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.
This is picked from one of the 2 two-hundred card count boxes that reader Noah from New York sent my way. 
I didn't even realize that these rookie cup cards were available in different flavors. I have had the base for a while, but now I have 4 colors of the rainbow. I would assume that there are more and naturally greed has taken over and I want them all. 
For now I am pretty happy with these 4. 
Another big group of cards he sent were these 6 different 2005 Donruss Crowning Moment cards. I remember when you had to be a legitimate star to have Dick Perez immortalize you in a Diamond King painting. I love all these players, but some of them are far from being Diamond Kings, at least Joey Gaithright is... The illustrations are really nice though and I really like this set. 
None of these were painted by Dick Perez, but by artists like Ron Adair who did Brazelton and Baldelli and Ron Stark who did Scott Kazmir. 
Now I am curious if Carl Crawford or Jonny Gomes appear in this set. 
If they do, I need 'em! Thanks so much for the great stuff Noah! 
I look forward to posting up the other goodies. Oh, the Carl Crawford related contest WILL happen. I will list the rules of engagement and prizes this weekend. Oh, as an end note. A few readers, most recently Ted, have sent me cards toward the forgotten 
First up is a 2004 Fleer Ultra Performer, card #UP/RB with a white jersey swatch on it. Now that Rocco is somewhat retired, I am getting more into collecting his Rays cards. This one is serial numbered 062/500. 
The next Rocco is a 2004 Fleer Skybox Autographics. It isn't actually autographed, but does have a low serial number of 083/150. 
The final Rocco I am going to show off has the lowest serial number of the bunch. It is from 2008 Topps, the black parallel. This is my FIRST black parallel. I am a big fan of Topps flagship series, I love collecting the base, I chase the golds and I have always wanted a black. This is card #464 and is serial numbered 23/57. 
I have since got a few more black parallels and am on a mission to get EVERY Crawford and Bartlett out there. The next card comes from 1998 Upper Deck, it is card #6 of original Devil Rays infielder Bobby Smith. 
I initially scanned this card because it lists his name as Robert Smith, like the singer from the Cure. That made me chuckle. When I put this card on the scanner I noticed it was serial numbered, too. This card is a parallel of some sort and it is numbered 084/100. Back in the 90s they numbered cards to 10,000 so finding a card from '98 that is numbered to 100 is pretty awesome. From '98 up till '08 this next card is from 2008 Bowman of 6th round pick Shane Dyer. 
Dyer is playing for my favorite minor league team, the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs. He is 2-1 in 3 starts for the Crabs this season. Did I mention I love X Fractors? I love refractors, too. I imagine that I would really love superfractors, but probably not enough to drop 16K on one. The Dyer card is numbered 032/199. I think that every card Mr. Mrley sent me was serial numbered... I am realizing that I still have quite a few more cards I wanted to post from him, but its almost time to leave for work, so I will end this post with a pair of BJ Upton cards. I will save the Crawfords, Penas and Longorias for tomorrow. First up is a weird one from 2005 Donruss Playoff. 
It is weird because it isn't a normal card, I think it's a game piece of some sort, but it has a really low serial number on it and a classy looking design. The card is #PG-89 and the serial number on the front reads 33/45. Nice. 
The last Upton card and final card of this post is from 2005 Fleer Patchworks. I have quite a few of this card already, but none of mine are numbered. This one is. The back of the card mentions Upton's MLB debut against Boston on 8/2/2004. He was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored. Right below that is the number 91/99. SWEET! 
The only thing is I can't really tell the difference between this card and the non-numbered version. Okay, today's post ends here.After looking at all these great scans of tough pulls and serial numbered cards I can't believe that one person sent me all of this. If I got confused and mixed up stuff that someone else sent me, I am really sorry and PLEASE let me know. Otherwise,
You all know it and read it and love it. I know you do. Well, Beardy got his hands on some 2004 Topps Finest as well as some 2004 Topps Pristine. I know this because I have seen these cards pop up all over, all coming courtesy of the Beard Man. Beardy is nothing if not a generous dude with a penchant for creating posts that everyone needs to read. 
Anyway, on the generous side I will start with the Topps Pristine. These are two cards that look cool and look horrible all at the same time. They are awesome in their design and they are awesome because they are of a favorite player of mine. They are horrible because 6 years ago said fav player was in the most horrible organization in MLB and their name and logos are all over these cards. 
