Miggy, Miggy, Miggy can't you see...

500 career home runs!

Congrats Miggy!

Which active players do you think will one day join the 500 HR club?

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?

Keeping it streaky

There's still time to enter my contest for the Kelly Brook Autograph.  

On this day in 2013, Cutch began an on base streak in the Queen City, Cincinnati.

The streak also includes the 2015 All Star Game, where Cutch launched a home run.

Some people complain when a printing plate isn't in immaculate condition because it's a 1/1 and hate having a streaky plate.  Personally, I like seeing the wears and tears of a plate.  I don't understand why Immaculate contains the actual card backs on their plates or what happens to the printing plates used for card backs, but I am always happy to add a new 1/1 Cutch to the collection.  

Cutch SP Challenge Day 3: Immaculate Savings

Day 3 of the 2020 SP Cutch Frenzy Challenge delivered an awesome card for the Cutch collection that I didn't already have.  It was an immaculate haul and helped offset some of the prices I overpaid for the two 2020 parallels (vintage and fathers day blue) due to the relatively new release.

If you aren't familar with my 2020 SP Frenzy Challenge I took the funds available that could have been spent on buying the 2020 SP Cutch "swag" photo variant and instead used it to buy items I needed for my Cutch collection.  The real challenge was I could only buy cards at the height of the SP Frenzy when they were going for $200-$300 regularly.  This all occurred between the evening of June 27th to the morning of June 30th.  Roughly 48 hours was the stretch of this card going for on average $250.

I was able to knock out 1 card on my top 10 list during that time and also was able to add an on card autograph too.  These are both pretty sweet adds to the collection if you asked me.

I had the 1/1 version of the autograph you're going to see below, but being able to add another on card autograph with a print run of ONLY 5 COPIES to the collection seemed like a good move.

People can hate on Panini for not having logos, but when they choose images like this, it's not as noticeable as other images they choose to use. The piping is still noticable on the pants for the team colors and the helmet is turned at a way that you can't tell the "P" is missing.

The card was purchased through an eBay auction via Seven Out Cards & Collectibles

It came shipped incredibly well and I highly recommend them for any future auctions they have.

The card ran me $38.25 delivered.
This brings the totals for the SP Frenzy Challenge to $83.14

That may sound like a lot of money (and it is), but that is still only ONE THIRD the price the 2020 SP Cutch card was getting at the height of the frenzy.  I still had over $160 to play with for getting cards I need during the SP Frenzy Challenge.  I'm still waiting on my COMC order (obviously) and about a dozen other eBay purchases to roll in.

A New YouTube Channel To Watch

I don't have much of a social media presence despite doing nearly a daily blog post here.

I didn't join Twitter until last year.
My Instagram has 1 picture on it.
I sign in to Facebook maybe 3 times a year.
I don't use TikTok.
I don't post on forums.
I don't post content on YouTube.

However I do lurk A LOT.  I read a lot of blogs/forum posts and watch a lot of YouTube videos.

One person who I have recently added to my subscribe list for YouTube is TripleCrown24.

I began following him because he is a fellow Supercollector and I always enjoy learning of other supercollector and how they go about their collections.

If you can't tell by his username, JT is a Miguel Cabrera supercollector.

I have 4 cards featuring Miggy with Cutch.

Please give JT a follow on his YouTube TripleCrown24.  He is documenting his pursuit towards 3,000 unique Miggy cards on his YouTube.

1 more 1 of 1

Many athletes these days have unrecognizable signatures.  Often they will just do initials and even they can be questioned if those initials look like the player's actual initials. 

Cutch has a sweet looking autograph.
The A in Andrew is very obvious and rather than signing McCutchen he just signs Cutch, a portion of his name he has been known for since his debut.

Here's a 1 of 1 from 2017 Immaculate I have had for a few years, but never showed off.

It checks off two of my favorite parts of the Cutch collection

On Card Autograph ✔
1 of 1 ✔

This Immaculate Signature is number 15 in the set.

It's only 15 days until Opening Day.

I don't know about you, I'm feeling 22

Taylor Swift lyrics on a baseball card centric blog?

That may sound crazy, but Andrew McCutchen has actually had some interactions with Taylor Swift over the years.

In 2015 he reacted to a picture his wife, Maria Hansloven, posted on Twitter.

He also briefly used the song "Bad Blood" as his walk up song.

And of course his number that he has famously worn throughout his career is 22.  Taylor Swift had a song called 22 that climbed the billboard top songs.

So when I saw this 1/1 on card printing plate with a nice swatch of indicating it belongs to number 22 become available, I had to add it to my collection.

It's only 22 days until Opening Day!!!!!

Serial History: 1949 Phillies

It has been a long time since I featured a Serial History segment.  In case you have forgotten what Serial History is, it's a series where I look at the serial numbering of a card and look at how that serial number can relate to a player, team, year, area code, etc.

I don't have many relics of Andrew McCutchen in a Phillies uniform.  I was hoping that maybe he would get a Heritage High Numbers relic with Bryce Harper, but that didn't happen.  I have a Santa Hat relic that was worn for a Spring Training photo shoot which I showed off here.  If you're into 1 of 1 bat barrels, well I have one of those too which I showed off when declaring my first Twitter purchase.  I also have a 2019 Panini Immaculate Collection jersey relic numbered to 49 copies.

This particular copy is numbered 19/49.

I thought it would be fun to look at the Phillies franchise in 1949.  The 1949 Phillies showed a step forward for an organization that had only 1 winning since 1917.  Yes you read that correctly.  From 1917 to 1949 the Phillies had only one winning season in 1932.  Much of the early unsuccessful years came on the heels of trading star pitcher Grover Alexander and running the team cheaply.

Future Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts made their MLB debuts in 1948 and would help propel the team to an 81-73 record.

The following year saw the dubbed "Whiz Kids" lead the Phillies to the NL Pennant.


This card has been sitting around for a few months along with a rather large pile of cards waiting patiently to be shown off.  I grabbed it for under $5 back in September.

The design of Immaculate is really nice although it is extremely difficult to determine what year each card is from.

The back of the card discusses  Cutch hitting a leadoff homer on Opening Day (his very first official at bat as a member of Phillies).

Heinie Mueller (what a name that is) was a member of those terrible Phillies mentioned above.  Unfortunately his career lasted only 4 seasons from 1938 to 1941.  After the events of Pearl Harbor he joined the Army and served until 1945.  He rejoined the Phillies for Spring Training in 1946, but was released prior to the season starting. In 1949 he became a player-manager of the Muskogee Reds.

How I got a black and blue eye

Well...not really...

I didn't get a black and blue eye. Instead I haven't been sleeping much at all and have been helping out a coworker by basically working doubles for the past week.  

The paycheck right before Black Friday will be very nice!

In the very little free time I have had in the past week I have been going through my countless number of cards not scanned to show off for my 1,000th post here on Collecting Cutch.

This card was referenced as "on it's way" way back in 2017.  You can read that post here.

Kinda makes you wonder what else I may not have shown off over the past 2 years, huh?