I will start with a message for those who read my last post... I am NOT a Yankees fan, I repeat I am NOT a Yankees fan! It is possible to want to buy the most expensive card from your favorite set of all time without being a fan of that team… That said, lets move on for the final installment of my 50K spending spree. Of course I run the risk of looking more like a Yankees fan, which I am not. Just read on. The next buy I made was not on my list but I found it while searching for ’48 Leaf cards.
I was randomly searching around and I found this excellent lot of
1948 Leaf Boxing cards. It is actually the full set of 18 cards and half were graded. This was my favorite surprise find of the spree. I jumped on it after seeing pics of Jack Johnson, Sugar Ray Robinson and Jack Dempsey. The BIN price was
$1500 plus 15 dollars shipping. I wasn’t pissed about the shipping considering there were 18 vintage cards and some were graded. The average cost of these boxing cards was only 84 bucks, I was happy with this deal. I know now that many of these cards can be found cheap. A '48 Bob Fitzsimmons for 10 bucks?
I bought one of thoese for real! Okay, speaking of deals…
While looking at ’48 Leafs I came across this
PSA 9 of Hall of Famer Luke Appling for only $309.00. 
Probably not a wise buy with the clock ticking, but considering what I “paid” for the other ’48 Leaf cards at a lower grade seemed like a true great deal. I know the other cards were rookies or early cards and Appling was on his way out, but still… I did also drop 8 bucks to ship this one and I stayed with ’48 Leaf for the next one.
I found this
PSA 6 Larry Doby card for 3500.00 After getting a PSA 8 of Jackie Robinson from the same set for $3700.00 I couldn’t pay this much for a 6 of Doby.
I wanted this card really bad, but I kept on looking and found a
PSA 2 with the wrong back for $650.00. I wasn’t thrilled with that either, but I would be bummed to have Paige, Musial, Robinson, Appling and NOT Doby. It is a wrong back, but the back is of Danny Murtaugh, so that was kind of nice, too. In retrospect, I wish that I put principles aside and bout the 6, but I am glad I got one…
I am at $33,553 with just a couple of minutes left.
First order of business was buying the first
Clemente rookie that came up-I got this PSA 5 for $749.00. I have seen ungraded cards at shows for more money that didn’t look this good and it was $5000 less than the first one I found.
I went Yankees again, but I have no shame because I “own” a
1934 Goudey Lou Gehrig. A PSA 3 for $1200.00.
To balance out my Yankees purchase I bought a Ted Williams card. A
1941 Play Ball for $995.00.
I know Williams has a lot of great cards and I was tempted to go with the ’48 Leaf, but I love ’41 Play Ball.
There are a ton of cards I still need-more Satchell Paige, some ’53 Topps, more ’51 Bowman, more… I decided to keep with the variety and chase a few more Hall of Fame hurlers, first stop Sandy Koufax.
I found this
PSA 8 rookie card of The Left Arm of God for $2150.00 plus 12 bucks shipping. My Dad knew Koufax and was his favorite player of All Time. He doesn’t collect, but he would think it was neat, plus I know I could trade bait this to the Night Owl the next time he finds a Carl Crawford card that I can’t live without…
I wanted to go Warren Spahn and then Steve Carlton and then more Satchel Paige, but I was down to 70 seconds and needed to burn up 10 grand. I was SWEATING! First pick was this amazing
1937 O-Pee-Chee of Rapid Robert Feller.
I had never seen this card before and really didn’t know it existed. Feller was just 18 years of age when this card came out-is this his rookie? Again it wasn’t on my radar, but a PSA 7 of Bob Feller from 1937 was too much to pass up. I dropped $3,995. Plus 10 bucks shipping on it.
My stop watch said 14:34 and I had almost 8 grand left to go and I was stressing big time. I called on Joltin Joe to bring it home… I was able to find a card of him as a San Francisco Seal (not a Yankee) and I burned up $5775 in the process.
It’s a
1933 PSA 1 Zee Nut PCL Joe DiMaggio. I jotted this one down just as the alarm went off. Shopping spree over. I was pretty disappointed in myself. The 15 minute time limit did me in. I started off being so organized with a great plan and after 12 minutes it all went out the window and I just started jumping at high ticket items. Although they are neat cards I didn't want to spend the bulk of my budget on the Joe D, Mantle and Feller cards. I wanted more cards of Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige and I REALLY wanted to pick up autos of Satchel Paige, Roberto Clemente and Jackie Robinson and I can't believe I didn't get a single card of Willie Mays. For the record, I search new listings for Danny Tartabull everyday and I knew he didn't have any big ticket cards available, otherwise I would have picked them up.
