You're a teenager now!

I forgot to post these items a few days ago so here is a belated Happy Birthday for Cutch's 13th anniversary of his first HR.

This card is from 2015 Topps Tribute and features a ball used in the game for Cutch's first HR game.  

It is not the actual ball Cutch hit for his 1st HR, I believe that belongs to Cutch.

I also own the lineup card from Cutch's 1st HR

I won this in an auction a few years ago for only $100 (plus taxes and buyer's fee). 

It has been authenticated by JSA.

I also have a ticket stub from the game featuring a great image of Joe Mauer.

Happy Father's Day

There's been many Father's Day themed cards produced over the years.  Topps has had a blue parallel in their set commemorating Father's Day for over a half decade now.  Panini has had exclusive hobby shop packs since 2013 for Father's Day.  

Today I am going to look at my favorite image used on one of those Father's Day Panini Packs.

This is the cracked ice (atomic) parallel /25.

The back of the card references Marvel Comics Spider-Man.  I'm surprised Panini was allowed to do that since the Marvel license for trading cards is at Upper Deck.

Few days earlier = few bucks less for me?

Topps has been producing MLB team sets since the early 2000s.  These team sets often times will have the city abbreviation in addition to a number assigned to the player.  

I find it odd that Andrew McCutchen (PHI-3) was included in the 2022 Phillies team set.  In November 2021, the Phillies turned down Cutch's team option for the 2022 season allowing Cutch to enter free agency.  On the same day, Odubel Herrera and Ronald Torreyes were also taken off the Phillies 40 man roster. 

Oddly enough the Mets team set features Max Scherzer and Starling Marte who signed just before the lockout on December 1st.

I picked up this single of Cutch from the Phillies team set for under $2 delivered, which is expensive but still reasonable.  Sometimes I just get an itch for new cardboard and have to scratch it.

Because Cutch is a veteran player, it has his complete stats on the back of the card.

There were some other players included on the Phillies Topps team set that didn't make much sense.  Ian Kennedy (PHI-10) and Ronald Torreyes (PHI-15) were also included in the Phillies packaged team sets available at the ballpark and regional releases.  Both were free agents following the 2021 season.  Kennedy signed with the Diamondbacks.  He is pitching well for the Diamondbacks so far this season appearing in 24 innings with 22 strikeouts and a 3.65 ERA in relief.  Torreyes resigned with the Phillies on a minor league contract.  He has since been released by the organization.

Below is a screenshot from a team set available online showcasing the checklist for both the Phillies and Mets.

I have to believe that if Topps didn't include Cutch in the Phillies team set along with all the other members of Phillies that were (initially) denied roster spots in 2022 (Cutch, Herrera, Torreyes, Kennedy) I wouldn't have a Cutch team set card in my collection this year.  It is very odd though that Topps included the December 1st signings of Scherzer and Marte for the Mets in addition to the November buyouts and DFAs of the Phillies members mentioned already.

Do you collect these team sets of your favorite teams? 

If so do you open the set or leave it sealed?

I have a few of the Pirates team sets that are still sealed because Cutch was the cover of the team set.

Why do you think that guys who were not on the 40 man roster in November were included for the Phillies team set, but guys who signed on December 1st were included on the Mets team set?

My first Brewers cards

I was VERY VERY frustrated with Topps not including guys who made the Opening Day roster in their Series 2 flagship release.  I even considered not buying any new Topps products because it seemed like just a money grab to force people to buy their Topps Update release.

Topps did redeem themselves by including guys like Bobby Witt Jr, Spencer Torkleson, and Julio Rodriguez as short prints in the set.  This is a similar approach to what they did in 2019 with Vlad Jr (who debuted 3 weeks after this year's SP debuts).  They also produced a SP photo variant of Cutch in a Brewers uniform for Series 2.  

I haven't purchased that SP (or any flagship cards yet), but I did pick up this insert card (which you will likely see again in a future themed post).

I love this insert set.  It's so simple, but it's fun because it is something we haven't seen from Topps in a long time.

