Finally!

It feels good to sit and relax. After a whirlwind Christmas full of family gatherings things are getting back to normal. I took off work today which means I'm done until Monday! Have all kinds of fun stuff planned as one of my good friends is coming in from DC to stay with me tonight. We are going to sample a bunch of beers, hit a local brewery taphouse and watch some football.

Now to something even more exciting...

2015 Immaculate Jung-Ho Kang Auto /99

Patience finally paid off for adding a Kang auto to my collection. For the longest time his autos were outrageously priced, but he eventually signed enough cards to help bring the price to a more respectable amount. This card set me back just less than $20. 

For as long as I've collected the Pirates their really hasn't been a comparable to Kang in terms of cardboard prices. Being that Kang was the first position player to make the jump from the KBL I was expecting high prices. The thing that caught everyone by surprise was how good he turned out. This caused even more price increases. Pirate players that come up in the system generally have lulls in which card prices fall. Even stars like McCutchen and Cole had times where it was a buyers market. Kang immediately went to Pittsburgh and prices reflected that. 

It will be interesting to see how he does in his sophomore campaign. He'll have an extra challenge of returning from a broken leg and MCL tear as well. Generally speaking the second year in the league is hard on hitters as pitchers adjust and have better scouting reports to exploit weaknesses. What Kang did last year was a huge bonus for the Pirates, but expectations will be much higher this year. If he struggles that would open the opportunity to purchase more cards, but if he succeeds Kang has a chance to price himself into the stratosphere. For the sake of the Pirates I hope he prices himself out of my collection.  

Thanks for reading! 

Hey Hey JHay!

2015 Immaculate Josh Harrison Auto /99

It took me forever to secure a Josh Harrison auto. Harrison wasn't much of a prospect so he had only one certified auto before his big breakout season last year. This created a perfect cardboard storm and sent prices skyrocketing. Finally, a couple weeks back I secured an auto for a shade under $10.

I wouldn't consider Harrison one of my favorite Pirates, but he is a very useful player. His 2014 breakout season will likely not be replicated, but the Pirates still signed him to an extension last offseason. The good thing is Harrison doesn't have to be an All Star caliber player for the deal to be good for both player and team. A lot of Harrison's value is in versatility. He can play 2nd, 3rd and the corner outfield positions. Every team needs a high end player like this, but this is especially true in the NL and the Pirates recognized it and signed him. Even if he doesn't have a defined player we should be able to find him 500 at bats if he is healthy.

Thanks for reading!

Glimmer of Hope

Albeit small, the Pirates do have a glimmer of hope for the division. According to Fangraphs the Pirates have about a 10% shot of winning the division. At the very least they control their own destiny since the margin is 3 games. The Pirates are entering a 3 games series with the Cardinals beginning tonight and finish with the Reds. If the Cards win the series it would mathematically eliminate the Pirates and we will be on a collision course with Jake Arrieta and the Cubs. Arrieta is very good at throwing baseballs that are hard to hit. I would much rather not face him.

2015 Immaculate Andrew McCutchen/Giancarlo Stanton Dual Patch /10

I've had a lot of success picking up cards from this years Immaculate. It had one of the better Pirate checklists of the year. I have a nice backlog of cards to showoff from this set, but I was really excited about this dual patch.

Obviously it is always a big deal to pick up a nice new Cutch, but being featured with Giancarlo Stanton made me want this card that much more. I'm a huge Stanton fan and could watch videos of him destroying baseball all day.

Here is a nice sample.

This card cost me around $20 which seemed reasonable considering Cutch cards are through the roof. At least being unlicensed allows me to find a deal every now and again.

Thanks for reading!