Stennett Gets 7 Hits

On this day in 1975, the Pirates' Rennie Stennett went 7 for 7 in a nine inning game against the Chicago Cubs.  He had four singles and three doubles with two RBI's.

The Pirates won the game 22-0.

No Vacancy

On this night in 2012, the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds all stayed in the same hotel in downtown Chicago.  The Tigers were in town for a make-up game with the White Sox.  The Pirates were staying over night after finishing up a four game set with the Cubs.  The Reds just arrived and started a series with the Cubs the following day.

Anniversary of Mantle's 400th

On this date in 1962, Mickey Mantle hit his 400th home run.

Needless to say, the Mick is an all-time great, but what would his statistics be if he had two healthy legs?

Chicago Trip

Two years ago today, I flew home from Chicago on another delayed flight and although, I was very tired, it was an awesome trip!!  It was my first time to visit Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field, and Chicago so it was great to cross those things off my list.

Some appropriate reading material

I picked this up to read in the airport or any downtime we had and I'm certainly glad that I did!

We got into Chicago at about 8:00 am and walked around downtown to see some sights.

Chicago Theater

The Cultural District and Michigan Avenue was really nice and had a ton of cool places to stop in and check out.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion

This would be an awesome place to take in a show or concert!

The Bean

This was pretty cool; the view from the other side was great because you could see the reflection of all of the buildings behind it.

Wrigley Square

Sear's Tower

We decided not to go all the way to the top due to cost, but it was still amazing how tall of a building it is.  At first, you don't think it's that much bigger than any other building until you are standing at it's base.

Wrigley Field Home of the Chicago Cubs

I absolutely loved Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville.  The atmosphere around the ballpark was amazing!  It reminded me of being in Cooperstown, but there was a MLB game taking place.  It felt like baseball.

The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field

I was amazed at how close you really were to the field.  Every seat felt like you were on top of the diamond.

View from my seats for Saturday's game

With where we were sitting, we had a nice breeze coming though, which was much need on the 90+ degree day.  As you can see, the field was almost framed for us...a pretty cool view!

Bartman Seat

Of course, I had to get a picture of the infamous Bartman Seat!

View from our seats for Saturday's game

US Cellular Field was pretty nice, but it could not compare to Wrigley Field.  If we would have visited US Cellular first, I may have liked it more.  One thing I hated was that you couldn't go from one level to the next?!? I've never heard of that before.  The worker that informed us of that acted like every single stadium was like that.

View of the rain from Sunday's seats

We also had tickets to Sunday's Cubs/Rockies game, but Mother Nature had something else in mind.  The game started later on in the day, but we couldn't stay due to needing to catch the flight home.  It would have been great to catch a third game on this trip, but I still can't complain.

Due to the storms, our flight was delayed, which makes me three for three on delayed home flying planes that summer.  Even with missing the Sunday Cubs' game and the delayed plane, it was a fantastic trip!  I will definitely have to make another trip back to Chicago in the future.

The Flying Dutchman's 3000th

On this date 100 years ago, Honus Wagner got his 3,000th hit.

There is some debate on when his 3,000th hit officially took place, but this is the most common date recognized.

A Career Switch is in the Works

Hello all! Hope everyone has been doing well!  I realize that I haven't posted for a while and I apologize for that, but I've been so swamped with everything that cards and baseball in general has been put on the back burner.  The only baseball I have watched in the past two months or so has been the three Pirates' games I went to.  The school is year is over.  Both of the volleyball seasons have come to an end as well.  With both of those being in the books, I will have a lot more free time...but only for the next 2-3 weeks.

Instead of having all summer off and simply working camps like I was expecting.  I have decided to switch careers.  I enjoy teaching, coaching, and working with student athletes, but there are simply no jobs right now.  I have an opportunity to pursue a new career and I'm rolling the dice and going for it.  The earning potential for this new job is sky high, but that is not what's most important to me.  I will still have an opportunity to help people and families as well as having more control over my schedule.

Needless to say, I am WAY behind on posts from my two COMC orders (I still never finished my February posts), a ton of eBay orders, and a few Twitter trades.  I hope to get a ton of posts done in the next two weeks as well as some golf and relaxation.

