"Released to a Join a Contender"

Life as a Pirates fan in September. The games are meaningless, the rosters expand and we're told we'll get a glimpse into the future.

This year we also get to reflect on the past, as one of the clubhouse leaders decided to move on from the NL-Central-bottom-dwelling Buccos. About two weeks ago, the Pirates released Francisco Cervelli so he could join a contender. His request. As a fan, you never want to hear those words.

Hell, I don't blame the guy. Why stick around for 25 more meaningless games, if you don't have to? I'm not saying he's a quitter. He's not. By all accounts Cervelli poured his heart and soul into his job. On the day of his release essentially every Pirates starting pitcher posted a thank you to Cervelli for helping them grow as pitchers. 

After seven concussions it's a miracle he's still playing. He's 33, and in an 11 year career he's only had about 2200 ABs. A healthy everyday player would get that in four seasons.

I've casually tried to collect some of his cards and I'll be the first to tell you that there's just not that much out there. There are bunch of dual autos of him and Buster Posey in 2009 Bowman Sterling -- with those heinous silver stickers -- and for the price, that's just not for me. Of the Cervelli cards that are out there, most of them are Yankees. My personal favorite of my collection is the black parallel from 2010 Topps Update.

I promise that someday soon I'll get a decent scanner. The good ol' point-and-shoot with my iPhone just really isn't cutting it when it comes to cards. Seriously, the pictures are pitiful. I know.

You'd never know unless and I told you: You're going to have to zoom like crazy to confirm this, but this card is serial numbered to 59. Bottom left corner on the back of the card, celebrating 59 years of Topps.

Best of luck to Francisco in Atlanta.

Pirates PC Additions

A quick post on this Saturday afternoon to demonstrate that I do, in fact, still collect baseball cards.

One of my goals as a Pirates collectors is to have at least one certified autograph of player on the active roster. It's not always easy- finding certified auto's can be tough, especially with all the roster change in baseball.

This season, I was in luck. The three major acquisitions all certified auto's out there.

I'm a huge fan of Sean Rodriguez, as well as this card. He has a very elegant signature, and I was able to pick this up for a very affordable price (as it should be, he's only a bench guy). 

Another card that I was very happy to acquire. Remember when Upper Deck had an MLB license? This may have been the last year. This card was probably a great pull back when Corey Hart was a complete, 5-tool player for Milwaukee. The story is much different now, as Hart is used only in pinch hitting roles, with a rare start mixed in.

I really enjoy this card. The gold parallel look blends well the jersey color (even though it's Milwaukee). A plain white jersey, with a clean sticker signature... and short printed /99. Solid!

I have yet to find an affordable Cervelli auto. He's having a great year which of course I love, but I can't bring myself to shell out $15 bucks just yet. In all reality, he's very unproven as a professional, so I'm surprised his cards are calling for such a pretty penny. 

So, this A&G bat piece will have to do for now! It fell nicely into my budget. I was happy to see him in a Pirates jersey in 2015 Topps Series 1, and I'm hoping to see some more cards with him in the black and gold this year.