Trade Bait!!! Page #1, Nine at a Time...

Okay, I have been talking about the mess my collection has been in and all of the sorting that I have been doing lately. I am slowly getting things organized, getting cards in binders, getting lists up to date. Today I decided to eliminate the clutter. I have been sorting base card dupes by brand and separating them with labeled index cards, but I was just leaving everything else in a big stack. Today I decided to sort out all of the dupes (Sps, inserts, and relics) and put them in sleeves and start a trade binder. I started that project today and I have 13 pages full, so far. Some pages are better than others. Some of them aren’t too exciting at all, but I would guess that someone out there needs every single one of these cards. That someone might not read this blog, but I am gonna post them anyway. Each post will be of 9 different cards (or 15 if they are minis). If you want something, claim it ONLY if you have something to offer in return OR if I owe you (there are a few people that I owe pretty big). Please don’t just claim if you know you don’t have anything I need. My primary focus is finishing Heritage sets, building the 2009 Topps GOLD team set, finishing any Rays team sets and building my collection of Rays autographs as well as Carl Crawford, Jonny Gomes, Brian Roberts, Pat Neshek , Ben Zobrist and Jason Bartlett cards. All of my want lists are linked on the side bar at the top of this blog. Okay, now that is out, here are the first nine. In an effort to appease Braves fan extraordinaire (and big scary guy) Captain Canuck, I picked this page first because it DOES have a Brave on it. Okay, who wants what???
All cards on this page are from 2009 Topps or 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights…
1. Andrew Bailey Propaganda Poster #PP15
2. Mark Teixeira Propaganda Poster #PP21
3. Brian McCann GOLD #UH249 PENDING
4. Scott Hairston GOLD #UH13
5. Derek Jeter GOLD #UH131 PENDING
6. Classic Combos Leyland/LaRussa GOLD #UH88 PENDING
7. Geoff Blum GOLD #UH104
8. Mark Buehrle GOLD #UH182
9. Babe Ruth Legends of the Game PLATINUM #LLP21
Okay, that was page one. MANY more pages to come. There will be relics, autographs, SPs, minis, inserts and more Topps stuff like this. Please claim cards in the comments section and email your offer to me at bacontowne at yahoo dot com. Again, all of my want lists are on the top sidebar. Keep on checking back. I will likely post 1 or 2 of these per day, plus group break packs, trade packages and the normal LONG and winding road stuff... Lets make a deal!
Go Rays! Troll out.

Allen and Ginter TTM Success Number Seven or Front Runner for 2009 AL ROY!

Two days in a row now for Allen and Ginter autograph successes. That brings my success rate up to 4%. Not great, but I am happy to get any back. I have officially pulled the plug on TTM requests for this year. There are only a few more days left of the season and my ten dollar a day stamp habit could use a rest. The plan is to sit back and watch them all pour in now. I have over 250 requests out there, but only 168 are for the Ginter Quest. Anyway, this is the first autograph I have gotten this year from an Oakland A’s player (Dallas Braden, Adam Kennedy, Rajai Davis, Bobby Crosby are all pending) and also the first I have received from an All Star. On the subject of firsts, it is the first one that I have received from a front running candidate for Rookie of the Year, too. This act of kindness on his part could sway my opinion on who should be Rookie of the Year. I am still undecided. I am a total homer for the Rays so naturally I am backing Jeff Niemann. Rick Porcello has the wins lead and Elvis Andrus is getting hot at the right time. The problem is none of those three are responding to my fan mail! It is tight race and like I said, I am pulling for Niemann, but this guy, oh; by the way I am speaking of Andrew Bailey if you haven’t figured that out already, is hard to ignore. He literally came out of nowhere this year. After three seasons in the minors without posting a winning record as a starter, the A’s who were short on arms, gave him a shot in the bullpen. Bailey had never earned a save in the minors, but suddenly this year he has 26 of them in the big leagues. Not bad for a guy with a 12-22 career record, mostly in AA. Seriously, who would have thought that a guy who was 5-9 with a 4.32 ERA in AA last year would be an All Star closer? Not me. His 26 saves won’t rival Fuentes, Nathan, Papplebon or Rivera for the league lead, but the A’s don’t have many games to close. In addition to his 26 saves, he has those guys beat in games (65), innings (80), strike outs (88), wins (6) and games finished (51) and he is tied with Joe Nathan for the fewest homers allowed out of those 5 guys. Oh, and although all five of them are All Star relievers, Bailey is the only rookie in that bunch and that is pretty good company to be compared to, especially when your better! His record of 6-3 with a teeny tiny 1.90 ERA is pretty nice, too. In fact, the only reliever with more strikeouts than Bailey is his teammate in Oakland, Mike Wuertz, who is having a darn good year himself. If you want to compare Rookie of the Year candidates, head on over to the Closet Full of Cardboard blog, he has a great comparison of all of the candidates. I don’t have a vote for ROY myself, but I really do appreciate the speedy turn around on this TTM. Plus, the signature is pretty sweet and it never hurts to add in your number. Much appreciated Mr. Bailey, good luck the rest of the year!