These are 2 cards I am glad to have, but not really thrilled about. The player is Dioner Navarro, the Rays catcher. Navi is hitting .154 this season and his platoon mate is out for an extended period of time with an injury suffered against the evil Yankees. Navi is going to get the chance to stay in the line-up until his bat wakes up. 
I really hope it does. I like this guy a lot and it wasn’t too long ago that his bat got him a spot on the All Star team. He is one of the nicest guys on the team, he lights it up in BP, and he is a hard worker behind the plate and has a quick release and a decent arm. He is a pretty streaky hitter and is in a funk. I expect (hope) it gets better. The bearded one knows my love for the second baseman on his team, the horrible and I mean horrible Orioles. Said second baseman is on the DL and may be there for a while. I am speaking of Brian Roberts and his back problems. I have the same issues with my back, but I don’t play pro ball for a living. My job is far less demanding, but my back still gets in the way so I feel for ya B-Rob, I get it. Anyway, here is one card he sent, a serial numbered gem from the 2009 UD Ball Park Collection. 
I am posting the rest of the B-Rob goodies he sent on the 
A very patriotic looking card with a white jersey swatch that looks like a cobra’s tongue. Sweet. The clock is ticking on me so I must tie this post up. I will end with the Finest card (pun intended) of the package. I showed off two crappy looking cards of Dioner Navarro in the last paragraph. This card on the other hand is PERFECT and goes right on the wall in the showcase. I truly love everything about this card. It starts with the fact that there are no visible team logos or a team name. Yes Navi was a part of the Yanks in 2004, but you can’t tell from this card. Second, it has a beautiful ON-CARD autograph across the base. 
Navi has stellar penmanship and his sig covers the card nicely. This is my first and only Navi graph and I love it. Great chrome design, classy and bubbly and no team logos and on-card equals perfect! Oh AND its a freaking REFRACTOR, I love it!!! 
Thanks so much 
Here is another LONG overdue post of blogger kindness… I have had this stack of cards on my desk for a couple of months now. My desk is actually covered in stacks of cards, some of them staggering at over 6 inches high. I will someday get through them all. Like the good folks in AA say, I will do it one day at a time… This stack of cards came from Spiff in Kansas. Spiff, like me writes a couple of blogs. He is a Civil War buff (George Costanza?) and writes the 
The first one is from 2006 Upper Deck; it is card #443 and shows Gomes sliding in slow motion. The next one is one of those cards that I had never seen, but thought must exist and therefore wanted it. It is from the Topps 50th Anniversary All Star Rookie Cup team insert series. 
Gomes won the cup as a DH in 2005 when he hit 21 homers as a rookie. He also hit 3 homers in one game for the first time that year and became the first Devil Ray to do so. Actually he is the only DEVIL Ray to ever hit 3 in one game. 
Evan Longoria did it as a Ray, but Gomes is the lone Devil Rays slugger to do so. Since I never get tired of this fun fact I will share it again… During his career Hammerin Hank Aaron hit 3 homers in one game just once. Joltin Jonny Gomes has done it twice so far. Okay, moving on to Scott Kazmir. I used to be a big Kazmir fan. 
Actually I still am, but I have backed off on collecting him. I still enjoy getting cards of his I don’t own though. This one comes from 2006 Fleer Ultra, the Rising Stars insert set. It is card #URS8. The back of the mentions Kaz ranking 4th in the AL with 174 Ks at age 21. Speaking of awesome left handed pitchers… I am going to end this post with this sweet card of David Price. 
It is from the gigantic 2008 Topps Year in Review subset, card #YR135. The cards topic is 10 first rounders signing at the deadline on 8-15, Price being one of them. The card shows Price’s stats at Vanderbilt where he was 11-1 with 194 Ks in 133 ip. Price didn’t live up to the hype as a rookie last year, but I really believe he has a solid All Star career ahead of him. Thanks so much for these and all of the great stuff you sent 
I have posted several editions of Blogger Kindness and I have MANY more to show off, but getting a package from a complete stranger sent IMMEDIATELY after reading of my experience really blew me away. Damn work for taking up all my time and keeping me from posting this! That said, I do need to get ready to go back, so let’s get back to the business of showing off some of the highlights of this package that included Negro Leaguers, HOFers, autographs, relics, Clementes and a whole ton of Pirates and Rays. He included quite a few David Price cards that I needed, but I am going to show this one because this is the only one I have ever seen like this. It comes from 2009 Topps, but isn’t the standard pose from the set. 
The card is number JCP2. 
