Monday, May 20, 2019
Sunday, May 19, 2019
This Day In Cutchstory: 2x2=1/1
I interrupt the weekly Scripture Sunday on May 19th to bring you a "This Day in Cutchstory".
Cutch had quite a performance on May 19th, 2012 when he hit a pair of two-run homers to lead the Pirates to a victory over the Detroit Tigers.
So if you are doing the math on this one it's 2(qty) X 2 (two run homers) = (my latest) 1/1. Algebra isn't what it used to be when I was going to school.
Cutch had quite a performance on May 19th, 2012 when he hit a pair of two-run homers to lead the Pirates to a victory over the Detroit Tigers.
So if you are doing the math on this one it's 2(qty) X 2 (two run homers) = (my latest) 1/1. Algebra isn't what it used to be when I was going to school.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Flawless Combo!???
When the Pirates were on the verge of being perennial contenders for 2013-2015 and had the 2nd best Winning Percentage in all baseball (Damn You St. Louis!!!) they essentially had two 5 tool players patrolling their outfield. When Gregory Polanco joined the team in 2014 after being a top 10 prospect in baseball the previous year, it was believed that RunPMC (Polanco, Marte, Cutch) would be filling the seats at PNC Park for at least half a decade.
Unfortunately that window was short lived and the "best outfield in baseball" lasted for only a few months before being surpassed by other teams.
In 2015 Cutch regressed to slightly below .300 hitter before having a career worse average in 2016. 2015 also saw Polanco struggle at the plate to a .256 average.
2017 saw Marte suspended for 80 games due to PED use. Polanco would spend multiple stints on the disabled list. Cutch returned to his former self and would win June Player of the Month for the National League.
2018 saw long time face of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, traded to San Francisco. Gregory Polanco would suffer a season ending injury after multiple stints on the Injured List.
Even though the combination of Polanco, Marte, and Cutch didn't live up to expectations getting any cards of them combined are instant favorites of mine.
This Flawless Combo card lives up to it's name.
Unfortunately that window was short lived and the "best outfield in baseball" lasted for only a few months before being surpassed by other teams.
In 2015 Cutch regressed to slightly below .300 hitter before having a career worse average in 2016. 2015 also saw Polanco struggle at the plate to a .256 average.
2017 saw Marte suspended for 80 games due to PED use. Polanco would spend multiple stints on the disabled list. Cutch returned to his former self and would win June Player of the Month for the National League.
2018 saw long time face of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, traded to San Francisco. Gregory Polanco would suffer a season ending injury after multiple stints on the Injured List.
Even though the combination of Polanco, Marte, and Cutch didn't live up to expectations getting any cards of them combined are instant favorites of mine.
This Flawless Combo card lives up to it's name.
Friday, May 17, 2019
Work Hard, Play Hard, Die Hard
In case you missed it former New Jersey native, Bruce Willis, threw out the first pitch at Wednesday's Phillies game vs. the Brewers. The Die Hard star left fans either saying Booooooo or Bruuuuuuce.
It wasn't nearly as good as when I saw Fifty Cent shank the ball "just a bit outside", but Bruce didn't throw a strike either. He threw a breaking ball in the dirt. So much for being unbreakable.
I haven't been as hard at work trying to get Cutch cards in Phillies uniforms the way I once chased his Pirates cards. Cutch is in 2 releases that have hit in the past week (Panini Prizm and Topps Big League Baseball) wearing the red pinstripes and I don't have a single card from either release yet.
I did snag this oddball
Each year the Phillies release two 4x6 photocard team sets. This one is the early season version as you can tell by the Spring Training uniform. They will likely release another late summer. The entire team set can be had for $5 at Citizens Bank Park. Vendors often go up and down the aisle selling them a few times throughout the game.
The backs feature basic player information along with complete player stats. Overall, the Phillies do a nice job with these year after year.
A few years ago, I grabbed the Charlie Morton Phillies photocard as well.
I also got the Topps Now Road To Opening Day card of Cutch. There should be an auto coming soon too which I preordered from TwinsJake a few months back.
The autograph version will likely look exactly like the base card, but here is hoping I get shipped a lower numbered color parallel.
It wasn't nearly as good as when I saw Fifty Cent shank the ball "just a bit outside", but Bruce didn't throw a strike either. He threw a breaking ball in the dirt. So much for being unbreakable.
I haven't been as hard at work trying to get Cutch cards in Phillies uniforms the way I once chased his Pirates cards. Cutch is in 2 releases that have hit in the past week (Panini Prizm and Topps Big League Baseball) wearing the red pinstripes and I don't have a single card from either release yet.
I did snag this oddball
The backs feature basic player information along with complete player stats. Overall, the Phillies do a nice job with these year after year.
A few years ago, I grabbed the Charlie Morton Phillies photocard as well.
I also got the Topps Now Road To Opening Day card of Cutch. There should be an auto coming soon too which I preordered from TwinsJake a few months back.
The autograph version will likely look exactly like the base card, but here is hoping I get shipped a lower numbered color parallel.
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Serial History: 1925 Pirates
Well...those damn D'Backs beat the heck out of the Bucs again yesterday. Thankfully we won't have to see them again until 2020 as the Pirates were 1-6 against them this year and got swept by them last year in Pittsburgh.
Moving on......
To formally kick off Serial History, I am going to look at an older Andrew McCutchen on card autograph from 2011 Triple Threads. There are multiple parallels of this card to track down including the base/99, sepia/75, emerald/50, sapphire/10, wood/1, and ruby/1.
Sadly the only copy I have is this Gold version numbered 19/25.
I will be looking at the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates team in this segment of Serial History.
The Pirates won the World Series in 1925. It was their second World Series title, the other being from 1909. Three more titles would follow in 1960, 1971, and 1979.
