Yep, the World Series is going on and I'm just over here talking about Pittsburgh Pirates cards. No Juan Soto cards to show off here, sorry. Just lots of mediocre Pirates.
Lots of new stuff to debut, lets get to it!
Jose Osuna is a guy who's been buried pretty deep in the Pirates system for quite some time. Not for a lack of talent or skill, but more so because of outfield depth in AAA. Osuna for three years, Osuna has been one of the last guys cut from the big league roster in Spring Training, and one of the first guys called up once injuries strike. He has some real pop in his bat, and considering that he's "average athleticism" for a major leaguer, he's pretty versatile defensively - able to plug in at 1B, 3B, and both outfield spots.
In 2019, Osuna enjoyed a new career high in ABs with 261. Seeing him play more often inspired me to check out some of his Rookie cards. He may never be an everyday player, but I love this dude.
Oh! And I got a new scanner, so enjoy some awesome pictures that really pop.
2017 Topps Update Gold Parallel #/2017
2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects Refractor #/500
2017 Topps Heritage High Number Chrome Variations Refractor #/568
Next up, I grabbed a pair of 2014 Bowman Chrome Bubble Refractors #/99:
Our old buddies Cutch and Cole. I'll admit it, I have a strange fondness for these cards. They're super unique looking, and look really great in the scans when they get some light bouncing off them. These additions will join Fransisco Liriano as I build a Pirates team set.
Next up, two awesome cards that I received in a PWE swap with Matt at Sport Card Collectors. I was able to knock some 90's football cards off of his wantlist, and he was generous enough to send back a card that I've had my eye on.
Matt threw in a few other cards, this being one of them: Chris Archer 2019 Topps Heritage Chrome Refractor.
But here's the real prize:
2019 Bowman Sterling Travis Swaggerty Sparkle Parallel #/99.
What a beauty! Swaggerty was the Pirates first round pick in this year's draft. This is not only my first auto of his, but my first Swaggerty card. I couldn't be more pumped. This card is so sweet. One last plug for my new scanner... it certainly made this refractor jump out. Thanks for the trade, Matt!
I also completed my first trade with Trevor of Bump and Run Football Card Blog. Trevor took part in an Optic group break and ended up with the Pirates, so he had a nice stack to send my way:
Aside from the Optic stuff, I also hand-picked two cards off of his trade list:
2017 Topps Update Jose Osuna
2018 Topps Heritage Austin Meadows RC
You probably know this guy by now. Sadly, I didn’t really collect much of Meadows when he was in the Pirates system. He was a little too blue of a blue chip prospect and the price tags on his cards were too high. I can’t imagine they’re about to go down any time soon, so it’s great to pick this up through trade. Thanks for the cards, Trevor!
Lastly I’ll showcase a random eBay pickup from last week:
2019 Donruss "The Rookies" Benny Snell Auto #/299
How sweet is this refractor?
I haven’t blogged about this yet – it’s a conversation for another day – but over the past three years I’ve become a big University of Kentucky football fan. My fandom hasn’t spilled into collecting yet bu maybe this will open the floodgates. When the Steelers drafted Benny Snell in the fourth round this year I was ecstatic. I had enjoyed watching this guy will Kentucky to several wins over the past two years, so it was a dream-come-true to have him join my NFL team.
Thanks for reading!
