600 Posts Later and I STILL LOVE This Hobby!!!

Okay, so when I started writing this I didn't realize it was POST #600. I knew I was close, but I didn't know I was that close... I didn't have anything special planned, but I did want it to be wordy with a lot of pictures-a typical Troll post. I think this exemplifies that just fine, plus it shows off some great new cards from an awesome blogger. Since it is a milestone post I am going to add in a bonus card. This came in the FIRST pack (jumbo rack) of Series 2 Topps I bought. It is the FIRST Rays HIT card I have EVER pulled myself. Please read on...The rest of the blog-o-sphere is completely Allen and Ginter crazy. I am not complaining. They are great cards and I can’t wait till I have the funds to get my mitts on my box. For those of you who want your Ginter fix, but can’t swing the bucks for a box there is a great case break at Long Fly Ball to Because… where you can get a case worth of cards of your favorite team for less than half the price of a box. Go check it out and tell him the Troll sent you! I am not going to end the post here. Even if I had the cash to order my box I wouldn’t have time to post it. My desk is still full of unposted cards. Rather than waste my time being bitter that I am not in the Ginter party I am going to use my time wisely and try and post up some of the great cards I have received this year. I have said before that I don’t have a specific favorite person to trade with. Actually I am pretty lucky that there are about 10 bloggers who send me a package like clockwork every month or so. These folks rock! They rock because they aren’t prearranged trades; they are awesome surprise packages that make my day. I have received at least 4 of these packages from Madding at Cards on Cards that I haven’t posted. Some great relics and other Rays awesomeness. This package I am posting today is the most recent surprise pack I got from my favorite Cardinals fan. Now I will say that I have gotten plenty of “mojo hits” from CoC in the past, but you won’t see any in this post. This trade rocks because it was SUPER thoughtful. Sometimes I post about wanting a certain card and wonder if anyone is reading, well apparently someone was cuz I got it! Anyway, without further adieu, here are some of the highlights for me from my latest trade pack from Cards on Cards…
First up from the 2002 Donruss Super Estrellas set, card #92 of Greg Vaughn. I was never a Vaughn fan when he was with the D-Rays, or before or after for that matter. This card rules because I love this set and it is the only D-Rays player in it. 2001 was a lean year in Tampa Bay and Vaughn’s 24 homers were enough to attract National attention. As a Mexican-American I enjoy cards geared towards Spanish speaking people and this set is ALL Spanish. Super Estrellas translates to Super Stars and yes “super” has the same meaning in both languages. Next up is another favorite obscure set of mine. This one is special for different reasons. It is a 2000 Royal Rookies card of Charleston Riverdogs (D-Rays) shortstop Ramon Soler. Soler stole 46 bases in low A ball in 1999. That would be his career high. He spent 5 years in the minors getting a cup of coffee with the Norfolk Tides (Mets) in 2002. That would be his highest level; he never sniffed the big leagues. This card is rad because Royal Rookies was one of the worst card companies ever and I took this picture and never got paid for it. Next time you get upset with a card company, google Royal Rookies and remember that it could be worse... I am psyched to at least have a copy of the card now… Next up is a great card of my favorite player of all time, the great ballplayer and humanitarian Roberto Clemente. I try to collect any cards of Clemente I can get my hands on. His vintage stuff is a little out of my league, but I do enjoy his modern stuff as well. This card looks AWESOME! It is a 2009 Topps refractor, card #GR-9. This is one of those cards you get as a bonus for buying the cereal box. I am pretty sure that is the only way you can get one. I love it! From the greatest ballplayer of all time to one of my favorite players who never really made it, former Devil Rays third baseman Jared Sandberg. This one is a 1999 Bowman Chrome, card #118. The front of the scan looks awful in the scan, so I scanned the back. I am on an active mission to collect one of every card every made of the less famous Mr. Sandberg. Thanks to Madding I have a complete list of all of his cards. His career wasn’t too long, but with all the parallels out there I still have a long way to go. I do appreciate getting his cards whenever I can. Another player that I am trying to collect completely is Danny Tartabull. The Bull was my favorite player as a kid and the first player I ever collected. I still have the original binder my Mom got me when I was 10 years old for my collection and fortunately still have most of the cards, too. I stopped collecting Tartabull after he signed with the Yankees. Enough years have past that I have forgiven him for playing for such an awful team and now I am catching up on his pinstriped cards. Madding sent me several I needed including this die-cut, foil gem from 1994 SP. The card is number 200 in