The 1925 Pirates had 3 future Hall of Famers on their team: Kiki Cuyler, Pie Traynor, and Max Carey.
Some highlights of the World Series Champions that occurred during the season can be described below.
Hall of Famer, Kiki Cuyler lead the league in triples (26), times on base (291) and runs scored (144). (Sadly I don't have a single card of Kiki)
Glenn Wright performed an unassisted triple play on May 7th.
I was shocked to see Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts post about Glenn Wright and the 1925 Pirates last week.
This cut auto easily pushes Glenn to be my starting shortstop on my All Autograph Pirates team. Sorry Jay Bell.
In addition to having a Glenn Wright cut auto, I also have autographs of the following:
Hall of Famer, Max Carey
Max Carey was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1961 by the Veterans Committee. He was a ten time National League stolen base champion and is 9th All-Time with 738 career stolen bases. He finished his career with 2,047 singles (47th all time). He had 290 career sacrifice hits showing his ability to help his team win games selflessly. That remains 13th best all time. Despite playing fewer games in left field than center field throughout his career, he still holds the 8th most double plays turned as a left fielder with 30. As a Centerfielder he appears in the top 20 All-Time for a number of defensive stats including assists (4th most 221 total), putouts (14th most with 4,589), and double plays (4th most with 58).
Hall of Famer, Pie Traynor has been on my want list for an autograph for awhile and I was able to add his 1933 Goudey card and a cut auto just about a month ago.
He is the team's greatest third baseman in the history of the Pirates. The Pirates retired numbered 20 in honor of Pie.
He finished his career with 2,416 hits and a .320 batting average while amassing 1,273 RBI over 1900 career games at the hot corner. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1948 on his 5th year on the ballot.
Babe Adams may not be a Hall of Famer, but he is one of the greatest Pirates pitchers in their long history. He holds the team record for wins by a right hander (194), shutouts (47), and lowest walk rate 1 walk per 14+ innings pitched.
One of his most memorable moments was pitching all 21 innings of a pitching dual in 1914. He didn't allow a walk in all 21 innings.
Moving on......
To formally kick off Serial History, I am going to look at an older Andrew McCutchen on card autograph from 2011 Triple Threads. There are multiple parallels of this card to track down including the base/99, sepia/75, emerald/50, sapphire/10, wood/1, and ruby/1.
Sadly the only copy I have is this Gold version numbered 19/25.
The Pirates won the World Series in 1925. It was their second World Series title, the other being from 1909. Three more titles would follow in 1960, 1971, and 1979.
The 1925 Pirates had 3 future Hall of Famers on their team: Kiki Cuyler, Pie Traynor, and Max Carey.
Some highlights of the World Series Champions that occurred during the season can be described below.
Hall of Famer, Kiki Cuyler lead the league in triples (26), times on base (291) and runs scored (144). (Sadly I don't have a single card of Kiki)
Glenn Wright performed an unassisted triple play on May 7th.
I was shocked to see Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts post about Glenn Wright and the 1925 Pirates last week.
In addition to having a Glenn Wright cut auto, I also have autographs of the following:
Hall of Famer, Max Carey
Max Carey was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1961 by the Veterans Committee. He was a ten time National League stolen base champion and is 9th All-Time with 738 career stolen bases. He finished his career with 2,047 singles (47th all time). He had 290 career sacrifice hits showing his ability to help his team win games selflessly. That remains 13th best all time. Despite playing fewer games in left field than center field throughout his career, he still holds the 8th most double plays turned as a left fielder with 30. As a Centerfielder he appears in the top 20 All-Time for a number of defensive stats including assists (4th most 221 total), putouts (14th most with 4,589), and double plays (4th most with 58).
Hall of Famer, Pie Traynor has been on my want list for an autograph for awhile and I was able to add his 1933 Goudey card and a cut auto just about a month ago.
He is the team's greatest third baseman in the history of the Pirates. The Pirates retired numbered 20 in honor of Pie.
He finished his career with 2,416 hits and a .320 batting average while amassing 1,273 RBI over 1900 career games at the hot corner. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1948 on his 5th year on the ballot.
Babe Adams may not be a Hall of Famer, but he is one of the greatest Pirates pitchers in their long history. He holds the team record for wins by a right hander (194), shutouts (47), and lowest walk rate 1 walk per 14+ innings pitched.
One of his most memorable moments was pitching all 21 innings of a pitching dual in 1914. He didn't allow a walk in all 21 innings.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Those Damn D'backs
The Pirates had been losing to the Diamondbacks a lot!!! Their last home victory at PNC Park dates back to 2017. Arizona already won 4 in Pittsburgh earlier this year and took the first game in Arizona this year.
Fortunately that streak came to an end last night when Josh Bell launched two home runs to seal a 6-3 victory for the Buccos. His two homeruns traveled over 900 feet combined and his average is now up to .329. He is looking like an early season All-Star. It would be his first All-Star appearance if he were to get voted in.
Andrew McCutchen's first all-star appearance came in 2011, which was housed in Arizona.
This jumbo patch appears to be part of the I and O in National from Andrew's Pregame Workout Jersey
The jumbo patch is extremely limited as this one is numbered 4/6
Fortunately that streak came to an end last night when Josh Bell launched two home runs to seal a 6-3 victory for the Buccos. His two homeruns traveled over 900 feet combined and his average is now up to .329. He is looking like an early season All-Star. It would be his first All-Star appearance if he were to get voted in.
Andrew McCutchen's first all-star appearance came in 2011, which was housed in Arizona.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Cardboard Cameos: Jean, the Hit Machine
Jean Segura
It celebrates his game winning Homerun following a leadoff triple by Cutch
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