(The third in a series: I’m picking one player that I associate with a team (whether they spent the majority of their career there or not) that I would strongly consider adding to my official want lists. They may not always be superstars, or the most popular, and honestly they may not always be my favorite player from the team, but that’s what will make this fun, no?)
I’m not one for topical posts on this blog, but considering today is “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” I couldn’t resist the tie-in.
How about them Pirates? Could the scallywags finally be turning things around after two decades in Davy Jones’ Locker?
Okay, I’m already sick of that. But seriously, I’m rooting for the Pirates. I mean if the Cubs can’t win, and my god they certainly cannot, I tend to go for the underdog type. Don’t you think that it would be great to see the Pirates make the postseason and make waves towards a title? Dammit…I swear that nautical reference was a coincidence.
Let’s just get into it before I slip up any further.
Still an MVP candidate?
Twenty years of losing records will limit anyone’s choices for quality players to collect. Sure, they have a few good people here and there, but Pittsburgh always shipped them off to avoid paying. Most of those players then started to kind of suck, so it worked out well.
Andrew McCutchen seems to be “Buc”king that trend. (Sorry.) He makes the Pirates a team almost worth watching and certainly can play all kinds of ball. He’s an exciting player to build a franchise around and the Pirates, now starting to get a taste of winning again, may be doing just that.
The biggest drawback to possibly adding a guy like this to my hypothetical collection is the overabundance of cards already and other people are catching on and raising prices. Good thing I’m not actually adding him.
What a surprise, a Pirate card in Wrigley
Current player runner-up: Neil Walker
This is tough, because I really don’t know much about the team, nor do I have an opinion about any of them. I guess I’ll pick Neil Walker? He’s good right? Not tons of cards so far. Probably pretty cheap stuff to acquire. Let’s go with that.
I don't think they told him they were taking his picture
Retired player runner-up: Bobby Bonilla
The first thought has to be Clemente, right? But that’s way too expensive. I was considering Stargell, but that was a little before my time and the personal connection isn’t strong enough. The Pirates from my childhood were all about Bobby and Barry. I don’t have any intention of collecting Barry Bonds, so Bobby it is. I half-collected him back in the 80s & 90s, especially after he moved to the Mets, and held him in high regard even when his production started to go. He ended with what I would consider to be a respectable career that flew a little under the radar, something that’s right in my collecting wheelhouse.
The Series So Far
Angels
Astros
Athletics
Blue Jays
Braves
Brewers – Bob Eucker
Cardinals
Cubs
Diamondbacks
Dodgers
Giants
Indians
Mariners
Marlins
Mets
Nationals/Expos
Orioles
Padres
Phillies
Pirates
Rangers
Rays/Devil Rays
Red Sox
Reds
Rockies
Royals
Tigers
Twins
White Sox – Paul Konerko
Yankees
Bonilla reminds me a lot of Danny Tartabull. Both put up some pretty good seasons, but both complained a lot about lack of respect and were overpaid for their production. What I guess neither guy understood was the would only get that respect if they produced WITHOUT whining.