Serial History: A No-No and No.400 chop suey style

I always love to use serial numbers as an inspiration for posts especially when I have writer's block.

This 2022 Topps Heritage card is serially numbered 7/15 and is based on the 1973 design

It also has a 1973 nickel.

7/15/1973

Let's look at some important things that happened that day.

Nolan Ryan threw his 2nd career no hitter.

You can hear the radio call on YouTube here.  The best part of this story is that Norm Cash with 2 outs in the 9th went to bat with a table leg before being told to use a real bat.  

It's my understanding that there's not a full video available if the entire game online. 

Willie McCovey became the 15th player in MLB history to hit 400 career homeruns. He would eventually go on to hit 521 over his 22 year career.  I couldn't find video of his 400th career, but here's a few HR highlights video of Stretch.

The drummer for the metal band System of a Down, John Dolyman was born.  

I got a chance to meet John at New York Comic Con around 2009 if I remember correctly.  He had his drum set on display which featured artwork by a number of elite comic book artists including Jim Lee, Bernie Wrightson, Art Adams, Tim Bradstreet, and many more. Unfortunately this was when I was still taking pictures with a digital camera and those files (and that PC) are long gone.  I had some on MySpace, but most of my photos were set to private and it's been at least 12 years since I logged in. Below are a few pics of the drum set I found online if anyone is interested.

Wolverine by Jim Lee on one side and 

Batman by Jim Lee on the other side

Jim is a legendary comic artist who drew one of the best Batman stories ever created (Batman: Hush) and also the highest selling comic book of all time (X-Men #1) and helped form Image Comics with his creator owned series WildC.A.T.S

All three of these things occuring on July 15th, 1973 and how there's no video of them in entirety got me thinking of what other pre 2022 items have been lost due to not having the cloud and digital formats more readily available. 

Since we live in an era where everything is forever forged in a digital footprint, what are some things you wish we had images or video of?  Let's keep it to only things after your birth year.  I'm sure it would be fun to imagine Instagram in the early 1900s, but let's be realistic. 

Serial History: Reflecting on getting old

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.

Do you feel old yet? 

What other memories do you have of 1991?

Serial History, The Zombie Connection from NJ to Pittsburgh

Each year during the month of October, I show off only pink (and shades of pink like magenta, peach, etc) to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer, a leading cause of death for females in the United States.  

Due to my own financial situation this year I will not be able to make a donation for each (meaningful, non spam) comment left by those that follow the blog.  Once things settle down on the home front though I will be looking to make a donation in 2022 based on the comments left during this year's event.  Hopefully together we can help at least one woman get a much needed mammogram.  Early detection is key!!!

If you want to make your own private donation please visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  There is a donate button on the main page and it only takes a minute of your time.  Every little bit helps.

I have focused primarily on cards that only feature Andrew McCutchen on the card, but in recent years have also featured cards with a cameo appearance (either being seen on the card or as a name cameo on the back of the card).  In 2019, I created Falco Files which discussed players that replaced (Shane Falco Replacements movie reference) on an active roster, number worn, or trade.  I will also be showing some Cutch's Crew cards that show pink cards of players that have played with Cutch on multiple teams. I will continue to utilize these styles of posts as we celebrate the 5th Collecting Cutch Save Second Base event (I am no longer counting my first run on the Pirates Treasure Room I did back in 2014).

I am always looking for new ways to incorporate new celebrities into the event so today I am presenting

Lauren Cohan

She is a model and actress

She is known for her fit body and roles in sci-fi pop culture 

Her most well known role is playing Maggie Grace on the zombie series The Walking Dead

Born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey January 7th 1980, the zombie killer seems perfect to finish out this year's event

Remember how I mentioned Lauren was born on 1/7?

Here is a 2021 Topps Now Turn Back the Clock Cherry parallel serially numbered 1/7.  Fun connection points for the Cherry parallel for someone born in Cherry Hill.

