Some 2022 Cards of #22

Baseball will officially have a 2021 season and I have received 3 more cards for the Cutch PC this week. 

Nothing very expensive (all three cards cost $5 shipped), but they are welcomed additions to the growing collection. 

Chicks dig the long ball

Who remembers that commercial with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine talking about how "Chicks dig the long ball"?

Well if you forgot it, you can check it out on YouTube here.  Tom Glavine recollects the making of the Nike commercial.

I was watching a game earlier this year and the score was tied up with no outs in the 8th inning with a runner on second.  The top of the lineup was up.

A few things could have played out.

The defense could have intentionally walked the guy up at plate to potentially get a double (or triple) play in order.  This didn't happen and the defense chose to just attack the hitter.  

Now the hitter could have chosen to lay down a sacrifice bunt to advance the guy on 2nd base to 3rd base with one out.  This would almost certainly cause the infield to play in on the grass opening more possibilities for the number 2 hitter in the lineup to manipulate a base hit OR hit a sacrifice fly OR let a ball get pass the catcher for the guy on now 3rd base to score.  The ability to score a run from 3rd base with 1 out and your number 2 and 3 hitters up seems like an easy way to push across a run and put your team ahead.  

Do you think that happened?

Nope.  The guy up at the plate was an All Star with high contact rate, but tried to hit a HR in a selfish manner.  He didn't. 

He lined out.

1 out. Runner still at 2nd Base.

The team's number 2 hitter is up at the plate.  He's a rookie.  He struck out on a ball in the dirt that briefly got away from the catcher.  Throw down to 1st. 

2 outs.  Runner on 2nd didn't advance.

The team's number 3 hitter is up, also an All Star.  Fly ball, deep in the outfield.

Caught.

3 outs.

Runner on 2nd stayed there, stranded.

The team gave up the lead in the bottom of the inning and would go on to lose the game.

In a game with the 3 true outcomes (walk, strikeout, HR) grows more and more each year we are seeing teams play small ball less and less.  

Is it because chicks dig the long ball or is it because analytics and the moneyball way of thinking no longer values a productive out?

Not surprisingly the number of sacrifice bunts in 2021 is down per game compared to a decade ago.  Also not surprising is that 13 of the top 15 teams that do sacrifice bunt are National League teams and are often pitchers attempting to lay down a sacrifice.  

The 2 teams not in the top 15 that are National League teams? 

The last place Miami Marlins (0.15 bunts per game) and Pittsburgh Pirates (0.13 bunts per game) both bunt the least for National League teams. 

Go back to 2011 and the Marlins were bunting 0.55 (most in majors) and the Pirates were bunting 0.46 times per game.  The team with the fewest sacrifice bunts in 2011 was the Boston Red Sox at 0.14 sacrifice bunts per game.

The furthest back I can go is 2007 based on the research I was able to do and the Colorado Rockies were sacrifice bunting 0.50 times a game.  They are also leading the majors this year with 0.31 times per game.  The 0.31 times per game in 2021 would put them in the lower half of the 2007 statistics and lumped in with many of the fewest bunts among American League teams.

The art of bunting is nearly gone from baseball.

I miss small ball and seeing action and strategy on the base paths and defense.

When Andrew McCutchen broke into the majors in 2009 he was a force on the base paths stealing 20-30 bags per season during his first 5 years.  

There were even times that Cutch would attempt to lay down a bunt for a base hit.

The last time Cutch was successful with a sacrifice hit was in 2011.  

There was an insert set in 2012 Topps Opening Day called Elite Skills

The 25 card insert set features various skills from the game of baseball.  Oddly enough, Cutch is featured as the bunting skill.

The back of the card talks about how the elite athlete gets ready to lay down a bunt for a potential base hit. 

What are some of your favorite baseball commercials?

Passing Freddie Lindstrom

With a hit in yesterday's game, Andrew McCutchen has secured himself again as having more career hits than someone in the Hall of Fame.  

Cutch now sits at 1,748 career hits.

There are many players in the HOF that Cutch already has more individual career stats of like HR or Stolen Bases or RBI, but one thing for HOF players that was beating Cutch by a significant amount is the hit totals. 

