Building the Dynasty from Cutch's former teams

Andrew McCutchen had played for 4 teams over his 13 season career through 2021. 

He has played 1,761 games and has amassed 1,826 career hits which includes a shortened 2019 (injury) and 2020 (COVID) seasons.

Before Cutch's 1st regular season game with the Brewers, I thought it would be fun to look at the best team I can put together using only players from the Pirates, Giants, Yankees, and Phillies.  

I am doing this because I have collected an autograph of Cutch representing each team he has been on via 2021 Topps Dynasty.  Topps Dynasty is a beautiful set. On card autographs, big chunky patches, one touch cases, what's not to love????

This will be a fun exercise, but to avoid putting a roster full of mostly just Yankees All Time Greats though I am making some rules.

I can only select 1 player from that team equal to the number of seasons (even if they weren't full seasons) for each team that Cutch played for. This means that Cutch's 25 games with the Yankees during the 2018 season limits me to select only 1 Yankee to be on my roster because he only played for that team in one season.

My 13 player roster must include one player for each position (1B, 2B, SS, 3B, RF, CF, LF, C), SP, and relief pitcher.  That takes up 10 spots on my roster.  I'm also going to include a DH so I don't have to worry about taking out my starting pitcher late in games and the DH is now a universal rule in both leagues.

Now for the real fun, if a player played for same teams that Cutch played for, all teams count.  This means that if I want to use Barry Bonds for Left Field because he played for the Pirates, I can't use any other players who played for the Giants, so Willie Mays and Willie Mccovey are both out because Bonds played for the Giants and Pirates.  I will have to be diligent about my selections.

The player I select can not have played less games than Andrew did for that team.  This means that if I wanted to use one of the greatest second baseman of all time, Ryne Sandberg, and claim him as a Phillie, I can't.  Cutch played 260 games for the Phillies and Sandberg appeared in only 13 games for the Phillies. 

So here's how the maximum number of players per team will breakdown equal to the number of seasons Cutch played with them.

9 Pirates

1 Giants

1 Yankees

3 Phillies

With a team having to consist of so many Pirates, I wanted to look at the All Time Greats, especially those that played their entire careers with the Pirates.

Let's look at the guys who have statues outside PNC Park first

RF Roberto Clemente

SS Honus Wagner

1B/LF Willie Stargell

2B Bill Mazeroski

That's a good start to the team.  It takes care of my basic infield and a key spot in the lineup with Clemente being a middle of order guy and a perennial gold glove winner.  I will circle back to the Pirates after I knock out some more obvious choices

For the Giants there is only one player I want

The greatest player of All Time

CF Willie Mays

If you wish to argue against Mays being the greatest player of all time, I welcome your challenge in the comments below.

The Yankees have such a deep and rich history I could pick anyone from Yogi Berra to Mariano Rivera to Babe Ruth to Lou Gehrig and everyone in between.  So instead I will skip forward to the Phillies.

Let's fill out our infield with the best 3rd Baseman of All Time, Mike Schmidt.

Schmidt won 3 MVPs over his career along with ten Gold Glove Awards.  He is the most beloved player in Phillies franchise history ahead of notable HOF alumni, Steve Carlton. 

Now as far as pitchers go, Steve Carlton would be an obvious choice.  He started nearly 500 games for the Phillies and won 4 Cy Young Awards.  There is one problem though, he played 6 games for the Giants.  This eliminates Carlton from being used as he played for both the Giants and Phillies and played in less games for the Giants than Cutch did.  Sorry Lefty!

Roy Halladay recently had his number retired by the Phillies and won a Cy Young with the club and pitched a no hitter with them in his first post season appearance.  Unfortunately, Doc doesn't qualify because he pitched in less games than Cutch played for the Phillies.  

If I want to use a pitcher it will likely have to be someone with the Yankees (only 25 games played by Cutch in pinstripes) or be a Pirate or Phillies starter who made A LOT of starts. 

It really is a shame that Carlton played those 6 games with San Francisco disqualifying him from this team I am making.

There is one lefty in the Phillies though had a lot of success with the Phillies, more so than Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts.

I am talking about Cole Hamels

294 games started

3.30 ERA

World Series MVP

Nearly 1,900 strikeouts with Phillies

In addition to those stats he had a better ERA+ and a better WHIP than the HOF pitcher Robin Roberts.

