Rippin Wax in the Windy City of Bradenton, Florida... Pack #22 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2

Greetings Trollites! It’s been a while since I have posted. I’ve been a very busy troll. Playing mechanic has become a full-time job, but I am getting better at it. After knocking out a fan belt, water pump, oil change, fuel-injector rebuild, thermostat and starter change (on several different cars) yesterday I am amped and ready for major automotive surgery tomorrow. I have to change the fuel pump in my wife’s Jeep. Doesn’t sound difficult, but the fuel pump is INSIDE of the fuel tank. Wish me luck! Trying not to forget my promise to have all of the cards from the group break shipped out by Thursday morning I am gonna keep on going. 1993 Topps Stadium Club is done, 1994 Pinnacle is getting close. Here we go with pack # 22 on ’94 Pinnacle:
#450 Rickey Henderson Oakland A’s (Great shot of the Greatest...)
#529 Rich Becker Minnesota Twins (Wasn’t there a sitcom with Ted Danson in it called Becker?)
#408 Harold Baines Baltimore Orioles
#311 Mark Langston California Angels (I know that Matt from HCoSG collects Matt Williams cuz they share the same first name. I was a fan of Langston for that same reason… Plus, back in his Seattle days the dude was a serious power pitcher… Leading the league in Ks as a rookie? That’s freaking awesome! Not being a fluke and doing it 2 more times, even better…)
#478 Melvin Nieves San Diego Padres
#452 Bob Tewksbury St Louis Cardinals (Tewksbury was an All Star in ’92 and finished third in the Cy Young voting behind Maddux and Glavine when he had a record of 16-5 with a 2.16 ERA) #319 Luis Alicea St Louis Cardinals
#291 Wally Joyner Kansas City Royals (It’s a Wally World, I’m just ripping packs)
#412 Mark Hutton New York Yankees (Hutton, a big righty from Australia, was in the Yankees system since 1989, he finally made the big leagues to stay and he gets traded in August of 1996, right before they go to the World Series. That sucks.)
#314 Hal Morris Cincinnati Reds (Hal, whose real name is William Morris, had an awesome rookie season for the Reds in 1990-he hit .340 with a .498 slugging % to help them to the playoffs. He hit .417 against the Pirates to help them win the NL Pennant. Then came the World Series. He choked against Oakland, getting 1 hit in 14 at-bats, but the Reds STILL swept the A’s) #471 Xavier Hernandez New York Yankees
#340 Pat Meares Minnesota Twins (As a rookie with the Twins in ’93 Meares turned 70 doubles and had 304 assists, but he pissed off wrong Pinnacle photographer somehow and got this as his card)
#378 Carl Willis Minnesota Twins
#287 Roberto Alomar Toronto Blue Jays (This pack started with a great low-down close-up of Rickey and ends with a nice wide shot of Alomar. I think the dude is safe at second though…)
Okay, another rip rapped up. Just 2 more packs and ’94 Pinnacle will be gone forever. I will do my best to keep on posting tomorrow, but dropping the fuel tank is gonna keep me tied up for a bit… By way it has gotten cold in FLA again and it’s REALLY windy too. By the way, there a couple of you who still haven't got in touch about paying for your slot in this (the 1st) break. I want to ship everything out this week so PLEASE let me know whats up. Go Rays! Troll out.

The LAST Pack of 1993 Topps Stadium Club, THE LAST PACK!!!!