Until now...

If you aren't familar with Freddie Lindstrom (because I wasn't until I randomly googled him) let me share with you some things I learned about Freddie Lindstrom

He is one of the Hall of Famers with the fewest number of hits in Cooperstown by a non-pitcher. 

Here is a link to Freddie Lindstrom's baseball-reference page. 

As you can see the 3rd Baseman/Outfielder retired at the age of 30 after a 13 year career in the majors with the Giants, Pirates, Cubs, and Dodgers.

He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933 along with 5 other future Hall of Famers (Arky Vaughan, Pie Traynor, Lloyd Waner, Paul Waner, and Waite Hoyt).

I have an auto of Pie Traynor

and Waite Hoyt

and Lil Poison, Lloyd Waner 

I am still on the hunt for an Arky Vaughan and Paul Waner auto.

Lindstrom played both 3rd Base in his career and Outfield.  Due to Hall of Famer, Pie Traynor being on the Pirates, Lindstrom was predominantly played in the Outfield along with the pair of Hall of Famer Waner Brothers (Paul and Lloyd).  Lindstrom finished his career with a 27.5WAR (lowest among all positional Hall of Famers) McCutchen currently has a 44.6WAR

Lindstrom finished his 13 year career with an OPS+ of only 110, meaning he was better than only 10% of the players from his era. McCutchen through his 13 season career is a 132 OPS+ player

In an era known for playing "small ball" and stealing bases, Freddie finished his career with 84 stolen bases and 77 caught stealing. That's good for only a 52% success rate. McCutchen's success rate is currently almost 72%.  He has the same amount of career caught stealing, but has 109 more successful stolen base attempts. 

I know it was a different era, but Lindstrom (who never played more than 150 games in his career) would have only struck out 31 times over an entire 162 game season. That is very impressive as he often times was one of the hardest guys to strike out. Alec Bohm, Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, and JT Realmuto have all surpassed that total individually on the young season. Didi Gregorious and Brad Miller are both getting close to that total also so nearly every position player on the 2021 Philadelphia Phillies has already reached Lindstrom's season record in 40 games played. 

I am not sure if Andrew McCutchen will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player after his retirement. I think if he can accumulate another 4 seasons of 150+ hits per year he will have a very solid shot, but there are other great centerfielders that fell off the ballot early (Bernie Williams and Kenny Lofton immediately come to mind).  

Cutch was definitely one of the best hitters of the 2010s though, regardless of position played.

Do you think it's fair to compare Hall of Famers across different eras?  Would the All Time Greats be able to hit the pitchers on the mound and extreme use of shifting and bullpens of this era?  

Who are some players you think deserved a better shot at the Hall of Fame, but have already fallen off the ballots? 

It's Opening Day!

Happy Opening Day!!!

Above is the Opening Day Stars insert from 2018 Topps.

They were released in Series 1 packs and came in 4 additional color parallels (blue, black, gold, and red)

I am still on the hunt for the red /10 and gold /50.

What are you most excited about seeing from your favorite players and teams this season?

For me, I'm excited to see a full season of of Ke'bryan Hayes and some of the Pirates prospects make their debuts for a glimpse of the team's next core of promising players.

For Cutch, I am excited to see him return to being a great leadoff hitter in a stacked Phillies offense.

My 1st 2021 Cutch cards

When Topps Flagship 2021 came out a few weeks ago I was surprised to see three different insert sets that Cutch was included in.  I placed an order with Brentandbecca via eBay and got all three of my cards shortly there after.

You may recall earlier this week that I showed off a gold 5x7 card and stated I wanted to build a run of Cutch cards using each design of Topps Flagship 1952-2021.  

I have the standard size card in hand now so I will be getting that post ready to go some time next month to see how close/far away from that goal I am.  I think the mid 1990s to mid 2000s will be the hardest to accomplish.

This card looks awesome in person.  The blue background, yellow base, and red lettering all pop in a very prime way.

The back of the card focuses on the 1955 set.

