The Ultimate Lineup Using only Andrew McCutchen cards

After looking at some of the reactions to my recent Dynasty post, I thought it might be fun to do a similar "make a team" style post.  This time however, my team can only consist of players from cards I own that also feature Andrew McCutchen.

Let's start with my bench players:

Tris Speaker and Mike Trout

Reggie Jackson

Miggy Cabrera

Now that I have your attention by claiming 2 of the best centerfielder of all time and one of the best modern day right handed hitters are on my bench, it's time to round out with the best of the rest I have to put on the bench

Javy Baez

Nolan Arenado

Now for the lineup

Rickey Henderson (LF)

Honus Wagner (SS)

Roberto Clemente (RF)

Willie Mays (CF)

Mike Schmidt (3B)

Willie Stargell (1B)

Ken Griffey Jr. (DH)

Jackie Robinson (2B)

Buster Posey (C)

Clayton Kershaw (SP)

Relief Pitchers/Rotation Starters

Jason Grilli

David Price

Andrew Miller

Gerrit Cole

A.J. Burnett

Cole Hamels

So there's my team featuring players to appear on a card with Cutch. I would love to see if any of you can pick a single player in your collection and field a better team using cards of only players pictured on cards with one of your favorite players. If you do a bat around style post, please leave a comment below and share your team. 

The Team That Changed The Game

On September 1st, 1971 the Pittsburgh Pirates sent out a roster comprised entirely of non white players.  It was the first time a MLB team had a starting lineup of such ethnicity.

To celebrate that incredible time in our history I thought it would be fun to look at a Pirates All Time lineup consisting of only black and latin players.  

I will be using each of the 9 traditional positions along with a utility player, a 4th outfielder, DH, some extra bats, and a few extra arms to use in the bullpen. 

3rd Base

Bill Madlock

Madlock won two batting titles for the Pirates and was a key part of the 1979 World Series Champion team.  He can play both 2B and 3B.

Left Field

Barry Bonds

Before Barry was the *All Time Home Run King, he was hitting leadoff for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was a true power/speed athlete becoming just the second member of the 40/40 club in the history of the game.  His .380 OBP (Pirates years only) combined with the speed and power make him a perfect match for the number 2 hitter in the lineup.

Right Field

Roberto Clemente

The Pirates All Time hit leader, finished his career with exactly 3,000 hits and a .317 batting average

1st Base

Willie Stargell

The Pirates All Time Home Run Champ finished his Pirates career with 475 HR and 1,540 RBI.  Pops is a perfect fit for knocking in the guys on base ahead of him in.

DH

Bobby Bonilla

I really didn't know who to play at 3rd and who to make the team's DH.  Bonilla is still earning a paycheck from the Mets so if he's still collecting a paycheck from a MLB team, I'm putting him in the field, albeit at the DH spot. His pop is loud enough to protect Willie from the 5th spot.

Centerfield

Andrew McCutchen

Cutch has batted leadoff for every team he has played for.  He had developed into a more of the middle of the lineup threat after his first two seasons, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to put a run on the board early in the game with his 203 Pirates HRs ranking 4th all time in Pirates franchise history had I chosen to bat him leadoff, but one of his best months of his career occurred in June 2017 when he was named player of the month and batted predominately from the 6 hole, a lineup spot he has also batted for Team USA and the Phillies. 

Catcher

Manny Sanguillen

Manny was a pretty good hitter and was a part of two World Series teams with the Pirates.  Besides one season in Oakland, Sangy played his entire career with the Pirates. He made 3 All Star teams and finished his Pirates career with a .299 batting average. 

2nd Base

Josh Harrison

For an undersized player and a prospect that was a throw in from the Cubs for John Grabow, the man known as JHay was a spark plug for the success of the mid 2010s Pirates teams.  He served on two All Star teams and played a multiple of positions for the Pirates as they reached the postseason three consecutive years.

Shortstop

Rennie Stennet

There just wasn't many options for this team at Shortstop.  

Pitcher

Bob Veale

From 1964-1966, Veale struck out 755 batters.

Bench Bats

Pedro Alvarez

Pedro didn't have a very long career despite being the second overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft.  He won a Silver Slugger in 2013 and participated in the All Star Game that same season when he won the National League Home Run title.  He hit 131 HR in Pittsburgh and become the first player in MLB history to collect an RBI in each of their first 6 postseason games.  He likely will be used as a pinch hitter on this squad of a HR is needed.

Dave Parker

The Cobra will serve as the team's 4th outfielder and has won an MVP, batting title, and possesses an absolute cannon for an arm in the outfield.  He could be a late inning defensive substitute or a clutch hitting pinch hitter.

