As I was going through my boxes of Cutch cards I discovered a bunch of low numbered autographs that I never showed off. Trust me when I say there's a lot that still need to be shown here (literally over a hundred autographs of Cutch have never been shown on this blog before)
The card dated below is dated with today's date (2/25), but it also made me realize that I am getting old as it features a familar Topps design, one that I was very excited about when it first debuted.
It's hard to believe that this card design for Stadium Club is now over 3 decades old (31 years old). I'm getting old!!!!
Let's reflect back on the world of 1991
Barry Bonds had only hit 142 of his 762 career homeruns* This past December, he reached his final 10th year of eligibility on the Hall of Fame ballot.
The United States was in the middle of Operation Desert Storm/Shield by fighting in the Gulf War.
OJ Simpson was a broadcaster for football games
Pogs and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were popular among boy's toys.
Only the 3rd season of The Simpsons was starting (33 previous episodes existed of the 700+ currently produced)
The Florida/Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Devil Rays all hadn't come to exist yet.
So yesterday as I was watching the Field of Dreams game I got quick flashes of nostalgia. I remembered about my friend who was a White Sox fan and remembering when we used to trade baseball cards. I remembered the 2005 World Series between the White Sox and Astros.
It brought back memories of the two team's franchise icons in Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas.
My brain was going through years of memories all because of one memory.
Those classic White Sox uniforms.
I remember collecting cards that featured those amazing Sox uniforms just so I could trade them to my friend Jimmy.
He was a big Frank Thomas fan, but liked all the White Sox, especially if the card featured the throwback uniforms. This was before the internet and things couldn't be confirmed with just a Google search.
I remember I traded a 1991 Robin Ventura Stadium Club for a Jeff Bagwell Stadium Club. I got the better end of that trade for sure, but I convinced him that the Ventura was an error because of the uniform. When you're 10 years old it's ok to lie to get what you want.
And I wanted that Jeff Bagwell Stadium Club card.
During the summer we went to our local mall card show and I saw another of the Jeff Bagwell Stadium Club cards. I picked it up for about $15. I remember thinking that was such a great deal and that I wanted to own as many Jeff Bagwell 1991 Stadium Club cards as I could. My uncle was friends with Ken Caminiti and I was a mild Astros fan because of it.
Whenever I think of 1991 Stadium Club, the first thing I think of is the Jeff Bagwell rookie card.
It was such an odd looking card with him leaning on a piece of equipment. As a kid I thought it was a diving board...which makes zero sense to me now, but hey I was only 10. My imagination was wild.
I loved the backs of the 1991 Stadium Club cards. It featured more in depth statistics AND showed the player's 1st Topps card.
Remember when Topps actually put effort into their card backs?
I guess today Topps would only choose to use their flagship set as defining rookie cards. If that was the case we probably would have gotten the 1991 Topps Traded on the back.
Remember how I said I had a wild imagination as a ten year old?
It holds true to this day.
Everytime I see this card it kind of reminds me of Beavis from Beavis & Butthead, the Mike Judge MTV show that made MTV animation famous in the 1990s.
Do you see the resemblance?
Anyway, I have gotten way off track with my thoughts.
Here is a 2021 1991 Stadium Club retro card of Cutch.
These 1991 designs fall 1:179 packs so they are pretty rare.
And here is the back
which unfortunately doesn't show his rookie card or any 1991 design contributions.
Do you have any memories from 1991 Stadium Club?
Have you ever gone down a rabbit hole of nostalgia because of watching a baseball game?
Last month I discussed my appreciation for Gary Sheffield and how he was a favorite player of mine growing up. The bat speed, strong arm, and angry swagger made me really like him in my little league days and early teen years at high school.
My all time favorite player is obviously Andrew McCutchen.
Each month I am going to try to show off a card of Gary Sheffield that has also had the design used for an Andrew McCutchen card. You can view all items on the Sheff's Menu by clickinghere. (Title for this subject to change and open for suggestions)
Today I am going to look at the Donruss Studio line.
Donruss Studio began in 1991.
It quickly became known as a set for getting to know the actual faces of the game by not only showing bust up shots of the players, but also getting more personal on the backs.
Early Studio releases didn't talk about stats, they talked about hobbies and heroes.