Next up is the 1986 insert celebrating 35 years of Topps 1986.  I never noticed this on the original set, but there are way more triangles in the team logos than I remembered.  I thought that this was just Topps way to be cutesy and artsy following the success of Project2020, but I referenced some original 1986 cards and sure enough Michael Jack Schmidt had logos that looked identical.

I really like the throwback uniforms for the Phillies.  I also like this candid image of Cutch just joking and having fun.

The back is very reminiscing of the original 1986 design.  I LOVE the trivia bit at the bottom.  I remember that game when Cutch launched three homers in a game versus Washington.  It was so exciting to see the Pirates have a 22 year old rookie with a ceiling so high come up and impress not just Pittsburgh fans, but the nation as a whole.

It's not just the homers, the stolen bases, diving catches, and crazy on field swagger that drew me to like Andrew McCutchen as a fan though.  It was Cutch's humble nature and the way he constantly gives back to the community that made him such a fan favorite in Pittsburgh.

This image of Cutch in a suit signing for fans with shades and dreads is how I remember Cutch in the majors.  The dude is a class act all the way.  

I was honestly most excited to see Cutch get recognized for inclusion in this insert set.  Not only is it a unique idea for an insert set, it also features things that aren't baseball related and shows players in images they normally don't put on standard trading cards.  I am planning to collect the entire set of this insert series.

So those three cards are my first 2021 standard size cards of Cutch I have in hand.  I will be going after parallels of all of them so if you come across any, keep me in mind.

Have you gotten any 2021 cards?

What inserts have you been excited about this year?

Altered Reality

It has been a LONG TIME since I looked forward to a new episode of a TV show each week.

I never got into Walking Dead or Game of Thrones when they were being released.  I tend to binge watch TV shows.

The last TV show that I watched week after week while it was still airing was the TV show, Lost.  The last season was something only an Astros fan could appreciate (it was trash 🗑), but everything leading up to that season was fun and entertaining.

I recently got hooked on the Disney+ TV show, WandaVision. I have always been a fan of comic books and especially the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).  

The first two episodes were very slow and boring.  The episode that came out last week...helped bridge Marvel movies under the 20th Century Fox banner to the Disney movies and TV shows.  

I'm really excited to see what today's episode will bring.  It should feed on some alternate reality ideas hinted at previously.

Spring Training is only a few days away so this 2016 Opening Day insert card called Alternate Reality seemed appropriate for today.  It features players wearing alternate jerseys instead of traditional home whites and road greys. 

Anotha one...

I have ZERO desire to only post cards as they come, but with October only a month away there will be themed events that will cease posting only "new mail day" cards.

In the mean time, enjoy card number 3,002 in the Cutch PC.  

It is the 2020 gold parallel numbered to 50 copies of the 1985 35th anniversary insert card found in Series 2 Topps.

I like the image used for this card.  I am curious about the "gold" border though.  It looks a little weaker than other gold parallels we have seen from Topps in recent years.

The back has a serial number that makes this an eBay 1/2 (do the math, it's fun).  I like that it has his complete playing career stats, an interesting recent fact about him and a random baseball trivia question.  This card back is very true to the 1985 design.

A couple quick notes about my collection.

I have joined TCDB finally.  I literally just joined so if you see that I only have a dozen or so cards checked off it's because I plan on updating my list later this week.

I have also added a few cards to my Instagram.

Both names are CollectingCutch, the same as this blog and my Twitter.  I plan to join other social media places as well so keep your eyes out.

Are there any places you can suggest for increasing my social media presence of CollectingCutch?

To Infinity and Beyond

About two weeks ago I talked about picking up some discounted 5x7 cards of Andrew McCutchen.

I always prefer the gold's of the 5x7s because they offer a slightly different look than the traditional size cards. 

The fact that they are gold and numbered to only 10 copies make them more appealing.

The size of these are huge compared to the traditional.

Is it really only 14?

With more states and cities becoming concerned over the Coronavirus scare, it remains questionable if Opening Day will actually start on March 26th as currently scheduled.

I chose this 2014 Breaking Out insert to represent today's countdown.

 It is number 14 in a 20 card set found in Topps Opening Day.

With more cases appearing daily and with other sports entertainment already deciding to suspend the rest of their season (NBA) or play in front of empty stadiums (NCAA March Madness Tournament, select NHL teams) how do you think MLB should handle their Opening Day plans?

