Right before I knew I was going to be moving, I was forced to box up my entire collection. There were a lot of things that I own that I have never shown off here or anywhere for that matter. From cards to photos to bobbleheads to stadium giveaways there is a lot of Andrew McCutchen items in my collection that I haven't shown anywhere.
One such item is a signed photo from when Cutch was playing in the minor leagues featuring an image of his AFLAC high school days.
It was printed on Walgreens photo paper over 15 years ago way back in 2006 as you can see below.
If you could have a signed photo of any living athlete, who would it be and how would you display it?
Do you remember who won the National League MVP in 1960?
If you answered Dick Groat, your baseball knowledge is very very very strong.
Groat was the starting shortstop for the 1960 World Series Champions, Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished the season with a .766 OPS. While advanced analytics weren't that common back in 1960, it took one teammate to voice his opinion about what he thought about the writer's choice for the 1960 NL MVP campaign.
Roberto Clemente, one of the greatest Pittsburgh Pirates ever, voiced his anger towards the writers selecting Dick Groat over Roberto Clemente for the 1960 MVP. I found an article from 2008 that discusses a very early sabremetric look at the 1960 campaign to see how far off Clemente was. Clemente finished with an 8th place vote with three other Pirates voted higher than him (Dick Groat, Don Hoak, and Vern Law)
Dick Groat might seem like an unlikely victor for the 1960 MVP as he hit only two home runs, stole zero bases, scored only 85 runs and knocked in only 50 runs. He did finish with the second highest hit total in the senior circuit that season behind Willie Mays (who also happened to have a .936 OPS with over 100 runs and 100RBI while stealing 25 bags. Goat's WAR that season was 6.1 which was based largely on his glove which accounted for nearly half that total (2.6 dWAR).
While Goat's MVP season remains as much a controversy today as it was in 1960, Barry Bonds, the NL MVP of 1992 isn't questioned nearly as much.
Bonds QUIETLY put up a near Triple Crown campaign in 1992, his last season with the Pirates. He finished 1HR shy of the leader, Fred McGriff and only 6RBI behind the NL leader, Darren Daulton. His batting average of .311 was good for 6th place behind Gary Sheffield. Bonds posted a 9.0WAR, the best among position players that season. He also lead the league in on base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS (1.030!!!). Bonds hit a HR once every 13 at bats in 1992.
Between 1993 and 2012 there wasn't much to root for regarding the Pittsburgh Pirates as the franchise suffered two decades without a winning season.
That all changed in 2013 when the Pirates went to the playoffs in 2013 largely due in part to Andrew McCutchen, who was emerging as one of the game's greatest stars. Cutch finished the season with the highest WAR among position players and finishing many categories in the top 10 (hits, HR, batting average, runs, RBI, SB). Cutch didn't lead any traditional statistical categories, but excelled at them all. He received 28 (of 30) 1st place votes for the 2013 NL MVP.
I came across the signed photo you see above via eBay about a year ago. It doesn't have any third party certification for the signatures, but the source I bought it from specializes in Pittsburgh sports signatures. The autographs for Groat and Bonds both look authentic and the Cutch, while being a quick signature appears to be valid as well. Even if it is not authentic, it is still a great looking 8x10 photo to hang on the wall as it features the Pirates 2014 Opening Day ceremonies with Dick Groat and Barry Bonds presenting Cutch with his MVP Award and Silver Slugger based on the 2013 season.
Andrew McCutchen wasn't very well known to the nation until his breakout campaign in 2012.
The Pirates had a Q&A with him in their magazine shortly after his debut season so that fans could get to know the face of their franchise a bit better.
Above is the Q&A from a Pirates magazine that was signed in person by Cutch. Once things settle down with moving and I can show off the new Cutch cave in all it's glory you can bet that this will be hanging on a wall somewhere.
The NFL draft is by far the best draft for any of the four sports. The reasons are pretty simple to understand.
-College Football is insanely popular and potential draftees must spend a minimum amount of years at college before they can be drafted. That gives the average sports fan more time to learn about the upcoming draft class.
-The draftees audition at a combine that is nationally televised which gives (again) the average sports fan more of a window and rooting interest for those that can be drafted.
-The draft itself is an event filled with block parties, live music, celebrity cameos, and fan interaction.
-With each pick there is suspense that the potential pick could pick traded to another team. All other sports allow this with the,exception of baseball.
-Once drafted the players have a strong chance to be immediately impacting that upcoming season's games.
I know MLB is trying to make the draft more entertaining to fans, but until the top talent has the opportunity to play in front of it's fans sooner, the fans have opportunity to see the players get drafted, and the scouting of future players is more approachable to fans (more College baseball on television) I just don't see the MLB draft progressing to the levels of the NFL or even NBA.
I began rooting for the Pirates and baseball in general back in 2005 in large part because of Jason Bay, Ryan Doumit, and wanting to see what this high school kid from Florida, Andrew McCutchen, could do.
Above are All my 2005 Topps Update Draft cards of Cutch. As you can tell I have 15 base and 4 gold. I would love to add more, but am in no rush as the price has to be right.
By Cutch's debut, Jason Bay was traded.
Ryan Doumit was nearing the end of his club control and many of the other players I rooted for over the past four years were already gone.
The signed 8x10 photo you see above is from Cutch just after he signed with the Pirates. He was only 18 in the photo.
With the winter Olympics fully underway now, it's time for our nation to take pride in our countrymen as we watch them compete in sports we didn't know we cared to root for.
USA Pride!!!!
Here's an old photo of Cutch in his early teen years playing for Team USA. I purchased the signed photo from eBay.