Cole's teammates Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard could all have a place on my team.  I will have to see how the rest of my roster plays out.  I do have one more Phillies spot left on my roster. 

Catchers are thin in the history of the Pirates, I may have to look at other teams.

Buster Posey, Yogi Berra, and Thurman Munson all come to mind. I can't use Buster if I want to use Mays.  Do I really want to use my only Yankees selection on Yogi Berra?  

The answer is no. I am using my ONLY Yankees selection on the ONLY PLAYER TO BE UNANIMOUSLY elected into the Hall of Fame.  

Enter Sandman!

Mariano Rivera is my closer and my only Yankees selection.  This may be viewed as an odd selection since I only get one player to represent the Yankees.  No one dominated as a reliever quite like Mo.  Sure there are guys like Roy Face that won 18 games out of the bullpen for the Pirates, but if I want to ensure the game is won late in the game, give me Mo.

So here's what I have left to use 

1 Phillies

5 Pirates

And here is my lineup thus far

1B Willie Stargell (can also play LF)

2B Bill Mazeroski

SS Honus Wagner

3B Mike Schmidt

RF Roberto Clemente

CF Willie Mays

SP Cole Hamels

RP Mariano Rivera

I still need a LF, C, and DH

For catcher, I'm going with one of my favorite players of the late 90s and early 2000s, Jason Kendall.  Kendall is one of a handful of catchers with 2,000 career hits at the position and because he played his best years on a terrible Pirates team, he is often very under rated.  He was a 3 time All Star and finished his career with more walks (721) than strikeouts (686).  He had a .366 OBP which is a very high OBP for a catcher, higher than Carter, Fisk, and Bench.

As for LF, I'm going to put Ralph Kiner out there.  Kiner hit 301 HR over 8 seasons with the Pirates and is the only player to lead the league in HR for 7 straight seasons.  Kiner also provides another option at 1B.

As for my DH, I'm going with another slugger, Ryan Howard.  Prior to his 2011 postseason injury, Howard put the league on watch and became the fastest player in MLB history to get to 300 HR.  Dick Allen would be a fallback option with his .902 OPS in Philadelphia.

So how would I put this lineup together?

SS Honus Wagner

RF Roberto Clemente

CF Willie Mays

1B Willie Stargell

LF Ralph Kiner

3B Mike Schmidt

DH Ryan Howard

2B Bill Mazeroski

C Jason Kendall

SP Cole Hamels

RP Mariano Rivera

At first glance I was going to move Schmidt higher in the lineup but wanted to split up all the right handed bats (Wagner, Clemente, Mays, Kiner) so I threw Stargell into the cleanup spot.  The amount of HR power the 3-7 spots have without a single Yankee is mind blowing.  

Kendall can restart the lineup from the 9 hole and act as another leadoff option if needed. 

Do you agree with my selections?

How would you put together a roster using a max of 9 Pirates, 3 Phillies, 1 Yankees, 1 Giants? 

can't you read?

I am so sick and tired of Topps lack of quality control and fact checking on the back of their baseball cards.

If it's for a low end, print on demand product where they have to create the card and get it to the presses within 24 hours, I can almost understand it.

But when you're talking about a product line like Topps Dynasty where the cards are produced with big chunky patches and a nearly $600 per card price tag attached, I expect higher quality control.

Topps Dynasty is a beautiful set with 1 card per box release.  Andrew had only appeared in the 2018 release prior to the most recent 2021 release.  

His 2021 release features cards of him in the four uniforms he had played with this far into his career: Pirates, Phillies, Yankees, and Giants.

I set out to get one example of each variation and have gotten the 1/1 for his Yankees card along with images for Phillies and Giants.

I was EXTREMELY disappointed to learn that one of Cutch's most defining moments in his career was being mislead on the back of the card.

The front of the card features a great image of Cutch in his Giants gear, on card autograph, and a large chunky S from the Giants sleeve patch.  It of course is housed inside a One Touch magnetic with the Topps Dynasty sticker holding the case together.

The back, while a nice design, is riddled with errors.

Cutch's "Dynastic Deed" occurred on April 7th, 2018 NOT April 8th.  I know this very well because I have the foul ball that was hit just before his epic walkoff blast.

