Battling the Aftermath of Hurricane Irene

I just wanted to let everyone that has a pending trade with me know that I haven't forgotten about you. Im dealing with this hurricane aftermath and still don't have power since Saturday night. Im typing this on my droid using my car to charge the phone. Oh Mother Nature, you can be so cruel sometimes.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

the most expensive Andrew McCutchen in my collection

I just received the most expensive baseball card I have ever bought.  It's a 2010 Bowman Platinum Andrew McCutchen AUTO/JERSEY numbered 2/10.  The card features part of the Jolly Rodger patch worn on the sleeves of all Pirates players.

Keeping with the Bowman Platinum theme is a Rudy Owens AUTO that I pulled in a pack and just haven't posted yet.  Rudy was on pace to be a midseason call up for the Pirates this year.  He had previously won the Pirates Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2009 and 2010.  He's currently on the DL and will most likely be out for the rest of the minor league season. 

Elvis has entered the building

Alex Presley aka Elvis is back in the big leagues.  Alex won Pittsburgh's Minor League Player of the Year in 2010.  He hit very well in AA & AAA last year before becoming a September call up and legging out a couple bases.  He continued being a hitting machine in AAA until being called up when Jose Tabata when on the DL in late June.  He was the most consistent hitter the Pirates had during their incredible July run to become leaders of the NL Central.  Shortly after Presley and Chase D'Arnaud went on the DL, the Pirates started to skid out of contention.

Now Alex is back in the lineup along with Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen in the outfield.  That's a lot of speed patrolling the outfield.  In addition Chase D'arnaud has rejoined the team.  The team's speed is back in the lineup and I suspect that they will start to get back on track and end the season at or very close to .500.

MASSIVE RELIC/AUTO UPDATE!

I have been busy trying to update everything to my Picasa webpage to show all my Pirate treasures, but lack of a fast quality scanner and lack of time has disabled that goal.  Here's some older ebay winnings from earlier in the year that didn't get posted until now.

First up a Paul Maholm silk card

a Freddy Sanchez 2006 Topps Update All Star Game Jersey

 Brian Giles Prime Patches SHOE JERSEY HAT

Chase D'arnaud Tristar AUTO

a dual relic of Willie Stargell & Dave Parker

2 game used bat relics & an auto of Al Oliver

an Oliver Perez AUTO

 Dave Parker Topps Archives BAT

an Andy Van Slyke jersey relic

A Maury Wills Jersey relic 44/350

a Pedro Alvarez manupatch and triple signature of the Vanderbilt stars (Mike Minor, Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Flaherty)

a Ross Ohlendorf UD Signature Stars AUTO

2 Zach Duke jersey patches

and a Joel Hanrahan 2010 Peak Performance AUTO


I currently have several trades in the works so expect updates on that soon.  Also my birthday is approaching so I will probably treat myself to some cards to celebrate.

I will add all my Dave Parker, Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Bill Madlock, and Jason Bay cards soon.  I promise.

On a completely different note, my favorite pitcher Charlie Morton is on the mound again tonight so LET'S GO BUCS!

Finally Aaron Thompson makes MLB Debut

FINALLY AARON THOMPSON WILL MAKE HIS MLB DEBUT!

Ok, I understand that this isn't going to impress a lot of people or get national coverage like Stephen Strasburg's debut, but I am VERY excited for this.  Aaron was a 1st round pick of the Florida Marlins out of high school in 2005.  When I was younger, I really liked the Marlins a lot mostly due to Gary Sheffield.  My brother is a Marlins fan so I've been keeping up with the team and their prospects over the years.

During the offseason this past year, the Nationals released Aaron Thompson and the Pirates picked him up.  He pitched the very first inning of spring training for the Pirates and struck out all 3 batters he faced.  Granted it was an exhibition game against a college and the Pirates mostly sent out non roster invitees to the game, but Aaron and the Pirates won that game by a ridiculous amount of 21-1.

Fast forward a couple months and Aaron is in AA pitching for the Altoona Curve.  I went to every Curve game played against the Trenton Thunder this year and I think the players started to recognize me.
Starling Marte, the Pirates top positional player, saw me in the first row behind the dugout and said "Hey man, you want a bat?"
"Are you serious?" I asked
"Yeah, but it's cracked. You want it?"
"Hells yeah" I said rather excitedly
"Come after the game and I'll get him to sign it for you" Starling said as he slid the bat up over the dugout.

I was slightly confused by that comment as I thought I was getting his bat, but when he handed it to me I saw that it had said Aaron Thompson  Pittsburgh Pirates.  Aaron had just pitched the night before and the bat still had fresh sticky pine tar all over it.  There were only 2 other Pirates/Curve fans at the game and all night long, one of them was offering everything from his popcorn and peanuts to a Dave Parker autographed baseball he had at home when he saw that Starling had given me the bat.  That bat wasn't going anywhere.

After the game was over, Matt Curry had made the last out and as is typical he tossed the ball to the fans.  That fan happened to me.  So all in all it was a good haul that night.  An Aaron Thompson bat and a game used Eastern League AA Minor League ball.

I didn't get a chance to meet Aaron after the game by the buses because I was running late for work, but I did manage to buy an autographed photo off ebay for $12 shipped.

All in all, I wish Aaron the best of luck today against the hottest team in baseball.  I'm rooting for you.  LET'S GO BUCS!!!!

More Gerrit Cole goodness

Here's my 3 newest Gerrit Cole cards acquired through eBay.  Two more jersey relics and a dual auto with Matt Barnes (1st round pick by Boston RedSox).  I'm very happy to be adding the future ace of the Pirates rotation to my collection. 

Trade with Too Many Grandersons

Dennis at Too Many Grandersons was looking to unload some Pirates.  Who am I to turn down some Bucs' cards?  Here's some of the highlights of the box I received.

Pirates love gold and I love gold numbered parallels.  Steve Pearce makes the funniest faces

Also in the group of cards he sent me was a bunch of cards I needed for my player PCs.  I got a Ryan Doumit 2008 Bowman Gold I needed for my Doumit PC, 3 Jason Bays I needed for my Bay PC, and 2 nice Barry Bonds cards for my Bonds Pirates PC.  I'm also happy to see a Roberto Clemente and strangely enough Oliver Perez in this box.

Dennis also included about a dozen Brian Giles cards and close to 30 Jason Kendall cards.  Above are some of my favorites from the lot.  I really like the 2 Brian Giles celebration cards.  Brian Giles was a powerhouse when he was with Pittsburgh.  I also decided to show off an Aramis Ramirez minor league card and a Topps Chrome Mike Gonzalez rookie card.

Now this is the centerpiece of the lot.  These are all numbered cards that Dennis put together that he said he wouldn't miss anything of.  The Victor Black auto is numbered to 50.  He's currently in A ball pitching in relief for the Bradenton Marauders.  The highlight for me of all these cards is the Chase D'arnaud refractor.  I've talked about Chase in the past and how he is my favorite of the Pirates positional prospects.  I was very excited to see that card in the pile.  I'm thinking I might add Chase to my players I collect. 

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOO much for the awesome cards Dennis.  I hope you enjoy the cards I sent you too.