My final total was $48,429.00. That means I left $1571 on the table. Ouch. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so damn picky. That’s it, thanks for reading along with my entry in the
Sports Cards Uncensored 50 K Shopping Spree Blog Bat Around. Go Rays! Troll out.
I didn’t like this set when I first saw pictures pop up and the first Rays cards I got I didn’t really care for, but its one of those sets that has REALLY grown on me. I do admit that I am a neo-vintage obsessed collector so this does fall right into my tastes I guess. 
This Carlos Pena is one of my favorite cards of him. I haven’t purchased any myself yet, but I am strongly considering it. I wouldn’t mind starting with 2003 first. My introduction to this set was a card of Justin Schuda (who?) but since then cards have trickled in of all my favorites-Gomes, Brazleton, Grieve and a young and toothpick looking BJ Upton. 
Since I don’t have either year full on the team set I have a page mixed up of both and they all look pretty good together. I know that some people put together Allen and Ginter mini sets of mixed years showing the best card for each number they have. I think I am going to buy a box of 2003 and of 2009 and put together a mixed set. Oh, there are minis too, awesome! I love this hobby! Go Rays! Troll out.
This 1999 Quinton McCracken is the last regular issue card I needed from ’99. 
I just needed this Jose Guillen to close out 2000 Topps, but I needed a few from the traded set. The Rays 7th rounder from ’99, Andrew Beinbrink, who would have been the first Italian born Devil Ray had he made it past the minors. 
The Rays #1 pick in 2000 made it to the majors, to the World Series and into early retirement. 
It’s card #T86 of (then 18 yr old) Rocco Baldeli. He hooked up the rest of the cards that I needed from the bronze-a-riffic 2002 Traded set which I didn’t scan. 
I did scan this 2003 Traded card of Jonny Gomes, the Rays 18th rounder in 2001. I really like 2003 Topps and with all of these cards I am done with the traded set, but still need two base cards. 
Thanks so much 
With as many Aubrey Huff cards as I have lying around, I really can’t believe I still need this, but I can’t find one. Okay, that’s it, thanks for looking… Be like 
Coming soon are want lists for Upper Deck 1998 - 2010, then Topps Chrome, Topps Gold and Fleer Tradition... My want lists are on the side bar. Many need some serious updating, but can point you in the right direction. 
By the by... big congrats to Chris Tillman and Norfolk on hitting the Gwinett Braves last night! Go Rays! Troll out.
A huge thanks goes to reader Claudia for this autographed Mad Dog postcard. I certainly don’t mind collecting any of these players, but I am not SUPER collecting just yet.
That list includes Jared Sandberg, Jonny Gomes, Joe Kennedy, Ben Grieve, Quinton McCracken, Dewon Brazelton and now, the newest addition, Dave Martinez. 
I posted this card a few weeks back and was a little bummed that it didn’t get a reaction, so I will post it again. I got to talk with Dave at length during spring training this year. I was writing a feature on the 1998 Devil Rays Inaugural Season and since Martinez posted the organizations first ever hit, he factored prominently in the story. 
At the end of our talk I brought up card blogs and he confided that reading them was a guilty pleasure of his. He also mentioned one of favorite haunts and I pulled this card out of my bag for him to sign for the Troll. This is officially the 4th “To Troll” card in the collection. I may post the others someday. I have begun sorting out my Dave Martinez Rays cards and he now fills a few pages in the binder. If you are curious I have zero interest in cards of him on the Cubs, Reds or White Sox or any team other than the Rays. If you are further curious, he has been known to swing the bat in BP every now and then and I believe I would much rather have him in the lineup than Pat the Bat. Anyway… This is all just a prelude to a pair of actual posts which are coming. One is a trade that nearly wiped out my team set needs and the other is the unveiling of my new player collection… Oh, speaking of player collections... Here are 2 gems that 
and this '06 SP Gomes. These got completely buried and never got posted. 
I hope to sort through and binderize the Carl Crawford collection soon. I can't decide what to do with autos and relics. The thin ones fit in pages fine, but thicker cards don't. I have some super special CC cards in the display case, but I really want to have ALL of my CC cards together. Any suggestions? Stay tuned! Oh, thanks to everyone (all 4 of you) who entered my shopping spree contest. Roof God was half right and Play at the Plate was correct. I don't have any Rangers or Tigers relics or '65s, but I do have a few to pick from. Send me an email please... Go Rays! Troll out.
I actually have 11 now, but I still need more! I do have Willy Aybar completely covered... Go Rays! Troll out.
I picked up a
Don’t think this makes me a Yankees fan, but I love 1951 and I know this card will always keep from finishing it, so even if it isn’t real, it felt great to “own” a 
For a buck less than 6000 grand I picked up a 
Since this card is so far out of my price range I have no idea how much it should be, but I thought it would be appropriate for it to be the most expensive card from my shopping spree.
