Severino (+ Sabathia) Sunday: January Edition

What a wild weekend for the NFL. All three road teams have won thus far into Wild Card Weekend, and we have witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of the league as a whole. The Bengals organization was a complete embarrassment last night against a gritty Steelers team that barely held on to win. Earlier today, Vikings kicker Blair Walsh missed a game winning field goal opportunity to allow the Seahawks to advance. Seattle will take on the Carolina Panthers next week.

In hobby related news, I added some more cards of Luis Severino to my collection. It may be Football Sunday, but it is also Severino Sunday!

2014 Bowman Chrome Green Refractor 74/75

2015 Topps Pro Debut Orange Parallel 6/25

2015 Bowman's Best High-Def Heritage Orange Parallel 5/25

I'm beginning to compile a very orange Severino collection. However, in recent years most Bowman and Topps products limit orange refractors and parallels to just 25 copies. The only lower parallels commonly outside of 1/1's are red parallels, which are normally numbered out of just 5. The Pro Debut and Bowman's Best cards are the 4th and 5th orange parallels in my PC, and will hopefully not be the last. I'd rather buy the lowest numbered cards when I can find them for cheap costs over just about anything else. But once in a while, I have to splurge.

2015 Bowman Inception Jumbo Patch Autograph 41/50

I bought this card several months ago, and somehow never showed it off. This is my current favorite Severino card that I own and probably will be for quite a while. The patch is bright, differing from the common base colors of blue and white you see on most Yankees relics. The relic should be from the 2014 Future's Game, but who really knows anymore. It still looks pretty cool if you ask me. I really like the way the Yankees have worked this kid into their rotation. Everyone knows how good he can be, but until the team becomes a World Series contender again he will likely be overlooked. This should give him the chance to work his way into becoming the potential ace the Yankees need.

I don't believe this season's team has a true "ace" caliber pitcher. Masahiro Tanaka is a good pitcher but doesn't appear to be any better than a #2 or #3 in the rotation. Their former ace is towards the end of his deal, and shocked us all when he left the team late last season to treat his alcoholism in rehab.

2015 Topps Triple Threads Triple Relic Autograph Gold Parallel 8/9

CC Sabathia has given the Yankees an awful lot over his seven year stint in the Bronx. His overall record with the team is 97-56 with a 3.73 ERA. He's made three All Star teams and has finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three times. If he were to retire today, he would be viewed as a Yankee great and a borderline Hall of Fame pitcher. I'm not going to let his alcoholism affect my admiration for the man and player he has been for much of years as a fan. In fact, I think he did the right thing by treating his issue and I really hope rehab has gotten him back on track. Who knows, perhaps he'll get back to his winning ways next year if all goes well.

I was able to find this card at the White Plains Thanksgiving show for $30, and I worked the seller down to $20. I'll do that any day for an autograph this nice of a Yankee great such as C.C. I love the three different relic colors, and that it is only numbered to 9 copies.

Luis Severino and C.C. Sabathia may be on different career paths at this point, but I would be so happy if Severino became the workhorse C.C. has been. I felt like it was only right to include the big lefty in this edition of 'Severino Sunday'.

Enjoy the rest of Wild Card Weekend!

Didi Gregorius Mailday!

Hey guys, Drew back here! To keep things fresh from my recent Luis Severino splurge, I decided to add a few autographs of the Yankees shortstop of the future, Didi Gregorius. 

I wasn't exactly blown away when they initally dealt for the struggling young middle infielder, but I was willing to give him the chance to shine under the bright lights. It took a while for him to get going, after all, he was filling Derek Jeter's shoes. Once he got it all together, he emerged as a Gold Glove front runner with the capability of collecting some clutch hits towards the bottom of the lineup.

Many feel that Didi deserved the AL Gold Glove over the Royals' Alcides Escobar, but just the fact that he was considered makes Cashman look brilliant for the deal. Shane Greene was the only player the Yankees served up for his services, who, after a terrific start; finished with an ERA almost eclipsing 7.00 for the Tigers. 

Now that the Yankees seem to feel comfortable with him in the fold for years to come, I felt like I needed to give him a little more hobby love. His autographs are affordable for now, and the only one I had prior to these was a TTM I got when he was with the Diamondbacks.

The first card I bought was out of 2015 Topps Triple Threads, and is the green parallel autographed relic numbered to 50. The choice to use red ink is a little strange, and makes the card almost feel Christmas themed. However, with a gorgeous thick blue pinstripe across the relic and the low serial numbering, this was a card worth investing in. I remember when Robinson Cano was starting to come into his own and I bought a similar Triple Threads style card of his for about $20. Before Robby left for Seattle, that card was worth much more.

The other pickup of Didi's I made was out of 2015 Topps Five Star. I absolutely love the fresh look Five Star has delivered to collectors the past few years. It is becoming one of my most anticipated releases Topps makes. I got a steal on this on card beauty, only paying $7 shipped on eBay!

I'm excited to see what Gregorius will bring to the table in 2016. If it's anything like his second half performance this past year, I feel like we will all be extremely satisfied.

See Ya!