Superman Day

Every June 12th is celebrated as National Superman Day.

You may recall I discussed this day back in 2019 when I showed off a super rare 1 of 1 autograph booklet letter patch card.  

I was never a huge fan of Superman compared to other superheroes.  I always liked the darker more angsty heroes like Wolverine, Green Arrow, or Batman or I liked the comical heroes like Flash or Deadpool.

I do respect Superman though.  He is an American icon.

Superman is also known as The Man of Steel.

Here are some other Men of Steel from my Andrew McCutchen Triple Threads collection

Welcome Home Cutch!

This is it...
Andrew McCutchen is coming home. 
The longtime face of the Pirates franchise will be coming home to Pittsburgh this weekend after being traded to the Giants in the offseason.

The back of this Triple Threads unity relic card talks about Cutch and his dominance in PNC Park

I will be attending the game between the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow.  I have also entered a code for the Home Run Challenge in for the next three days in hopes that Cutch goes yard one of those days. 

Going Green : A Cutch 22

I am still hoping to get my new website up off the ground, but with work, long commutes, and an exceptional amount of cardboard coming in over the past weeks  it has been hard to devote much time to it. 

But if I don't put any time into it I will never have the digital cardboard museum I set out to showcase and keep as a catalog of my collection.

It's a catch 22.

No it's a Cutch 22

Going Green : USA USA USA

Trying to find actresses with deep Irish roots is actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Anne Hathaway, a former NJ native, is of Irish ancestry as both her parents are Irish.

This beautiful American woman may not look Irish, but I don't mind looking at her.

Decked in all green, makes me forget this post is more about USA than Ireland.

Happy Monday everyone!

Going Green : Speed and Demolition!!!!

For whatever reason, I thought Sandra Bullock was the hottest thing when I was only 12 years old.  Movies like Speed and Demolition Man were worn out in my old VCR.

I might be dating myself a little by showcasing an actress who is now 53.  Damn!!!

So....how about an English actress who was born of an Irish father who also has appeared in movies about speed and demolition?

I'm talking about Imogen Poots, the lovely actress who has appeared in Need for Speed and 28 Days Later.

Isn't she just lovely?
And because her father is Irish and she looks good in green she counts for my countdown of green cards and Irish lasses.

Arguing that Andrew McCutchen isnt the greatest power/speed combo to wear a Pittsburgh uniform will fall on deaf ears to me.  I wont listen to you.  Only Barry Bonds has more stolen bases than Cutch while hittin more than 150 HRs in a Pirates uniform.  Cutch however beat Barry for homeruns in a Pirates uniform before leaving for the Golden State.

Cutch is the Demolition Man with Speed!!!

Going Green: Unity with AMC

Have you ever listened to some spellcasters and the phrases they say?  Maybe it's just me, but Harry Potter, Doctor Strange, and many others seem to say the word amuk.

Irish actress Evanna Lynch is no stranger to the word as she was a recurring character in the Harry Potter series.

AMC....pronounced amuk

Something about her knees makes me say (u)AM(yu)C(k)
Maybe it's just me though.

Tying into the word I will discuss a Cutch card labeled as AMC.

Triple Threads puts out a series of cards called unity relics each year.  Each unity relic features a different image of the player and is one of 3 different versions.  Some are harder to find then others.  All the unity relics have the standard Triple Threads numbering of /36, /27, /18, /9, /3, /1.

I have completed the gold unity relics /9 which I showed here.

The Emerald (green) Triple Threads relics are all numbered to 18 copies.

I am still in search of SJR-AM and SJR-AMU to complete the emerald set.

Above is the AMC....which pronounced is Amuk....
A spell has been cast for me to acquire the other unity relics.

Going Green: 8 Tracks to Fast Tracks

I recently watched an Irish movie called Sing Street.  It's on Netflix and features a bunch of great songs from the 80s!!! You should know my love of 80s music if you've read this blog before.

I won't reveal any spoilers, but it follows a boys dream to become a musician to impress an aspiring model, Lucy Boynton.

Who wouldn't try to impress her?

Lucy sports a black hair style relevant to the 80s music scene and 8 track time period in the movie.

Speaking of 8 tracks...here is a card talking about Cutch and his young days running track at Fort Meade High School.

I have a lot of the Emerald Triple Threads Triple relics.  One I showed off yesterday.

Going Green: Can't Cope, Won't Cope

Thanks to Chris and Google we are back on track to show off Irish stars (and some American stars with Irish heritages) while showcasing green parallels of Cutch.

This Going Green event will continue through St. Patrick's Day.

Today's star is "The Ireland Scarlett Johansson ".  That alone sounds like a dessert I could indulge in researching about.

Seana Kerslake is an Irish born 27 year old actress who got her big break in the (recently picked up) Netflix comedy Can't Cope, Won't Cope.

Speaking of Can't Coping....
I'm not sure if you are aware, but the Pirates traded their former MVP face of the franchise, superstar Andrew McCutchen AND CASH (whaaaaaaaat????) for a middle reliever and fringe outfield prospect.

Cutch is the greatest Centerfielder in Pirates History!!!

Max Carey, Andy Van Slyke, Omar Moreno, Andrew McCutchen?

When discussing the Pirates greatest centerfielder of all time, I think it's safe to say that Cutch in his 8.5 seasons moved up so many of the record books that he is undoubtly the greatest centerfielder to wear a Pirates uniform.

Cutch appears 4 times in the Pirates top 15 single season WAR records.  The only players with more appearances with him are in the Hall of Fame.  The only other centerfielder is Kiki Cuyler, who did most of his Pirates outfield work as a left fielder.  