I didn't go through all the card backs and tried to shy away from the "Superstars" of the release time so I can get a better understanding of what athletes were into in 1991.
Well we learn that John Smiley, Pirates pitcher, and Juan Gonzalez, Rangers Outfielder, both enjoy watching Miami Vice.
Do you think that Joe Girardi and Goose Gossage ever got together to talk about their favorite Sanford & Son episodes? Did you even know they both liked that show?
1991 Studio provided us with that tidbit of information.
Studio was made until 1998, then resurrected in 2003 and lasted for a few more years before becoming an insert set in 2014-2016 Donruss releases. 1993 Studio also had one of the coolest insert sets ever made for the early 90s Junk Wax Era when they had modern players wear the old throwback uniforms.
It is the original 1991 design that was used in 2013 for a Panini Father's Day product that we are going to look at today.
Here are the Cutch and Sheff side by side.
As you can see, much of the original 1991 design was sustained for this limited hobby store only release in 2013. The photos are black and white with a border.
The biggest difference is the city name replacing the team logo in the bottom left corner and the complete omission of player position in the bottom right corner.
And here are the backs.
The most notable difference on the back is the current is a sepia style card back, where the original 1991 is strictly black and white. PERSONAL, CAREER, HOBBIES & INTERESTS are all still featured on the back. The biggest omission is that we no longer know who the athlete's hero is. The copyright details are also different since Panini only has a player's license and not an MLB license.
Overall, I thought the 2013 Panini Father's Day paid a very nice homage to the 1991 Studio set. Due to legal reasons there are some things they can't do with the set now that they were able to do back then and I actually like the Sepia tone more on the back than the traditional black and white.
Couple questions for today
Did you collect 1991 Studio at release and what were your thoughts on it?
(Without cheating) Can you recognize these 6 players? Hint, they all won an MVP Award
Gary Sheffield was one of my favorite players growing up. Like him I played 3rd base. Unlike him I didn't have the strength to put the bat over my head preswing or the bat speed to get the bat barrel to the ball during my swing.
His run at a triple crown in 1992 was so fun to watch the boxscores each day and when he eventually got traded to the Florida Marlins, a young expansion team, I was really taken with rooting for him.
With all the recycled designs these days for Panini Products and Topps products, I thought it might be fun to show off some "comparison time" of my All-Time Favorite player, Andrew McCutchen, and one of my first players I enjoyed collecting, Gary Sheffield.
Today I will look at the Select En Fuego inserts.
En Fuego was an insert from 1996 Select that featured a lot of etched foil with a flame like background and used technology similar to the Dufex stuff in Museum.
The insert series was resurrected in 2013 Select with some etching, a chrome printing process, and a bit of a Refractor look. It also had 2 parallels to chase (Gold /25 copies and the 1/1 black)
The original 1996 Select En Fuego insert checklist had 25 cards as part of the set.
The 2013 rebranding had a checklist consisting of 30 cards.
The back of the most recent design features an identical picture to the front with an inverted upside flame on the back.
The original has an additional posed photograph of the player with a flame that at first glance appears to be differwnt than the one used on the front. The back also features a writeup by Dan Patrick of ESPN fame.
I will continue with this series in future blog posts (maybe once a month?) if there is interest in it.
Here are some other cards I may look at in the future as I have both a Cutch and Sheff card of each:
Team Pinnacle
Team 2020 vs Team 2000
1991 Studio
1991 Topps
1992 Topps
1994 Topps Finest
If you have any Gary Sheffield cards that you don't want anymore, I will happily take them.
Since Gary Sheffield played on so many teams in his career (many teams with strong followings too) what are your thoughts on him?
In 2011 Topps issued a release called Lineage. It featured active and retired players on a new design.
The set also showed the lineage of Topps by revisiting some of the more popular designs and creating insert sets around them. The fans loved the idea and Topps never produced Lineage again.
Well not under the title of Lineage that is.
Beginning in 2012 Topps would go into their archives and create a set called Archives. Each year Topps would utilize 3-4 different designs from their cardboard making history and feature players on a design (mostly from their non playing days).
I have at minimum every base card of Andrew McCutchen from the Archives release and today I am going to post a series of designs I wish that McCutchen was used for over the first 8 years of existance of the brand.
