats, etc), jersey, bat would be my order.

My favorite Gerrit Cole in my collection

Leading up to the 2011 MLB draft there was a lot of discussion about who the Pirates should draft #1 overall.  3 college pitchers (Danny Hultzen, Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer), 1 prep pitcher (Dylan Bundy), and 1 college bat (Anthony Rendon) stood out above the rest.  For me it was simple Cole or Rendon.  Rendon had a lot of medical concerns and that's why he dropped in the draft to the Washington Nationals.  I had zero interest in Hultzen and despite his high ceiling even less interest in Bundy.  If the Pirates were going to draft a pitcher I wanted one of the UCLA guys, Cole or Bauer.  Cole had a higher ceiling but struggled during the season.  Bauer appeared to be the pitcher going up draft boards strong as the season winded down due to his insane strikeout rate and win record.  The Pirates drafted the high ceiling former NY Yankees first round draft pick, Gerrit Cole number 1 and instantly became a higher prospect than the already highly touted Jameson Taillon.

2014 Topps Tribute Game Used baseball 7/10 MLB Debut

Cole made his major league debut and it was one of my favorite games of that magical 2013 season the Pirates had last year.  Topps finally got away from the "not specific game, event, or season" this year when they introduced a line of game used baseballs (all with specific MLB holograms on them) to indicate what game the used baseball was from.  Since this card represents such an important game for the Pirates, I vowed to one day at one to my collection.  Costing me $53.32 delivered seems like a lot, but now that it's in a nice magnetic touch case with a stand proudly displayed, I think it's worth it.

Once I had the card in hand, I decided to check out the hologram on MLB's website and found out that the hologram sticker used has no data in the current system.  Is it possible that Topps is producing fake relic cards?

Cole will made his return from the DL Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves in just his 3rd start since June 4th.  The Bucs need Cole to be a front of the rotation starter if they have any hopes of making the post season.  They are currently struggling mightly due to many injury issues, but thanks to some late inning heroics and an absolutely incredible start by Cole (7IP, 6K, 2 ER) they were able to pull away with a victory.  Let's hope that trend continues in the House of Horrors, Milwaukee.

More Game Used Charlie Morton Equipment

Back in December, I showed off my Charlie Morton game issued jersey. from the 2011 season.  It's no secret that I might be the biggest supporter of Charlie Morton on the planet.

I've recently come across a seller on ebay that is selling many game used baseballs and they are all authenticated by MLB.com.

My most recent purchase for $19.99 shipped is a ball that Charlie threw in the dirt against Jesus Guzman from the September 18th, 2013 season in PNC Park.  After rewatching the game, I noticed that this is the same ball that was used to get Tommy Medica out on a groundball out 2 pitches earlier.

Here's a few pics of the ball.

Trade Post: GCRL

FIRST THING'S FIRST!  THE RUBBER MATCH BETWEEN THE 1ST PLACE REDS AND 2ND PLACE PIRATES IS TONIGHT.  IF THE PIRATES ARE ABLE TO DEFEAT MIKE LEAKE AND THE REDS TONIGHT, THEY PULL WITHIN 1 GAME OF FIRST PLACE!!!!  LET'S GO BUCS!

Since the Reds series has already started, entries for that contest are over, but the Bucs take on the AL Central in Interleague games starting tomorrow.  First up, the Kansas City Royals.  The Pirates will return to Pittsburgh for a 3 game series with the Royals Friday.  If the Pirates win the series against the Royals, here's the cards up for the contest.  Same rules apply as always.  Leave a comment saying Let's Go Bucs and if the Pirates win or split the series, I randomize the entrants equal to the number of games in the series.  The person whose name appears on top of the final randomization wins.

LET'S GO BUCS!

Now onto the actual trade post

I recently made a trade with Jim from the Dodgers blog GCRL  for my Dee Gordon auto I offered up for the Dodgers vs. Pirates series earlier this year.  Since the Dodgers swept the Pirates I still had the Gordon auto available.

In exchange for the Dee Gordon and a few random Dodgers, I received 49 (!) Brian Giles base cards, some random 2010 Bucs and 2 hits of Brian Giles.

First up are some of my favorites of the Giles base cards. 

Here's some others.  These look retro, but they're not.

Of the 49 unique Brian Giles cards sent to me, 36 were new to my collection.  That's an impressive average.

and finally the hits...

Prior to last month I had never owned a baseball card with an actual piece of baseball in it.  While this card doesn't look as well as the Giles/Ramirez I purchased the stitching of the baseball is relevant and I like the player selection more.  Jason Kendall is still one of my favorite Pirates of all time.

This 2001 Fleer Feel the Game bat relic of Giles has a nice design to it.  It's nothign too flashy nor is it too dull like many of Fleer's inserts.  The card isn't numbered nor can I find a print run online for it.

Jim also included 2 new Clemente cards for me to add to my collection. 

Check it out a KMart Topps card from 1982.  SWEET!!!!

A unique item added to the Treasure Room

Baseball card manufacturers have used jerseys, bats, and patches as box hits for well over a decade now.  Very often, these cards feature an image of the player not wearing the same style jersey on the card as what's contained in the card.  This can become frustrating, but let's admit it we still love those plain white jersey cards that are guaranteed 1 in every 24 packs.

Upper Deck has always been thought of as being innovative in the card collecting industry.  Remember in 1989 when they debuted their first baseball card set and they had holograms in the corner.  FUCKING HOLOGRAMS!!!  Damn, that was cool.  As collectors sought out game used materials for their card collections, Upper Deck continued to innovate what was placed in our cardboard collections.

While this card won't get an induction into the Baseball Card Hall of Fame, I have to say this card is beyond cool.

Pictured on the card is Brian Giles and Aramis Ramirez of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Giles is swinging and ARam is fielding.  In the direct center of the card is a piece of officially game used baseball complete with some red stitching and faded letters of AGUE BASE.  The card has nice symmetry with the two players and even pictures both players wearing the same style home uniform.

The card is not numbered nor do I know the print run.  Upper Deck was a great company for baseball card collectors and it's a shame that we don't get to see their unique items year after year anymore.

The Pirates had a rain delay earlier today which caused the game to start a bit over 2 hours after it was scheduled.  Charlie Morton was pulled after only 4 innings and 61 pitches.  They are currently losing 4-0.  Let's hope for a big late innings rally by the Bucs to gain some more ground on those first place Reds.