Cutch is the greatest CF in Pirates history....

I'm still having trouble coping.

Today's card is a 2017 Triple Threads emerald /18.  I have a few more of these to show off.  

RunPMC NoMas

Around Christmas I won some Triple Threads cards from Probstein's auctions.  One of the auctions I snagged was this awesome emerald parallel triple relic combo of one of the better outfields in baseball.

In 2014 and 2015 the Pirates were expected to have the best outfield in baseball.

They had a perennial MVP candidate in Andrew McCutchen patrolling centerfield not yet in the prime years of his career.

Patrolling left field was the best defensive left fielder in the game and a constant speed threat on the bases in Starling Marte.

Watching over the Clemente wall in PNC Park was a top 10 prospect in all baseball, Gregory Polanco, who began his MLB debut by having a double digit hit streak.

Things looked great for the Pirates in the outfield.

Merely a few years later though and the face of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, has been traded.  Starling Marte has been suspended for 80 games for PED use. Gregory Polanco has been suffering with hamstring issues nearly his entire career.

What once looked like the building blocks of a yearly contender has already started to be stripped.

RunPMC (Polanco Marte Cutch) is no longer running at PNC.
This will likely be one of the last triple relics with these three guys on it.

2+3=5

Who likes math?
I do!!!!

Two Cards

from the Triple (3) Threads release

Talking about Cutch being a 5 time All-Star

This pair of cards was another Probstein win back in December.

Cutch joined Clemente as the only Pirates to be in an All-Star game 5 times when he completed the task from 2011-2015.  He should have been the Pirates rep in 2010 instead of Evan Meek too btw.

Did something happen yesterday?

Yesterday news broke that the Yankees had acquired Giancarlo Stanton from Derek Jeter's Miami Marlins.

I completely understand what Jeter and company are trying to do by shedding the massive contract.  I think that Marlins fans that are upset by the deal should recognize that the organization can't be sustainable over the course of time unless they build a winning foundation beginning in the minors and it transcends to the major league level.

As great as Stanton can be perceived as being here's some fun facts about the quarter billion dollars the Marlins got rid of from their payroll over the next 10 years.
He has only appeared in 150 games TWICE in his career. (2011 and 2017)
His strikeout to walk rate is 2.34:1 over his 8 year career.
He has never played for a winning team since his 2010 debut.

Having 267 career homeruns by age 27 season and then joining the Yankees for 10 years should put him on the Hall of Fame path.

Stanton is a great player, but he's not great for a new ownership in Miami.  He needed to be traded for the Marlins ownership to move forward with their plan and vision.

What are your thoughts on the Stanton to Yankees move?

Happy for the player to finally join a winning culture?
Mad at the Marlins front office for trading the face of the franchise?

I will leave you with all my Cutch and Giancarlo pairings (many of which I showed off during the 2017 WBC).

First though I will show off the two cards that haven't been featured on here yet.

I made a post about Probstein last week and how some of their auctions get shilled and go for more than what they should because they are a consigner.

This card was won for what I consider a fair price.  It's a triple relic of three members of the World Baseball Classic 2017 Team USA gold medalist (Adam Jones, Andrew McCutchen, and Giancarlo Stanton).  I have added quite a number of green Triple Threads cards this year so I am looking forward to showing them off next Saint Patrick's Day.

I don't know how many of you watched that tournament, but I had a blast rooting for Team USA.  Of course it helped that my favorite player was playing right field during the tournament.

Here's the rarer and "patchier" Gold version numbered to 9.

And here are the cards I have previously shown
This National Treasures quad booklet is awesome!  It features 3 of my favorite current big leaguers (Arenado, Rizzo, and Cutch)

 There's a few different parallels to chase for Immaculate.  I just have the standard bat relic for Stanton.  There is a patch version of both players available too which I believe is numbered to 10.

 The game's best pitcher (Kershaw) and the game's best hitter (Trout) are featured with the Stanton Cutch partnership.

 That bum who always sticks his tongue out, Yasiel Puig, joins Cutch and Bigfoot

 This card is just ridiculous.  It has 9 of the best players at each position from 2014 on it.  All patches or bat relics.  I only showed the back below, but the front also has Clayton Kershaw, Buster Posey, Jose Abreu, Robinson Cano, and Miguel Cabrera (he was playing 3B because of the Prince Fielder signing).

Happy Saint Patrick's Day (Lots of Green Cards)

Today is March 17th and many of us will be celebrating Saint Patrick's Day today.  Since it falls on a Friday, it also gives everyone a reason to go out drinking with friends.

I don't know how close I am to having 317 McCutchen green cards to celebrate 3/17, but I might set that as a goal for next year (that would be an insane goal).  In the meantime though here's my latest Green Cutch pickup.

A 2016 Donruss Optic /5 that cost a hefty penny to acquire.  Those things are ridiculously hard to find.

I will also show off 3 pages worth of green parallels.

And 17 "Hits" that are green parallels or green in color.

 This is my only Green booklet.

Next up are 3 sticker autos

Now for the relics
Up first are Green Foil Jersey Kings and Bat Kings.  After 3 attempts to rescan it, I gave up.  Trust me though that the foil is green.

Now for the rest of the relics

I couldn't decide what copies of the 2015 Strata /75 Green parallels I wanted to show so technically there's more than 17 shown above.  I just didn't want any of them to feel left out.

I hope everyone has fun tonight, but most importantly be safe.