Another Runner Up Performance

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.  

Isn't that the saying?

I'm not sure if that could be related to Cy Young Awards, but Gerrit Cole has to start feeling like that at this point in his career.

Despite leading the American League in Wins in 2021, it was announced Wednesday night that Gerrit finished second in the Cy Young voting.  

I believe that the "sticky stuff" conversations hurt Gerrit's chances of capturing his first Cy Young award. 

Since 2015 Gerrit has finished in 5th place (2018), 4th place (2015 and 2020) and 2nd place (2019 and 2021).

The 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates were one of my favorite teams to watch and sadly failed to win a single postseason game (eliminated in the Wild Card game).  They had a starting rotation of Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, AJ Burnett, and a resurgent Francisco Liriano.  They also had top pitching prospects like Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Clay Holmes, and Nick Kingham in the minors.  That pitching staff could have become legendary if they reached their ceiling of talent and stayed healthy together.

I really missed that 98 win team and the way the management tore down the position player core within a year and the entire starting rotation in 2015 was gone within 3 years.

One of the most famous pitchers to have an incredible career, but never win a Cy Young award is Nolan Ryan.

Through their Age 30 seasons here is a comparison of Cole vs Ryan

Cole

117 Wins

3.20 ERA

1,449 Innings Pitched

1,673 Strikeouts (10.39K/9)

1.12 WHIP

5 top 5 Cy Young Finishes

4 All Star Games

Ryan

141 Wins

3.06 ERA

2,234 Innings Pitched

2,426 Strikeouts (9.77 K/9)

1.31 WHIP

3 top 5 Cy Young Finishes

4 All Star Games

The all time strikeout king had only SIX top 5 finishes for the Cy Young Award.  His career 4.7BB/9 may be a reason why.  He was always giving up free passes. For comparison sake yet again, Gerrit Cole's BB/9 is only 2.3BB/9 (twice as good as Nolan Ryan).

Do you think Gerrit will eventually win a Cy Young Award in his career?

Do you think Gerrit Cole's career will be tarnished by the spider tack allegations that occurred this past season?

Over Rated or Under Appreciated?

Bryce Harper has always had huge expectations placed on him since he was drafted number 1 overall in 2010.  He made his MLB Debut in 2012 after only one full season of minor league baseball and became a reserve on the National League All Star Team at the young age of 19.  

Because of the young age he came up people have always placed a sense of envy or jealousy towards Bryce.  Oddly enough his first MLB hit (a double against the Dodgers) had fans "mooning" him just before his hustle double.  The MLB video archive of the game has had the fans cropped out of the frame which you can see on YouTube if you prefer your baseball viewing without drunk men showing their asses at a teenager.  The cropped out video is available here.

In his 7 year career with the Nationals, Bryce made 6 All Star Games.  He also won the Home Run Derby in 2018.  He was the youngest player to unanimously win an MVP when he won it in 2015.  That 2015 season was the only year he finished in the top 10 for MVP votes. 

At the still young age of 28 and as of July 28th 2021, Harper is only 2 home runs away from 250 career homers.  He also has already collected over 1,200 hits and scored 800 runs and drove in over 700 RBI over his career. 

Through his age 28 season according to baseball-reference Bryce Harper has similarity scores comparable to names like Barry Bonds, Darryl Strawberry, Andruw Jones, Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco, and Justin Upton. 

Since joining the Phillies, Harper hasn't received any MVP votes or been elected to an All Star game.  His former team won the World Series the year he left for Philadelphia and the Phillies despite having one of the largest payrolls in baseball hasn't had a winning season since 2011. 

Many fans are hating on Bryce Harper for his $300+ million contract he signed with the Phillies and say that he is overrated.  Oddly enough Harper has hit more HR per game played in his Philly years (1:4.59 vs 1:5.04) compared to his Washington years. His Runs scored and RBI are nearly identical to those counting stats of Philly vs Washington per game played.  

