Monday, April 24, 2017

Clemente vs Cutch Heritage comparison Pt 1

Over the years, Topps has used Heritage to bring the current stars of the game on designs from the past.

Cutch has appeared using the same numbering as Pirates Legend Roberto Clemente a handful of times.

I want to preface these segments and state that I do not believe that a single season of Cutch can take away from the greatness of Roberto Clemente's life or his baseball career.

Each of these Heritage comparisons will take a look at a card of Cutch and compare it to the design's original numbered card.

I am going to start with the 2014 Heritage release because of all the parallels I have.
The 2014 Heritage card release is based on the 1965 design.

Cutch's 2014 Heritage card is numbered 160 the same as Pirates Legend and Hall of Famer, Roberto Clemente.

To pay homage to the original Clemente Topps even made a super short print error variant to recognize the misspelling of Pittsburgh (Pittsburfh) on the back.

As will be customary for these Heritage Comparisons I will take a look at the standard counting stats typically found on the back of a baseball card for the players previous year.

Slash Lines
Clemente in 1964 went .339/.388/.484 for an .872 OPS
Cutch in 2013 went .317/.404/.508 for .952 OPS
Advantage Cutch

Plate Discipline
Clemente had a 1.70 K:BB rate (87:51) during his 2nd batting title run in 1964
Cutch's MVP season showed one of his best career rates when he had 1.29 K:BB (101:78)
Advantage Cutch

Extra Base Hits (XBH)
Clemente had 40 doubles, 7 triples, and 12 HR in 1964
Cutch had 38 doubles, 5 triples, and 21 round trippers
59 v 64
Slight advantage Cutch

Runs Scored and Runs Batted In
Runs scored and RBI are based on who hits in front of you and who hits behind you.
Clemente scored 95 runs and drove in 87 in 1964.
Cutch scored 97 runs and knocked in 84.
It was almost a draw (182 v 181), but a
very slight Advantage goes to Clemente

Hardware and awards
Clemente won his 2nd Batting Title, 4th straight Gold Glove, and was elected an All-Star
Cutch won the MVP award, his 2nd straight Silver Slugger, and was elected an All-Star
Advantage Cutch


I hope you enjoyed the comparisons made based on the Heritage and original design numbering.  I will continue to do these segments if there is enough interest in them.

Now I will show off the parallels I have for all my 2014 Heritage cards.

First up are the black retail exclusive border with the black chrome /65 border below it.

Now from top row Base & Logo Variation
Middle Row Chrome & Purple Chrome
Bottom Row WalMart Blue & Pittsburfh back

The only variations I need are Superfractor 1/1, Gold Chrome /5, Refractor Chrome /565, and Topps Vault Blank Back 1/1,

Please let meknow what you think of these segments.  Are they are a cool and fun idea to look at cardboard?

2 comments:

  1. Very cool idea for a post. I enjoyed it.

    Cutch really did have a monster year that year, didn't he?

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  2. Cutch won the MVP that year, but I still think his best year was 2012.

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