It makes no mention that the walkoff was a home run.

While still early into his Giants career, it was the 7th game that Cutch wore the black and orange NOT the 3rd.  

Do you ever notice inaccurate statements on the backs of baseball cards?  What are some that you've noticed of your favorite players?

New Year, New 1\1, New Contest!

Since yesterday was 1/1, I thought it would be appropriate to show off one of my latest 1/1s in the collection and compare the image to another 1/1 that I've had in my collection for a few years.

Above is my 4th Yankees 1/1 of Cutch.

It hails from 2021 Topps Dynasty and features Cutch in his clean shaven September 2018 look along with a nice laundry tag patch from the on base machine.

The back discusses how Cutch lead the Yankees in on base percentage (albeit small sample size) in 2018 with a .421 OBP.

The image used for the 2021 Dynasty Yankees card looks a lot like a 2019 Stadium Club card I have.

When this card was released I had a feeling it was photoshopped as there were only 30 games in Cutch's career that sported a clean shave look and they were all in New York.  The problem is I cant determine what game this is from.

As you can see from the back the Stadium Club Chrome card is a superfractor 1/1.  

I have a major problem with Superfractors in Stadium Club because a lot of times the image is a darker image used and the champagne circles used don't look good for Stadium Club cards.  The autograph Superfractor has been on eBay for over a year, but the price is too high.

If anyone is good at reverse image look ups and can identify what game this image was taken from I will give the first correct answer a prize (hint: it's a Hall of Fame autograph and he played on the Phillies).  Please provide source for the image so I can verify that it is in fact from that game.

Cutch is the last Giant to wear #22

It was announced Sunday that the San Francisco Giants are retiring #22 for Will Clark.

Will Clark played 8 seasons and was a 5 time All-Star with the club.  During that time he won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger and was a top 5 MVP vote getter four times.

He finished his 15 year career with a triple slash line of  .303/.384/.497.  He collected 2,176 hits and 284 homers among the four teams he played with (San Francisco, Texas, Baltimore, St. Louis). Clark is definitely a member of the Hall of Very Good, but could he one day be elected to the Hall of Fame?

With it likely that the Giants won't issue #22 to any Giants player over the next six weeks it appears that Andrew McCutchen will be the last San Francisco Giants player to wear #22 before it is retired.

Next year when #22 is officially retired by the Giants I will highlight my 22 favorite Giants cards of Cutch.

In the meantime though here are a few cards that show the full 22 on Cutch's Giants cards.

Cutch has two different photo variations to,chase in 2019 Topps Museum Meaningful Materials.  Each of those photo variants are believed to have 5 different color parallels to chase.

This is my only Triple Threads Wood 1/1 of Cutch I own.  I always wanted a Pirates one, but they were going for $200+ and only featured relics when Cutch was in his prime.  I am pleased that I was able to get an autographed one (albeit a sticker) for under that mark.

 Cutch became an instant fan favorite in SF when he got 2 walk off hits in his first 10 games.

This walk off was one of the most memorable moments of the 2018 season. Cutch collected 6 hits in the game then launched a 3 run walk off homer in extra innings to seal the victory against long time rivals, Dodgers.

Here is a cameo card of Cutch running towards Nick Huntley after another walk off victory.

No airbrushing on this triple relic with two other San Francisco ball players. 

 Bad airbrushing on Panini's end for this San Francisco card of Cutch.  The yellow gloves and jersey number indicate that minimum effort was put into making this a card that resembles what Cutch wore in his brief time at the bay.

 Here are six different parallels from 2018 Stadium Club

 Here are four chrome versions

 Including the 1/1 Superfractor

Here is just a boring relic from Tier 1.

It's tough to see with the nice on card signature, but this Dynasty card features a great swatch of patch.

Two former MVPs congratulating each other...or practicing how to line dance.

Trade Deadline Aftermath

On Tuesday night I finalized a deal to trade one of my Andrew McCutchen 1/1s to another McCutchen collector.

The card I gave up was this 1/1 Laundry Tag autograph from 2018 Topps Dynasty.

I have purchased a bunch of cards from him in the past and he is trying to complete the set of 1/1s from Dynasty.  After he received my copy that brought him to 3 of the potential 5 1/1s from this product.

