Swing and a Pop-up and a Slapshot

How cool was that Dee Gordon homerun tonight.  Lots of raw emotion. I'm still bummed about the whole situation. All my favorite national writers had great pieces on Fernandez today. The guy seemed to be universally loved.

Let's show some cards.

A couple weeks back long time trade partner Burt from Swing and a Pop-up hit me up with a bubble mailer.  Burt and I swap a couple times a year. He always finds something cool for me at his regular card shows. I'm jealous!

 Fair or not Pedro will go down as a pretty big bust for the Pirates. The power is legit, but his knack for striking and defensive limitations cost him.  He is in the American League where he belongs now.

 Does this count as a Griffey card too?  I bet these driver super collectors mad.

I loved Jack Wilson.  Jack was a great defender that probably should have got a little more love for some gold glove awards. The voters had no idea what they were doing at that time.  It usually just went to one of the better offensive shortstops.

Gerrit Cole's health failed him a good bit of this year.  For every one step forward it was two steps back for the young Pirate ace. I suspect a motivated Cole will be in for a big year next year. He is on top of my list to buy in the offseason as his cards are still very affordable. 

The Pirates probably make for one of the more appealing no license teams as their black uniforms are easy to photoshop.  Just wish Panini would be a little more creative with the hats. 

 Hockey is always welcomed in Bob Walk land. It is pretty much a blog only venture for me. It is so fun looking at the older cards. I would be scared to meet Tom Bladon in a dark alley.  These guys were tough as shit.

Hat's off to goaltenders. That is a special kind of crazy job.

Thanks for all the great cards Burt.  Hope you are getting excited for the playoff push with your Red Sox. I'm a big Mookie Betts fan so I hope he does well.

Thanks for reading.

Swing and a Pop-Up

Today my wife and I spent most of the day in the basement getting rid of junk and moving stuff around to better utilize the space. The silver lining is that it will free up more space for cardboard and beer! I'm not sure if my wife knows that yet........maybe we'll keep that on the down low. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate by having a kid.

Early this week I received a piece of mail from Bert of Swing and a Pop-Up.  While Bert is not blogging as much these days he is still commenting and trading.  While this package was small it packed a big punch.

 While the Pirates were completely justified non tendering Pedro Alvarez it is still weird seeing him play for another team. Pedro was Neil Huntington's first big draft pick and he and McCutchen were supposed to be the guys to bring relevance back to Pittsburgh.  While he showed flashes it really never came together for Pedro. The power was some of the best in baseball, but his defense and inability to hit left handed pitching made him a one dimensional player.

 John Holdzkom was an unsung hero two years ago for the Pirates during their playoff push. He was found playing independent ball by a Bucco scout and was immediately signed and sent to the minors. After a small tweak in his deliver he became super dominant and ended up being a backend reliever down the stretch.  Unfortunately arm troubles began the plague him and the Buccos had to DFA him to make room for three non roster invitees that made the team this year.

Chrome autos always scan like crap, but you can see that John has one of the more unique autos out there. Such a cool card!

Over the last handful of years the Pirates have been very good about signing young talent to long term extensions. So far the only deal to go south was Jose Tabata. When Jose inked his deal it was universally praised in the media for being super team friendly.  Well, it went south real fast.

When Jose first got called up with the Pirates he showcased great plate discipline to go along with plus speed and gap power.  After signing a 6 year deal in 2011 Jose's career began to fall almost immediately. Hamstring injuries slowed his running game and his power was completely zapped. Essentially all his tools that made him a valuable prospect were gone. From the time he inked his deal Jose would be up and down from the minors until his trade to the Dodgers last year.  The Buccos received Michael Morse which was essentially a bad contract for bad contract trade.

In terms of cardboard I was pretty active in trying to acquire cards of Tabata. I actually just made a purchase yesterday off of eBay! Thanks to Bert I was able to add a nice copy of this 2012 Topps Tabata.

Thanks for the great cards Bert. I'll hit you back soon with some more Red Sox.

Thanks for reading!

Trade: Swing And A Pop-Up

A few weeks back when I was organizing some of my trade bait I sent some extra Sox cards to Bert from Swing And A Pop-Up. I did this not expecting anything in return, but Bert sent me a package full of Pirate hits.

Freddy Sanchez had an interesting path to the Pirates. He was part of the return in the trade that sent Jeff Suppan and Scott Sauerbeck to the Red Sox. Most of his first season was spent injured, but when the opportunity presented itself at the big league level he took full advantage. Sanchez made three All Star teams with the Pirates and played a big part in one of the Giants World Series victories. 

What a beautiful card! The patch in the middle is from the red alternate jersey the Pirates wore in the mid 2000's. Have to love Triple Threads.

Another nice surprise was this Doug Drabek from Archives. I've had a few of these over the years, but always find when I trade with other Pirate collectors that this is a sought after card. Drabek doesn't have much in the way of auto's and relics so it is always nice to add this one when I can. 

Nice two color jersey of former Bucco Brian Giles. 

This autograph really pops in the dark blue. I'm not sure what to think of Tony Sanchez anymore. The former first round pick has suffered many set backs in his professional career mainly due to injuries. It looked like he was poised to take over for Russell Martin, but the acquisition of Francisco Cervelli makes Sanchez the odd man out. The Pirates put a high priority on pitch framing and controlling the running game and Sanchez has struggled in that aspect the last few years. His only hope to making the Pirates will be as a reserve first baseman. Wouldn't surprise me if he was part of trade this season.

Some nice oddballs to round out the trade. I've had a nice run of obtaining 7-11 collectibles lately. The Tony Pena chip in the middle is a nice addition. 

Thanks so much for the cards Bert! I'll continue to hunt some cards that will fit your collection. Your Red Sox have been busy so I may have to let the dust settle to get a better grasp of their roster.  

Thanks for reading!

Trade: Swing And A Pop-Up (Boat Load of Cards)

A while back I sent some Red Sox cards to Bert from the great blog Swing And A Pop-Up.  Bert told me his area has a bunch of card shows and that he would probably be able to find me some Pirate cards.  Boy did he deliver.  I was a little overwhelmed by what came in the mail....

The Al Oliver disc is awesome, but do you see whats behind it?  Bert sent me a plastic container full of Pirate cards.  Hundreds of cards from all eras.  

 This is a nice looking bat relic of Cutch.  Really appreciate you adding this card Bert as I don't have it!

Nice Bowman Platinum Clay Holmes RC auto.

This post really doesn't do the cards I received justice.  There is so much neat stuff that I see a lot of future blog posts just from the cards Bert sent.  Thanks Bert for a great trade!  I will be mailing you some more Red Sox cards to even the score a little bit.  You outdid yourself!