The card talks about rookie Pittsburgh star Andrew McCutchen hitting 3 homers in front of the hometown Pittsburgh crowd.

Fun fact, Night of the Living Dead was filmed at the Monroeville Mall and the zombie Hall of Fame was featured at the mall

Happy Halloween everyone

Serial History: Unlucky 13

It has been a long time since I did a Serial History

As part of the move I have thrown out my old scanner and trying to "scan" my cards just using my phone.  I still have lots and lots of boxes in storage and am only in a temporary landing spot with the inlaws until our new home is settled upon. 

I think the camera scan above came out pretty cool.  It shows off the shine of this

2018 Donruss Optic Carolina Blue

very well.

The back as you can see is serially numbered 13/50

Since it is a Carolina Blue card let's look at some Carolina teams and see who has worn "unlucky" thirteen.

Let's begin with the Carolina Panthers

For the Carolina Panthers there has been only three players to wear #13.  This article discusses Kelvin Benjamin and Ken Walter (punter 1997-2000) and was written in 2017, prior to Jarius Wright playing for the team.  Kelvin Benjamin is eighth all time on the Panthers all time records for receiving yards despite just playing 40 games with the team.  He connected for a touchdown 18 times and had a 53.5% reception rate.

Moving on to the basketball side of things, we have the complicated history of the Charlotte Hornets.  The Charlotte Hornets eventually moved to New Orleans and a new team took over in Charlotte, owned by Michael Jordan.  The team went by the name of the Bobcats until the New Orleans Hornets became the Pelicans.  The Charlotte Bobcats changed their name back to the Charlotte Hornets following the name change started in New Orleans.  The original Charlotte Hornets had some pretty good players on their team and two of them became famous in the original Space Jam (Muggsy Bogues and Larry Johnson).  You can't talk about the original Hornets teams without mentioning Alonzo Mourning, Dell Curry (father of Steph), and Kendall Gill.  

Gill came onto the season in a big way after being drafted 5th overall by the Hornets in 1990.  He made the All NBA Rookie 1st Team and averaged nearly 20ppg as a sophomore.  He would go on to play for several teams over his career including stops in New Jersey, Seattle, Charlotte (twice), Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Miami.  He was named to the Charlotte Hornets 30th Anniversary team in 2018.

Another Hornets player to wear number 13 is Bobby Phills.  Phills was the first player to have his number retired by the organization. It was due to tragedy that Phills had his number retired when he crashed his Porsche while driving recklessly over 100MPH.  He was pronounced deceased at the scene and the other party involved in the accident was fortunately able to survive.  In 1996 Phills was named to the NBA All Defense Second Team.  He averaged 11ppg, but was known for his defense.  In 1996, Michael Jordan claimed that Phills was the toughest defender he faced.  Following his death, the Hornets retired number 13.  

Moving to the collegiate side of things we have the North Carolina Tar Heels.  This is the team most likely associated with "Carolina Blue".  Like thr Hornets, the Tar Heels have honored number 13 in the rafters.  However, the jersey number hasn't been retired.  

John "Hook" Dillon was the shooting guard on the team's first Final Four appearance.  He played for the Tar Heels from 1944 to 1948.  He was twice an All-American.

One of the most recent and successful players to wear #13 is Cameron Johnson, currently a member of the Phoenix Suns.

Johnson is a stud! He played only two years at UNC after transferring from Pittsburgh and had the second most three pointers in a season and ranks 18th all time in threes.  He is a versatile defender and can match up against any position.

It doesn't have to have ties to the Carolinas, but who are the players you think about first when you see number 13?  

Serial History: Irish Meusel

Since it is a week to go before Saint Patrick's Day, I thought it would be fun to celebrate in a very Irish way.  Leading up to St. Patty's day I have a few special Irish and drinking themed posts planned.  You can revisit all my previous years St Patrick's posts by clicking here.

What better way to celebrate baseball and an Irish themed holiday than talking about former big leaguer "Irish" Meusel.