Longoria Auto/Jersey Pick Up - Part 3

I bought a jersey relic and an amazingly, sweet auto of Evan Longoria, might as well have my third purchase being a combination!!

sticker auto
36/75

Don't get me wrong, I am pumped to have this card in my collection, but I think the pink Longo auto may be my favorite of the three pickups.  Which one is yours? 

Longoria Auto/Jersey Pickup - Part 2

Here is part two of my three part eBay, Evan Longoria pickups!

Topps Tribute hit another home run with this one! 

on-card auto
5/45

I absolutely love this card! On-card auto with a pretty decent signature, low numbered of 45, and a pink parallel!  How could you not love this card??  My girlfriend even approves of this card...mainly because of the pinkness...but I'm still counting it ha!

Longoria Auto/Jersey Pickup - Part 1

Although I am a huge Pirates fan, the Rays do rank #2 or #3 in my rooting interests.  There are a few reasons for this and one of them is their star third baseman, Evan Longoria.  As you could probably guess, I've been expanding my collection lately and accomplishing this feat by adding more autographs and relics.

This is the first of three Evan Longoria autos and/or relics that I picked up.

13/36

I was surprised to get this Triple Threads jersey relic for the price I did, but hey, I'm not going to complain!!

Stay tuned the next two days to see the other two Longo cards that I picked up.

Yu Want to Go on a Road Trip?

Two years ago today, I, along with a few friends, knew the newest pitching sensation, Yu Darvish, was pitching just 2.5 hours away in Cleveland on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  With nothing else planned for the day, we quickly jumped in the car and headed towards Lake Erie.  

not exactly, Pittsburgh's sky line, but still a solid place to take in a game

view from our seats

We ended up missing the first inning due to my friend's "shortcut", but it was still an excellent game to see!  I was rooting for Josh Hamilton and the Rangers to win, but the home fans walked away happy with a 4-2 victory.

Hamilton went one-for-three with a single, RBI, and a walk. Darvish pitched six innings giving up four runs, three earned, while striking out eleven, walking three, and giving up one homer.

McGwire's Remarkable 16 Swing Stretch

During Mark McGwire's historic 1999 season, he hit five home runs in his final sixteen swings.

That is sixteen swings, not at-bats...swings.

16 swings = 5 home runs

eBay Pickups - Sale and Strasburg Relics

From the same seller that I picked up the Cutch relic and GI Jones auto that I featured yesterday, I also picked up these two relics for decent prices.  These are both my first relics for these two aces.

11/50

 I'm not a big Sale fan, but for the price and /50, I couldn't pass it up.  It could be moved for the right price.

12/99

It's hard to switch the channel when Strasburg toes the rubber.  From all of the hype he had coming out of college until now, he is an electric pitcher to watch.  I, along with a few college buddies, made a short road trip to Altoona to see Strasburg pitch in AA against the Pirates' affiliate when he first came out of college.

My First Cutch Relic

I've been wanting to get a Andrew McCutchen relic for a while.  A few weeks back, I was able to find one that is decent priced.

8/99

I really like this card.  It's a sharp looking card, as Topps Tribute usually are, and a black jersey piece for the relic.  Definitely a solid first Cutch relic for my collection.

on-card auto
145/299

I was also able to pick up this GI Jones on-card auto for a few bucks from the same seller.  Jones was very frustrating at times, but he did give us some thrills and for how cheaply the Pirates picked him up for, I'll take definitely take it.  He was always a nice guy anytime I met him at various event and the girls certainly don't mind looking at him! Hope he has another resurgence in Miami!

MJ Collection - SP Top Prospects

This Michael Jordan card is from the SP Top Prospects collection.

I've always been a fan of the SP series.  There is just something about them that I like!

Mattingly's 6 Grand Slams

Over Don Mattingly's career, he hit a total of six grand slams.

All six of those slams came during the 1987 season.

Griffey in 23 Karat Gold

While I was perusing on eBay for some combined shipping, I came upon this item.

