Topps Allen & Ginter is an interesting set for collectors. A&G Chrome debuted in 2020 and returned in 2021. It’s a shiny choice. I didn’t purchase any packs of 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter Chrome because it’s quite difficult to find an autograph. However, I changed my mind. A few weeks ago, I went to a sports card shop and decided to buy some packs of 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter Chrome.
I didn’t expect to find an autographed card since you can only find one per case. All I wanted was to find some cool cards to add to my collection. I found a Roberto Clemente card and I just thought of some stories about this hero. Last December, I listened to a podcast show and some guests were sharing stories of Roberto Clemente. He’s definitely a great player and a role model. He spent his entire career with the Pirates, hitting .317/.359/.475 with 240 home runs and 1305 RBI. Additionally, he had exactly 3000 hits in his career. We can definitely call Clemente a legend. And, looking at his stats as a Pirate, there’s something unbreakable.First of all, Clemente played 2433 games for the Pirates, tying the most in the Pirates franchise history. Among active players in the majors, Andrew McCutchen played 1346 games for the Pirates from 2009 to 2017. Moreover, Starling Marte played 953 games for the Pirates from 2012 to 2019. Marte already signed a 4-year deal with the Mets. McCutchen is still a free agent, even if he chooses to return to the Pirates, it will still be extremely hard for him to reach Clemente’s milestone since McCutchen is already 35 years old. Additionally, among active players of the Pirates, Colin Moran leads in games played with 444 games. That number is certainly not close to 2433.
In addition, Clemente collected 3000 hits in his career. Joining the 3000-hit club is not easy. Among active players, only Albert Pujols reached this milestone. Pujols has 3301 career hits now. Miguel Cabrera has 2987 hits so far and shall join the 3000-hit club soon. Andrew McCutchen had 1463 hits in the Pirates uniform and Starling Marte had 1047 hits as a Pirate. It’s possible to see McCutchen (1826 career hits) and Marte (1256 career hits) reach 2000 career hits, but it’s not that easy. Bryan Reynolds had 169 hits in 2021 and he was selected to the All-Star game last season. Reynolds has 358 hits so far in his career. Let’s assume that he stays with the Pirates for another 15 years, he has to hit at least 177 hits each season to reach 3000 hits. The Pirates have not returned to the playoffs since 2015 and they finished 5th in the NL Central for three consecutive seasons. After checking on the great baseball reference website, I found that no players that played for the Pirates in 2021 had spent 10 years or more with this team. Roberto Clemente’s records are definitely not easy to achieve and his contributions are hard to measure. However, as we can see, it’s not easy to see a player stay in the Pirates for the long-term. The Pirates are in the rebuilding process now and it might still take some time for us to see another player enjoy playing for the Pirates for 10+ years.
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