"He Was a Pirate?" Part 4

With the return of my blog, we will also see the return of my personal favorite segment, "He Was a Pirate?"

For those who are laying eyes on this for the first time, it's quite simple. There are a bunch of guys that played for the Pirates, and basically no one knew. Either because they were washed up, they sucked, or got lost in the usual offseason swaps.

This week's edition features a slight above average righty that play primarily for a division rival. Any guesses?

The picture help? No? Here you go...

2008 Topps Heritage

Number of seasons with the Pirates: 16 starts, never a full season

Career stats with the Pirates: 

His legacy: Matt's Pirates career was abysmal. He was acquired through a deadline deal in July of 2007, where the Pirates traded a way a very solid prospect (and a future "He Was a Pirate?" to be named) and assumed Morris' $10+ Million contract from the Giants. 

After his lousy 2007 campaign, there was some hope for a fresh start for the 33 year old. Rather than making another bid for Comeback Player of the Year- an award he won in 2001 for St Louis- Matt completely shat the bed, going 0-4 in 5 starts with a 9.67 ERA. He was then released from the Pirates before the end of April, and he permanently retired from baseball three days later.

I'll remember Matt Morris just like everyone else: A member of any team but the Pirates.

Thanks for reading!

CONTEST RESULTS! Hamburger Time

And the results are in! The Big 44 Reincarnation Contest has concluded with a disappointing number of entries. One person that wont be disappointed is our winner!

A reminder of what we're playing for:

2013 Topps Target Red Ryan Ludwick 

2014 Topps Miguel Montero Wal-Mart Blue Parallel

2013 Bowman Chrome Elvis Andrus Refractor

2013 Topps Chrome Starlin Castro Purple Parallel

2013 Topps Chrome David Ortiz Die Cut

2012 Topps Mark Hamburger "Golden Moments" Auto

And the winner is.....

San Jose Fuji! 

Please join me in congratulating him. Fuji, curious- why Topps 2008?! 

Thank you all for playing and for sharing your stories. Also a special shout to Gavin for pimping my post. Gavin,  you'll be receiving a bonus as well for your generosity! Please shoot me an email with your address (Padres and Chargers, right?)

Fuji, I'll need your address too, of course. I'm at nsbell440@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Big 44 Reincarnated, With a Contest

Hello world!

After a 9 month hiatus, I will attempt to make my triumphant return to the blogging world. My time off has been a product of many factors, the foremost being a very busy schedule. After starting a new job last summer I have finally settled in at work and have achieved a somewhat consistent schedule.

There's another reason that I've been away from collecting- which is collecting-related; and I will chronicle that in length in my next post (stay tuned).

But enough about me! To kick this off, I want to see if there's anyone out there that is still interested in listening to me ramble. If you're out there, please join me in dusting off the cobwebs and attempting to revive my blog. It all starts with this contest:

It's essentially a smorgasbord of nothingness! Details: 

2013 Topps Target Red Ryan Ludwick 

2014 Topps Miguel Montero Wal-Mart Blue Parallel

2013 Bowman Chrome Elvis Andrus Refractor

2013 Topps Chrome Starlin Castro Purple Parallel

2013 Topps Chrome David Ortiz Die Cut

2012 Topps Mark Hamburger "Golden Moments" Auto

There's actually some pretty good stuff here. Lots of parallels and shiny stuff.. even an autograph from a dude named Hamburger! What could be better?!

Here are the rules: The contest will run until Sunday, April 26th at 10 PM EST. There are three ways to enter:  (1) Drop a comment. Anything works. (2) With your comment: Detail, in a few sentences, your favorite memory/most cherished moment that took place in a major league ballpark, and (3) "Pimp" this contest on your blog. You know the drill.

So that's a maximum of 3 entries per person. All entries will be randomized, and lucky number 1 will be taking home the loot.

If this goes well, I'd love to continue to do more in the future. Let's get this rolling...

He Was a Pirate? Part 3

Hot off the press! A new edition of... He Was a Pirate?! 

This week's edition features a good ol' fashioned headcase. Rather than give you mindless clues, I'll just show a series of images. Because, let's face it. Every picture is worth a thousand words!

The man, the legend... Nyjer Morgan. My god, what a character this man was. Or should I say, is.

Here's one of the few Nyjer Morgan Pirates cards that exist, and the only one that I own.

Number of seasons with the Pirates: 3

Career stats with the Pirates:

His legacy: Essentially, no one in the Pirates community ever cared about Nyjer Morgan. He provided many exciting defensive plays as well as brief offensive sparks, but was never a real fixture in the lineup. I suppose that's how his entire career has been. His speed always provided some excitement, especially in 2009 when he stole 42 bases. He was also caught 17 times, which led the majors. If I had to take a guess, I'd wager that Nyjer probably had no regard for "steal/don't steal" signs, and he probably just did whatever the f*** he wanted. Shocker.

Morgan will likely be remembered for his on-field antics rather than his skills. Thankfully for Bucco fans, he didn't begin to emerge as a psycho until he was out of the 'Burgh. For your viewing pleasure, here are some clips of Nyjer Morgan being a nutjob!