I told him I would part with my 1/1 in exchange for another copy of AM3.  I have a copy of the other 4 versions and wanted to keep a set of the 5 versions.

So what did the 1/1 gold version land me?

Another 1/1!
(Keeps my 1/1 tracker total complete)

This is a 2018 Archives Signature Series
Buyback 2016 Bunt

If you aren't familar with Archives Signature Series, Topps uses cards from their vault that they label as buybacks.  They stamp the card with a year and certified autograph in a corner of the card then get the athlete to sign the card which is placed in a one touch magnetic holder and sealed with a unique tamper proof sticker.


In addition to the Bunt auto, I also got a copy of the AM3 (base numbered to 10 copies) to help keep the set complete.

Quality for Quantity (with Quality)

On a related note, the person I made this trade with won an auction for the 4th of 5 photo variants 1/1s yesterday. Shortly after the auction he sent a text saying he got it.  I would love to help him get the missing one.

This Day in Cutchstory: Quality Control?

Where the heck is the quality control at Topps?

They release a high end set with a suggested retail price of roughly $300 per box and said box contains only 1 card.

The design is awesome.

The box it comes in is equally awesome.

The information about dynastic deeds is awesome.

IF ONLY IT WERE TRUE THOUGH!!!

Look up the boxscore for  April 20th, 2017.  The Diamondbacks played the San Diego Padres and lost easily 4-1.

Was Cutch a member of the Padres then?
Nope!

Ugh....

Another Dynasty?

The Giants had a mini Dynasty from 2010 to 2014 winning 3 World Series in 5 years.

With news that the Giants are still in on Bryce Harper, could they try to revitalize another mini Dynasty?

Andrew McCutchen hasn't been part of a Dynasty, but he will forever be linked to helping reinvigorate a love for baseball in the Steel City after TWO DECADES of irrelevance.

It's only fitting Topps used him in his Giants uniform for a product called Dynasty.

Dynasty is one of the best products puts out each year.  It features big bold on card signatures of living players along with big bold patches.  All cards are in one touch cases and sealed for protection.

When I heard that Cutch was going to be in a product like Dynasty I was EXTREMELY excited.  I have seen other player collectors load up on getting as many copies as possible.  With this addition I now know that there are 5 variations of Cutch.  This particular card discusses the rare heir that Cutch is in by hitting a trio of three homer games over his career.  Only Albert Pujols and Joey Votto have done that with him during his time in the league.

In case you missed my other two Dynasty cards I showed off already I have posted them below.  I still have a few more to reveal also.

Spin Master

It's Friday night.  Let's hit the club with Spin Master Cutch.

Cutch has always been a jovial player. Staying loose in the clubhouse is important to him.

Even when he is on the basepaths he is having fun

Celebrating after winning the MVP, Yeah lets do a lil jig

And of course let's show the world how fun the USA is

In today's modern analytics, Cutch is a master of the spin.  He has crushed curve balls over the past few seasons, leading all major leaguers against the curve.

In 2017 he had a 1.207 OPS

A Sense of Pride

Cutch has been appearing in so many high end sets lately and I feel like Topps is producing cards of the former MVP just to get money specifically from me.

I know there are other Giants and McCutchen collectors out there, but there has been more Topps certified autographs of Cutch in the past year than the previous four years combined by both Topps and Panini.

With that being said, I couldn't pass up a card like this.

On card autograph numbered to only 5 copies with a sweet patch?

YES PLEASE!!!

But wait, there's more.

You see that numbering?
AP-AM4

There are at least 4 different variants to track down.  I have gathered 2 more (AM1 and AM3) to pair up with this.  I am seeking a copy of AM2.

Of the ones that discuss dynastic moments, this one is my favorite.

I loved the 2017 World Baseball Classic.  I think tournaments like that could really help make baseball a national pastime and must see sport again.

The reason why football has become so popular is because every game matters.  Entire seasons rest on a single game.

Can the same be said for a random cold day game in Chicago being played in April if you're the New York Mets?  No, probably not.  Even if you're a White Sox fan and you don't get the chance to see the Mets come play "your team" does it make an impact?  Nope.  Probably not, unfortunately.

That is why I love the WBC Tournament so much. Every game is important.  Players aren't playing for $300 million dollar contracts either.  They were playing for the love of the game and for the love of their country.