Al Oliver

This borderline Hall of Famer is one of the most underrated hitters of the 1970s.  Oliver can play all three outfield positions and 1st Base

Tony Pena

A criminally underrated catcher in his day, Pena could serve as backup to Sanguillen.

Starling Marte

Marte has developed into a prime five tool athlete.  He is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game even in his 30s and can still swipe up to 20 bags a year while hitting .270+ and providing double digit homerun totals.  He won't walk much, but once on the bases he is a dangerous threat.

Cole Tucker

Ok, he hasn't lived up to what made him a number one draft pick, but I am a huge fan of Cole Tucker.  He is a super fan friendly player and heck...hes dating Vanessa Hudgens so let's give a reason to allow her to come to PNC Park more often.  He could play 2B, SS, 3B, and any of the outfield positions.

Pitchers

Dock Ellis

He threw a no hitter on LSD and was the pitcher on the mound for that legendary September 1st 1971 game.

Francisco Liriano

Liriano pitched the most important game in the history of PNC Park when he got the winning decision of the "Blackout Game", the 2013 Wild Card Game.  It was the first time the Pirates were in the post season for over 2 decades and the first time PNC Park hosted a postseason game.  Over his 5 year Pirates career, Liriano had a 9.4K/9 and a 3.65 ERA.  His last season with the Pirates was strictly out of the bullpen, but his previous four were as a front of the rotation starter.  He won the 2013 Comeback Player of the Year.

John Candaleria

The Candy Man has served as a long man and starting pitcher for the Pirates. 

He who shall not be named

Nicknamed, the Nightmare, this man is currently serving a four year prison sentence for crimes he committed while a member of the Pirates.  He made a couple All Star Games and was one of the best relief pitchers in the game, collecting 86 saves over 3 years as the primary closer and having an 11.8K/9 rate.  This doesn't ignore the fact that he is a terrible human being and I hope to never discuss his name on this blog again.

How do you think this team would compete versus other team's all time non white teams?

Could the Steel City take on teams like the Giants or A's, both teams very rich in black and Latino talents? 

I challenge other bloggers to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this culture changing game by creating their favorite team's lineup using only Black and Latino players.

Superman Day

Every June 12th is celebrated as National Superman Day.

You may recall I discussed this day back in 2019 when I showed off a super rare 1 of 1 autograph booklet letter patch card.  

I was never a huge fan of Superman compared to other superheroes.  I always liked the darker more angsty heroes like Wolverine, Green Arrow, or Batman or I liked the comical heroes like Flash or Deadpool.

I do respect Superman though.  He is an American icon.

Superman is also known as The Man of Steel.

Here are some other Men of Steel from my Andrew McCutchen Triple Threads collection

My favorite 20 in 2020

They say hindsight is 20/20 and all I can say is I am so glad 2020 is in the rearview.

I thought it would be fun to look back at my favorite 20 cards released of Cutch in 2020.  

Now let me first state that it's a little disappointing that Cutch wasn't included in sets like Topps Chrome (and the Ben Baller variant), Allen & Ginter (Allen & Ginter X and Allen & Ginter Chrome were exclusions also), Gypsy Queen, and Topps Archives, along with every Bowman product.

These were all upsetting exclusions for different reasons.  

Topps Chrome is king of licensed Chrome parallels.

Allen & Ginter is my favorite release each year and I really wanted to see a Chrome version.

Gypsy Queen has been stale the past few years, but including Nick Williams over Cutch as part of the Phillies team set is a headscratcher for sure.

Topps Archives is a fun retro designed inspire set and all the designs this year would have allowed me to add a bew Cutch on a vintage design....if only he was included.

So here are my favorite cards released in packs that I personally own in my collection from the year 2020.  

It should be noted that a lot of these cards have not appeared on the blog yet so you are seeing them for the first time today.

Call it biased, but Andrew McCutchen still looks best in a Pirates hat.  From the moment he made his MLB debut in 2009 he became my favorite athlete.  With the COVID shortened season, Topps had to modify their Update release since there weren't many Rookies to release in the set and there was obviously no All Star Game.  Topps promoted the Update Series by featuring recent fan favorites in their All Star Game uniforms of years past.  There was also an autograph/patch release similar to the All-Star Stitches we have seen in the past.  I have the /25 version, but that card just features a basic jersey swatch.  This /10 version has a nice chunky patch.

Did I mention I like Andrew McCutchen cards in a Pittsburgh uniform?  Well I do.  I also like autographs. And 1 of 1s.  And laundry tags.  This card covers a lot of my favorite things from a Cutch card.  Only thing missing is dreadlocks and an on card signature.