2012 Topps Archives
Designs used by Topps: 1954, 1971, 1980, 1984
Design chosen by Topps for McCutchen
1971
While I like the design of 1971 and it is nice to have Cutch wearing the black and gold in a design from the year the Buccos won a World Series, I knew Cutch would eventually get the 1971 cardboard treatment in 2020 Topps Heritage.
I would have much rather gotten the 1954 design of Cutch. No Pirates were represented using the 1954 design so it would have been an extra bonus to get Cutch in a 1954 design just for that reason.
Here is his Team USA teammate Adam Jones on the 1954 design.
2013 Archives
Designs used by Topps: 1972, 1982, 1985, 1990
Design chosen for McCutchen
1985
I am ok with this selection, but if I was given a choice of another design, I would lean towards 1990. I don't see 1990 Topps as being a popular set by fans and can't imagine Topps using the design again until 2039 Topps Heritage.
2014 Archives
Designs used by Topps: 1973, 1980, 1986, 1989 (the last year they use 4 designs)
Design chosen for McCutchen
1986
This is my favorite of all the Archives cards produced. A strange thing about this card is that I think it may be an unannounced short print. Try finding one on eBay or COMC right now. You're likely to find less than a handful between all the after market places. Try looking for any parallels including those sold on eBay, COMC, or WORTHPOINT and I promise you won't find any.
Despite the perceived short print of this card, I approve this selection.
2015 Archives
Designs used by Topps: 1957, 1976, 1983
Design chosen for McCutchen
1983
I am so sick and tired of seeing modern players on 1983 designs. Any of the other years would have been fine with me. The 1983 design was also used for Josh Harrison and Bill Mazeroski. The 1976 design was used for Gerrit Cole, Starling Marte, and Roberto Clemente.
Given the choice I guess I would want Cutch in that 1957 design since Willie Stargell was the only Pirates player to get the 57 treatment.
2016 Archives
Designs used by Topps 1953, 1979, 1991
Design chosen for McCutchen
1991
Were it not for the Desert Shield foil variants I would have been begging for a 1953 Topps design. It seems likely that Topps will continue to avoid putting Cutch in a Topps Living Set card even though JP Crawford and Bryce Harper already both have two entrants in the set. I like the 91 set. I have many fond memories opening these packs and trying to build the set with my dad.
No need for a change especially since I have this 1953 style card from 2019 Topps Transcendent.
2017 Archives
Designs used by Topps: 1960, 1982, 1992
Design chosen for McCutchen
1992
For many of the same reasons (foil parallel reminiscent of the ones available during initial release) I liked the 2016 Topps Archives selection of 1991 Topps, I am supporting the 2017 selection of 1992 Topps as the design for Cutch. The design was also used for Roberto Clemente, Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte, and Gerrit Cole.
Cutch got a rookie card in 2009 Heritage High Number similar to the 1960 Topps rookie style made famous by the Yaz rookie. Both Tyler Glasnow (rookie) and Honus Wagner represented the Pirates with the 1960 design. I guess 1982 could have been a possibility since the double hockey stick style border was only used for Willie Stargell.
It seems Pops kept getting the short stick (no pun intended for this design) when being placed as a representative for the Pirates in Topps Archives.
2018 Archives
Designs used by Topps: 1959, 1977, 1981
Design chosen for McCutchen
1959
This is a selection that I approve, but given the choice of switching it up I would prefer 1981 Topps. 1959 is a great design and this is the only time Cutch got a solo card in the 1959 design. However, he also got the 1959 treatment in the card "Bashers of the Bay" with Buster Posey. (Both pictured above)
So if that card was still produced, I would have liked to see a 1981 design for Cutch especially if it was given a pink border like what his team mate Buster Posey got.
2019 Archives
Designs used by Topps 1958, 1975, 1993
Design chosen for McCutchen
1958
This is actually a perfect selection among the designs offered. As I have stated above McCutchen debuted in 2009 so his first Topps throwback design was 1960 Topps which appeared in 2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers. He missed out on all the 1950s set via the traditional Heritage route. The yellow background and red name letters make this card pop much in the same way Rip Repulski did in 1958.