Emil Frederick Meusel was born in 1893 and was given the nickname Irish for his heritage.  

Irish played with four teams over his career (Brooklyn Robins, New York Giants, Washington Senators, and Philadelphia Phillies).  Of those teams, only one exists in it's original city and team name, the Philadelphia Phillies. 

During the 1921 season, Irish was traded from the Phillies to the New York Giants and with his high batting average he helped the Giants overcome a 7.5 game deficit to win the National League Pennant over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Giants would face off against the New York Yankees in the 1921 World Series and the brothers Meusel would battle each other in the series.  

The New York Giants and Irish Meusel would go on to win the Championship and defeat Bob Meusel's Yankees. 

Irish helped the Giants win 4 more pennants and helped the Giants to another World Series Championship in 1922.  He compiled 202 hits and 132 RBI in 1922.  The next year he would lead the league in RBI (125).  He would play only a few more seasons, getting MVP votes in 1925 for his 21 HR and 111RBI performance while batting .328.  His final season was his age 34 season for the Brooklyn Robins. 

Irish Meusel had a career batting average of .310 over his 11 year career.  

To celebrate the name "Irish" Meusel and recognize his breakout performances 100 years ago with the Philadelphia Phillies as their left fielder, here are my serially numbered 3/10 Phillies cards of their current left fielder.  It's only fitting that today is 3/10 as well.

2020 Topps Total Red

2019 Topps Five Star Silver Signatures Gold

2020 Topps Now Road To Opening Day Red

2019 Gypsy Queen red

2019 Prizm Gold

What are your St. Patrick's Day plans?

Do you have any suggestions for a St. Patrick theme post that I can make over the next week?

Serial History: 1949 Phillies

It has been a long time since I featured a Serial History segment.  In case you have forgotten what Serial History is, it's a series where I look at the serial numbering of a card and look at how that serial number can relate to a player, team, year, area code, etc.

I don't have many relics of Andrew McCutchen in a Phillies uniform.  I was hoping that maybe he would get a Heritage High Numbers relic with Bryce Harper, but that didn't happen.  I have a Santa Hat relic that was worn for a Spring Training photo shoot which I showed off here.  If you're into 1 of 1 bat barrels, well I have one of those too which I showed off when declaring my first Twitter purchase.  I also have a 2019 Panini Immaculate Collection jersey relic numbered to 49 copies.

This particular copy is numbered 19/49.

I thought it would be fun to look at the Phillies franchise in 1949.  The 1949 Phillies showed a step forward for an organization that had only 1 winning since 1917.  Yes you read that correctly.  From 1917 to 1949 the Phillies had only one winning season in 1932.  Much of the early unsuccessful years came on the heels of trading star pitcher Grover Alexander and running the team cheaply.

Future Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts made their MLB debuts in 1948 and would help propel the team to an 81-73 record.

The following year saw the dubbed "Whiz Kids" lead the Phillies to the NL Pennant.


This card has been sitting around for a few months along with a rather large pile of cards waiting patiently to be shown off.  I grabbed it for under $5 back in September.

The design of Immaculate is really nice although it is extremely difficult to determine what year each card is from.

The back of the card discusses  Cutch hitting a leadoff homer on Opening Day (his very first official at bat as a member of Phillies).

Heinie Mueller (what a name that is) was a member of those terrible Phillies mentioned above.  Unfortunately his career lasted only 4 seasons from 1938 to 1941.  After the events of Pearl Harbor he joined the Army and served until 1945.  He rejoined the Phillies for Spring Training in 1946, but was released prior to the season starting. In 1949 he became a player-manager of the Muskogee Reds.

Serial History: 1925 Yankees

Today I will be looking at the year 1925 again as part of my Serial History.

Serial History is a segment I have done only a few times before.  You can see my others by clicking here.

I have already shown off a card of Cutch wearing a Pirates uniform and serial numbered 19/25.  That made me look at the World Series Champions of that year lead by guys like Pie Traynor.

