FlawLESS Victory Contest

Saint Patrick's Day is here so I wanted to run a contest perfect for a celebration of green.

Here is one of my favorite "green" cards of Cutch.

It is from 2017 Flawless and is the green emerald parallel which features an on card autograph numbered to only 3 copies (!!!!) And encapsulated in a nice one touch case complete with a Flawless sticker.

From 2016 Flawless I have a giant patch of the Jolly Roger sleeve logo on an Emerald card numbered 2/5.

Flawless Victory

Speaking of Flawless Victory

Above is a video of the Pirates clinching their playoff spot back in 2014.

I have a bottle that was used in the champagne showers that evening and it is signed by Andrew McCutchen.

Here is another image of the bottle. I shrink wrapped around the signature so it won't fade over time.

Here is the authentication for the bottle

The Pirates 2014 team was a fun one to root for despite them not advancing very far in the Postseason.   They, like everyone else in the 2014 Postseason, got Bumgarnered. There are a few other reasons though why I can't label it my favorite team roster.

That distinction belongs to the predecessor year, 2013.

2013 was a magical year for Pirates fans.  It marked the end of the 20 year losing streak.  More important though there was a group of men that I watched develop into one of the best teams in baseball.

2013 was loaded with many individuals getting hardware and personal accomplishments.

Andrew Mccutchen was MVP, Player's Choice MVP, silver slugger

Clint Hurdle was Manager of Year

Pedro Alvarez was a silver slugger and HR champ

Francisco Liriano was Comeback Player of Year

Jason Grilli won Reliever of Month twice and was featured on Sports Illustrated

Pirates All Stars included Cutch, Alvarez, Grilli, Jeff Locke, and Mark Melancon.

The team had veterans like Garrett Jones, Russell Martin, and AJ Burnett built around a young core coming into their prime.

We saw flashes of brillaince from rookie "future ace" Gerrit Cole as he won his first 6 games and beat former Cy Young Winners: Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw, and Zack Greinke in his first three games.  My brother got married in 2013 and I made a bet with him that if the Pirates made the postseason in 2013, he would name his first son Cole because of Gerrit Cole.  I love my niece, but am still hoping I get a nephew one day and my brother lives up to that bet.

Even the bench and role players were fun to root for.  Travis Snyder may have been a top prospect a long time ago, but his career never blossomed into superstar.  Still, Lunchbox as he was known was an everyday guy who fans could root for. The same can be said for guys like Mike "The Fort" McHenry and Clint "Journey" Barmes.  I suspect Pittsburgh is the only city that gave Clint a standing ovation as a visiting player in his career.

So here is the contest.
Make a post about a year your favorite team DIDN'T win the World Series.  Be sure to include why that year's roster stood out to you.  Who were your favorite players that aren't superstars? Did any members of that team go on to Hall of Fame careers? Tell as much as you can about that team and any many memories you may have about that year in general.

After you make the post, leave a comment here with a link to your post.  (Please reference my contest in your post)

On April 2nd, 2019 I will hit the randomizer 3 times.  The person at the top of the randomizer will receive...

2004 Topps Tribute Carl Yastrzemski Green Wall Relic card.

I thought with it being St. Patrick's Day, a green wall relic of one of the most historically trophyless franchises (prior to 2004 at least) seemed appropriate.

Contest Winners Announced

Time is running out to join another of my Save Second Base/K Cancer contests.  Contest closes tomorrow morning!  That prize is a Jose Berrios clear acetate autographed card.

Last Wednesday the contest for writing a post about your favorite sports movie ended.  Only 2 people entered.

John and Fuji

I said I would random it off twice.

After the first time, John is still on top.

And after the second time, John is on top again.
Congrats to John from the blog John's Big League Baseball Blog.  John will be receiving this Tyler Glasnow autographed pink card.

Both Anthony Rendon and Corey Seager smacked 44 doubles over the regular season while being members of a National League team.

That means I had to use the tiebreaker rule and see who struck out less in the 2019 season.

Anthony Rendon struck out 86 times over the regular season while Seager struck out 98 times.

There were quite a few people who selected Rendon to win the Troy Tulowitzki pink card.

I put Matt, John Sharp, Mrbasepauly, and Captkirk42 into the randomizer

After 4 times, Matt was on top!

Congrats to Matt and John for their victories.

ALL CONTEST WINNERS PACKAGES WILL BE SHIPPED IN OCTOBER

Tomorrow we are all winners as I will begin my month long reveal of only pink (and shades of Pink) in an attempt to raise awareness for Breast Cancer.

Please visit the National Breast Cancer website at least once this month and consider making a donation.

Let's work towards a cure.

What celebrities would you like to see this year?

