Announcing Anthony Rizzo - My Latest PC (Paisan Collection)

Huge news here at Ryan's Pitch.

I'm collecting any and all cards of Anthony Rizzo!

I only have two cards of Rizzo, so we're definitely on the GROUND floor for this collection.   You read that correctly - TWO.   I pulled his Allen & Ginter card out of pack last summer and then stumbled upon his mini from this year's Gypsy Queen set, also out of a pack:

Didn't dig the whole set, but I dig this card!

Without further ado, let the call ring out - I would love the chance to work out some trades for any Anthony Rizzo cards that you don't need for your collections!   That is all.......

But, as the Talking Heads pondered - how did I get here?  

Call it an epiphany of sorts - I've been following Rizzo's career pretty closely since the beginning of the 2012 season.   By then he had already been through Boston and San Diego before being shipped off to Chicago in exchange (pretty much) for Andrew Cashner.    I began my first season of fantasy baseball last year, so for the first time, I began dabbling in the "goings on" of minor league prospects throughout the majors in an effort to scout out rising talent for my own "team".

And I found Mr. Rizzo.

The Cubbies were hurting, as usual.   Their offense needed a boost and first base wasn't exactly blocked off by a long-standing beloved Windy City veteran.   In fact, the last prominent first basemen that I can recall at Wrigley would have to be from my first collecting period - Mark Grace.   No slouch! 

Uniform = AWESOMENESS

Anthony was called up in late June and had an immediate impact.   He couldn't singlehandedly turn around the Cubs' season but Rizzo proved to be a solid fielding 1B (.995 in 735 chances) with a great eye at the plate and some power to boot (.285 and 15 HRs).

But here is where I really started to feel a connection to the guy - he is of Italian descent, just like yours truly.   In fact, Rizzo can trace his family's roots back to the Sicilian village of Ciminna.   Ciminna is just inland, south of Palermo. 

Il mio connazionale!

One of my grandfathers, whom I mention quite frequently on this blog, was primarily responsible for solidifying my love for the game of baseball.......and he was also a first generation Italian American whose parents traveled to this country from the Sicilian village of Villarosa.   Villaroasa is fairly central to the island, several miles northeast of Caltanissetta.

Hopefully, at some point, I'll be able to travel to Sicily and see where I come from.   And don't THINK I didn't take a look at Rizzo's and my ancestors' location relative to Corleone!   I know.   Ridiculous.   But I couldn't help it.   Perhaps one day, I can hang out with Anthony and these guys, drink some coffee and tell some stories:

How y'all doin?

Fantastic.   I'm looking forward to collecting this guy and following his career.   I'm hopeful he can continue his current trends at the plate and settle in as a reliable part of Chicago's fledgling foundation with fellow infielder, Starlin Castro.   Rizzo recently made some comments about his hopes to be a part of the Cubs organization and that city for many years to come.   It's tough to do these days, but I'll hope along with him (unless he wants to wear pinstripes or tomahawks?).   Here's the back of that Rizzo GQ, by the way:

That's right......since RICK WILKINS! What?

It's almost like a return to my collecting youth in a lot of ways.   So many years ago, it was the love of The Mick shared with me by my Dad that introduced me to the Yankees and everything fell into place for my collecting ways to quickly center around Don Mattingly.   That quest continues today!   Likewise, a family connection and some random geographical coincidence from half way around the globe has now led me to cheer on another southpaw first baseman.

You can check out my PC list here.   More changes may be on the way soon, so stay tuned.

I love this hobby!

Thanks for reading!  

2013 Gypsy Queen: The Verdict & Trade Lists

I won't be collecting the 2013 Gypsy Queen base set.

Don't get me wrong, I picked up a blaster and enjoyed my packs.   No wait....they were out of blasters.   I snagged three "rack" packs....of packs.....not that it matters.   I enjoyed checking the set out.   There was a healthy dose of inserts and parallels throughout and I even pulled a Mattingly base card!   Yep, I was mystified as to why the previous two editions of GQ blacklisted The Hit Man and even tweeted to @ToppsCards about it.   Obviously, they listened to Ryan's Pitch and decided to include him in this year's release.   I'm ecstatic to make it the latest addition to my Mattingly PC!

The cards were sorted and reviewed.   By yours truly, so it was pretty technical.

I've set aside a few cards for my collection - mostly Braves, Yankees and a few legacy stars.   But otherwise, the base card design just didn't do it for me.   I don't necessarily hate it.   Remember, the 2011 Gypsy Queen set was what welcomed me back into the hobby a couple of years ago ( my goodness!?).   I pursued it with reckless abandon and flip back through my (almost complete!) master set on a regular basis.   I dig the artistic nature of the cards' pictures and I really enjoy the mixture of current and past players.   It's just that...the design of the cards aren't that much different, and I just don't think they have enough color.   Or the right color, I guess, as the '11 versions were strictly tan and black:  

Gateway Set

Yeah, I don't get it either - I just enjoy the 2011 design much more.   This latest attempt just seems more cheap and bland.   And that's fine - you can't win them all.   We'll try again next year.

In my opinion, Topps got it right with the initial release as far as base, relics, inserts and production numbers are concerned.  