I was able to nab those two cards very quickly and at this point I was still on my game plan. I was going in order of the cards I had most coveted throughout my lifetime. The natural third on that list is a 1955 Roberto Clemente. This card was more complicated to search for as there are many more ’54 Topps cards out there as opposed to ’48 Leaf. More options take more time. I found the perfect card pretty quick though.
Before my time is up I WILL get myself a Clemente rookie, but for about half that price, I hope. I will go back to this one later... With less than 13 minutes left I had just 2 cards in my cart and had spent $15,200. I wasted a little time without a purchase, but stayed on course and moved on to a 1954 Hank Aaron. My game plan was to find the highest grade I could for less than $4,000. I quickly settled on this
I was a little bummed to not find a PSA 8, but I was happy with the cost. What I wasn’t happy with was that this seller charged shipping. I thought it was an unwritten rule that cards over 500 bucks shipped for free. 
Anyway, I called up this 
One of my favorite “free time” searches is keyword “1887 Ginter”. I don’t know if they ever sell, but PSA 7’s are generally priced from 7,000 to 20,000 of Anson. I wanted the card, but I didn’t want it to be my main purchase, so I was stoked with a 1.5 for under 2K. At this point I swung at 6 cards, missed one and “purchased” 5 cards. I also burned up 7 minutes and only spent $20,618.00 (including 20 bucks for shipping which I wasn’t happy about). I have 8 minutes left to go and a long list of cards I am hunting for. Stay tuned for the remainder of my shopping spree, the sweat is dripping, but the collection is looking GREAT. I have $29,382.00 left to spend, do you think I can do it? How well do you guys know me? 
my recap brief. The easiest thing to do is to click on this link to the BBA topic and read it yourself… The basic premise is that you are given $50,000.00 to spend however you like on eBay. Pretty awesome, huh? The only catch is that you only have 15 minutes to do so. The idea of a 50 grand card shopping spree is absolutely awesome, but imagine the stress involved knowing that you only have 900 seconds to spend it. I first read this topic two weeks ago and the rusty gears in my head have been turning ever since. I have read a whole bunch of shopping sprees on the other blogs and felt the excitement of the idea with each post. My time has been limited when it comes to posting; it has been even more limited when it comIf you read this blog, I am sure you read SCU too and are well aware of the topic, so I will keep es to eBay. Knowing I have 28 cents in my PayPal account gives me less motivation to spend any time over there. In fact it makes it VERY dangerous. There have been too many late nights where I have clicked on a BIN button knowing that I can’t possibly afford the item, but the deal seems too good to pass up. For that reason I may have promised someone that I would stay far away from eBay. I have kept my distance from that evil auction site, but with each post I read about this subject, I think more and more about my own shopping spree. SCU gave their readers one week to participate in the Bat Around. More than enough time for most, but not nearly long enough for a procrastinating Troll. In fact I am surprised that I was able to do it after only two weeks. I know I am too late officially for the Bat Around, but I really wanted to try it anyway. I had a 15 minute break planned from 9:45 till 10:00 PM last night and I decided that would be my time to go on a shopping spree. I told my wife I couldn’t talk far in advance. I filled my coffee up beforehand, I shut off my phone and made sure my computer had enough time left on its charge. I had a notebook, pen and a calculator ready. I also set an alarm to go off after 15 minutes AND I set the stop watch on my phone. 
Also born on this date are baseball players Brad Clontz, 
Jacque Jones, Travis Fryman, Darren Holmes and Tony Phillips. NBA stars past and present, including 
Tim Duncan, Walt Wesley and Mark Bryant. A couple of NFL stars share their birthday including All Pro safety Darren Woodson, 
Steve Tovar, Corwin Brown, Percell Gaskins, Eric England and Twan Russell.
I even found a couple of hockey players who share their birthday including Libor Prochazka and Alek Stojanov. 
Aside from athletes, they also share their birthday with a bunch of great actors. 
Former skateboarder and star of "My Name is Earl" and "Almost Famous" Jason Lee as well as Hank Azaria of the Simpsons. Actress Renee Zellweger was born today as was Scarface Al Pacino. 
One of my role models, Edward R. Murrow was also born on this date.
It was a pretty big day for musicians, too. 
Stu Cook, the bass player for Creedence Clearwater Revival was born today as was Elvis Presley's mom, Gladys Presley. Bluesman Albert King came into this world today as did LEGENDARY jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. 
We are ALL lined up waiting to wish both of you a super happy birthday! Oh, I got a call from Ms. Shannon Stewart and she asked me to send some birthday love to both of you... 
You guys rock! Go Rays! troll out.
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