K Cancer Contest

The Playoffs teams have all been revealed and a number of teams look to be built for a deep October run.

Kate Upton, Jennifer Lopez, and Emily Ratajkowski will all be appearing in October for my 4th Annual Save Second Base Event.

The question is...
Which of the team caps pictured will have pitchers throw more strikeouts?

Will the 3 headed monster lead by Kate Upton's husband, Justin Verlander, paired up with Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke take down the opposition?

Will the great Yankees bullpen shut down batters as the Bronx Bombers slug their way to a 28th Championship?

Will it be
The Los Angeles Dodgers lead by future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw deliver a Hollywood picture and the Dodgers capture their first World Series Title since 1988?

OR
Could it be another team?
It will all play out in October and here is the prize.


2018 Clearly Authentic Jose Berrios (ON CARD AUTO)

Now for the rules:
1)Must be a follower on twitter or frequent reader/commenter here.
2)USA residents only
3)Select which team will have the most striekouts by a team pitching staff
3a)Tie Breaker: pick a pitcher on that team's playoff roster starting staff and predict how many strikeouts he will have by end of Post Season.  Closest without going over wins.
4)Contest closes Tuesday morning October 1st at 7am Eastern Time/4am Pacific Time


Please share this contest and comment if you shared it.
I will randomly select one person who pimped the contest and they will receive an assortment of pink baseball cards.

All contest winners will be revealed in a recap post November 1st.

3rd Annual Save Second Base Contest

This time next week I will be active in my 4th Annual Save Second Base Event (3rd on this blog).

For the 3rd time on Collecting Cutch I am running a contest to help bring awareness to a terrible disease that continues to plague our great world.

1 in 8 women will be detected with breast cancer in their lifetime.  This is heartbreaking to think that we haven't found a cure or what causes this terrible disease.

To help bring awareness, I will show off pink (and shades of pink including peach, rose, and magenta) cards throughout the month of October.  October has long been associated with breast cancer awareness and every day throughout the month I will be showing off some lovely ladies to accompany the pink (and shades of pink) cards I have.

Each year I have upped the game for sharing pink cards.
Year one was only Cutch cards.
Year two I introduced cameo appearances where Cutch was represented on either the front or back of a pink card.
Year three I am introducing the Falco Files pink cards.  This will depict pink cards of players who have replaced McCutchen on a roster.

I have decided to show SOME nonCutch cards in my collection that can relate to this cause and a few of the ladies I have chosen to spotlight to relate to the cards selected.

This year I will be providing multiple contests leading up to the event.

I have already ran a few of them and another is scheduled to end on Sunday when we know who the NL Leader is in doubles.

Each year I run a contest with "Pick Who Hits The First Double in the 2019 World Series" prize.

Tris Speaker is the all-time leader for doubles so getting a bat relic from the All-Time double leader and Hall of Famer seems appropriate for a prize.  This 2016 Pantheon dual relic of Tris Speaker and Sam Crawford is numbered 8/15.

The rules for this prize:
1)First person to correctly guess who will hit the first double in the 2019 World Series gets the card
2)All entries must be time stamped the day before game 1 of the 2019 World Series starts
3)Must be a USA resident
4)If the person who hits the first double is not guessed then the card will be randomed off to anyone who shared this contest on their blog (you must leave a link to the shared post in comments below).


Gavin has won the past two main prizes.
2017 event - Pete Rose: Save 2nd Base Inscription Autograph (here)
2018 event - Aaron Judge/Giancarlo Stanton Mother's Day Pink Awards/50 (here)

Can anyone stop Gavin from a 3-peat?

Falco Files: A New Segment and Another Preview Contest...

Football is back!!!! Let's talk about it.

One of my favorite sports movies is The Replacements.  The comedy and drama keep me entertained from start to finish.  For those not familar with the movie it stars Keanu Reeves as Shane Falco who was a highly touted quarterback that could never step up in the big games.  After the professional football league players for the Sentinels all strike, the owner decides they are going to seek out replacement players for the closing season.

Shane Falco is one of those replacement players and this new segment will be used to highlight any post Andrew McCutchen news and cardboard of the players who replaced Cutch.

I have been starting a modest PC of Bryan Reynolds because he has quickly become one of my favorite players and was part of the 2018 Andrew McCutchen trade.  He is on the verge of winning a batting title in his rookie season.

Whenever I have a Falco Files post I will show off cards of guys who have worn Cutch's jersey number after him, players he was traded for, etc.

I will show off my very modest Bryan Reynolds PC in a future post, but I also want to announce my next contest for the Save Second Base Event. More on that contest at the end of this post

I will give a little preview of what you can expect for the event by introducing

Brooke Langton

She was the sexy cheerleader captain in the aforementioned theatrical masterpiece known as The Replacements.