The insert set features fan favorites and superstars wearing sunglasses and is called Sweet Shades.  All the cards feature a closeup of the athlete wearing the sunglasses and feature rainbow holofoil on the front.  The font on the player's name is easy to read as it is all capital letters with the first name on top (something we don't always see from card manufacturers these days).  The sweet shades logo features a sun ray on the top corner of the last "s".

The back features an actual writeup discussing the front of the card.  Rather than Panini insert releases, it is nice to see Topps put in an effort to discuss the player and sunglasses.  

While not expensive, this insert set would be fun to put together especially since it features most of the popular stars in the game.  It is very possible that including Cutch in this insert set that Topps brought me back to wanting to collect current releases of my favorite player.  This insert set brought back memories of the early 90s insert set I enjoyed putting together in my early teens.  Sets like Donruss Long Ball Leaders or Fleer Shrap Shooters didn't break the bank, but had a fun design using holofoil.  Were it not for this insert, I was perfectly content not adding any new 2022 cards to the collection.

Prior to my frustration with Topps I was picking up 2022 releases hoping to get a few Brewers cards in the PC.

I preordered the Topps Now Road to Opening Day thinking that the Brewers could give me an off chance of some bonus cards throughout the year.  With a strong pitching staff and the best closer in baseball, I was sure they would be in 1st Place at the All Star Break.  A recent 8 game losing streak caused them to slide to 2 GB of 1st Place as of June 17th.  With a month remaining until the ASG I still have hopes of getting an NL Central division leader card (with hopefully some Cutch cameo) on it.  Cutch has struggled to use the long ball this year compared to years past.  Returning from his brief stint on the COVID 10 Day IL, Cutch struggled, but in recent week Cutch has returned to vintage form with a .833OPS, 2SB, 1HR, and a .433 OBP over the past 7 games.  

The back of the Topps Now Road to Opening Day cards looks similar to recent years spotlighting the same blurb for all members on the team along with something the player has done recently.  

In Cutch's case it notes his 27HR in 2021.

Here's hoping for more Cutch and Brewers success.

Have you bought any Topps Series 2?

Have You ever purchased the Topps Now Road to Opening Day team sets for your favorite teams? 

#Shelfies Pt1

I know everyone was excited to see the Cutch Cave completed and it is almost there.  I need to get something to display the bats and have a few more posters to hang up on the walls eventually.  I'm also trying to decide if I want to run the artificial grass through the entire room or leave a part with just the concrete flooring. 

I thought it might be fun to make a series of posts showing off some portions of the Cutch Cave.  

When I was designing the room I knew I wanted to get five Detolfs from Ikea to display memorabilia, collectibles, and cards.  If you are unfamiliar with the Detolfs, they are slim all glass cabinets with 4 shelves.  They are incredibly easy to build and when you line a few up in a row, it gives it a museum type quality.  I decided to break the room up a little bit and put no more than 2 of the detolfs side by side. I took 2 Detolfs and put them in the center of the room next to where my recliner is to watch TV.  To prevent the slightest bit of light that enters the room I chose to have an outside wall banner flag hanging on the opposite side of these two center of room displays. 

Here is a look at one of the shelves. 

This particular detolf shelf is the top shelf next to my recliner.  

On this shelf are a bunch of "gift shop" type items.  

There is a mystery MLB Oyo package that features Cutch as a possible player inside.  In front of that are the standard and Jersey variant Teeny Mates (another blind package MLB toy item produced in the mid 2010s)

Beneath that is a Stadium Giveaway Bobblehead package from 2013 recognizing Cutch's 2012 Silver Slugger and Gold Glove accomplishments.  

In front of that is a Jersey variant Oyo figure and MLB superstar Oyo checklist.

To the right of those Oyo (Lego style figures) and bobblehead box are a collection of the Topps (Poker) Chipz

Whenever I get to add one of these for under $2 I add it to the collection.  

There are a pair of Wristbandz featuring Cutch's name, number, and silhoute image of him making a diving catch in the outfield. 

