50th Anniversary

Several months back I posted this Kent Tekulve card without knowing much about it.

Eric from The Snorting Bull told me in the comments that this Teke came from a Carolina League 50th anniversary set.  He then told me he had the full set it would be happy to send it my way.  I'll showcase a few of my favorites. 

 The Candy Man oozes manliness. If they created a dual auto featuring both the Candy Man and Bob Walk my head would explode.

 Skinny Bonds

Here is the Cobra already mastering his bad ass look.

 The last of the Pirates in the set is former pinch hitting extraordinaire Manny Mota.

 Obviously the Carolina League has quite the history. I like that some of the cards feature some of the crazy stats the players accomplished.  Nails was quite the base runner.

Some more Hall of Famers to round things out. 

Thanks a ton Eric for sending me this whole set. These are some nice oddball additions to my Pirates collection. I'll try to find some good Cardinals or Durham Bulls for your collection. 

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July fellow cardboard lovers.  Hope everyone's day is full of bbq's, beer and baseball. 

Blog Bear Maintenance

I've added a page to my blog dedicated to my Black Bears project. To date 3 players have been featured in their Black Bears uniforms (Kevin Newman, Kevin Kramer and Will Craig). I've had pretty good luck finding some of the rarer cards for each including 2 printing plates, 3 blank back 1/1's and a true 1/1 for Kevin Kramer.

I probably won't add an actual needs list just because the cards I need are all harder to find parallels. I'll happily take any in trade no matter if I have them or not.  My to date progress can be found here.

http://bobwalktheplank.blogspot.com/p/black-bear-project.html

If you've opened any Pro Debut the last couple years maybe take a second look.  You might have some good trade bait!

Thanks for reading!

Personalized

I got Zippy Zapped

Pretty cool if I say so myself!!!!! Everyone's favorite Luis Torrens collector was a nice enough to send me this great personalized Neil Walker auto a few days back. I'm super pumped to have this in my collection. It will go nicely with the personalized John Candelaria 8 x 10 he sent a few years back. 

Of course Zippy didn't stop there...

 Zippy is always great for prospect cards. I got to see Mitch Keller pitch for the Black Bears for the first game this season as he was on a minor league assignment.  His stuff was electric. It doesn't take long to see why he shows up on just about every major prospect list.

Borden is pitching out of the pen for AA Altoona with pretty good success.

Josh Bell is establishing himself as an everyday major leaguer.

 I'm pretty sure Bay went homerless in the derby.

Former favorite player of Zippy and current Bucco catcher Francisco Cervelli. I can't wait until the Pirates get Luis Torrens and Gary Sanchez.  Put money on it because it is guaranteed.

Thanks again for all the great cards.  That personalized Walker is a thing of beauty.  You always find something unique for my collection.

A New Status

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition /75 Josh Harrison

Josh Harrison is one of those rare everyday players that doesn't have a ton of prospect oriented cards to chase. In today's collecting environment I find that refreshing. 2008 Donruss Elite was pretty much it for Harrison until his breakout 2014 season. I've accumulated several different versions over the years with this /75 being the most recent. 

It started to look like the deal the Pirates gave Harrison might go south, but he has rebounded nicely this season.  If the Buccos become sellers in the coming weeks it wouldn't surprise me if the Pirates look to shop Harrison to get out of a 10.5 million commitment next season.  The contract also has team options for 2019 and 2020 so it would give the acquiring team some flexibility. 

Hope everyone has a fun (almost) holiday weekend. 

Thanks for reading. 

Back to Back to Back

Here is a card that is right in my wheelhouse.  Two guys that haven't received much cardboard love lately in David Freese and Jordy Mercer and obscure rookie Jose Osuna all on the same card! If only John Jaso could have somehow got on the card it would have been perfect!

I'm glad the Pirate NOW pace has slowed down some.  They had a week in which 3 cards were produced which is a little pricey.  Since I'm hopelessly addicted to adding these cards I'm glad they are back to their middle of the road production pace like last year!

Thanks for reading!

Free Agent

Oscar recently ran the Lucky 13 contest on his blog ATBATT.  I had one of the last picks so as an experienced Big Fun Game player I knew whatever I picked was going to stay with me. 

My pick revealed a big lot of NBA cards.  Oscar was worried I wouldn't like the cards I received, but rest assured they were greatly appreciated.  

I'm a big college basketball fan and have been a season ticket holder to WVU ever since I got out of college in 2005. As far as the NBA goes I consider myself a free agent fan.  Until my Alma Mater produces a high end NBA player I just don't have a rooting interest. Like most people in my age bracket I grew up a huge fan of Jordan and Magic and a little later on, Shaq.  I just had trouble latching on to the stars of today's game.  

I enjoy collecting NBA cards, but rarely get to pick up as the guys I collect were NBA busts like Joe Alexander and Devin Ebanks.  Jerry West is the only WVU guy that continues to get new cards. 

With all that being said lets see the winnings! 

Vince Carter was sooooo fun to watch when he came into the league.  Back when Sportscenter was watchable, young Vince Carter pretty much had a permanent spot on top plays during the NBA season. That 2000 season Slam Dunk Contest was so awesome!

The big hit from my winnings was this relic from Carter's Nets days.

I had heard that Seattle was gaining some traction on getting a franchise back.  I need to find my Shawn Kemp jersey I had as a kid.

Round Mound of Rebounds!

Worm cards are so cool!

Oscar also threw in some extra Buccos!

Cervelli had a great first season with the Pirates, but has had trouble staying on the field ever since. He broke a bone in his hand last year and is dealing with concussion issues this year.

The Pops/Altuve card is my favorite with the Cutch coming in a close second.

I'm a sucker for team cards. I think Josh Harrison has been in the center of every Pirate one the last 3 years.

Finishing things off with a nice GQ rookie card of Pirate first baseman Josh Bell.

Thanks for hosting the Lucky 13 Oscar! It was a lot of fun.

Thanks for reading.