This box o goodness came courtesy of Stephen from the Good Life. Stephen filled the very same box I had filled for him a few weeks back. He hooked it up in three parts, with a ton of 2008 Heritage high numbers, a bunch of sweet Rays singles and enough big Donruss puzzle pieces to make a big ol picture of Rod Carew. Sweet!
Let’s start with the Rays cards.
2009 O Pee Chee Tony Pena, card #0PC-CP. I am assuming this is an insert, or are they just numbered like that? That would make set building a pain. I like the portrait on this card, looks classy and I’m glad to see the OPC name back in the game, but I miss the French translations.Next is a baseball heroes card from Upper Deck of BJ Upton, card #164.
A bunch of 2009 Topps Heritage Rays cards. There was a couple that I had not yet seen. Card #371 of Matt Joyce is the first time I have seen Matt in a 
Rays uniform. Too bad I got it after Joyce got demoted to Durham. Another Ray who isn’t a Ray right now (sounds cool in a weird way) that I didn’t have yet is the smart (graduate of Columbia University) and speedy (dude can fly) Fernando Perez, card #120. 
I think he’s sidelined with a dislocated thumb right now, but outfield spots on the Rays are hard to come by. Both Matt Joyce and Justin Ruggiano are proven big leaguers stuck in AAA and ahead of him. Perez did look damn good in the playoffs, though. He also dropped in ’09 Heritage cards of all three of Tampa Bay’s 2008 All Stars, Evan Longoria, 
Scott Kazmir and Dioner Navarro.Next up is a sweet looking horizontal card of James Shields
from the 2008 Upper Deck Diamond Collection, card #DC-10.He included 4, count em 4, Topps Gold cards, the ones with the serial numbers on the back. First is a 2005 (1771/2005) card of former Rays starter, former NBA player and current Orioles long-reliever, Mark Hendrickson.
Hendrickson’s other claim to fame is he was the first Blue Jays pitcher ever to hit a home run and for a few months he had the record as the tallest pitcher (6’9”) to ever go deep. Randy Johnson (6’10”) took that record from him.The next batch of Goldies comes from the 2008 set. He included Dioner Navarro (1817/2008)
, Willy Aybar (0117/2008) 
and my favorite player Jason Bartlett (0912/2008). 
I have to call the Bartlett my favorite. This is my second gold card of JB, the first 2008 for me; this brings my collection up to 12 cards of the best shortstop in the American League. Big thanks for that one!!!He included some more ’08 Topps, ’08 Upper Decks,
’06 Topps, all (Devil) Rays, all awesome!!!The last one in the pack o Rays cards is from
the 2008 Topps Co-Signers set, card #094 featuring Carlos Pena and BJ Upton. This card is not signed, like the title indicates, but is serial numbered 378/400. It’s dark and chromey and doesn’t scan well, but looks awesome in my Rays collection!!!Stephen sent a big stack of 2008 Topps Heritage high numbers, too. Most of these went right into my binder, but I scanned a couple for this post.
Card #618 of former Devil Ray and
current Braves outfielder slash pinch hitter, Matt Diaz. Matt has been around for 7 seasons and has put together a Manny Mota type career. He quietly holds a .305 career batting average and has never really been a full-time player. Mota hung around for 20 seasons and batted .304 over his career.Another one from the bundle is card #593 of Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn.
Blackburn was on the mound for the Twins the first game we saw this year and he mowed the Rays down with ease. He and Kevin Slowey are a formidable 1-2 punch for the Twins. It’s too bad they don’t have any depth in starting pitching; otherwise they would be on top in the AL Central. 
He rounded out the box with a bunch of old Donruss puzzle pieces. I will put this together one of these days. I used to love these things!!! Thanks again for the trade Stephen. Glad to know you!!!Go Rays!!! Troll out.
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