Behind that is a very unique item that doesn't pop up too often these days and one that I would love to open and play a game with some friends.  They are stylized wiffleballs for the Backyard Sports game.  

There's an N-43 Allen & Ginter card above that along with another Oyo figure in box (road jersey variant).  

To finish off that picture theres an Andrew McCutchen tumbler to keep your beer ice cold or your coffee burning hot.  Whatever you fancy in a cup.

There's also a pair of Mrs T Pierogies stadium giveaways commemorating Cutch's 2013 MVP season. 

To finish off everything on this shelf is a lanyard with McCutchen 22 on it and a pair of Backyard Sports Mojo Bands.  These were gifted to me a few years ago as part of a Secret Santa from Rod of Padrographs fame.  The really awesome thing is the Miguel Cabrera one has the error of having Andrew McCutchen's name on the card. 

Here is one more look at this shelf.

If there's enough interest in these kinds of posts I will show off the other 19 shelves among my 5 Detolfs. 

Do you use Ikea furniture to help display your collectibles? 

How often do you reorganize a display to give it a fresh look? 

Great Managers vs Great Players?

We've seen it countless numbers of times where the best baseball players aren't the best managers and often times the best coaches didn't have the most successful MLB careers.

Andrew McCutchen is on the back side of his career and has played for 5 different MLB teams resulting in 7 different managers.

I thought it would be fun to look at where those managers were in 2009 when Cutch debuted and a brief history of the manager's careers.  All the managers that Cutch has played at least 25 games with at the MLB level had a Topps Flagship or Topps Heritage card produced in 2009. I will show off both a Topps Flagship and Topps Heritage when possible.  

Cutch debuted in June 2009 for the Pittsburgh Pirates who were on the verge of another rebuild due to the franchise's last winning season in 1992. 

John Russell was the manager of the Pirates when Cutch debuted in 2009.  He became manager of the Pirates in 2008 and was the first manager under the new Neal Huntington GM days. Russell had a difficult situation as manager of the Pirates as the team was transitioning to new ownership and a new GM/VP.  This of course meant a complete year down of the major league roster.  The 2007 Pirates were the second worse team in baseball standings and their farm system was also one of the worst with only a few bright spots on the horizon of becoming productice MLB players (Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Steve Pearce being among the leaders).  Russell had the distinction of having to develop young talent as the major league roster got desimated at the 2008, 2009, and 2010 deadlines.  

During Russell's stint as manager it saw former All Stars Jason Bay, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, Matt Capps, Oliver Perez, Xavier Mary and Nate McLouth get traded or DFA.  It also saw guys like Javier Lopez, Jose Bautista, Adam Laroche, and Jesse Chavez get traded with subpar returns. 

Russell had to manage a team of revolving players and after a 105 loss season in 2010 it ultimately lead to his departure from the organization.

John Russell managed a 186-299 record with the Pirates. After the Pirates, he caught on with the Baltimore Orioles as an assistant coach from 2011-2018. His playing days career lasted 10 seasons over the course of only 448 games played at 1B, C, and LF.  He amassed a -3.2WAR with a .225 batting average.

Following John Russell's departure from the Pirates, the team had a lengthy interview process, but ultimately chose to bring in former Rockies manager, Clint Hurdle.

Clint Hurdle was a former top prospect that made the cover of Sports Illustrated as a teenager. His MLB career fell short of the expectations of a phenom. His debut occurred in 1977 as a 19 year old and he was out of the league in 1987 after having appeared in only 515 games over a 10 year career.  He finished his career with 32 HR, 193 RBI, and a .259 batting average. 

When Cutch debuted in 2009, Hurdle was managing the Colorado Rockies, a team that Hurdle lead to the World Series just two seasons prior.  Hurdle took over the Pirates in 2011 and would manage them through the 2019 season.

There's a famous quote "We came to kick some ass and chew bubblegum"

Clint Hurdle chew a lot of bubblegum.

