Who's To Blame pt1: Jacoby Ellsbury

When Andrew McCutchen debuted in the majors in 2009, he was given #22 as his uniform choice.  The number was previously worn by Xavier Nady.  Cutch has gone on record saying he would have liked to have number 24 as it was the number of his childhood hero, Ken Griffey Jr. At the time of Cutch's debut Tom Gorzelanny had been wearing #24 for three seasons. 

The number 22 hasn't been worn in Pittsburgh since 2017 when Cutch was traded to San Francisco prior to the start of the 2018 season. 

Cutch has become very associated with the number 22 and has it as part of his social media handles and sometimes will still sign ACutch22 while a member of the Brewers.  

I thought it may be fun to show off some cards I have featuring guys who have prevented Cutch from wearing #22 in a MLB uniform.  

After spending 9 seasons in Pittsburgh and collecting 4 SS, 5ASG, 1 GG, 1 MVP, the Roberto Clemente award, Baseball America's ROY, and bringing the Pirates back to the postseason for the first time in 20 years, Cutch was traded to San Francisco.  The Giants had #22 available for Cutch and it was announced during the 2018 season that #22 would be retired to honor Will Clark.  Cutch would be the last Giant to wear #22.  With the Giants slipping out of playoff contention and the Yankees having outfield injury concerns the two teams made a late August waver wire trade deadline and Cutch was sent to the clean shaven NY Yankees.

One of those outfielders who was injured was Jacoby Ellsbury, who took a monster 2011 season and a healthy 2013 season which he lead the AL in stolen bases and turned it into a 7 year $153 million contract with the Yankees to start the 2014 season.  

Jacoby debuted with the Boston Red Sox and had established himself as a high contact, high speed threat atop the Boston lineup.

He was becoming one of the young stars of the game by showing an ability to hit for high average (all his full seasons were .280+) while also leading the league in steals in 3 of his 4 full seasons. 

Injuries took their toll on Ellsbury in 2010 and he was limited to only 18 games. 

Ellsbury had a breakout season with the Red Sox in 2011 where he finished second in MVP voting along with winning the Comeback Player of the Year.

Ellsbury improved his power numbers by smashing 32 HR in 158 games.  His previous 4 seasons (2 full seasons) had only 20 HR combined.  

Ellsbury maintained his high batting average (.321) and high SB (39) in the 2011 season.

He would again suffer injuries in 2012 and that would limit him to only 74 games.

He bounced back in 2013 though, leading the American League in stolen bases yet again with 52 swipes and maintaining that .298 batting average.

After the season was over, he switched rivals going from Beantown to the Bronx.  

Ellsbury wouldn't reach 150 games played again in his career, coming closest in 2014 (149) and 2016 (148).  His batting average in NY would never reach the heights they were in Boston and his SBs while still very good would average only 24 a season, a far cry from the 50-70 range he was putting up in Boston.  

Ellsbury suffered injuries and his last game played was September 30th, 2017.  However because he was on the 40 man roster he still had to have a uniform number.  That uniform number was 22.

This prevented Cutch from getting #22 and Cutch was ultimately assigned #26.

Cutch would play 25 regular season games with the Yankees September 2018 and help the team get to 100 wins.  In that month long sample he had an .892 OPS and a 145 OPS+ 

When Cutch left NY for free agency in Philadelphia his #26 was assigned to DJ LeMahieu who has worn it since the 2019 season and has become a fan favorite among Yankees fans. 

Since Jacoby's #22 uniform became available after his 2019 release, two other players have worn the number not available to Andrew McCutchen.  They are Jordy Mercer and Greg Allen. 

What athletes look different wearing a number they're not usually wearing?

Do you think if Jacoby could have stayed healthy, he would have been in discussion for being a great of the 2010s?

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.

Look at that shine!!!

When it comes to modern baseball cards, many of us can agree that we love things that are shiny

The Superfractor has been one of the most prestigious parallels in our hobby for nearly 2 decades.  

Beginning in 2005 Topps Chrome, we have seen the champagne circles expand to many other sets like Topps Tribute, Allen & Ginter Chrome, Topps Heritage, Transcendent, among other sets.

Topps has been producing chrome parallels in their Topps Heritage set since the beginning of the product, but the Superfractor remained absent until the 2016 release.  Prior to that only the Chrome, Refractors, Black, and Gold Refractors existed.

With only a limited number of Superfractors produced for Andrew McCutchen Topps Heritage Chrome cards (2016, 2017, 2018, 2018 High Number, 2019 High Number, 2021) the chances of me getting one of these rare 1/1 style cards has been slim to impossible.  Only six McCutchen Heritage Superfractors exist in the past six years.  