It's been a long night, (actually it's much more like morning) but I’m on a roll and I am really psyched to finally finish off one of these boxes. This is the LAST pack of 1993 Topps Stadium Club… Here we go!
#666 Harold Baines Baltimore Orioles (Should I be nervous that the first card out of #the last pack I opened is number 666? 1993 was the first year of the first stop that Baines made in his home state with Baltimore. He hit 20 homers and batted .313. Pretty much standard stuff for Baines… Also, 1993 was the first year that Baines became exclusively a DH-he did spend 2 innings in right field in 1997 though.)
#644 Tony Fernandez New York Mets (The Padres send Fernandez to NY for Wally Whitehurst right after the ’92 season. He would only play 48 games for the Mets before they traded him back to the Blue Jays in June ’93 for Darrin Jackson. In Toronto Fernandez’s batting average jumped 81 points from .225 with the Mets to .306 in Toronto. Of course the Jays won the Series in ’93 and Fernandez, who had originally signed with the Jays in 1979 won his first and only ring with his original team)
#703 David Cone Kansas City Royals (Cone was a late season acquisition by the Blue Jays in 1992 and he helped them to their first World Series, but left for free agency and Kansas City after the Series. Had an off year in ’93 for the Royals going 11-14, but came back and won the Cy Young Award for the strike shortened ’94 season)
#737 Rob Natal Florida Marlins (I don’t think I have a scan of this one, but it is a Rob Natal play at the plate)
#707 Ken Griffey Jr. Seattle Mariners (Its hard to get upset with pulling a Griffey, but this is like the 6th copy of this card! Griffey batted .358 against lefties in ’92 with 12 homers in 173 at-bats)
#724 Frank Bolick Montreal Expos (Who?)
#652 Armando Reynoso Colorado Rockies (Reynoso was 12-11 with a 4.00 ERA and 4 complete games for the Rockies in their inaugural season)
#713 Manuel Lee Texas Rangers (After 8 seasons in Toronto the Roberto Alomar trade made Lee expendable. He found a temporary home in Texas in 1993 and ’94 fighting for playing time at short with Mario Diaz)
#671 Jerald Clark Colorado Rockies (One half of the slugging Clark Brothers of the early 90’s. Combined the two (Jerald and Phil) played for parts of 12 seasons and hit 61 homeruns)
#602 Jeff Reardon Cincinnati Reds (The Terminator spent just 1 year with the Reds and he logged (7th All Time) 8 of his 367 career saves there)
#735 Mitch Webster Los Angeles Dodgers
#673 Kirk Gibson Detroit Tigers (Gibby won the MVP in ’88 but NEVER made an All Star team…)
#748 Roger Clemens Boston Red Sox MEMBERS CHOICE (From the back of the card: “Clemens is to pitching what Lombardi’s Packers were to football”
#672 Doug Drabek Houston Astros (This is a great card to end the last pack of a box that bored me to tears at times. That isn’t sarcasm either, I was a Drabek fan… Drabek will forever be remembered as the 1990 Cy Young (22-6, 2.76 ERA) and also the guy who suffered all 3 losses in the 1992 NLCS against the Braves. Drabek started 7 games in the postseason, he threw 2 complete games and struck out 33 batters. He has a career 2.05 ERA in the playoffs to go with his 2-5 record. Hard luck for a very cool and decent guy)
Okay, that’s it! Stick a fork in 1993 Topps Stadium Club, cuz it is DONE!!! It was a nice ride, but I am glad It’s over. Thanks for reading. Just need to finish off the Pinnacles now. Go Rays! Troll out.

1993 Stadium Club-Rippin' Pack #5!

I decided to switch back to Stadium Club for a few before I tear into the Pinnacle Series Two. Here is what we got:
#697 Benji Gil Texas Rangers
#646 Joe Magrane ST LOUIS CARDINALS
#735 Mitch Webster LA Dodgers
#631 Greg Gagne KC Royals
#717 Paul O’Neill New York Yankees
#610 Charlie Hough Florida Marlins (There’s something I really like about age defying knuckleballers… Hough had just reached his 200th victory in ’92 right before he came to Florida as their Inaugural Ace and topped 200 innings at 45 years of age. The back shows his rookie from 1972 Topps-the earliest rookie card of any player in the set so far…)
#666 Harold Baines Baltimore Orioles (is that card # why the HOF voters won’t give Baines any love?
#605 Carlos Quintana Boston Red Sox
#729 Jose Lind Kansas City Royals
#604 Bryan Harvey Florida Marlins
#749 Joe Carter MEMBERS CHOICE Toronto Blue Jays
#700 Andy Ashby Colorado Rockies
#683 Jim Converse RC Seattle Mariners
#685 Greg Gohr RC Detroit Tigers
I think this is the first pack with no Braves or Rockies in it, perhaps we are beginning to find some team variety… Stay tuned, many more packs to rip…troll out.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!

We have a winner!!!! The 33 entrants were all placed into a hat (by me) and then drawn from said hat by a blind-folded and impartial third party (the lovely Esther Gin N Juice) at the Troll Quarters this afternoon. Thanks to everyone who entered! I think we will make contests like this a regular part of this blog. Anyway, without further adieu, I will announce the winner…(imagine a drum roll)
The winner is Jason “The Jaw” from Illinois. He is a Cubs fan, so he is probably not accustomed to winning… Anyway, he voted for Cy Young and MVP and therefore was entitled to pick two cards. He chose Harold Baines and Tony Gwynn, two of the best pure hitters of the 80’s and 90’s. I will get those mailed off to you this week Jason. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the All Star edition of Troll giveaway time! Oh, the rest of the cards (other than Gwynn and Baines) are available for trade for Heritage SPs or cool Rays cards.
Go Rays! Troll out.