History Lesson: Rewriting History

Now that Crisis Week is over and some history has been rewritten in the DC Comics Television Universe, I am going to show a post I accidently published for a few hours back on Tuesday before realizing I had to get the Arrow Crisis post out prior to 8pm.

With the decade of the 2010s officially over, I thought it would be kind of cool to hop in the way back machine and look at an Andrew McCutchen card from 2010 that offered a prediction of Cutch heading into 2020.

The 2010 insert set had a small set size of 20 cards and the back discusses Topps prediction for how certain players will develop into the 2020 season.

The checklist is extensive in young upcoming stars.  It doesn't feature any prospects, only players who made their MLB debut prior to 2010.

Of the 20 players a few have already retired (Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer, David Wright, Andre Ethier, Ubaldo Jimenez), one has passed away (Tommy Hanson), and a few are currently free agents that may not appear in the majors in 2020 (Hunter Pence, Gordon Beckham, Matt Kemp).  Chris Coghlan appears in the set also but hasn't officially retired despite not appearing in a major league game since 2017.

The back of Cutch's card makes mention that he could have the most RBI and Home Runs by a Pirate Outfielder in a calendar decade if he surpassed Roberto Clemente's marks of 177HR and 862RBI set by Clemente in the 60s.

A few things about that jumped out to me as I normally don't think of Clemente as a big bopper RBI and HR machine.  I think of guys like Willie Stargell, Ralph Kiner, and Dave Parker.  Brian Giles and Jason Bay in recent memory also stand out, but neither of them had the longevity for a decade long run.

Stargell played a full calendar decade with the Pirates in the 70s, but the majority of that decade he was already transitioning to a full time first baseman.

Ralph Kiner mashed the baseball in his very brief career but that career lasted only from April 1946 to September 1955.  From his debut season in 1946 until 1952, Kiner lead the National League in HRs seven consecutive years (a feat that no other player in history has done).

Parker suffered a fate of not playing a calendar decade much the same way that many other players felt.  His prime in the late 70s rode into the early 80s and wasn't enough to match what Clemente did for the entire decade of the 60s.

Cutch played with the Pirates from 2009 to 2017, having been traded prior to the 2018 season.  That gives Clemente an edge in that he had 2 more full seasons to accumulate stats.

With that being said, Cutch outpaced Clemente in the Home Run department with 191 over 8 seasons versus Clemente's 177 over 10.  Clemente did have more RBIs though accumulating 862 RBI compared to Cutch's 671.

Those numbers look pretty drastic, but how would Cutch's numbers looked if he kept playing in Pittsburgh (and assuming healthy in 2019)?

Cutch averaged 84 RBI over his Pirates career along with 24 HR in the 2010s.  Those numbers are comparable with his "decline years" in 2016 and 2017.  Had he stayed healthy and finished out the 2019 season with the Pirates he likely would have hit 239 Home Runs for the 2010s along with 839 RBI.

To say that it would surprise no one that he would compare to an All Time Pirates Legend like Clemente is accurate, but what Topps didn't take into account was the Pirates financial situation of being a small market club.

Ultimately Cutch was traded and is on his third team since leaving the Steel City despite playing just 214 games since the close of the 2017 season. Much like so many other Pirates fan favorites before like Jason Bay, Cutch may not be a forever Pirate, but he will forever be remembered as a Pirate.

The Pirates three straight Wild Card finishes may not be on the same level as the Jim Kelly/Thurman Thomas/Bruce Smith Buffalo Bills, but for a very brief window the Pirates with one of the smallest payrolls in baseball was a legit World Series contender for three consecutive years.  They also lost three straight Win or Go Home games much like the Never Dynasty of the Bills.

Many people forget this because of Mike Trout's quick rise, but Cutch became a face of baseball and was a top 3 player for four consecutive years.

He still lives in Pittsburgh and is an active member of the community.

Crisis Week: Legends of Tomorrow

Picking up where the first three episodes left off in December for the five part miniseries, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Arrow delivered a great way to kickstart the climatic conclusion last night.