If Google is correct, the JCP stands for either the Journal of Computational Physics or JC Penney. Anyone know anything about these? Moving on to a serial numbered rookie card of my favorite shortstop Jason Bartlett. 
This is card #62 from 2004 Fleer Draft Edition, serial numbered 0514/1000. He sent me a few Topps Chrome refractors which are always welcome here, including a 2008 BJ Upton and a 2009 Matt Garza. 
He also sent the most amazing refractor I have ever seen… From 2008 Bowman, card #171 of 2009 Home Run King Carlos Pena. 
As much as I love refractors I am not too knowledgeable about the different varieties. I thought this was an X Fractor, but since then I have gathered quite a few of those and none compare to this one. Is this a SUPER FRACTOR? It is serial numbered 216/250 and shiny as all hell! The pile of Rays he sent was never ending and it seemed that I needed all of them, but I won’t every card. I have trimmed it down to just 3 more beginning with an old school Wade Boggs from 1999 Topps Stadium Club. 
I picked this one because as many cards as I have of Boggs as a D-Ray (100+) this might be the only card that shows him running. Next up is a SWEET new RED Turkey Red that I have been coveting for a while. 
This is from 2005 (I think, my eyes are failing me), card #152 of All Star Carl Crawford. AWESOME! The last card to show off comes 2008 Topps Series 2, card #TR-SK, a jersey relic of the Rays former Ace Scott Kazmir. 
I am pretty sure with this one I have every Rays card from this subset. I love being an obsessive team collector!
It celebrates Clemente’s second WS win in 1971 where he batted .414 and took home WS MVP honors.
It comes from the 2002 SPx Winning Materials Combo Jersey set and features Kendall and Brian Giles, each with a different color jersey swatch. It is AWESOME! I dug out some old Kendall cards I had and filled 2 pages in my PC binder. Ah, memories! From the past to the present, here is a pair of Ticket to Topps Town cards of future star Andrew McCutchen. 
I REALLY like the photo on the GOLD version, great angle, bad crop, but still great. I am starting to think about chasing TTT Gold now, too. I have 6 cards so far… We went from the past to the present, now here is a great relic of the future. From the 2008 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection, here is a black jersey swatch of outfielder slash first baseman Steve Pearce. 
The Pirates have a lot of weak spots on their roster, but they have a ton of depth at first base and right field and Garrett Jones IS the real deal. That leaves Pearce behind for now, but I think this guy has a shot… Shifting back to the past, these 2 were my favorites from the package. These cards wowed me so much that I thought about chasing both of these guys and YES I got these before the poll where you guys voted for Bill Madlock (in a tie) as the next play I collect… This is my first relic of Mad Dog and my only one so far… It comes from 2006 Fleer, the Decade Greats set, card # DEC-BI. 
I really like the design of this card, the batting pose from the former batting champion and little piece of his bat in the corner. I still haven’t decided how to break the 3-way tie between Madlock, Larry Doby and Bill Mazeroski. I don’t see a problem in collecting all of them a little bit-they are 3 of my All Time favs… I thought it was awesome that Cameron was so clairvoyant with this one. I have been typing for over 2 hours and I really need to go to work, so I am going to close up this super post of a super package from a super kind blogger… This is a great Pirates card to close it on, it comes from a set that I didn’t even know about until recently, but have recently become obsessed. I love Hall of Fame autographs, but I get tired of seeing the same players in every set. That makes these sets super awesome because of the variety. This is a chrome version of a 2004 style Topps card of one of the best relievers the National League has ever seen. 
I am rushing and not too great with words right now, so just enjoy this super great, uncirculated awesome certified, on card auto of Elroy Face!!! 
I LOVE this card. I like vintage players on modern designs; it’s like a reverse Heritage type thing. Anyway, this card is easily one of my favorites. This was my first Face card (a KING!) and later that week Chris from Project '62 sent me a few vintage Topps cards of him. Those are two great reasons to start collecting a guy that I was already a huge fan of. More cards that he included from a set that I didn’t know existed are these amazing 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game cards. 
He sent a stack of former stars from the Negro Leagues. Among the group were this card of one of my favorite people in the world, former Kansas City Monarchs player and manager Buck O’Neil. 
This last card inspired me too, stay tuned for some Buck O’Neil obsessiveness!!! In the awesome letter that Cameron sent with these awesome cards he suggested that we could talk some smack during the season, Reds vs. the Pirates. It’s hard for me to talk bad about the Reds since my favorite player Jonny Gomes plays for them, but… 
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