Chunky patches and autographs are pretty awesome.  They're less awesome in a Phillies jersey, but I can't complain about adding another Andrew McCutchen autograph to the PC.  

This card is cool.  The laundry tag patch says so.  The patch is colossal and it features yet another autograph.  Serially numbered to only 3 copies is fantastic!

I have a weird fascination for Topps Gold Label.  I lovethe different classes with the different images used for each class.  Often times in traditional cards of Cutch he is in a posed batting stance, not even an action shot.  I really like fielding cards of Cutch.  Gold Label Gold parallels are all numbered 1/1.  I try to get at least one of these each year. The Bret "The Hitman" Hart glasses he's wearing are a nice added touch of his on field swag.

Speaking of swag?  This card made a lot of top 10 lists for best sports card in 2020.  Do I need to talk about this anymore?

Cutch received another SSP in Series 2 featuring him tipping his cap to his wife after a Home Run, but the 2020 Update SP features him at his Phillies press conference.  There was a clear version available numbered to only 10 copies.  I took a picture instead of a scan so you can hopefully see the legs of the bobblehead behind it.  

The Topps UK release was produced with plans to only distribute it in the United Kingdom, but many of them were sold to US buyers.  The set in general is kind of boring as it just features the Union Jack under the Topps logo.  Of course there were parallels to chase, because well...it's 2020 and it's Topps. My favorite parallel is the Big Ben parallel because it brings the concept of the UK together.

2020 Stadium Club had a really nice design this year.  The base card had an image of Cutch running home, but the 2020 Stadium Club Chrome release had an action shot of Cutch diving to catch a fly ball.  Cutch has been criticized for his defense in recent years, but if you watch the games you can tell he still goes maximum effort on all plays.  There were many parallels for this set as well as my favorite is the wave refractor.  

Giant patch ✔

Limited print run ✔

Topps Museum ✔

There's a lot to like about this card

Red and Phillies go so well together so getting a 1/1 from Topps Triple Threads has been on the want list since he signed with the Phillies.  

Bryce Harper is either the most overrated or underrated player in the game depending who you ask.  Personally I think he gets a bad rap because he openly speaks his mind and in his first decade of playing in the majors hasn't broken every offensive and defensive record in the history books.  The amount of hype he got as a 16 year old is something the aport had never seen.  He may not be Mike Trout, but he is still one heck of a ballplayer and likely a future Hall of Famer.  The Cutch patch on this /9 Gold Triple Threads card is a nice touch.

Seeing Cutch back in a Pirates uniform in a 2020 release made me so happy.  I've picked up a few of the parallels and AJ sent me the base, but I'm going with the vintage logo/card stock parallel as my choice because Cutch in 2013 All-Star Game was vintage Cutch.  He won the MVP award and helped the Pirates to their first post season in 20 years.  

Red border parallels on cards with Phillies make for excellent pieces of cardboard, but that is not the reason I chose this card.  The United States was going through some rough racial times during the summer and tensions were at peak levels.  Baseball came through to properly honor the Negro Leagues and support Black Lives Matter.  Andrew McCutchen was at the forefront of it on Opening Day and on the day the MLB honored Negro Leagues by wearing patches or vintage uniforms, Cutch hit a homer.  This Topps Now card recognizes it.

1971 Topps is a gorgeous set with very tough grades.  Getting a modern player on such a classic design is something Topps Heritage has been doing for nearly two decades.  Cutch was a SP in the set.

I wasn't around in the hobby when Sweet Spot was all the rage, but Panini captured the essence of the idea with Absolute Baseball. This Cutch ink looks like it will fade in the future, but for now I am going to enjoy it as it is just one of six copies.

How nice is that patch?  1985 Topps is an awesome design.  Adding a massive patch to the card makes it pop!

This scan is terrible and I promise I will get a better scan for October when I show it off again.  It's a pink hyper plaid parallel from 2020 1986 design autograph.  Best of all it's number 2/2.

Year in and out, Cutch always gets a matching uniform swatch to the photo used on his Topps Definitive card releases.  I doubt it's intentional as many other players don't get the same treatment, but a double red pinstripe jumbo jersey relic makes my list of favorite 20 Cutch cards added to the PC in 2020.

If Topps used spell check or proof readers, they would be a really good company that produces nice cards.  The design of this 2020 Triple Threads Sapphire /3 is perfect.  The triple bats for three of the Pirates All time greatest hitters is a nice touch.  It's only blemish?  Andrew's name has a "d" in it.

So in no particular order, those are my 20 favorite 2020 Cutch cards I picked up in 2020.  

What are some of your favorite pickups of the past year?