It all comes to an end tonight at 8pm on Legends of Tomorrow.

In 2018 Topps had an insert series called Legends in the Making.

Andrew appeared in the insert series as both a member of the San Francisco Giants

And a Pittsburgh Pirate

I've managed to grab a few of the parallel cards but still need a lot of them which can be listed below

LTM-AM (Pirates)
Red /10
Gold /50

LITM-20 (Giants)
Base
Blue
Black
Red /10

Role Call! My Cutch Yankees PC Showoff

Unlike previous years where there was a waiver deadline and non waiver trade deadline, this year there is no such thing.  That means there won't be any Justin Verlander joining Astros minutes before September 1st or Andrew McCutchen joining the Yankees a day before September.  As of July 31st, the team you have is the team you ride with to the postseason.

Cutch joined the Yankees last year in part because Aaron Judge's injury was more serious than originally perceived in July and because the Giants were slipping down the standings due to a terrible month of August.

That lead to my favorite athlete of all time joining "The Evil Empire" as all NonYankees fans call it.

At work I won a pair of tickets in a regional contest for the Red Sox vs Yankees game this Sunday night.  It will be my first time back at Yankee stadium since 2014.
I have only been to Yankees Stadium once.  It was in 2014 during a single admission double header against the Pirates.  The Pirates and Yankees split the day's events.  I even ended up on TV a few times throughout the game as I was sitting directly under the Modell's sign and we had 3 HRs hit in our direction.

I don't hate the Yankees like so many other people do. I think they run a great organization and consistently try to put the best product on the field for their fans each year.  They are arguably the most successful sports franchise of the 4 major North American teams for nearly a century.  The famous pinstripes enhance their class.

Cutch was a member of the Yankees for a brief time last year and you can tell that he absolutely loved the idea of playing in pinstripes for a little over a month.  He was quoted as the experience being "surreal".

The Yankees fans are known as a loud and raucous group especially the Bleacher Creatures lead by Bald Vinny.  Each home game Vinny and his friends will start to chant the names of the players and go around the diamond, continuing to chant their name until he gets a reaction from the player.

A little less than a year ago Cutch got his first role call at Yankees stadium. A gif of it can be seen below.

Had he stayed In New York, I think the city would have embraced McCutchen more than it did and he would have become a fan favorite much in the same way Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez were when they came to the Yankees from other teams and were the steady veteran presence year after year.

Here is a collection of all my Andrew McCutchen Yankees cards.  Some of these I have shown off before, but most are being shown for the first time.  It is very likely that I will show off more in the future too.

CAMEO CARDS 
Topps Now

This cameo card shows Cutch (center) shaking hands with the giant sized Aaron Judge after the team won their 100th game of the season.  That moment was voted by Topps fans as the Moment of the Week for week 26 of the MLB season.

As you can see this was the first time in nearly a decade that the team had won 100 games in a season.

Here is another cameo of Cutch.  He is pictured just above the card's Yankees logo and it celebrates their 11 inning walk off victory against the Orioles to secure an AL Wild Card game.

Much like the previous year, the Yankees were looking to secure home field advantage for the Wild Card Game and advance deeper into the playoffs than they did in 2017 when they took the Astros to a Championship Series Game 7.

This cameo might be my favorite of the cameos that Cutch appeared in.  You can't see his face, but the hair is on point.

Basically repeating the same thing as the previous card, this card focuses on how it was Aaron Hicks double that clinched the Wild Card berth.

SOLO CARDS
2018 Bowman Best

Gold Parallel numbered 34/50

Blue Parallel (jersey) numbered 26/150

 Atomic Refractor

Base and Refractor

Superfractor numbered 1/1

Above is the back to the 2018 Bowman Best card.  I still need the green/99, orange/25, red/10, and purple/250. The green and orange are an route as I won them this week for 99 cents each.

2018 Topps Update SP photo variant

I really like this image of Cutch in pinstripes.  Unfortunately the same image will be airbrushed and used as a Phillies 2019 Gypsy Queen base card (and it looks terrible).

I LOVE that Topps wasn't lazy with the back of this card.  They actually typed up a brand new back instead of using the same back as the 2018 Update Giants card.  This is a perfect Yankees flagship card of Cutch.

