Throwback Thursday: Researching the Image

One of my favorite features on here is to highlight #tbt cards, cards that feature Cutch wearing older uniforms.

In 2012 Topps released a photo variant for card #497. It featured Cutch and the Pirate Parrot doing a little batting practice before the game.  Cutch was dressed in the old Negro League uniform of the Homestead Grays famously worn by Hall of Fame legend, Josh Gibson aka "The Black Babe Ruth".

After some quick researched I determined that the card's photo is from a July 23rd 2011 game between the Cardinals at Pirates.  The Cardinals would go on to win the game 9-1 according to Baseball Reference.  All the pregame wiffleball batting practice didn't do him much good as he went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts.  There wasn't much to cheer for in the game as Brandon Wood knocked in the Pirates lone run.  Rookie Tony Watson pitched 3 scoreless frames in relief of All-Star Kevin Correia who gave up 7 earned runs in the first 4 innings.

It sure is fun to go back and research some old boxscores.  Ronny Cedeno batted second that day and Joe Beimel got the final out to avoid the Cardinals from putting up double digits.

Have you ever researched the games that appear on the cardboard you collect?

February 6th: Remembering Ralph Kiner

As everyone else in America is recovering from the Super Bowl last night, thus officially ending football season, it's important to realize Spring Training is just around the corner.

Spring training!!!!

Baseball season is nearing!!!!

It was only 3 years ago today that the sports world lost a Hall of Fame slugger, TV/radio personality, and a Pittsburgh Pirates legend.

Ralph Kiner dominated the National League by launching many Home Runs out of Forbes field in the 40s. He ultimately had his career cut short due to injury, but during his prime he was a wrecking force having lead the NL HR title 7 years in a row (a feat that no one to this day has accomplished).

Let's look at the most recent HR leaders for the past 7 years and see how many times their name appears.

2016 Nolan Arenado/Chris Carter (tie)
2015 Nolan Arenado/Bryce Harper (tie)
2014 Giancarlo Stanton
2013 Pedro Alvarez/Paul Goldschmidt (tie)
2012 Ryan "I got that UPS guy fired" Braun
2011 Matt Kemp
2010 Albert Pujols

Ok, so maybe Arenado can go on to carry his long ball dominance until he reaches age 30? Doubtful, but we'll keep an eye on it.

How about the American League?
2016 Mark Trumbo
2015 Chris Davis
2014 Nelson Cruz
2013 Chris Davis
2012 Miguel Cabrera
2011 Jose Bautista
2010 Jose Bautista

Well, a team might win 7 years in a row as Trumbo, Davis, and Cruz all played for Baltimore when they won the title. Even then though, I don't know if that trend will continue.

Even if it does, it will take a team effort to match what Ralph Kiner accomplished.

Even though he wasn't a game changer and doesn't have any flashy milestone numbers, let's remember Ralph Kiner today as I show off my own little Kiner's Korner on Collecting Cutch

The card above is not the nicest of my Cutch/Kiner cards, but it is the only one that shows tribute to the former Pirate Hall of Famer.  The patch on the card is the 4 worn on the right arm sleeve during the 2014 season.

Nice tribute, right?

Figured I would show an image from the 2014 Home Opener when former Pirates MVPs Dick Groat and Barry Bonds presented Cutch with his 2013 NL MVP Award and his 2nd straight Silver Slugger Award.  Notice the patch?

And above is the back of the 2016 Museum card I showed earlier.

Now it's time to show off the dual relic/autos

Beautiful looking, low numbered booklet from 2010 Bowman Sterling

This was one of my first dual auto/relics I had acquired

Now for just some more relics

It was fun to go through these older cards and scan them all in and remember the joy they brought me first acquiring them. I would love to add the parallels of the "Steel Power" Triple Threads card you see above.

Serve Proudly

On this Inauguration day it's important for our country to remember what history has brought us and how it has lead to our current state.

I feel energized and proud of our country.
Many others may not feel the same way.

What is important for our country to not only survive, but to strive to grow and prosper is a Nation Under One serving proudly.

That's where todays card comes into play.

In 2009, Topps released an insert set based on 1940s war propaganda posters. It's a nice little insert set.  Pirates 2nd Year Centerfielder was on of the subjects.


I have looked into buying the original art, but it appears 6 years later it is no longer available.

Thats disappointing

Throwback Thursday: 100 Years in Making

Since my collection has changed direction to only focus on Andrew McCutchen going forward, I need to come up with some interesting ways how to show off my over 1,400 unique cards of Cutch.

One method I think I will utilize is showing off a segment called Throwback Thursdays. 

Is it an original idea? Nope

Will it be fun to see Cutch wearing uniforms from the 1909, 1971, and 1979 World Series Championship Pirates teams? Yup

So to kickstart this new monthly series I present to you Cutch's 2010 Topps Triple Threads card featuring a uniform worn by the likes of Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke.

The Pirates wore this uniform in 2009 shortly after Cutch made his MLB debut to celebrate the Pirates 100 Year Anniversary of their 1st World Series Championship.

Anyone ever look at their favorite player to see how many cards you have of him wearing a Throwback uniform?

Above is the back of the emerald version of the 2010 Triple Threads card.

The Hall of Fame Debate

In a very short time, we will know who will be next to get enshrined at Cooperstown. Last year brought us one of the greatest to ever play the game, Ken Griffey Jr.