Topps Heritage is THE MOST COLLECTED set of any hobby collectors.  It supports both the modern collector with current stars of the game along with a limited number of shiny parallels to chase after along with the vintage collectors that love the look and feel of vintage cardboard.  Unlike Flagship or any of the hit focused products, Heritage dives into the nostalgia fans because of that vintage design.  Heritage appeals to the original set design fans, player collectors, team collectors, set collectors, and master set collectors.  Lots of competition for the rarest of rare cards.

Well after many many many searches, I finally got one.

2021 Topps Heritage Chrome Superfractor based on the 1972 design.

It's so fricking sweet!

Check out the gold foil 1/1 on the back right corner.  

I grabbed this card a little over a month ago, but with the chaos of house searching, additional work hours, and prepping for the Save Second Base event I never got around to taking a picture of it. 

Do you have any Superfractors?

What kind of cards have you been looking to add to your collection for a few years, but you've never seen one available?

Belated Star Trek Day

Star Trek

To boldly go where no man hs gone before...

Even if that means going back a day from the future.

Yup, I forgot to tie in a Star Trek Day post yesterday because quite frankly I had no idea such a thing existed. 

Star Trek Day is celebrated every September 8th in memory of it's original airing on September 8th, 1966.

I was never a big Star Trek fan.  

Star Wars was more my thing.

Truth be told though the Alien and Predator film franchises are my true Sci-Fi loves.

To celebrate (a day late) Star Trek Day I thought I would look at some Andrew McCutchen cards in my collection that tie into the Star Trek Mythos.

Let's get started with an actress I have neglected from including as part of my SaveSecondBase event.  I am talking about Jeri Ryan who plays the Borg drone character, 7 of 9 on the show Star Trek: Voyager.

7 of 9

You may recall that a few years ago I attempted to make a Frankenset of Andrew McCutchen cards numbered to 9 copies as part of Daniel's 9 year blogging anniversary contest.  I couldn't quite fulfil that request because I was missing a 7/9.

That all changed when one follower on Twitter hit me up that he had pulled a Cutch 2020 Triple Threads gold parallel numbered...

7 of 9.

Speaking of 9, there was a series called Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that ran for 3 seasons from 1993 to 1995.

This September 8, 2014 issue of Sports Illustrated features Cutch on the cover and the main article is called Andrew McCutchen Goes Deep.

Star Trek debuted in 1966 and Cutch has been featured on several 1966 Topps designed cards.

The 2015 Topps Heritage design used the 1966 Topps design and pictured above is a 3 card advertising panel found in the box toppers.

Star Trek: The Next Generation followed up the success of the original Star Trek and it debuted September 1987.  Now I could easily show off some of the 1987 designed cards I have, but I'm going to boldly go beyond and show off one of my favorite Superfractors in my collection.

Above are the 2015 Topps Finest Generations red parallel /5 and Superfractor 1/1.  These cards pop!!!!

So there are some of my Cutch cards and magazine article that I could tie into some Star Trek items.

What is your favorite Sci-Fi franchise?

Do you like Star Trek?

The Sheff's Menu: 1989 Topps

By now you all should know 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.  I only got to see him play a few times as a member of the Florida Marlins when the fish came to visit Philadelphia.

I took a long break from baseball and got back into the game in 2005 when the Pirates drafted a highschooler named Andrew McCutchen.

My all time favorite player is obviously Andrew McCutchen.

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 clicking here.  (Title for this subject to change)

My very first Gary Sheffield card was 1989 Topps.  1987 Topps was the first set I collected and my dad and I put together the set.  My grandfather helped me build the 1989 set and one of my favorites was Gary Sheffield.

The gold chain, the "grill" with his initials, the Future Star logo, the pin stripe jersey

This card was cool!!!

The Sheffield has been used in several other releases over the years as both a reprint and buyback formats.

Here is the Sheff on top of a 2014 mini of Andrew McCutchen

As you can see by the size of the card, the mini is also a die cut format as the white border of the card has been completely removed.

The back of the minis are slightly different as well.

The pink is more pronounced on the mini back

The stats for the mini contain only the most recent season and major league totals while the original contains more in depth stat totals

The monthly scoreboard on the original is completely gone from the mini

There were two different minis produced of Cutch in 2014

The 1989 design was also used for a Chrome version in 2014

The backs as you can see feature the same problems as the mini

Interesting to see that MLB Network's Dan Duquette signed Gary Sheffield.