I've never seen or heard about this card before.  I wasn't sure how I felt about it initially, but now that I have it and looking at it, it's pretty cool!  Plus, it's of Jr so how could I not be a fan?? 

MJ Collection - Upper Deck - The Future

Here is card #10 from the '95 Upper Deck mini-set.  

MJ Collection - Upper Deck - '94 Autumn

Here is card #9 from the '95 Upper Deck mini-set.  

Torre's Double Play Feat

During his 1975 season, Joe Torre became the first in major league history to ground into four double plays in one game. All four came after Felix Millan singles.

After the game, Torre commented, "I would like to thank Felix Millan for making all of this possible."

The Good Ole Sweatball

Here is something to think about...

A pitcher is not allowed to spit on the ball for obvious reasons, but how many times have you seen a pitcher get a new ball from the ump, take his glove off, get all the sweat off his forearms, and rub down the ball?  I understand pitchers wanting to rub down the ball, but how are they allowed to take the sweat off their arms and rub that onto the ball?  You're not allowed to spit on the ball so to me, you shouldn't be allowed to put your sweat on the ball either.

If anyone has some input to this, feel free to comment; I'd love to hear your thoughts!  My only guess is that the umps believe that the sweat will evaporate before the pitcher throws that next pitch sorta to the affect a pitcher can lick his fingers as long as he doesn't go straight to the ball afterwards.

MJ Collection - Upper Deck - First Homer

Here is card #8 of Upper Deck's mini-set for Michael Jordan.  

MJ Collection - Upper Deck - '94 Season

Here is card #7 from the '95 Upper Deck mini-set.

  

Foxx as a Pitcher

During Jimmie Foxx's 1945 season with the Phillies, he made nine appearances on the mound going 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA over 22.2 innings pitched.

New Favorite Auto??

I recently posted a pretty sweet looking Adam Jones' autographed card that I picked up via eBay and teased that an even sweeter one was being shipped. Well, without further ado, here it is!

on-card auto
40/40

I love the picture!  Adam Jones in a home run trot blowing a bubble! Awesome!! The coloring in the background is perfect for the Orioles as well!  Great design! To make it even better, it's an on-card auto and numbered 40 of 40!

 

I was also able to pick up this Jones' relic for cheap from the same seller. 

Another eBay Mail Day

Last week, I had some time to kill so I was on eBay Mobile seeing if I could get lucky and find a David Price relic and/or autograph.  Here is what I came up with...

Price 24/36

I really like the larger Triple Threads jersey relics.  They are bigger than your standard jersey relic, but do not take up the entire card.  Plus, I like the Triple Threads line in general.  This Price card (24/36) set me back $6, but it was one of the better buys I could find.  

Surprisingly, the Rays did not deal Price this offseason, but still having him makes their starting rotation that much stronger. You have a young trio of Cobb, Archer, and Moore plus Price....good luck matching up with that over a seven game series!

The other two cards, Adrian Beltre jersey relic and Andrew Jones jersey relic, only cost $2 each so well worth the combined shipping!

eBay Mail Day

During my recent time on eBay, I was looking for some relics and/or autos of Sonny Gray and Wandy Rodriguez.  I found a seller who had a bunch of cards fairly priced as Buy It Now/Best Offer and had some cards I was interested in.  Naturally, I went with the Best Offer route and got a buck or two knocked off each card.  Here is what I got... 

Sonny Gray - what a name!  I, along with both of my fantasy teams, hopes he has a big year and continues to develop!

Bucco fans, myself included, are hoping that Wandy can bounce back from injuries and have a quality 2014 campaign.

Both of these cards were only $2 each.  

Fisk 58/225

The Matthew Purke card is pretty cool with the American flag in the background and at $1.50, I had to buy it.

A Carlton Fisk jersey relic for $3, I'll take it!

Nice Schilling relic with the purple stripe, especially for only $3.

MJ Collection - Upper Deck - '94 Spring

Here is card #6 from the '95 Upper Deck mini-set.  

MJ Collection - Upper Deck - Overall Skills

Here is card #5 from the '95 Upper Deck mini-set.