Cutch
19/25 Bazooka back from 2019 Gypsy Queen featuring Cutch in a Yankees uniform

The 1925 Yankees

I have been seeking out autographs of those who wore a Pirates uniform and are inducted in the Hall of Fame.  Hoyt did play a few seasons with the Pirates between 1933 to 1937.  His best years were with the Yankees when he was selected to three All-Star games and lead the American League in Wins in 1923.

What is odd about this card is that it specifically says Yankees on the back.  Panini had already lost it's MLB license by 2011 so technically it couldn't shouldn't have used the team name without facing legal problems.  I am not sure if anything legally came from Panini's unauthorized use of the team name, but I find this cut auto to be kind of neat because of that.

The 1925 Yankees were not a good baseball team, which is surprising because just a few years later you see a lineup referred to as Murderer's Row and is often cited as one of the best lineups in baseball history.

The 1925 Yankees finished 30 games behind the Washington Senators.  The team finished in 7th place and well below .500 with a record of 69-85.  This season would be the last time the Yankees would finish below .500 for the next 40 years and it was only the second time in their 23 year history that they finished below .500.

The main reason for their failures to win games rested on Babe Ruth missing most of the season with an unknown illness that limited him to only 359 plate appearances.

Sam Jones was the team's featured starter, opening 43 games, but to a 4.63 ERA and a. 15-21 record while recording less than 100 strikeouts.

Lou Gehrig, in his first full season (126 games) began his long "Iron Horse" streak on June 1st 1925 and would go on to play in every regulation game until May 2nd 1939.  In 1925 as a 22 year old he swatted 20 homers, third only to Ruth and Bob Meusel, while batting a .295/.365/.561 line.

Bob Meusel lead the Team in homeruns (33) and RBI (134).  He also had a practically even strikeout (55) to walk (54) rate at the plate.  On the basepaths he finished second on the team with 13 stolen bases.  He finished second in WAR on the time (above Ruth and Gehrig).  The only player who collected a higher WAR was...

Another Hall of Famer Earle Combs.  Combs, like Gehrig, was playing in his first full season at the age of 26 years old.  He went on to score nearly 1,200 runs in his 12 year career, all with the Yankees.  His career total numbers don't appear great with less than 1,900 hits, only 58 homers, and less than 100 stolen bases in comparison to other centerfielder in the HOF.  Despite not having a single defining moment or duration, his peak and being atop those famous Yankees lineups no doubt got him voted in.  It should be,noted that he walked 670 times in his career, but only struck only 278 times.  That lead to his nearly .400 OBP career mark.

Serial History: 1925 Pirates

Well...those damn D'Backs beat the heck out of the Bucs again yesterday.  Thankfully we won't have to see them again until 2020 as the Pirates were 1-6 against them this year and got swept by them last year in Pittsburgh.

Moving on......


To formally kick off Serial History, I am going to look at an older Andrew McCutchen on card autograph from 2011 Triple Threads.  There are multiple parallels of this card to track down including the base/99, sepia/75, emerald/50,  sapphire/10, wood/1, and ruby/1.

Sadly the only copy I have is this Gold version numbered 19/25.

I will be looking at the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates team in this segment of Serial History.

The Pirates won the World Series in 1925.  It was their second World Series title, the other being from 1909.  Three more titles would follow in 1960, 1971, and 1979.

The 1925 Pirates had 3 future Hall of Famers on their team: Kiki Cuyler, Pie Traynor, and Max Carey.

Some highlights of the World Series Champions that occurred during the season can be described below.

Hall of Famer, Kiki Cuyler lead the league in triples (26), times on base (291) and runs scored (144).  (Sadly I don't have a single card of Kiki)

Glenn Wright performed an unassisted triple play on May 7th.
I was shocked to see Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts post about Glenn Wright and the 1925 Pirates last week.

This cut auto easily pushes Glenn to be my starting shortstop on my All Autograph Pirates team.  Sorry Jay Bell.

