A Wild and Crazy Middle Reliever Card

2013 Panini America's Pastime Justin Wilson Book Auto /49

I've lost out on a couple of these cards over the years.  It was probably for the better as now the shipping cost just as much as the card. I'm glad that it is finally mine because I love cards like this of obscure Pirates.

For those who don't remember the  America's Pastime set it was based around receiving a book autos in every box. The weird thing about the set though was the dual book autos had some really weird combinations. Needless to say the set failed. A couple of years back Dave and Adams ran a super sell on these at over 50% off the original price tag. You could pick up singles for cheap on eBay.

As for the player....

Justin Wilson was never a high end prospect, but he was left handed and could throw really hard. He was a two pitch pitcher so he was destined for the bullpen even though he spent most of his time in the minors starting.  He turned himself into a productive bullpen guy and has logged quite a bit of innings between stops in Pittsburgh, New York and the Tigers.

Thanks for reading.

Selective with Select

Panini Select is one of those sets that I pretty much ignored. It was basically Prizm without the nice checklist. As most of you know I don't let the non license issue stop me, but this set didn't have much going for it. Even when the boxes were discounted to a fraction of the original price I still passed.

The only signer in the set that peaked my interest was Justin Wilson.  No matter how bad the set if an obscure Pirate is in it, I want it.

2013 Panini Select Justin Wilson Gold Prizm Auto /25

The base autos leave something to be desired so it was nice to locate the gold variation. At least it has a little pop to it. It is always exciting to find obscure parallel autos of middle relievers!

Wilson was a serviceable middle reliever for the Pirates for a couple of years. Last offseason the Pirates sent him to the Yankees for Francisco Cervelli.  The deal worked out fantastic for both teams, but it was extra sweet for the Pirates. That offseason the Pirates had already lost Russell Martin to free agency and were in dire need for a catcher. Thankfully Cervelli put together his best season as a pro and was a key component  in the playoff push. You have to like any trade of a reliever for a position player. 

Thanks for reading. 

Mixing and Matching

I'm well aware of what most of the blogosphere thinks of Donruss, but I will continue to troll all of you! At least I'm not showing the base cards, right! Maybe all of you can put a trashcan beside your computer in case you have to throw up. I guess I just equate the set too much to my childhood.

The patch cards in Donruss were extremely tough pulls. They are all numbered to /15 and fell about 1 a case. While scouring for some AJ Burnett cards I came across this weird card. I guess Donruss had a leftover Marlins jersey.

I normally don't buy cards of Pirate players if they are void of the Bucco uniform, but the price was right since I also added this patch of Justin Wilson.

Justin Wilson had a great 2013 with the Pirates, but regressed in 2014. During the offseason the Pirates traded Wilson to the Yankee for Francisco Cervelli. The trade has worked out pretty well for both teams so far, but I'm in the camp that a position player trumps just about any reliever. I'm praying that Cervelli can have a full year without missing time due to injury.

On a side note I've been hoarding a bunch of cards for trades lately. Mailbox assault will be commencing very soon.

Thanks for reading.