The only other option for me would be 1993, but again that is only because I would want that gold foil found on Topps Gold style cards for that era. The 1993 design isn't my favorite of the early 90s Topps designs. Cutch did receive the 1975 design in 2011 Lineage.
2020 Archives
Designs used by Topps 1955, 1974, 2002
Design chosen for McCutchen
Nothing.
Cutch didn't receive a card in 2020 Topps.
This is an absolute shame that the streak of appearing in every Archives release comes to an end.
Given the choices of 1955, 1974, and 2002 I would probably opt for 1955 Topps because it is an iconic set for Pirates fans (Roberto Clemente rookie!!!).
Getting a Cutch on a 1955 Topps design in his prime in a similar pose to the Clemente card would have been a perfect card.
Unfortunately Cutch is now with the Phillies and his 1955 style card may have resembled what this Steve Carlton looked like in Topps Archives.
My second choice would be 2002 Topps. I wasn't collecting in 2002 and the set is so ugly I want a Cutch card to be represented in my collection with that ugly design.
Former Pirates outfielder, Starling Marte, made it look kind of cool.
Have you ever looked at Topps Archives design samples and wished that a player got a different year treatment?
To say I am excited for this movie is a huge understatement.
Bill & Ted debuted in 1989 in Bill & Ted: Excellent Adventure.
I have shown off some of these 1989 inspired Topps cards in the past.
In 2014, Bowman officially announced they were back (did they ever really go away?) With a "diamond refractor" card inspired by 1989 Bowman. The image used is from the 2013 All-Star game.
The insert set was officially dubbed Bowman is Back and featured a card back in a style similar to those oversized 1989 Bowman cards.
1987 Topps was the first set I ever put together with my dad, but 1989 is when I considered myself a kid who collected baseball cards. I loved that set and think that Topps should show it more love.
2014 Topps Chrome released a chrome version of Cutch using a 1989 design.
This is where things get fun.
Where there's Chrome, there's usually Superfractors.
As a kid who opened probably a case of 1989 Topps, I never thought there would be pieces of jersey or bats used by my favorite players embedded in the cards.
Look at how awesome that looks.
These rarely pop up for sale these days and are all numbered to only 25 copies or less.
And to wrap up my collecting adventure is a pair of 2014 Topps mini diecuts that were available in Series 1 and Series 2 packs.
I love these mini cards.
Kudos to Topps for actually doing a different writeup on the back.
Topps isn't the only manufacturer that recognizes that fans cling to nostalgia.
Panini released a 1989 Donruss MVP inspired subset in their 2019 Optic release. Some players had base versions and some players had autograph only versions.
Cutch got the autograph only treatment and all the different parallels feature on card signatures.
Many of these are numbered to 3 or less copies.
The set featured a pretty diverse group of signers from Keith Hernandez, Willie McGhee, Kevin Mitchell, and Jose Canseco to legendary players like Ken Griffey Jr, Brooks Robinson, Ryne Sandberg, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Frank Thomas. There are also fan favorites like Steve Garvey, Dale Murphy and Cutch. The hit king, Pete Rose, has an auto in it as well.
The sequel to Bill & Ted came in 1991 with the release of Bill & Ted: Bogus Journey.
I have a few 1991 cards featuring Cutch thanks to a 2016 Topps Archives release that used the 1991 design as one of the 3 designs that year.
The nice thing about Cutch appearing on the 1991 design for 2016 Archives is that there is an Operation Desert Shield SSP variant to go with the blue and red border parallels.
The black border 1/1 is stunning with the black alternate jersey
The back shows Cutch's impressive run as the leader in the National League in many offensive categories.
Topps began to really start pushing their 5x7 cards in 2016 and I was fortunate to grab a gold parallel numbered to 10 copies.
Panini got into the nostalgia throwback game as well when they released a 1991 Donruss Studio inspired card as part of their Father's Day release.
Above is the black and white test proof (/5 copies), Base, and Lava flow parallel.
The back discusses Cutch's enjoyment of the Discovery Chanel and dubstep music.
Getting multiple 1/1s of Cutch in 1989 and 1991 designs has been both a most excellent adventure and a totally bogus journey.
With a career heading towards a twilight and it looking more and more like there won't be a baseball season this year, it is time to Face The Music that new releases of Cutch will likely become less available.
