Collecting Cutch: (Belated) Congrats LA Dodgers Fans

Monday, November 2, 2020

(Belated) Congrats LA Dodgers Fans

I know it's a week late, but every November 2nd post is filled with these as I always continue my Save Second Base uninterrupted then do a recap.

In case you didn't know already the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays to win the 2020 World Series.

Today I will show cards of Andrew McCutchen with players of the Dodgers.

Let's begin with the legendary pitcher and longest tenured Dodger, Clayton Kershaw.

In 39 at bats, Cutch owns a .282/.317/.436 slash line against the 3 time Cy Young winner. He does have 1HR against Kershaw.

These Face 2 Face inserts are pretty neat even for an unlicensed product.

Above is a Boxtopper from 2015 Topps Heritage. It is based on the 1966 Topps design.

This is a nice quad relic card of some former MVP winners all on one card.

Above is an even nicer relic featuring 9 of the best players at each position for the past decade. It features Kershaw, Posey, Abreu, Cano, Cabrera, Tulowitzki, Stanton, McCutchen, and Trout. I think it's a little silly that they put Cabrera at 3B because around the year this card was made that's where he was playing for a season due to Prince Fielder playing 1B for the Tigers.

Now I will show off some former Dodgers and how they impacted the current World Series Champs.

Safe to say the Mookie Betts trade to Los Angeles finally helped push LA into winning the World Series? Well the former AL MVP Betts, came to the Dodgers from Boston along with David Price in a trade that sent Alex Vertigo and Jeter Downs to Boston.

Price didn't play the 2020 season, but I think it was his large salary that helped make the trade of Betts possible as it allowed the Red Sox to reset the luxury tax cap hit. Price is still technically a part of the 2020 World Series Champions.

But how did Jeter Downs, a former Cincinnati Reds prospect end up in the Dodgers organization to begin with? Well, the Dodgers got Downs, Josiah Gray, and Homer Bailey from the Reds in exchange for long time tenured Dodgers mainstays Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp. I have a lot of Kemp and Puig cards paired up with Cutch.

Let's first look at Kemp.

I always liked Matt Kemp and his early 2010s skill set.

He possessed a fun energy with a rare power speed combo in the early 2010s.

This made him a Perennial All-Star.

I also have the 1/1 booklet.

Greg of the blog Night Owl wrote of these Team Pinnacle cards when I gifted them to him as part of his Secret Santa gift a few years back.

Hey Shane Victorino was a Dodger at one point too.

And now, the Wild Horse, Yasiel Puig.

The only type of cards I have of Puig with Cutch are the 2014 Topps Update All Star Stitches triple jersey cards all numbered to 25 copies.

In addition to Cutch and Puig appearing on all three of these cards there are appearances of Carlos Gomez, Josh Harrison, and Giancarlo Stanton as well.

Were it not for the trade of Puig and Kemp to the Reds, the Dodgers wouldn't have had Jeter Downs in their system. The Dodgers may have been able to still work out a deal to acquire Mookie Betts and David Price from Boston. History was written with the Dodgers getting Betts and history tells us the trade of Puig and Kemp to the Reds helped make it happen.

Another long tenured Dodgers player that finally got a ring is Joc Pederson. You may recall the Dodgers tried to ship him off in the off-season, but the deal that saw him become a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was ultimately reversed. Joc stayed with the Dodgers and hit a memorable homer in Game 5 of the World Series (his fifth career World Series Homerun). In limited play in the World Series, Joc went 4 for 10 at the plate. His team mates all commented on how he elevates his game when on the biggest stage.

In 2015, he was on a pretty big stage too as he had made it to the Home Run Derby Finals as a rookie. He also made his first All-Star Game that year. Topps, as you can see above, captured the outfield of Bryce Harper, Joc Pederson, and Andrew McCutchen on an All-Star Stitches Tandem card.

To finish up, let's look at the man who started the Dodgers rally in Game 6 of the World Series. Tampa Bay Rays starter Blake Snell was cruising with a 1 hit shutout until he gave up a single to Dodgers catcher, Austin Barnes. We know what happened next as the Rays couldn't Cash in to preserve their 1-0 lead.

You may recall seeing these pink cards from my Save Second Base events of 2019 and 2020 as I have shown off both the flagship (/50) and mini (/25) in the past two years.