FlawLESS Victory Contest

Saint Patrick's Day is here so I wanted to run a contest perfect for a celebration of green.

Here is one of my favorite "green" cards of Cutch.

It is from 2017 Flawless and is the green emerald parallel which features an on card autograph numbered to only 3 copies (!!!!) And encapsulated in a nice one touch case complete with a Flawless sticker.

From 2016 Flawless I have a giant patch of the Jolly Roger sleeve logo on an Emerald card numbered 2/5.

Flawless Victory

Speaking of Flawless Victory

Above is a video of the Pirates clinching their playoff spot back in 2014.

I have a bottle that was used in the champagne showers that evening and it is signed by Andrew McCutchen.

Here is another image of the bottle. I shrink wrapped around the signature so it won't fade over time.

Here is the authentication for the bottle

The Pirates 2014 team was a fun one to root for despite them not advancing very far in the Postseason.   They, like everyone else in the 2014 Postseason, got Bumgarnered. There are a few other reasons though why I can't label it my favorite team roster.

That distinction belongs to the predecessor year, 2013.

2013 was a magical year for Pirates fans.  It marked the end of the 20 year losing streak.  More important though there was a group of men that I watched develop into one of the best teams in baseball.

2013 was loaded with many individuals getting hardware and personal accomplishments.

Andrew Mccutchen was MVP, Player's Choice MVP, silver slugger

Clint Hurdle was Manager of Year

Pedro Alvarez was a silver slugger and HR champ

Francisco Liriano was Comeback Player of Year

Jason Grilli won Reliever of Month twice and was featured on Sports Illustrated

Pirates All Stars included Cutch, Alvarez, Grilli, Jeff Locke, and Mark Melancon.

The team had veterans like Garrett Jones, Russell Martin, and AJ Burnett built around a young core coming into their prime.

We saw flashes of brillaince from rookie "future ace" Gerrit Cole as he won his first 6 games and beat former Cy Young Winners: Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw, and Zack Greinke in his first three games.  My brother got married in 2013 and I made a bet with him that if the Pirates made the postseason in 2013, he would name his first son Cole because of Gerrit Cole.  I love my niece, but am still hoping I get a nephew one day and my brother lives up to that bet.

Even the bench and role players were fun to root for.  Travis Snyder may have been a top prospect a long time ago, but his career never blossomed into superstar.  Still, Lunchbox as he was known was an everyday guy who fans could root for. The same can be said for guys like Mike "The Fort" McHenry and Clint "Journey" Barmes.  I suspect Pittsburgh is the only city that gave Clint a standing ovation as a visiting player in his career.

So here is the contest.
Make a post about a year your favorite team DIDN'T win the World Series.  Be sure to include why that year's roster stood out to you.  Who were your favorite players that aren't superstars? Did any members of that team go on to Hall of Fame careers? Tell as much as you can about that team and any many memories you may have about that year in general.

After you make the post, leave a comment here with a link to your post.  (Please reference my contest in your post)

On April 2nd, 2019 I will hit the randomizer 3 times.  The person at the top of the randomizer will receive...

2004 Topps Tribute Carl Yastrzemski Green Wall Relic card.

I thought with it being St. Patrick's Day, a green wall relic of one of the most historically trophyless franchises (prior to 2004 at least) seemed appropriate.

The Last Giants Hat Worn By Cutch?

Chris aka "The Collector" mentioned a few weeks back about me showing off my non card collection of Cutch.  I have a bunch of stuff waiting to be shown off.

With the July 31st Traded Deadline happening this week I thought it would be cool to show off some items relating to Cutch being traded.

Pirates fans were heart broken when they heard the news of Cutch being traded on January 15, 2018 for a pair of prospects.  The return package of a middle inning reliever (Kyle Crick) and outfielder Bryan Reynolds didn't impress Pirates fans, myself included.  The trade also brought over about a half million dollars in international spending money.  At the time of the trade they ranked 4th (Reynolds) and 16th (Crick) on the Giants weak farm system.

Cutch went on to play in 130 games for the Giants who found themselves on the brink of playoff contention in late July.  No team offered the Giants a package they felt was good enough to move Cutch so he stayed on the team's roster throughout the month.

When the Giants playoff hopes began to fall apart in July and they no longer were in contention for a Wild Card spot they sought to move him at the August waiver trade deadline.  The Yankees, who had been without defending Rookie of the Year and looking for a spark plug to keep the team contending with the Red Sox, looked to acquire the veteran outfielder.

Cutch would be traded again in the same calendar year. On August 31st the Giants moved McCutchen to the Yankees for a pair of prospects.

I came across this hat via a Giants charity auction, but lost out on it.
It was later reposted for sale from a Giants collector and Willie Mays collector.

It is a Giants practice hat.  The Giants often wear these orange caps for Spring Training and during batting practice.

As you can see by the Authentication sticker JD185487 this hat was issued by the Giants to McCutchen and verified on August 31st, 2018.

McCutchen's last game with the Giants occurred on August 29th against the Diamondbacks.  The Giants were off on August 30th and news broke that McCutchen had been traded to the Yankevery late on August 30th (11pm) and the deal was official the next morning.

It is my understanding that a "team issued" authentication item means that it could be game used or event used, but it wasn't verified on the day the item was used and is thus just considered team issued since the specific date it was used can not be authenticated on that day.

Most likely when Cutch's locker was being cleared out this on field practice hat was discovered and authenticated by the team as being player worn for their charity auctions.

Judging the wear of the hat it is obvious that it has been worn and sweated in on more than one occasion.

The interior of the hat features Cutch's jersey number.

These practice hats can be seen on Topps Now Road to Opening Day cards.

Here are a few other images of Cutch wearing this style hat from Google images.