Happy Belated Hammerin'

Hank Aaron recently celebrated his 86th birthday.  In addition to his birthday making National headlines he stated that any players involved in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal should receive a lifetime ban from baseball.

This is a radical idea, but at the root of it falls in line with similar bans.  Chris Correa, former scouting director of the St. Louis Cardinals was permanently banned for having the scouting database of the Houston Astros.  That ban was deemed necessary because it ultimately jeapordized the integrity of the game.

Hank Aaron, the former Home Run King, was the league's first 3,000 hit and 500 HR member.  He was one of the greatest players of all-time.

I remember doing a project in 5th grade where I had to write about and present a person for Black History Month.  I chose Hank Aaron.

I will not go into his accomplishments as they are long and plentiful.

I've done a few Heritage Comparisons of the League Leaders cards you see on this post. They can be viewed here.

The Power of Show

Today is the last day of the New York Comic Con.  There has been a few new trailers revealed, some exciting Marvel VR experiences, some AEW wrestling shenanigans but that is about it.  It has been a lot more quiet than the San Diego reveals.

It seems appropriate today to show off someone who is known for appearing at Comic Cons dressed up as Power Girl.

Allow me to introduce today's Save Second Base subject:

Carrie Keagan

Carrie Keagan is a celebrity I have been wanting to spotlight for the past few years.

When you get Christina Milan jealous, you are doing something right.

And it is for that reason I have been wanting to highlight her

She's got such a fun and jiggly personality. I meant giggly.


Even when she is at Comic Con dressed as Voltron's Princess Allura.

Evidently she is a fan of big cans.  That's something I love too.

She was the Playboy Babe of Month 2008

If you're into that thing

But it is the TV program called Attack of the Show

Where she has portrayed DC Comic's Power Girl

On multiple occasions through out the years

That has alwaus drawn my attention to Carrie.

Thank goodness for Attack of the Show.

On the back of this 2015 Heritage card it talks about Cutch's fans voting him to be the cover athlete of The Show.

It wasn't until I read the back of the card that I thought I could find a match for using Carrie Keagan

2015 Heritage is based on 1966 Topps which is known to have a pink strip on the border for the Pirates.

In the 3 previous years of doing my Save Second Base events I never thought to show modern cards like Heritage or Archives where the original designs feature pink in borders or designs. 

Needed to recharge the batteries....

I have tried to blog daily, but for the past few weeks I have missed a few days.  Life has just gotten in the way.   On top of that I haven't been buying much in terms of Cutch cards.  I have really enjoyed looking at my collection especially the Heritage cards.  

I have actually bought a few low numbered Pirates Heritage cards recently, one of which I took advantage of some great eBay savings. 

Looking back at my Heritage collection has really recharged the batteries for my collection.

Pardon the pun you are about to see...

Al Kaline (not alkaline) and Cutch on a 1966 style punchboard.  

Heritage Comparisons pt4

If you haven't seen my Heritage Comparisons before, I encourage you check them out.

Today I am going to be looking at the 2015 Heritage release which is based on the 1966 design.

Before we look at Cutch's solo card, let's first take note that he appeared on card #214 for being a League Leader in Batting Average.  It features Cutch as coming in 3rd place for the 2014 batting title. In 2014 former Pirate Justin Morneau won his 1st NL batting title ahead of Pirates All-Stars Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen.

Card #214 for the 1966 release shows the top three finishers of the 1965 batting title.  Pretty amazing card as it has three of the game's greatest National League outfielders of all time on the card.
In 1965 Roberto Clemente won his 3rd batting title ahead of Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

The back of the card shows that 10 players hit above .300 in 1965 and only 7 hit above .300 in 2014.

Now to the breakdown for these Heritage Comparisons, the solo cards of Cutch.

The 2015 Heritage card for Cutch was #300, the same as (drumroll please......) Roberto Clemente in 1966 Topps.

Let's compare how Cutch's MVP followup season compared to Roberto Clemente's age 30 season when he won his 3rd Batting Title.

All stats provided by Baseball-Reference

As is the case for all the previous Heritage Comparisons I am not stating that Cutch is better or on the same path as the great Roberto Clemente.  I am merely comparing cardboard because Cutch's Heritage card appears with the same numbering as Roberto Clemente's original release.

Approach at the Plate:
In 1965 Clemente put up a triple slash line of .329/.378/.463 for an .842 OPS
Cutch's 2014 season slash line was .314/.410/.542 for a .952 OPS
Advantage Cutch
Despite the higher batting average and winning the batting title, I have to give the advantage to Cutch.  He drew more walks and hit for more power as you can see in the 45 Clemente XBH vs 69 Cutch XBH.

Baserunning
Never known as a burner or stolen base threat, Clemente swiped 7 bags compared to Cutch 18.
Advantage Cutch

Team Dependant Manufactured Runs
So much of Runs scored and Runs Batted In is based on who hits ahead and behind you.
Clemente had only 65 RBI with 91 Runs scored.
Cutch drove in 83 and scored 89 times.
Advantage Cutch


The winner of this Heritage Comparisons battle goes to Cutch.  His age 27 season was better than Clemente's age 30 season.

Here are my other parallels from 2015 Heritage

Color Swap, Gum Stain Back, Action Variant

Gold Refractor /5

Refractor, Chrome
Hot Pack Purple, Black Refractor