the set and the back of the card mentions that when Tartabull hit 31 homers and drove in 102 runs for the Bronx Bombers in 1993 he was the first Yankees to top the 30/100 plateaus since Donny Baseball did it in 1987. Of course MANY have done it since, but the Bull brought it back in style! Another Tartabull I needed is this card from 1995 Topps Finest. I have started and stopped collecting so many times it is ridiculous. I have also started collecting specific brands only. In 1995 I did that. Topps Finest and Bowman are Best. I ripped both products like crazy. The Bowman’s Best cards are long gone, but I still have some of the Finest cards. I swear I will put together a want list and finish that set someday. For now I am glad to have the Tartabull card. I am really glad that Finest ditched the “protective coating” stamps all over the face of these cards, I am also on the lookout for the refractor version of this card and all of the Bull’s Finest releases. I don’t have ANY. He also included a White Sox card that I didn’t have. Card #356 of Tartabull from 1996 Pinnacle. The Bull had resurgence with the Chi Sox in 1995 when he topped 100 RBIs for the fifth and final time of his career. Batting between Frank Thomas and Harold Baines would be a luxury for any slugger, but still… The final Danny Tartabull card he sent in this package was this card from 1995 Upper Deck SE, card #9 of Tartabull in full foil. Shifting back to pseudo vintage and one of Roberto Clemente’s former teammates, this is a 2008 Goudey card, #151 of the starting second baseman on the All-Troll-All-Time-All-Star-Team Bill Mazeroski. A wizard with the glove who also hit a very famous homerun that won the Bucs the World Series against the seemingly unbeatable Yankees. I am going to try and get this one signed. I am running out of time but I will post two more cards. Each one is serial numbered and shows players I collect who are also starting for the American League in the 2010 All Star Game. First up is card #95 from 2010 Topps Series 1. This is the gold parallel version of Carl Crawford. I am collecting the team set in gold. Thanks to trades I finished series 2 before I bought a single pack, but I am only halfway to series 1. I love the CC! Now if only someone would send me the platinum… Another sweet colored and numbered parallel is card #99 from 2010 Topps Opening Day, the BLUE version of David Price. It’s a little ironic that Price is in this set considering he wasn’t in the opening day lineup, but it is a great card nonetheless. To Madding of Cards on Cards – I owe you a HUGE thank you sir!!! You should be getting a package from me later next week. All of the goodies from the long overdue group break and some odds and ends I have gathered over the past few months. To anyone interested I did finally arrange for the proper adult supervision and ripped into a few cans of cards. These will be posted on A Pack To Be Named Later very soon. If you haven’t checked out Cards on Cards yet, do yourself a favor and check it out right now! It aint just for Cards fans… I started this post talking about 2010 Ginter. Well, Cards on Cards is part of the Gint-A-Cuffs battle. He has pulled a Carl Crawford mini AND a spinosaurus so far. I repeat, check it out! To anyone reading that wants to get their trade on, please shoot me an email. If you sent me a package and I either owe you a return package OR you were hoping I would post it and haven’t yet, PLEASE send me a reminder. I’m not being a jerk; I am just really behind and really scatterbrained… Another end note... I know blog milestones are normally coupled with contests. I have 2 coming up, but I will be honest-I just don't have the time to keep up with a contest right now. One of them will be the "guess how many different Carl Crawford cards the Troll has". My wife has promised to help me attack the many stacks of cards all over the house to sort out the CC cards so I can get a count. Once I get all of the group break stuff ripped, packed and shipped I will post one so stay tuned! Thanks again to Cards on Cards for making my week with these cards and making my day again today as I flipped through them again. To all the new traders and bloggers-take this trade as some advice... You don't need to send people autograph relic cards or one of ones to make a great trade package. If you read someone's blog you can score WAY MORE trade points hooking them up with inexpensive cards they really want and will enjoy. Just a little message from experience. One more postnote... I need addresses to ship cards. If you have the Tigers, Astros, Angels, Giants, Pirates, Rockies, Yankees, Mets or A's-I have probably misplaced your mailing address. Anthony K, the Astros fan, I got your cards from the first break returned to sender so you will be getting a REALLY big box of cards this time around... Anyway, please shoot me an email at bacontowne at yahoo dot com. Thanks! I love this game, I love this hobby and I love this community!!! Oh, one last end note before I leave for work... Congrats to Rafael Soriano for being the 4th Rays player on the All Star team. He is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA and 23 saves. You deserve it Sor! Go Rays! Troll out.