The former top prospect had a managerial career of 584-549 when managing teams that Cutch was on.  When he was hired as the manager of the Pirates he said he wanted to reunite the Pittsburgh fanbase to the Pirates and end the (at the time) nearly two decades long losing streak.  On the teams that featured Cutch & Hurdle leading the ship, the team posted a .515 winning percentage.  He helped lead the Pirates to three straight postseason appearances.  During those three seasons, the Pirates had the second best record in all of MLB with a 280-206 record (.576 winning percentage).  His overall managing career with the Rockies and Pirates (including 2 seasons post Cutch era) was 1269-1345 (.485 winning percentage)

Following the 2017 season, the Pirates began a firesale on their 2 former faces of the franchise.  Gerrit Cole was traded to the Astros and a few days later, Cutch was traded to the San Francisco Giants for the 2018 season.  2018 marked the last year on Cutch's guaranteed contract prior to entering free agency for the 2019 season.  Cutch joined an aging Giants team that was looking to spark their offense by grabbing not only Cutch, but another former face of the franchise in Evan Longoria, formerly with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Cutch's new manager would be Bruce Bochy to start the 2018 season.

Bruce Bochy is likely the most accomplished manager that Cutch will have played for over his career.  Bochy, like Cutch's two former MLB managers, was a catcher in his playing days.  Bochy played for 9 seasons and amassed only 2.3 WAR over 358 games.  His last game played, like Hurdle was also in 1987.

Bruce Bochy has won 3 World Series Championships with the San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014). 

The Giants were in contention through the July trade deadline and held onto all their potential trade chips, but injuries and a very poor August by the team lead them to put Cutch on the trade block prior to the (now defunct) August 30th waiver trade deadline.  The Giants finished with a 68-68 record while Cutch was on the team under Bochy's management.  

Overall Bochy's record sits at 2003-2029 (.497 winning percentage).  Often times we hear that Bochy is a no doubt Hall of Famer, but I think recent bias makes us forget about all those bad seasons the early 2000s Padres teams and late 2000s Giants teams had.  Side note, once Cutch left the Giants the team managed to win only 5 games in September and Cutch despite not playing the last month of the season with the Giants, finished in second for HR and H and lead the team in RBI.

 

Cutch joined the New York Yankees for the last month of the 2018 season after the waiver trade deadline ended.  He joined a powerhouse lineup that was facing a lot of injury concerns, but being managed by Aaron Boone.

Aaron boone is best known for his 2003 ALCS Walk Off HR.  He only had 1 card produced in 2009, a Topps Heritage card featuring him with the Astros. He played in 10 games that season with Houston and finished his career with one All Star Game appearance (2003) as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.   

Aaron Boone is still managing the NY Yankees.  Since joining the club, they have made the playoffs every season.  

Cutch's 2018 Yankees tenure under Boone's management, the team went 14-12, but were eliminated in the ALDS to the eventual WS Champs Boston Red Sox.

For the first time in Cutch's career he got to choose where he would play.  

The 5xAll Star chose the city of Philadelphia to be his new home as he signed a 3 year contract with a 4th year team option (which wasn't picked up).

Leading the 2019 Phillies was Gabe Kapler.  When Cutch debuted in 2009, Kapler was signed to be a member of the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2009 season after a successful utility role on the Brewers in previous seasons. 

When Cutch signed on with the Phillies in 2019 he joined a team that was in a win now mode despite the franchise not having a winning season since 2011. Kapler had managed the Phillies the season prior to Cutch joining the organization.  Kapler gave Cutch his traditional #22. The Phillies started out very strong in 2019 with a team of former All Stars Cutch, Bryce Harper, Jean Segura, and JT Realmuto joining a club that narrowly missed the playoffs the previous two seasons.  The Kapler lead squad with Cutch on the field in 2019 was 33-26 (1st place in division) prior to a season ending ACL tear and another late season Phillies collapse.

Kapler won the NL Manager of the Year in 2021 after surprising many with a postseason run with the Giants. His current managerial record is 332-275 (.547 winning percentage).  He played 12 seasons as an outfielder for 6 different teams.

