Sunday, April 5, 2020

Here we are now...entertain us

Today marks 26 years since the passing of Kurt Cobain.

Kurt Cobain was the lead singer and guitarist for the Seattle grunge band, Nirvana.  He became a voice for many Generation X kids and one of the most influential musicians in the past few decades.

I will spotlight my 5 favorite Nirvana songs while also showing off a few Cutch cards and how they relate to Seattle, the city that Kurt was found dead at.

Cutch played in 9 games at Safeco Field in Seattle while as a member of the Pirates, Giants, and Yankees.  He didn't leave much of an impression at SafeCo Field as there always seemed to be Something In The Way.
His career slash line is .176/.282/.382 good for only a .664 OPS.  The only good stat was that he hit 2 HRs in only 9 Games.

While briefly a member in San Francisco, the Giants hosted the Seattle Mariners.
While researching playing career versus the Seattle Mariners I came across the above image and thought, well that looks familiar.

It's weird when I am browsing Getty Images I can often look at an image and think about a card that may have been used for.  It feels good to You Know You're Right.


And sure enough it is a familar card and I was right.

The image of Cutch as a member of the Giants batting against the Seattle Mariners was used for the 2018 Topps National Baseball Card Day card for the Giants giveaway.

Cutch didn't have a good day at the plate in that game going 0 for 4 with only a walk in 5 plate appearances in the 10-1 Giants victory.

His performance on the field was certainly In Bloom though as over the next week following that rough series versus Seattle, Cutch would come up clutch hitting at a .500 clip and collecting 2 walk off hits versus the Dodgers and Diamondbacks respectively.


Cutch has had another card image used while playing against the Seattle Mariners.  It is from his 2017 Definitive Collection.

Cutch always did well playing at PNC Park no matter who the opponent was.
In this particular game (July 27 2016) Cutch went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI falling only a triple shy of the cycle.  Opposing pitchers should have been warned and Stay Away from Cutch when facing him in Pittsburgh.

While Cutch was playing at PNC Park he started 669 games, collecting 751 hits, and hitting at a Hall of Fame level of .304/.394/.498 good for an .892 OPS.  With stats like that he might have been saying Come As You Are to any opposing pitcher, knowing he will likely own them in "The Burgh"


I hope you enjoyed this little tribute I put together featuring cards of Andrew McCutchen and my favorite songs by Nirvana.

Oddly enough Smells Like Teen Spirit falls just shy of being one of my top 5 favorites.  The generation anthem just doesn't strike me the way others do.


What are some of your favorite songs by Nirvana?

6 comments:

  1. Reading 26 years sure makes me feel old. I was in college when the Seattle sound became popular, so I listened to Nirvana a lot. Never saw them in concert though... which is a shame. I like all of your selections. In Bloom was a great video. But Smells Like Teen Spirit is probably my favorite Nirvana song. Still play it for my students every now and then. I know it's not always cool to like a band's most popular song... but if I had to pick only one song from them to listen to for the rest of my life, I think I'd pick it.

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  2. I never was that into Nirvana, although I did buy four albums on vinyl (Nevermind, In Utero, Unplugged, and From the Muddy...). I suppose my favorites were "About A Girl", "Rape Me", and, yes, "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

    If you didn't know, the title came from Kathleen Hanna of the band Bikini Kill, who scrawled "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit" on the wall, referring to Kurt's girlfriend wearing that brand of deodorant.

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    1. That is a fascinating bit of trivia that I didn't know. In Bloom is my favorite of their tracks by far. Come As You Are is a close second for me.

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  3. I remember watching MTV's round-the-clock coverage the day he was found dead. It was surreal, and sad, but I couldn't stop watching. I was a huge Nirvana fan, and many of my friends were. My best friend in HS was as much of a Kurt/Nirvana fan as you are a Cutch fan.

    "Breed" has always been my favorite Nirvana track, but "About A Girl", "Dive" and "In Bloom" are up there, too.

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  4. I love "Drain You".

    That walk-off was epic. Cutch look so calm, collected. Nerves of steel.

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  5. Not to be a Nirvana hypster, but my favorite song of theirs is the live rarity "Talk To Me". Such a fun song. Used to be my psych-up song when I was on the high school track team.

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