In addition to having a Glenn Wright cut auto, I also have autographs of the following:

Hall of Famer, Max Carey
Max Carey was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1961 by the Veterans Committee.  He was a ten time National League stolen base champion and is 9th All-Time with 738 career stolen bases.  He finished his career with 2,047 singles (47th all time).  He had 290 career sacrifice hits showing his ability to help his team win games selflessly.  That remains 13th best all time.  Despite playing fewer games in left field than center field throughout his career, he still holds the 8th most double plays turned as a left fielder with 30.  As a Centerfielder he appears in the top 20 All-Time for a number of defensive stats including assists (4th most 221 total), putouts (14th most with 4,589), and double plays (4th most with 58).

Hall of Famer, Pie Traynor has been on my want list for an autograph for awhile and I was able to add his 1933 Goudey card and a cut auto just about a month ago.

He is the team's greatest third baseman in the history of the Pirates. The Pirates retired numbered 20 in honor of Pie.

He finished his career with 2,416 hits and a .320 batting average while amassing 1,273 RBI over 1900 career games at the hot corner.  He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1948 on his 5th year on the ballot.

 

Babe Adams may not be a Hall of Famer, but he is one of the greatest Pirates pitchers in their long history.  He holds the team record for wins by a right hander (194), shutouts (47), and lowest walk rate 1 walk per 14+ innings pitched.

One of his most memorable moments was pitching all 21 innings of a pitching dual in 1914.  He didn't allow a walk in all 21 innings.

Serial History: Legendary Yankees?

I have a ridiculous amount of Andrew McCutchen baseball cards.  Sometimes I get writer's block and can't think of things to write about regarding a one time perennial MVP candidate who is having declining years ahead of him.

However....

I discovered something while looking at this incredible on card autograph of Cutch from 2019 Inception.

Not only is it just one of a handful of Cutch autographs featured in a short lived Yankees uniform, but it is very low numbered.

The serial number on this card is 6/10.

Anyone who knows anything about Yankees baseball knows the Yankees have retired numbers 1-10 from being worn in the future. 

Number 6 was worn by Hall of Fame manager, Joe Torre

Torre famously managed the Yankees for a decade and won the World Series four times in that period.  He collected 2,342 hits as a player for the Braves, Cardinals, and Mets.

Torre is a baseball lifer having worked in many aspects of the business.  As a player he is often forgotten for having a great career.  A 9 time All-Star, Torre won the National League MVP, batting title, and RBI crown in 1971.  In addition to those accomplishments he won a gold glove in 1965.

Number 10 was worn by Hall of Famer, Phil Rizzuto. 

Prior to the outcry of Harold Baines being the worse player inducted into the Hall of Fame, many felt Phil Rizzuto was the worse.

His career WAR was just over 40 wins above replacement which is 4 wins less than Troy Tulowitzki.  He missed three of his prime years due to service in the Navy, but finished with only a .706 career OPS.
SEVEN ZERO SIX!!!

Still with an MVP, 6 All-Star appearances, and 7 World Championships he is a legendary Yankee.  Prior to Derek Jeter, he was often considered the greatest Yankees shortstop of all-time despite amassing less than 1,600 career hits.

My only memory of Phil Rizzuto comes from the movie Billy Madison when Adam Sandler's titular character can't write Rizzuto in cursive.

This idea of looking at serial numbers for inspiration is something I will be doing at least once a month going forward.  It will be a segment I call Serial History where I look at the serial numbers and discuss them.  

A 2015 card of Cutch in a Pirates uniform may be numbered 19/25 so I may look at the Pirates team from the year 1925 or I may look at how many winning seasons the Pirates had since 1925 or maybe the Pirates players who wore 19 and 25 or maybe what pop culture things were happening in 1925 and how relevant was that to 2015.  

The possibilities with over 1,500 serially numbered cards of Cutch are almost endless regarding what I can come up with.