Joey Bart

 

It’s a raw deal being a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.

            The current owner is cheap.

            He won’t sell the team.

            He hires clueless people to run his team.

            And he does so giving them more room on the leash that he should.

            The Pittsburgh Pirates have had 27 losing seasons in the past 31 years.

            If I’m correct, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the longest losing streak in all of the major sports.

            None of the team’s prospects seem to pan out.

            I’m not going to be a fool and site the Pittsburgh Pirates being a small market team, even though I’m firmly (and yes I’m union) in the camp of Major League Baseball adding a cap/floor system. I can’t even defend the small-market excuse, when teams in Cleveland, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Detroit are all in this year’s playoffs…or were.

            The Pirates went 76-86 in 2023.

            The Pirates went 76-86 again in 2024.

            Only with this guy on the mound for most of the season.

            On August 3^rd, if you can believe it, the Pirates were actually in the running (close running) for a Wild Card spot. But a total collapse that month sealed the deal.

            Again, it’s a raw deal being a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.

            You have to look for silver linings when you can get them.

            The same goes for being a collector of Pittsburgh Pirates player cards and team sets.

            My silver lining is this guy.

            On April 2^nd, 2024, the Pirates acquired Joey Bart from the San Francisco Giant for current minor league pitcher, Austin Strickland. I’m sure to a lot of you collectors out there, Joey Bart just comes to mind as once promising prospect, who failed to deliver on his 2^nd overall pick promise. And maybe you’re right. I know in 2021 when there was a Bart card/Joey Bart insert card in every Topps release, I just lumped him in with all of the other big-shot rookies that people talk about that season, and then are done with by the following year. As a collector, I get tired of “this year’s” big rookies.

            To be honest, I don’t know what happened with Bart in San Francisco. Did the Giants push him along before he was ready in 2020, because Posey sat out there. Was the pressure too much. I know Bart was hurt a few times in in San Francisco, and in their minor league system, and maybe that had something to do with his performance, and for the Giants finally souring on him.

            But I’m glad they did.

            Even though Joey Bart had two stints on the IL for the Pirates, he put up some pretty good numbers. In just 80 games, Bart his .265 with 13 home runs and 45 RBI. Granted it’s the Pirates, but Bart’s home run total tied him for 4^th place on the team. And he played solid defense as well. People in Pittsburgh started calling him Joey Barrels, and when Bart hit one of those 13 home runs, we said he’d hit, a Bart-Dart.

            He actually made a lot of fans forgot how much this kid was flailing, as our 1/1 pick only a few short years ago.

            I still have hope for Henry Davis.

            But I sure hope Joey Bart is wearing the black and gold for a lot of years.

            In short, I became Joey Bart collector in 2024.

            These were the Bart cards I already had gathering dust in assorted boxes.

            And I love these inserts from 2021.

            I did a recent ComC purchase (the same one in which I got those Danny O’Connell cards) and made sure to get myself some Joey Bart cards.

            Now, THIS is a catcher's card!

            I think 1983 is starting to become one of my all-time favorite sets.

            Jackson Holliday, Colt Keith, Wyatt Langford, Jackson Merrill, Jackson Chourio, and Paul F-ing Skenes all have RC in 2024 Update.

            But do you know which player’s card I’m most excited about?

            You guessed it.

            I tend to latch on to Pirates catchers. Been doing so since I pulled this card out of my very first pack of baseball cards in 1980.

            I’m glad Joey Bart is a Pittsburgh Pirate.

            I hope he has a healthy 2025 season as our number 1 backstop.

            I’m glad to be a Joey Bart collector now.

            And every night I go to bed praying that Bob Nutting sells the team, so that us Pirates fans can have a chance to feel what those Tigers, Guardians, Padres, Brewers and Royals fans are feeling right now.

 

Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!