The second clip is great. Not only because there's an awesome brawl, but because Nyjer gets clotheslined by Gaby Sanchez... a current Pirate! Oh how I love when life comes full circle.

We'll end a light note.. he an Cutch enjoying a nice moment together. 

How will I remember Nyjer Morgan? Just like everyone else: As a member of any team but the Pirates.

He Was a Pirate? Part 2

The second installment of "He Was a Pirate?" has arrived! This week, I'll be introducing a flame throwing righty who, in 2007, was given a 3-year $47 million dollar contract from the Dodgers. Any ideas? He's tall as Manu Ginobili, and weighs as much as B.J. Upton (Or did when he was active).

Still not sure? In 2003, he was the runner-up for the Cy Young which was awarded to Eric Gagne. He rocked a killer white guy chin goatee.

He was also featured on this incredibly strange baseball card:

Oh yeah baby. It's Jason Schmidt! DUH! 

Just kidding. If you knew actually guessed who it was from my clues, that's impressive. Aside from the fact that those clues are relatively obscure, I wouldn't expect many to remember Jason Schmidt- especially as a Pirate. I barely remembered myself until I stumbled across this gem. Here's the back:

1998 Pacific

The back of the card is acutally way cooler than the front. I love the fact that Schmidt was caught smiling, and I've always been a big fan of the grey hats. What's absolutely awesome about this card is that it's plugging the internet. Not an online promotion. Not Topps PowerPlayers, not Topps BUNT, but simply the internet. What gold. I tried the first URL at the top of the card, which unfortunately is no longer in service. The second URL redirects to the Pirates current website.

Number of seasons with the Pirates: 5 1/2

Career stats with the Pirates: 

His legacy: Jason's time with Pirates was the definition of mediocrity- maybe slightly above. He was usually right around .500, with an ERA consistently over 4.00. '97-'99 was definitely the most consistent period of his career, when he made over 30 starts each year with 200 IP. He would battle injuries in many of the following years. The Pirates were pretty terrible during these few years, aside from '97 which was a fluke, more or less. Fun fact, in 1998 he led the league with 15 wild pitches.

Schmidt turned out to be a late bloomer. He would go on to find his groove in San Francisco at the age of 30, where he enjoyed 17 and 18 win seasons and as previously mentioned, was a Cy Young candidate in 2003. He signed that monster contract with the Dodgers in 2007, but would only appear in 10 games for them in 3 years. 

I'll remember Jason Schmidt just like everyone else: A member of any team but the Pirates.

An Exciting Return From My Hiatus - Polanco, PC's, Pimps, and More

I'm back! It's been a few weeks since I've posted, and for good reason. As many of you have probably learned, my line of work requires me to move around quite frequently. I am excited to announce that for the foreseeable future, I have settled back in Pittsburg... just in time for baseball season! This of course means I've got a new address. If you're planning on sending anything, please ask me for my new address before sending. I've put in forward requests at all of my old addresses, so it's not the end of the world if something goes there, but I'd love to avoid that step if possible.

I've been so busy with work that I hadn't been home long enough to set up an appointment with the cable company. I finally got my cable and internet installed yesterday, so I'm up and running for the first time in two weeks. 

I'll start with some very exciting news- not just for the city of Pittsburgh- but for the sport of baseball. As I'm sure you've heard, the great Gregory Polanco has arrived on the North Shore. Even better, I was lucky enough to be in attendance.

And what a special night it was. The young man has made quite the splash for the Bucs, and the entire team has responded well. I've often heard that with him, McCutchen, and Startling Marte, the Pirates outfield should be the best in baseball and I hope that proves to be true. After the game, I went home and scoured my collection for any Polanco cards, and here's what turned up:

Not a bad lot at all. I remember purchasing the auto, of course. I grabbed it back in the fall for less than the cost of blaster. It's value has since doubled, although I would never consider selling it.

Next order of business, the newest additions to my Jason Grilli PC:

My favorite card here is the Archives gold parallel, which arrived courtesy of Gavin at Baseball Card Breakdown. He's also holding SICK contest right now, so I highly suggest you head over there right now!

My Grilli PC has been shaping up nicely, mostly because he's not a big enough name to drive up autograph prices. Both of the autographs combined cost me less than a blaster, and the blue Tribute is numbered to 50. I also love his sig, sleek and sharp! 

Last PC addition is this 2012 Topps Jared Hughes Gold Sparkle. This is my first and only Jared Hughes card. Due to Jared's recent success, I had to jump on a nice rookie of his. He's a been a very consistent reliever for the Bucs this season.

I also splurged on a Topps S2 blaster, which I'm sort of regretting. What actually sold me was the $10 of coupons, which I figured would be nice for some future discounts. However, the coupons are relatively useless. My pulls very unspectacular, and I only one Pirate, a Jordy Mercer base card. 

I've posted all of the cards that I'm not looking to keep in a separate post, HERE! Shoot me an email if there's anything you'd like. Some PWE swaps might be fun!

Last order of business: Part 2 of "He Was a Pirate?" will up within the week. If you missed Part 1, please check it out HERE!

Thanks for reading!

2014 Topps Series 2 TRADE BAIT!

E-mail me at nsbell440@gmail.com with trade proposals! Let's make a deal!