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?

Happy 4th of July

I got quite a few packages in the mail yesterday, but unfortunately I am going to interrupt the Cutch SP Frenzy Challenge to show off one of the coolest On Card Autograph Patches I have in my collection.

It's America's Birthday so let's celebrate!

That is a 2019 Topps Tier 1 Prodigious Patches on card autograph of Cutch.

It is numbered to only 5 copies.

It features a game worn patch from the 4th of July game between the Giants and Rockies in 2018.

The Rockies and Giants were having a pitching duel and Rockies pitchers held the Giants to only 2 hits through 8 innings and only 2 walks during that time as well (one was McCutchen).  With the Rox winning 1-0 and with two outs in the top of the 9th up stepped McCutchen to rope a single and keep the game alive for Giants fans.

 Buster Posey then walked advancing Cutch to second base (I couldn't find any images of Posey's 9th inning at bat on Getty Images)

Ultimately Brandon Belt lined out to right field ending the game and pushing the Giants and Rockies into a virtual tie for second place in the division on the main summer holiday.

I have a few other jersey patches that show off pieces of this jersey, but this one is by far the biggest of them.  I like that you can see the grey away jersey along with the massive patch of Americana.

What kind of cards do you have in your collection that celebrate America's Birthday?

Any USA Cards, cards with 4th of July uniforms, any cards with big American Flags on them?  Show them off and leave a link to it in the comment section below.

The (Evil) Empire Strikes Back

Last year on Star Wars Day, I featured A New Hope.  It was the 4th installment of the franchise series, but the first to be released.

@alexonthemic wore the movie poster on her chest quite nicely and was featured last year during my SaveSecondBase event.  You can revisit that post here if you want to be reminded about her again.

Following the 1977 release of A New Hope was my personal favorite of the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back.

This poster was designed by Ken Fitzgerald.

While it isn't an official poster design, this t-shirt worn by Meghan Fox is clearly from The Empire Strikes Back.  It features Darth Vader and has images of the frozen planet Hoth.

Meghan Fox was also featured last year as part of my SaveSecondBase Event.  You can revisit her post here.

Today's post will feature The Empire Strikes Back.

Jedi as a religion became official in the UK and like most of the rest of the world, they write their days as DD/MM/YY

Therefore every Star Wars day is celebrated in the rest of the world as 4/5.

Here is a Star Wars Day card worth celebrating.

I will begin with the 4/5 numbering.

Now I will show The (Evil) Empire known as the Yankees.

The Tier 1 autograph is on clear acetate and to wrap it all up, above is the card front

And here is the back, yet again reminding everyone that Andrew McCutchen was once part of The (Evil) Empire

Happy Star Wars Day and May The Forth (be with you)

Writer's Block?

I can only assume with more people housebound there may be more eyes on the blog due to extra downtime.

So as not to get writer's block during this time of a depressing sports free world, what are some things that would interest readers of this blog?

I have probably close to 40 1/1s that I haven't shown off and plan to sprinkle them into the blog throughout the year.

The card pictured above is an oddball card I have been dreaming of Topps to produce for years.  Ever since I saw these quirky player used pens cards I have hoped that one day Topps could produce a card with such a unique feature.  Obviously I wish it was a Pirates uniform, but I'm not going to complain about it.

This card almost didn't get to me.  Within an hour of being posted for sale I made the seller an offer and he responded with I appreciate your very fair offer but I am going to field all offers before I accept anything and he countered with the original Buy-It-Now price.

I didn't want to let this card stay on the market and said F It, I'll just buy it and clicked Buy-It-Now.

Fast forward 10 days and nothing...
No tracking info.
No responses to emails.
Nothing.

Life happens and I understand things happen to delay shipments.  This was an expensive card and I didn't care how long it took to get to me, I just wanted to make sure it would eventually get to me.

I even had a fellow McCutchen email him about a Buster Posey card he had listed to see if he was just filtering out and ignoring my messages.
Within 10 minutes my fellow McCutchen collector friend got a response.

I was very aggravated and decided to take legal action (now day 14 of being ignored)
I opened up a PayPal dispute and eBay nonreceipt dispute.

Within a few days I received a package from the city he lived.  The seller never responded to the disputes via proper protocol with eBay/PayPal and I was due to receive my money back.

I messaged him thanking him for sending the card and told him he needs to get better at reviewing messages because I got a notification that eBay found to be in favor of my case for a refund.  I contacted eBay to cancel my claim and provided them with proof of receipt so the seller didn't refund me my money now that I had the card.


Two part question time:
Have any of you experienced a similar issue with a seller who appears to go out of their way to ignore you?

What would be some fun ways to pass the time and read on the blog during this time of self isolation, any countdown or top X cards you want to see?

Woah

In the midst of all the attention the online consigners Probstein and PWCC have been getting I have actually been able to take advantage of some nice deals available.

This was an auction I won back in June.

• Pretty happy with the jumbo patch on this as it is part of the 2 from the front of the Pirates black alternate uniforms.