2018 Topps On Demand 3D

This lenticular card has a similar technology to those famous Kelloggs 3D cards from the 70s. It uses the same image as the Update SP.

The set provided collectors with 100 of the game's most collectible players with cards from Series 1,2, and update.  The complete sets were believed to be produced with only a 269 card print run.

2018 Topps Now

 This card technically is a Phillies card, but it features him in the NY pinstripes

 It discusses how the veteran outfielder is joining the Phillies in hopes of a deep playoff run.

This limited print run of Cutch commemorating the Wild Card game is Cutch's only solo Topps Now pictured in a Yankees uniform and noted as a Yankee.

The back just talks about how the Yankees want to go further in the playoffs.

2019 Stars of the Game

The image above is actually a 1/1 buyback that Topps inserted into their 2019 Transcendent Party packs.  You can see the 1/1 on top left and the VIP Transcendent marking on top right.

Oddly enough this card is numbered SSB as it was originally supposed to be called Super Stars of Baseball before it was changed to Stars of the Game.

This is the base version. No new stamps. Just an average looking insert that I have already talked about above.

2019 Topps Store 5x7 Gold

This is my only oversized card of Cutch in a Yankees uniform.  I don't chase too many of the standard 5x7s, but I do like to acquire some of the gold's because of the sepia tones and the low numbering (only 10 copies produced).

2019 Topps Series 1 Sketch Card Artist Proof

Juan Rosales has drawn about half a dozen artist proof sketch cards for me over the past few years.  His ability to capture the athlete perfectly using only greytones is mind blowing to me.  I asked if he could include the pin stripes and Yankees logo in background and it was such a nice touch.

This is the original image that Juan used as reference.  I think he captured it perfectly.

The artist proof signifies that it wasn't inserted into a pack, but was one of the few blank cards that Juan was given to sell as part of his payment for the project.

2019 Gypsy Queen Autographs

This is a beautiful on card autograph of Cutch.  I will discuss more about the image used in a future post as I was able to determine the exact photo match.

The Bazooka backs were numbered to only 25 copies.  I wrote about this card when I examined the 1925 Yankees and their rough season here.

My only on card mini autograph I have of Cutch that isn't inserted into a frame.  This is a super sharp looking card.

Only 20 of these mini Fortune Tellers were released.

This was the star of the show for a 6 case player break I got into when Gypsy Queen was released.  It is the rainbow foil and only came in the foil packs.

Gavin would probably enjoy the numberimg on this card.  I plan on showing it off again in December as part of my 12 Days of Christmas event.

 This is the black and white parallel found in this year's Gypsy Queen

It is numbered to 50 copies.

2019 Inception SP Autograph

Cutch appeared as a short print subject in 2019 Topps Inception wearing a NY Yankees uniform.  He also appeared as a member of the Pirates for the Legendary Debuts autograph inserts.  The image may look like his other Yankees autographs, but rest assured it's not.  The cancer ribbon isn't seen on this card like the Gypsy Queen.

In case you couldn't tell by a card being numbered to only 10 copies, that is what we call in the industry a short print.

2019 Topps Tier 1 Prime Performers Autograph

Cutch has a pair of different images available for his Prime Performers autograph.  This one features him trotting after one of his 5 homers in September 2018.

It is numbered PPA-AMC to distinguish it from the batting version.

Speaking of the batting version, here it is.  Like the running version, it is numbered to only 70 copies.  I like that this image features him getting ready to uncork and likely rope a double in the gap in the swing.

The back is numbered PPA-AM as opposed to AMC that the running card is.

 There is also a silver ink version of each numbered to 10 copies.

 The running copy is 2/10.

 I see this as a future Star Wars day card with the 4/5 numbering.  The clear acetate and low numbering made this a must win for me.

The print on the back left side reminds me of an old newspaper. I dig it!


Only time will tell if Topps releases more cards of Cutch in a Yankees uniform, but with 10 unique ON CARD AUTOGRAPHS and a trio of 1/1s I think my Cutch Yankees collection is looking pretty good considering he was only in New York for 30 games (25 regular season, 5 postseason).