I also have the Superfractor of the Chrome version which I have shown off a few times.

I also have a stunning patch card of Cutch produced using the 1989 Topps design

It is limited to only 25 copies and is also a die cut

Do you have a favorite 1989 Topps card or any memories from the set?

You're The Best Superfractor

When it comes to chrome cards, very rarely is there any parallels better than a Superfractor.  This 2017 Bowman Best Superfractor is no exception.

I missed putting up a post yesterday showing off a Bowman Best 1/1 so I don't think Mister Miyagi would be very proud of me.  This was a failed week of posts and it's only Tuesday.  Although technically I posted 2 one of ones on Sunday so I'm still on pace.  I'll have to see how the judges rule it...

Time to get amped up for the rest of the week...

Leading off...

Baseball is back!

The Yankees and Dodgers are both undefeated and could eventually be heading to the World Series.  26 other teams will be competing tonight.

While I am always excited for Pirates baseball, I am most excited to see Andrew McCutchen have an at bat in an official game again.

It has been over 400 days since his injury last year.

He's leading off for the Phillies tonight so I am going to lead off this 2020 Phillies season with my favorite Phillies card featuring Cutch.

2019 Topps Transcendent Superfractor Auto

numbered 1/1

A Most Excellent Collecting Adventure

A few days ago the official trailer came out for Bill & Ted: Face The Music.

You can see the trailer below

I talked about my excitement for this movie last year as part of my 80s week.

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.

And I have it!
I wrote about it over 2 years ago.

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.

Celebrating Tony Gwynn's Birthday

Today would have been Tony Gwynn's 60th birthday had he not passed away back in 2014.  It's crazy to think it has been six years since his death and that it has been almost two decades since his last game played.

Tony was a generational player.

This meme from Twitter captures how good he was in his career

I didn't believe this stat when I first saw it so I went over to Baseball-Reference to verify.

Of those 4 Hall of Fame Pitchers Gwynn put up batting averages of .314, .444, .303, and .415 respectively against Pedro, Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux.

In those plate appearances he struck out twice against Glavine, once against Smoltz, and ZERO times against Pedro and Maddux.

He worked 20 walks against only 3 strikeouts.

That is insane levels against 4 FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAMERS.

How did he do against other Hall of Famers?

Well, Nolan Ryan struck him out the most amount of times with 9 punchouts in 67 plate appearances, but Gwynn still batted at a .302 clip against the Ryan Express.

Randy Johnson owned Gwynn at the plate striking him out 5 times in 18 plate appearances and only collecting 2 hits good for only a .278 OPS.


There is another insane stat that captures how unique a talent Tony was

Mike Trout, arguably the best player in the game today, had over 20 games last year alone with 2 or more strikeouts.  INSANE!!!


As a kid I always wanted the 1983 Topps Gwynn rookie.  I settled for a Fleer and eventually got an 83 Topps as an adult. 

I will now show off all my 1983 Topps design cards of Cutch as a tribute for the great hitter of Mr. Padre.

Back in 2018, Topps was celebrating the 35th anniversary of the 1983 design which featured Tony Gwynn's rookie card.

I have shown a few of these cards off in the past.

Red /5, White/30
Superfractor/1, Orange/25

I also have a few of the on card signatures

I have 1 buyback 1/1 card from the 2018 Transcendent Party

2015 Topps Archives Black 1/1

 2015 Topps Archives Printing Plates
1/1 Plates of Yellow, Cyan, Magenta

Even though Gwynn wasn't an All-Star in 1983, I still want to show off the near complete run of 1983 2013 Topps Archives All-Stars printing plates
1/1 Printing Plates
Yellow, Black, Magenta

Here are a bunch of them I grouped together for a picture I showed off on Twitter

On a completely different note about the way the game has changed from the 80s to current game compare these stats

It looks like the 2020 baseball season is going to be a lost season so let's look at Cutch's stats through his age 33 season (he wouldn't turn 34 until October)


Andrew McCutchen
1,560 Games
233 Home Runs
1,664 hits
.287 AVG
823 walks vs 1238 strikeouts
187 Stolen Bases
.378 OBP
.858 OPS
134 OPS+

Tony Gwynn (through age 33/1993 season)
1585 Games
66 Home Runs
2,039 hits
.329 Avg
542 Walks vs 310 Strikeouts
263 Stolen Bases
.383 OBP
.821 OPS


The game has clearly moved into one of three outcome situations (walk, homer, strikeout).  Gwynn got 1.29 hits per game over his career compared to Cutch's 1.07 hits per game played.