Without starting a PED debate, here's who I would like to see enshrined based on their performance on the diamond.
Tim Raines
Jeff Bagwell
Ivan Rodriguez
Trevor Hoffman
Vlad Guerrero
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens

I suspect Raines and Bagwell make it in. Rodriguez I think will just miss it as will Hoffman and Vlad.

As the game continues to evolve to younger players and cardboard hobbyists switch from established stars to prospects it will be interesting to see who from this generation will one day be forever immortalized in Cooperstown.

On average 1-2 players who debut each year eventually move on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Looking at the players who debuted in 2009, Cutch is clearly the best of that lot.

This card may one day feature relics of 4 Hall of Famers. Trout seems like a sure thing based on his counting stats, hardware, and age.

Harper has youth still on his side.

Griffey is already there.

Cutch, if he has an 18 year career and returns to 2012-2015 form will definitely be a Hall of Famer one day. If 2016 is what we can expect of him, well....Hall of Very Good will be awaiting him.

The card, like most of Hits Memorabilia cards gives you an exclusive code to verify the authenticity of the products used to produce the card.

Even without a license, I still think these are beautiful cards.

Here are the items from which they were dissected from

A batting practice jersey of Griffey, Spring Training Jersey of Cutch (shown here in a previous post), batting gloves from Trout, and a St Patrick's day Spring Training cap by Harper.

Another 1/1 Triple Threads

It's been a few days since I last posted.

The reason is simple. I was enjoying Football Sunday. The Steelers somehow managed to win without scoring a touchdown, but giving up 2.  Chris Boswell set a post season record for kicking 6 field goals.

Last night I got caught up watching a handful of tv shows and then rewatched two amazing specials on the MLB Network. If you haven't watched Forever Brothers, the story of the 1971 Pirates the first team to field all minorities or School of Rickey, the Rickey Henderson documentary I strongly suggest you watch them next time they air.

One of my first posts here on Collecting Cutch was my favorite card of 2016. It featured Jolly Roger sleeve patches of  Cole and Kang along with a nice patch for Cutch.

Triple Threads is notorious for producing some really nice cards and some $6 triple relics. I try to avoid the latter.

In doing so, I went for the former.

Boom!
Jolly Roger sleeve patch of Gerrit Cole.
Letter patch of Cutch
Post Season patch of Josh Harrison

This red 1/1 cost as much as the emerald /3 which I unfortunately lost.

I will continue to seek out the other parallels now that I own the 1/1.

Cutch and the Dodgers

There have been some reports surfacing that the Pirates and Dodgers might make a trade involving Josh Harrison and Cutch to the Dodgers. I highly doubt something like this would happen as the Pirates appear to want to remain competitive after the Ivan Nova signing and still appearing in on the Jose Quintana trade talks.

Thanks to this report and Greg's blog post about the package I sent him a few months back I decided to scan all the Cutch combo cards I have with Dodgers alumni Kershaw, Kemp, Gonzalez, Robinson, and Puig.

Here's the results

 That card above is just an absolute monster. It features some of the best players at each position. The Abreu and Stanton patches highlight my favorites of the card.

I wish there would be more inserts like this that highlight pitcher vs. hitter and how they match up verse each other.

Just another relic combo of some of the game's best players.

2 different versions of Team Pinnacle featuring Cutch and the Bison.

"Superstar" Centerfielders Cutch, Kemp, and Shane Victorino (?)
Really Victorino?

Triple Threads was really kind to Cutch and Kemp pairings in 2010 and 2011.

A pair of All star relics with Puig

My only A Gone relic in my collection.

And to finish it off, I have one of the greatest Dodgers of all time and the man who paved the way for non white athletes in  the US.

Metal makes my mind spin

I can't deny it, metal may be my favorite genre of music. Play it proud, turn it loud. While Metallica is the headline group that many people think of, I was always a Pantera guy myself.  Cowboys From Hell is to this day one of my top 5 albums I would take to an island if I could only ever listen to 5 albums again.

One thingI never noticed regarding my Cutch card collection before was a small subtle change that Topps did when producing their extremely limited 1993 Finest All-Star Metal versions produced in 2013.

The produced the metal version upside down compared to it's original version.

Both versions scanned in the same way based on their backs.

Was this an oops on Topps or did they do this on purpose to distinguish the cards apart? What are your thoughts?

Lets look at that Metal Finest again

A Royal Hit: Home Run Worn Jersey Patch

Being a Supercollector causes me to search for any cardboard related to Cutch. Sometimes I come across some horrific looking sketch cards and often times I come across cards I already have.

Occassionally though, I come across some nice custom unlicensed cards of the Pirates Franchise Face.

Well sorta....

Because Hits Memorabilia doesnt have any licensing rights, they try to show images that are easiest to "airbrush" the logos out.

(Totally off topic question...will the cards still be referenced as having been airbrushed 30 years from now or will it just be called digitally removed?)

This card is sharp looking though.

It has a simple design and a beautiful looking patch with the Spring Training  markings.

It was acquired for roughly Cutch's jersey number.

Let's reference what the material looks like as a whole

Not a bad looking jersey at all. Hopefully I can secure a nice card one day using that awesome Florida Grapefruit League patch.

The jersey used by Cutch in the production of this card is from a game worn on March 11, 2016.

How did Cutch do that day?

Well, he went 1 for 2 with his first Spring Training Home Run of the 2016 season. I would say that's a nice card to have a jersey swatch from.