Joe Girardi was brought on to manage the Phillies for the 2020 season.  He won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 2009, the year Cutch made his MLB debut. Like many other managers, Girardi played the bulk of his games as a catcher.  He debuted in 1989 and played until 2003.  He was selected to be an All Star in 2000 as a member of the Cubs. He was also the starting catcher for the expansion Colorado Rockies.  He won 3 World Series as a player with the Yankees. 

Recently in the 2022 season, the Phillies dismissed Joe Girardi from his managerial duties after starting the season under .500. 

Girardi and the Phillies missed the playoffs in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons.  The Girardi lead Phillies with Cutch had a 110-112 record. 

For only the second time in Cutch's career he got to choose where he would play, signing with the Brewers for the 2022 season. 

Craig Counsell has been managing the Brewers since 2015.  Counsell played in the majors as a utility infielder (2B, SS, and 3B) and won 2 World Series (2001 Diamondbacks & 1997 Marlins).  He was the NLCS MVP in 2001. He was playing for the Brewers in 2009 when Cutch debuted. 

A World Series hero in his playing days and one of the best current managers, Counsell has a career .526 winning percentage (563-508) through June 15, 2022, Counsell is very unorthodox in his approach at the plate and behind the fence.  

Now to finish out I will leave with this great card of current Brewers manager Craig Counsell.  Look at that stance before the pitch approaches the plate.  They just dont teach that approach in little league these days.

What active players do you think could be a good manager in the future?

Do you have a favorite manager?

Do you wish Topps still produced manager cards in both Flagship and Heritage?

I need ideas....

I used to post on here almost daily for a few years (300+ posts).  Last year I strayed away from that as I had my card collection in 3 different locations at any given time due to moving.  I still managed to post over 200 times though, which is better than every other day.

This year is a totally different situation. Through the middle of June I have posted only 29 times.  That's a far cry from my usual love of the hobby. To put into perspective annually in the month of October I post more than what I have done through the first five months. 

I'm certainly not as busy as I used to be as I am still recovering from a foot injury that has had me unable to work since the last week in February.  I've been to the doctor more in 3 months than I had from 2000 to 2021 combined.  

I just don't have much to say.  

I've been frustrated with the hobby.  

I'm frustrated with my collection.

When Topps Series 2 was announced and Andrew McCutchen wasn't listed on the Brewers checklist and all the Opening Day rookies weren't included, I strongly considered quitting the hobby because I had it with Topps holding players back.  

Now as we know some of the top hobby rookies were included as SP in Series 2 (Bobby Witt Jr, Julio Rodriguez, Spencer Torkleson).  This is a redemption that makes me consider staying.  The fact that Cutch is getting a SP Brewers card in Series 2 is a redemption too. 

So many people were saying that due to the increased production runs Topps couldn't feature guys who debuted in April into a product in June.  I say that's nonsense.  

Many players debuted in June/July 2011 and were featured in 2011 Topps Update.  

In addition all mid July All Star Game cards are featured in Topps Update.  That's only a two month turnaround.

The biggest counter I have to all this though is 2018 Topps  was released October 22nd 2018.  Andrew McCutchen had a SP Yankees photo variant in the set and made his debut September 1st.  Less than a 52 day turnaround from debut to mass retail release (remember when you could buy cards at retail before the hobby release?)

So I thought it was absolute nonsense that guys who debuted April 7th couldn't be included in a mid June release.  

Topps has gone the Vlad Jr Short Print route for all these opening day roster rookies which is nice to see.  They also offered a McCutchen card in a Brewers uniform.  I guess I will continue to collect cards, but part of the joy is sharing the hobby with others.

I need some fresh ideas on things to post.  What do you do for writer's block? 

Will theme weeks be a fun idea?  (Color parallels, throwback uniforms, cameo appearances, etc)

Would it be fun to do some Getty image research on photos used?

I'm looking for some ideas on things to write about. Please leave your comments below.