Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Wow! It's the third Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day post this week! You guys are so lucky!
Today we're looking at a 1995 Flair Denny Neagle card. Now, I have to say - Flair was one of my favorite sets. I remember when I first saw it, I was really impressed. I thought it was so cool. The cards were printed on extra thick, heavy stock. The photography was good and the design was really nice. The cards just looked very classy, if you can say that about a baseball card. Denny's 1995 Flair card is no exception. I'm not sure if it comes across in the scan, but these cards are great. The action shot of Neagle probably isn't the best one, but oh well. It kind of looks like he's in pain. It's tough being a major league pitcher. Denny didn't last too long with the Pirates. He was dealt to the Braves, I think. I'd look it up, but it's not that important. What is important is that you all remember how nice the Flair sets were and go pull yours out of storage and admire them anew. Just try to ignore the fact that the different years kind of look the same.

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Wow. Today's Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day really showcases what can go wrong when a card company says "Screw it, we're putting out the most butt-ugly cards we possibly can." I'm not sure if this post is more about the Pirates card, or more about 1995 Fleer. Talk about a disgusting card design. If there were much more happening on the front of this card, my eyeballs might explode. I'm not sure if Fleer was trying to get ahead of the late '90s internet crazy by trying to make their cards look like a physical embodiment of some sort of theoretical idea of technology, but dang. That's one nasty looking card design. (As a side note, 2 sentences back there is an appalingly long and inelegant sentence. I'm sorry. It's my blog though so I can write bad sentences if I want!)
On to the card:
This one features Lance Parrish. He had an OK major league career. Nothing spectacular, but nothing to scoff at, either. At this point in his career, he didn't have much power left, although the back of this card does show 320 major league home runs - not terrible at all. I feel like maybe I'm not respecting Lance Parrish and his awesomeness enough, but I just can't get over the absolute ugliness of this Fleer set. One positive: Lance Parrish is rocking a solid 'stache.

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Today's installment of Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day takes us all the way back to 1986. In April of this wonderful year, I was 4 years old, the Chernobyl disaster happened, and Johnny Ray was named the National League Player of the Month! We're looking at a 1986 Donruss Highlights card. You gotta love the classic horizontal striping on this beauty - I think it really highlights Johnny's scraggly beard. As for Johnny Ray, he hit a monstrous .380 in April of '86 and also knocked in 18 RBI's. Not too shabby for a second baseman. Way to go, Johnny!

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

The latest installment of our Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day brings us Jack Wilson's 2006 Topps base card. Jack is mostly known for his solid defense, and this card highlights just that by showing him preparing to field a ground ball. Kids, take notice of his form: weight is shifted to the balls of his feet, eyes focused on the ball, his body is positioned to keep the ball in front of him and he's using two hands! With technique like that, it's no wonder Jack has held down a job as a starting shortstop in the major leagues for the last few years. In 2004, Jack tied for the league lead in triples, with 12. Keep it up, Jack!

In other news, this is the 50th post here at Beer and Baseball Cards! Thanks for reading, random internet readers.

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

1961 Topps Rocky Nelson

Check out the size of that chaw in his mouth!
Rocky played first base for the Pirates and in 1960 he hit .300!
Way to go, Rock!

Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day

Welcome to a new series here at Beer and Baseball Cards. Every once in a while I'll be posting a picture of a random Pittsburgh Pirates card from my collection under the heading of Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day - creative, I know. It won't be every day. Sometimes I'll just put a picture of a card on the blog, as if to say "Here you go, enjoy this random Pirates card." Other times I might include some witty commentary as a bonus to you, the reader. You're welcome.

Let's get started.

This first Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day is a 1972 Topps Luke Walker. Luke was a pitcher for the Bucs in the late '60s and into the '70s. His best season, according the back of this card, was in 1970. That year he went 15-6 with a 3.04 ERA and 124 strikeouts. Not too shabby. Those kind of numbers would definitely get him a spot in the current Pirates rotation. It's possible that he had a better season than that after 1972, but I don't feel like looking up the stats right now, so that's all you're gonna get. I like the font used on the Topps set this year - it looks like it's coming right at you! I do not generally like photos from spring training to be used on baseball cards, and this one is no exception.

So there you have it - the very first Random Pittsburgh Pirates Card of the Day. There will be more to come. Maybe I'll expand it beyond the Buccos at some point, we'll see. Stay tuned...