Hawkish

They took a step back last year with some inserts that just didn't appeal to me and a design that was so-so.   There seemed to be a lot more "blah" names on the relic and autograph list, too.   But I chased it anyways and have almost completed the base set.

Just.....no.

This year, I think the inserts are spectacular for the most part and I will actually try to collect a few of them: "No Hitters", "Sliding Stars" and "Collisions at the Plate".   I'm really glad that Topps brought back the 'Sliding Stars' inserts.   I still dig them and the 'Collisions' was a great idea.

  

 

Therefore......I don't need all of the cards I have but I need some that I don't!   The cards below are "For Trade" and can be yours if you need them - just let me know!   If possible, I'd really like to swap them for cards I need.  

Here's the situation:

For Trade

Base:                    4, 7 (Mike Schmidt SP), 25, 43, 52, 59, 68, 88, 105, 129, 153, 165, 206, 214, 235,
                             241, 256, 261, 278, 338, 343, 345

White Parallel:     Ben Revere (269), Alex Gordon (141), Darwin Barney (341), Jemile Weeks (214),
                             David Wright (37), Yonder Alonso (173), Chris Capuano (241)

Mini:                    CJ Wilson (224), Vida Blue (157)

Black Mini /199:  Alex Rios (65/199, #114)



Dealing Aces:      Stephen Strasburg, David Price

Glove Stories:      Manny Machado

Cards I Need 

Sliding Stars: Austin Jackson, Adam Jones, Andrew McCutchen, Bryce Harper, Carlos Gonzalez,
                       Derek Jeter, Jason Heyward,  Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Trout, Ozzie Smith,
                       Prince Fielder, Rickey Henderson

Collisions at the Plate:   McCann, Posey, Fisk, Carter, Bench, Montero, Rosario, Molina

No-Hitters:   Feller, Hunter, Abbott, Santana, Weaver, Millwood, Ryan, Humber, Halladay, Koufax,
                     Spahn

For Yanks & Braves Team Sets, here is what I have (below).   I will gladly take any that I don't have and any parallel version from my favorite teams!

Yanks

A-Rod (#6), Ivan Nova (#21), Paul O'Neill (#316)

Braves

Chris Johnson (#195), Craig Kimbrel (#257), Tim Hudson (#344)

Yanks & Braves Mini's & Parallels

Mariano Rivera (#86)


Thanks for reading guys - have a great weekend!

First Return for the 1st Annual Spring TTM Experiment

I knew it.

I just had a feeling that there would be one of those glorious little SASE's waiting for me on the counter when I got home from work today.   An inkling, perhaps?.....(cheesy pun TOTALLY intended)

And there it was...

Don't worry - I was the animal that caused THAT tear!

Who could it be?   Probably one of the lesser-known players, right?   Somebody who might have had a little more time, maybe a bit more patience or excitement about receiving TTM requests in the first few days of their first or second time at camp.

I let the cards inside gently slide out into my hands.

"My God..."  I whispered to no one in particular.   Here's what dropped out:

500 Saves is SO 100 Saves Ago

My Kind of Art

                



















Thank you, Mr. Rivera!

That's right - the most successful closer of all time spent a few moments to sign my cards.   This wasn't supposed to happen.   I focused most of my efforts on preparing requests for the more 'probable' responders off of the Bombers' and others' spring rosters.   I had sent to Rivera before, during the off season in late 2007.   I had mailed off a Game Program from Yankee Stadium that I had held on to since my first and still ONLY visit to the Bronx in 2000-ish.   Mo was on the cover - it was going to look AWESOME.

It never came back.

That's okay.   I knew Rivera was a 'big name' and that the volumes of mail he probably received would be working against me.   So it was that I finished his letter a few weeks ago, with that "...might as well, because you never know" eternal optimism that I seem to be cursed/blessed with.   The cards I chose were kind of random, as you can see.   My choices were slim as I hadn't been back in the hobby long enough to amass too many Mo's for the collection.   But I liked the layout, background and balance of the Peak Performance card from 2010.   It marked a pretty solid milestone and it would look pretty cool with a signature across the front.

Same thing for the Gypsy Queen green-border parallel.   I am normally indifferent to parallels but I was enamored with almost all aspects of the GQ release last year, these greenies included.   This Rivera was beautiful to me as an artsy rendition of his classic delivery with a border and background color scheme that just worked.   It too would look fairly solid with some ink across the middle......if I ever even saw these cards again, that is.

But here they are, and I think they turned out beautifully!   These are my first autographs of Mariano Rivera.

This might very well be Mo's last season in the game he has dominated so effortlessly.  Ironically, he might be handing the reigns of Yankee Closer to my latest favorite player and PC quest - David Robertson - or somebody else, at the end of this year.   So this might have been the last shot before years of potential chance run-ins at shows or auctions.   How poetic!

Thank you, Mr. Rivera.   Thank you for your contributions to the team I live and die with every season.   Thank you for your contributions to the game of baseball and all of those epic moments in your career that are memories for me.   Let's make a few more!

Okay....I'm done with my drama  :)

The first return for STTM1 is in the books, ladies and gentlemen!   Who will be next?

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!