Cutch is the last Giant to wear #22

It was announced Sunday that the San Francisco Giants are retiring #22 for Will Clark.

Will Clark played 8 seasons and was a 5 time All-Star with the club.  During that time he won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger and was a top 5 MVP vote getter four times.

He finished his 15 year career with a triple slash line of  .303/.384/.497.  He collected 2,176 hits and 284 homers among the four teams he played with (San Francisco, Texas, Baltimore, St. Louis). Clark is definitely a member of the Hall of Very Good, but could he one day be elected to the Hall of Fame?

With it likely that the Giants won't issue #22 to any Giants player over the next six weeks it appears that Andrew McCutchen will be the last San Francisco Giants player to wear #22 before it is retired.

Next year when #22 is officially retired by the Giants I will highlight my 22 favorite Giants cards of Cutch.

In the meantime though here are a few cards that show the full 22 on Cutch's Giants cards.

Cutch has two different photo variations to,chase in 2019 Topps Museum Meaningful Materials.  Each of those photo variants are believed to have 5 different color parallels to chase.

This is my only Triple Threads Wood 1/1 of Cutch I own.  I always wanted a Pirates one, but they were going for $200+ and only featured relics when Cutch was in his prime.  I am pleased that I was able to get an autographed one (albeit a sticker) for under that mark.

 Cutch became an instant fan favorite in SF when he got 2 walk off hits in his first 10 games.

This walk off was one of the most memorable moments of the 2018 season. Cutch collected 6 hits in the game then launched a 3 run walk off homer in extra innings to seal the victory against long time rivals, Dodgers.

Here is a cameo card of Cutch running towards Nick Huntley after another walk off victory.

No airbrushing on this triple relic with two other San Francisco ball players. 

 Bad airbrushing on Panini's end for this San Francisco card of Cutch.  The yellow gloves and jersey number indicate that minimum effort was put into making this a card that resembles what Cutch wore in his brief time at the bay.

 Here are six different parallels from 2018 Stadium Club

 Here are four chrome versions

 Including the 1/1 Superfractor

Here is just a boring relic from Tier 1.

It's tough to see with the nice on card signature, but this Dynasty card features a great swatch of patch.

Two former MVPs congratulating each other...or practicing how to line dance.

Role Call! My Cutch Yankees PC Showoff

Unlike previous years where there was a waiver deadline and non waiver trade deadline, this year there is no such thing.  That means there won't be any Justin Verlander joining Astros minutes before September 1st or Andrew McCutchen joining the Yankees a day before September.  As of July 31st, the team you have is the team you ride with to the postseason.

Cutch joined the Yankees last year in part because Aaron Judge's injury was more serious than originally perceived in July and because the Giants were slipping down the standings due to a terrible month of August.

That lead to my favorite athlete of all time joining "The Evil Empire" as all NonYankees fans call it.

At work I won a pair of tickets in a regional contest for the Red Sox vs Yankees game this Sunday night.  It will be my first time back at Yankee stadium since 2014.
I have only been to Yankees Stadium once.  It was in 2014 during a single admission double header against the Pirates.  The Pirates and Yankees split the day's events.  I even ended up on TV a few times throughout the game as I was sitting directly under the Modell's sign and we had 3 HRs hit in our direction.

I don't hate the Yankees like so many other people do. I think they run a great organization and consistently try to put the best product on the field for their fans each year.  They are arguably the most successful sports franchise of the 4 major North American teams for nearly a century.  The famous pinstripes enhance their class.

Cutch was a member of the Yankees for a brief time last year and you can tell that he absolutely loved the idea of playing in pinstripes for a little over a month.  He was quoted as the experience being "surreal".

The Yankees fans are known as a loud and raucous group especially the Bleacher Creatures lead by Bald Vinny.  Each home game Vinny and his friends will start to chant the names of the players and go around the diamond, continuing to chant their name until he gets a reaction from the player.

A little less than a year ago Cutch got his first role call at Yankees stadium. A gif of it can be seen below.

Had he stayed In New York, I think the city would have embraced McCutchen more than it did and he would have become a fan favorite much in the same way Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez were when they came to the Yankees from other teams and were the steady veteran presence year after year.

Here is a collection of all my Andrew McCutchen Yankees cards.  Some of these I have shown off before, but most are being shown for the first time.  It is very likely that I will show off more in the future too.

CAMEO CARDS 
Topps Now

This cameo card shows Cutch (center) shaking hands with the giant sized Aaron Judge after the team won their 100th game of the season.  That moment was voted by Topps fans as the Moment of the Week for week 26 of the MLB season.

As you can see this was the first time in nearly a decade that the team had won 100 games in a season.

Here is another cameo of Cutch.  He is pictured just above the card's Yankees logo and it celebrates their 11 inning walk off victory against the Orioles to secure an AL Wild Card game.

Much like the previous year, the Yankees were looking to secure home field advantage for the Wild Card Game and advance deeper into the playoffs than they did in 2017 when they took the Astros to a Championship Series Game 7.

This cameo might be my favorite of the cameos that Cutch appeared in.  You can't see his face, but the hair is on point.