She also appeared in a famous TV show from the 90s.  Perhaps you've heard of it? Melrose Place

She also replaced Sandra Bullock for the only season of the Net.  The 1998 TV series is based on the movie version of The Net.

Langton always seems to be replacing other characters in all her roles.

A similar thing can be said about Austin Meadows, who the Pirates used the 9th overall pick in the 2013 draft as a "replacement" for failing to sign their 8th overall pick, Mark Appel, in the 2012 draft.

Meadows was drafted as a centerfielder and was long thought to be a replacement eventually for Andrew McCutchen as the face of the franchise.  Due to injuries, his "quick road to the majors" turned into a 5 year minor league injury plagued career first.

His debut earned him Rookie of the Month for May 2018.

With the Pirates surging at the 2018 trade deadline having won 11 straight they made a bold blockbuster move for 2 time All Star and cost controlled Chris Archer from the Rays.  He quickly filled in as a fan favorite for the Pirates when he said he wouldn't wear his traditional number 22 for Pittsburgh to show his respect for Andrew McCutchen.  Archer went on to say that number 22 should one day be retired by the Pirates.  He didn't want to replace Cutch's number.

Instead he wore number 24, previously worn by Tyler Glasnow who Archer had replaced on the team's pitching staff when Glasnow was also a part of the trade with Meadows to Tampa Bay.

That's a lot of replacements.

NOW FOR THE CONTEST

Wanna K Cancer?
Want to win a pink baseball card of

Here's how:
Make a blog post about one of your favorite sports movies and connect it to some baseball (or other trading) cards in your collection. 

The rules:
1)Must be a follower of the blog or my twitter account (@CollectingCutch)
2)Must post a comment ON THIS POST with your entry and a link
2a)Card will be randomed twice
3)USA residents only
4)Contest closes 8am September 25th.

Let's check in on the National League Doubles Leaders for the Tulo auto I am giving away.

It is going to be a fun next few weeks to determine who is the National League doubles leader at regular season's end.

And now it's time to reveal the winner of the Larkin/Sheffield pink Donruss card.

 I entered everyone in twice for showing a pink card in their favorite player born in the 80s.

After the first random, Nachos was on top. He should be extremely excited about that as he put out a notice to anyone that wins it that he wanted it known he wants this card for his Larkin collection.

However, the rules stated I would random twice...

And AJ from The Lost Collector is the winner.

Thank you all for participating.  The next contest leading up to my 4th Annual Save Second Base Event ends in a few weeks.

The First Winner is Revealed

When I showed off the first of four prizes (Troy Tulowitzki pink ribbon autograph) to win in this year's Save Second Base contest, I also announced an opportunity to win a small lot of 2019 Topps Chrome cards (about 20 cards) by plugging the contest.

The following people announced they pimped the contest on their blog
Chris
Fuji
Matt
John Sharp
Johnnys Trading Post
Bucstopshere

I entered the names above into the randomizer

And the name on top is....

Nate from Bucstopshere.
Nate-You will receive a package containing an assortment of 2019 pink Topps Chrome cards.

So let's reveal the next card to win in my Save Second Base contest.

This is a Barry Larkin and Gary Sheffield pink Donruss card numbered to only 25 copies.
This card of these two great players who started their careers in the 80s could be yours.

It will be a blog bat around style entry.
1)Write a blog post about your favorite player BORN in the 1980s and show off some cards of him. *extra entry if you post at least one pink card in the post*
2)Link to this contest.
3)Contest closes Sunday September 8th 11:59pm EST
4)Card will be randomed off. Person on top after 2 randoms wins.

Still Time For 1st of 4 Contests

It's only a month away...
The 4th Annual Save Second Base
Pink Cards For Breast Cancer Awareness event is about to kick off and this year will be the biggest yet!

I announced the first of 4 contests I plan on running for the Save Second Base contest. Please go here before September 1st and predict who you think will lead the National League in doubles by season's end. All rules for that contest are in the post.

Here are the contestants so far
Fuji-Blackmon
Matt of Diamond Jesters-Rendon
Brett A-Seager
Lost Collector-Story
John Sharp-Rendon
Johnny Trading Spot-Albies
Gavin-Javy
Pgn3540-Rendon
Nate-Bell
Jafronius-Javy
Daniel-Seager
Henry-Blackmon

I will reveal my next contest and announce the winner of the contest pimp next week.

In the meantime, here is another memorabilia item of Cutch I own.

It is a signed Breast Cancer Awareness Mother's Day ball obtained last year when Cutch returned to PNC Park as a member of the Giants.