Draft Day

I'm upset that the Mountaineers got eliminated by Villanova last night, but we have a big silver lining. One of the things I love about college basketball is it provides a perfect transition into the greatest sport on earth, baseball! I'm trying not to pay attention to the fact that it is 40 degrees....

Since this is the last weekend before opening day it means it is fantasy baseball draft day.  We do both and NL only and AL only league.  This is a fun way to play when you only have 5 or 6 people participating.  All the baseball talk and roster construction will get me in the right mindset for Thursdays first pitch.  We also use it as an excuse to try a bunch of beer and eat unhealthy food. You know you are getting old when you look forward to a day to eat unhealthy. 

New card time.

2016 Triple Threads Mark Melancon All Star Patch /9

For a long time I would actively chase these All Star patches. For whatever reason they always struck a cord with me. For one they would often create cards of obscure All Stars when the Pirates were terrible.  Did you know former Pirate reliever Evan Meek was an All Star?! It is the fanciest versions of the obscure I crave. 

The other benefit is that like most patch cards prices can be all over the place. One day this card could sell for $15 and the next $40.  Patience usually pays off.  This one was had for about $20.  Not great, but it had been a long time since I added one so I splurged a little. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the last weekend without baseball for around 7 months!!!!!

Thanks for reading! 

1st Edition Education

When it comes to collecting I really don't give myself any rules. I just like to have a well rounded collection while trying not to overspend for any one card. During some searching for cards of more obscure Pirates I came across a parallel I knew nothing about.

2014 Topps 1st Edition Francisco Liriano

When these popped up I went to Cardboardconnection.com to educate myself a little more. It turns out that the 1st edition cards were a prize in the Spring Training Access in 2014 Topps Series 1. Each collector that found a Spring Training access pass was given a complete set of the 1st edition cards. Only 10 sets were made of the over 600 card set!

Needless to say a handful of these sets were broken up and put on eBay. Of course big names like Trout and Harper went for huge bucks. Deals could be had on the lesser know guys.  This is where I come in. 

The seller I bought the Liriano from must have been breaking up close to an entire set as he had a slew of Pirates for sale. Being that many of them had low bids, I started bidding on all the Pirates. While I didn't get any of the star Buccos I did end up doing pretty well. 

The big win for me was the Wandy Rodriguez as it was my favorite Pirate card from 2014 Series 1. It had fun cameos of Marte, Harrison and Burnett. I don't remember how much I spent as this auction was won around the holidays, but I'm guessing most of these went for less than $5.  I remember putting an aggressive bid on the Cole, but still came up short. 

In the end the cards I did win better suit my style. When it comes to parallels I really only like to spend money on the silver frames and acetates. For me it is always fun to find rare cards of Buccos that don't get much love on cardboard. 

So if you are ever on eBay and come across one of these 1st edition cards, snag them up. It might be a cheap way to get a card with only ten in existence. 

Thanks for reading! 

Second Tier

Hope everyone is having a nice Easter weekend. Pretty nice day in Morgantown as the sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 60's. Actually heard some lawnmowers today.  I'm guessing people didn't look at the extended forecast as it looks like it might snow next week. Yuck

A new silver frame!

Mark Melancon 2016 Topps Series 1 Silver Frame /16

I'm always excited to add a new silver frame. I would love to add some of the bigger names like Cutch and Cole, but the prices are outrageous. Fortunately the second tier guys can still be had for good prices. Such was the case with Melancon. This one cost right around $15.

Melancon is one of the games more dominant relievers but he gets the job done in a much different way. Instead of blowing fastballs past guys he relies on a cutter that he learned from Mariano Rivera. Pretty good teacher. This plays in perfect with the Pirates shifting their infielders as the cutter induces weak contact. If you are going to beat Melancon you will have to string together several hits in a row. In his three years as a Pirate he has only given up 7 homeruns.

Thanks for reading!

Spotlight Stealers

I've been much more proactive trying to locate cards I want out of this years Update. Usually I let the market cool off, but the checklist was very appealing so I wanted to see if I could snag a few of the rarer cards.  The good thing is most of the desired cards are from the more obscure bench/reliever type of players like the Arquimedes Caminero and Joe Blanton that I showed off last week. Plates for these guys usually fall around the $10 range.

Now with that being said I knew if certain cards popped up on eBay I would most likely overpay to acquire.  Such as this one.....

2015 Update A.J. Burnett Yellow Printing Plate

Over the years I haven't made it a point to chase plates for more established players. The ones that are in my collection are more of the Joe Blanton types than Andrew McCutchen. My usual thought process is I would rather have an auto of said player than a plate. It's not that I don't enjoy them, but their is only so much money to spread around. 

A.J. Burnett is kind of a unique case, but I was torn on whether I wanted to chase this card. He kind of fits the mold of a Joe Blanton in the sense that he doesn't have a certified Pirates auto. Cards like printing plates are about as high end as your going to get. The reason I was torn is that I'm not the biggest A.J. Burnett fan.  He was very good for the Pirates, but something about him just leaves something to be desired. I'm sure most Yankee fans agree....

For me the deciding factor is subject matter. I love that the background is PNC park and that it features two of my favorites in Gerrit Cole and Cutch. Just like antiques, subject matter can drive a the price a little higher than normal. This card ran me about $25 shipped. In the grand scheme of things not too bad, but much more than I'm use to spending on printing plates. 

By the way if you noticed I try to always type out the price I spend on cards. Kind of a virtual check and balance in my head to keep me from overpaying. 

Here is the base card of the Burnett for a more colorful reference.

Thanks for reading! 

Also, if you like free cards enter my contest.

Wildcat

2008 Donruss Elite Mark Melancon Auto /250

I kind of figured by now that Melancon would have more in the way of high end cardboard, but other than a few parallels it is slim pickings. Now a two time All Star, Melancon has continued the nice stretch of the Pirates turning around broken arms. 

The Pirates acquired Melancon when they dealt Joel Hanrahan to Boston.  The deal has actually worked out for both teams, but probably not in the way the Red Sox imagined. Hanrahan would only work a handful of games for the Sox, but in the trade the Sox also received Brock Holt who has turned into a high end utility player. Melancon hit the ground running with the Pirates as the 8th inning guy and has been closing since Jason Grill was dealt away last summer. 

Melancon is unique in the sense he doesn't fall in the normal late inning stereotype of being a hard thrower. Instead, he relies on a cutter to induce weak contact. This style can cause a little more nervousness to the casual fan since he is not a strike out pitcher, but if you want to beat him you have to string together several hits in a row. He rarely gives up homeruns. 

I have accumulated a few of these college cards over the years. You have to be careful with some because some of the autos can either be too light or faded. 

Thanks for reading!