Basically repeating the same thing as the previous card, this card focuses on how it was Aaron Hicks double that clinched the Wild Card berth.

SOLO CARDS
2018 Bowman Best

Gold Parallel numbered 34/50

Blue Parallel (jersey) numbered 26/150

 Atomic Refractor

Base and Refractor

Superfractor numbered 1/1

Above is the back to the 2018 Bowman Best card.  I still need the green/99, orange/25, red/10, and purple/250. The green and orange are an route as I won them this week for 99 cents each.

2018 Topps Update SP photo variant

I really like this image of Cutch in pinstripes.  Unfortunately the same image will be airbrushed and used as a Phillies 2019 Gypsy Queen base card (and it looks terrible).

I LOVE that Topps wasn't lazy with the back of this card.  They actually typed up a brand new back instead of using the same back as the 2018 Update Giants card.  This is a perfect Yankees flagship card of Cutch.

2018 Topps On Demand 3D

This lenticular card has a similar technology to those famous Kelloggs 3D cards from the 70s. It uses the same image as the Update SP.

The set provided collectors with 100 of the game's most collectible players with cards from Series 1,2, and update.  The complete sets were believed to be produced with only a 269 card print run.

2018 Topps Now

 This card technically is a Phillies card, but it features him in the NY pinstripes

 It discusses how the veteran outfielder is joining the Phillies in hopes of a deep playoff run.

This limited print run of Cutch commemorating the Wild Card game is Cutch's only solo Topps Now pictured in a Yankees uniform and noted as a Yankee.

The back just talks about how the Yankees want to go further in the playoffs.

2019 Stars of the Game

The image above is actually a 1/1 buyback that Topps inserted into their 2019 Transcendent Party packs.  You can see the 1/1 on top left and the VIP Transcendent marking on top right.

Oddly enough this card is numbered SSB as it was originally supposed to be called Super Stars of Baseball before it was changed to Stars of the Game.

This is the base version. No new stamps. Just an average looking insert that I have already talked about above.

2019 Topps Store 5x7 Gold

This is my only oversized card of Cutch in a Yankees uniform.  I don't chase too many of the standard 5x7s, but I do like to acquire some of the gold's because of the sepia tones and the low numbering (only 10 copies produced).

2019 Topps Series 1 Sketch Card Artist Proof

Juan Rosales has drawn about half a dozen artist proof sketch cards for me over the past few years.  His ability to capture the athlete perfectly using only greytones is mind blowing to me.  I asked if he could include the pin stripes and Yankees logo in background and it was such a nice touch.

This is the original image that Juan used as reference.  I think he captured it perfectly.

The artist proof signifies that it wasn't inserted into a pack, but was one of the few blank cards that Juan was given to sell as part of his payment for the project.

2019 Gypsy Queen Autographs

This is a beautiful on card autograph of Cutch.  I will discuss more about the image used in a future post as I was able to determine the exact photo match.

The Bazooka backs were numbered to only 25 copies.  I wrote about this card when I examined the 1925 Yankees and their rough season here.

My only on card mini autograph I have of Cutch that isn't inserted into a frame.  This is a super sharp looking card.

Only 20 of these mini Fortune Tellers were released.

This was the star of the show for a 6 case player break I got into when Gypsy Queen was released.  It is the rainbow foil and only came in the foil packs.

Gavin would probably enjoy the numberimg on this card.  I plan on showing it off again in December as part of my 12 Days of Christmas event.

 This is the black and white parallel found in this year's Gypsy Queen

It is numbered to 50 copies.

2019 Inception SP Autograph

Cutch appeared as a short print subject in 2019 Topps Inception wearing a NY Yankees uniform.  He also appeared as a member of the Pirates for the Legendary Debuts autograph inserts.  The image may look like his other Yankees autographs, but rest assured it's not.  The cancer ribbon isn't seen on this card like the Gypsy Queen.

In case you couldn't tell by a card being numbered to only 10 copies, that is what we call in the industry a short print.

2019 Topps Tier 1 Prime Performers Autograph

Cutch has a pair of different images available for his Prime Performers autograph.  This one features him trotting after one of his 5 homers in September 2018.

It is numbered PPA-AMC to distinguish it from the batting version.

Speaking of the batting version, here it is.  Like the running version, it is numbered to only 70 copies.  I like that this image features him getting ready to uncork and likely rope a double in the gap in the swing.

The back is numbered PPA-AM as opposed to AMC that the running card is.

 There is also a silver ink version of each numbered to 10 copies.

 The running copy is 2/10.

 I see this as a future Star Wars day card with the 4/5 numbering.  The clear acetate and low numbering made this a must win for me.

The print on the back left side reminds me of an old newspaper. I dig it!


Only time will tell if Topps releases more cards of Cutch in a Yankees uniform, but with 10 unique ON CARD AUTOGRAPHS and a trio of 1/1s I think my Cutch Yankees collection is looking pretty good considering he was only in New York for 30 games (25 regular season, 5 postseason).