His slash lines are nearly identical too when comparing his Washington days versus Philly years

Washington .279/.388/.512

Philly .271/.389/.522

So why is there all the hate for Bryce Harper since joining Philadelphia?  Is it because he already has 10 years in the league and many people are more enamored with the "younger guys" like Acuna, Soto, Tatis, Alonso? 

He is definitely the face of the Phillies franchise now and leads the team in On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, On Base Plus Slugging, and Stolen Bases.  

I think most fans would wish to see him get more RBI as he is currently 5th on the team in RBI this year behind Hoskins, McCutchen, Realmuto, and Bohm.  I think fans also want to see more home runs from the former MVP as he trails both Hoskins and McCutchen in that category as well. 

I haven't been buying much in the way of new McCutchen cards this year, but I do like that Cutch has been appearing on some cards with Bryce Harper this year.

I want to add those Stadium Club Superstar Duos cards to the collection at some point, but there was one card that really stood out that I had to add to the collection.  

It just so happens to feature the guy who is the face of the Phillies franchise for the next 10 years too.

Below is a dual autograph, dual patch booklet card of two former MVP Winners playing the corner outfield spots for the City of Brotherly Love.  It is limited to only 10 copies and will become one of the cornerstones in my Cutch Phillies collection.

They just so happened to hit back to back homeruns on Tuesday too.

Sweet!

What are your thoughts on Bryce Harper?

Is he over rated? Under appreciated? Over hyped when younger and just above average now?  Is he still on a Cooperstown path?

FLAWLESS VICTORY!!!!

You may recall that I ran a contest and had a blog post with this exact title just over two years ago. 

Well after watching the 2021 Mortal Kombat film on HBO Max last night, it's time to bring back the Flawless Victory!!!

Here are some of my favorite Panini Flawless cards in my collection

Team USA is represented from Cutch's 18U days.  These Flawless cards feature either on card signatures or actual gems (diamond, ruby, sapphire) inside.

Another pair of on card signatures, both limited to under 10 copies

A nice patch and on card autograph from his Pirates days

How about that sleeve patch of the Jolly Roger?!!!!

And these team up????

Starling and Cutch made for one of the best offensive/defensive outfields in baseball from 2012-2015.

No spoilers on the movie here, but the fact it was an R rated film really made this Mortal Kombat movie 10x better than the others.  I loved the introduction of so many familar Mortal Kombat faces.  

The battle of Scorpion and Sub Zero is epic.

Sonya Blade is a badass and hot!!!

Kano is a d**kbag just as you would expect.

The whole movie was great. It was a perfect video game movie.  There, I said it!

Did you ever play Mortal Kombat?  What were some of your favorite characters to play as?

The Firsts of Firsts

There was a lot of requests made for some famous black history that was made in relativity to them being the firsts to do it.  I am going to do a combination post on some of them and relate it to this card you see below.

The above 2019 Topps Tribute black parallel is a dual patch relic card of Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen.  The pair were teammates for the 2018 season.

This black parallel is numbered 1/1.

🏒Willie O'Ree 🏒

Willie O'Ree was the first black player in the NHL.  The 5ft9inch winger broke the hockey color barrier in 1957.  He stated that Jackie Robinson was an inspiration to him and that he met Jackie when he was younger.  In November 2018, O'Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He played only a few seasons with the Boston Bruins, but like Robinson helped pioneer black athletes in hockey.

Similar to the Roberto Clemente award in baseball, in 2018 the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award was created to spotlight an individual who has made the culture and community better through their outreach and hockey.
Darcy Haugan and Rico Phillips have won the 2018 and 2019 awards respectively.



🎾Althea Gibson 🎾

Althea Gibson was born in South Carolina in 1927 and faced much adversity in her path to become one of the first black athletes to cross the color barrier of international tennis. She grew up on a cotton farm and during the aftermath of the Great Depression.

In 1956 she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam (French Championships).  The next year she won Wilbeldon and (what eventually became known as) the US Open.  She won them both again the following year.  In 1957 and 1958 she was voted Female Athlete of The Year by the Associated Press.

In her career she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments and would eventually be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

Venus and Serena Williams have stated In numerous interviews over the years that they are honored to follow in Gibson's footsteps.

In the early 1960s she also became the first black player to compete in Women's Professional Golf Tour.  More information about Althea's golf career can be found here.



 🏃🏈 🎾I will spotlight other black athletes who helped break the color barriers as the month goes on. 👣 🏃🏈

The Cobra Strikes

These MLB Network feature documentaries can be so emotional.

It is a good reminder that we are all human and no matter how great of an athlete you once were, Father Time eventually catches up.  I am grateful for the opportunity to have seen Parker before his Parkinson's got bad.

God Bless You Mr. Parker!!!

Way back in 2013 I showed off a bunch of my autographs and relics of Dave Parker on my old blog Piratestreasureroom.  I jave since doubled that number.

The Cole Train Keeps Chugging Along

Last night, Gerrit Cole made history when he struck out Shin Soo Choo for his 300 punchout of the year.  That makes him the 18th pitcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

I have about 50 autographs of Gerrit Cole and probably an equal amount of relics.

Below (in no particular order) I will show my 18 favorite Gerrit Cole autographs or relic cards.

Here are some of my favorites with Cutch

 

And here are some of my favorites with just Cole

And here are some others

Honorable Mention:
This 1/1 featuring a Josh Harrison Postseason patch

On The Block?

The August nonwaiver trade deadline is literally just days away.  Andrew McCutchen has cleared waivers and news broke today that Josh Harrison has cleared also.

Could the Giants trade Cutch to a contending team looking to bolster their outfield and lineup?

Could a team use a super utility guy like Josh Harrison to be a late inning bat bench?

One thing is for sure these 2014 MVP candidates are not viewed by their current teams as being cornerstones to build around anymore.

With the offensive decline of both players I have been able to pick up a few cards here and there of both of them for significantly less than their previous prices would have commanded. 

There was a time in 2015 when a certified Elite Extra Edition sticker autograph of Harrison numbered to 600 would command $50. Now?

I am able to buy autographs of him in Topps Archives for under $10 delivered for on card signatures of my favorite cards he has appeared on.

This will likely be one of the last dual cards of Cutch and Harrison produced and it's Majestic.

Well...partially

I love bad puns.

Added another autograph...

I added another unique autograph of Cutch to the collection when this dual patch autograph from 2011 Topps Marquee showed up at the door.

It's a shame it's a sticker auto because the patches on this card and the design is fantastic.

Turn it over and it sounds like that McCutchen kid might one day turn into something decent.

Shame they traded him for a middle reliever and a prospect whos still in AA.

Boppin With The Boys 1/1 style

I love adding multiple relics and/or multiple autographs featuring Cutch with other players.

Some players I wish that Cutch had either relics or autos with would include:
Barry Bonds (Pitt and San Francisco connection)
Aroldis Chapman (threw fastest recorded pitch to Cutch)
Russell Martin and Justin Morneau (combined to complete the final out to secure Pittsburgh's 1st Winning Season in 20 years.  A triple threads triple relic with 8-3-2 with a description of the play on back would have been awesome in 2013)

One player I always wanted a card of Cutch with was Dave "Cobra" Parker.  Both began their careers with Pittsburgh and won MVP awards while showing 5 tool talent skill sets.

Thanks to Hits Memorabilia "Throwbacks" release I can finally cross that dream card off my list.  Not only is it a card I always wanted to be made, but it's also a new 1/1 card for the collection.

The card features a warm up jacket worn by Parker during his California Angels years in addition to a Spring Training jersey worn by Cutch.

Now you may ask why I didn't show off a Valentine related card today.  Well...this Cobra (Commander) meme should answer that question.

Today, I'm boppin with the boys.  Being stuck at work and avoiding overpriced dinners and flowers.  It works out well.
Boppin with the boys...a phrase made popular by a Dave Parker t-shirt from the 70s.

Cutch's new teammate Evan Longoria is sportin the shirt

That said, the lady and I will be going out this weekend to enjoy each other's company.