I have been very fortunate in the trading department these past couple weeks. My latest take comes from Dan at the amazing Saints of the Cheap Seats blog. The saying goes “one hand washes the other” and Dan needed a bunch of cards to complete his 2007 Bowman Heritage set (which I gave up long ago) and the ’52 Topps Rookies series (which I lost interest in finishing a while ago). I needed more Rays cards and he had some to spare. After receiving the cards I had sent him, he sent me an e-mail saying he didn’t have near as many cards to ship to me in return. That’s okay, cuz he sent quality over quantity. I had just sorted my Rays cards into player stacks, pulled out the doubles and got a final count (yes, I am that much of a nerd) on my player collections. I had 33 different Scott Kazmir cards before I opened this trade. Dan sent me 5 Kaz cards and they are all new to me. I was putting these away as Kaz was pitching against the Marlins on Saturday night. He threw 5 solid innings, giving up 2 earned and striking out 5. I think Kaz is back.
The first Kaz card is an ’05 Upper Deck Trilogy card #87 showing Kaz with his old number 26 jersey. The next is another UD card, a ’07 Spectrum #41,
then another ’07 UD, Future Stars card #92.
This one stands as my favorite of the bunch. I like the green background and the white border frame.
He also sent the Rocco Baldelli card from the same series.
A ’07 SP Rookie Edition, card # 92 rounded out the Upper Decks. The last Kaz card he sent is a ’06 Fleer Ultra Gold.
He included the Kaz and a card of Jonny Gomes, who has found a home with the Reds, hitting .343 with 4 homers for them this year. He did send me one 2007 Bowman Heritage card in return for the Bowmans that I had sent him. It was the one card that I wanted and never was able to pull, a prospect card of
Reid Brignac, who is back down in AAA with Durham. I don't know if he will ever be an every day player for the Rays, but with his talent and ability he will certainly find a permanent job somewhere. I normally only get excited about getting current Rays, but the ex-Rays cards he sent were so neat, I am gonna post them, too. There is a 2001 Bowman Heritage of
Greg Vaughn, card #323. It’s an up-close black and white portrait of the slugger. Vaughn, who is Mo’s cousin, played in the Majors for 15 years, hitting 355 homers and driving in 1,072 runs. He was the National League Comeback Player of the Year in ’98 for the Padres when he hit 50 homeruns. He was also a 4 time All Star. He spent 3 seasons with the Devil Rays, never really regaining his form. He hit 60 homers for the Rays.
Another slugger who did time in Tampa Bay was Jose Canseco.
He is featured on this Curtain Call insert from the 2000 Upper Deck set. It is card #CC19. I wasn’t too pleased when the Devil Rays signed Canseco (twice) but he did bring the power when he hit 34 home runs in ’99 for them.
He sent a few 1998 Upper Decks. I hadn’t seen these in a while. I was still collecting when this set came out; I think that I even ripped a box of it.
One of them is Roberto Hernandez, the man who saved the Rays first win in ’98. Hernandez was a two-time All Star who spent 17 years in the big leagues. He appeared in over 1000 games and saved 326 of them, good for 12th All Time. His best year as a Devil Ray came in 1999 when he saved 43 of their victories.
The trade ends with 4 really awesome BJ Upton cards that I did not yet own.
A 2007 Goudey, red back, card #12. I was collecting this set, but gave up. I didn’t like the green back, red back thing. I really didn’t like getting 2 cards of the same player in the same pack, one with a green back and one red. Anyway, when I gave up, Delmon Young was the only Rays player I had pulled. I didn’t even realize that BJ was in the set.
I am becoming more and more enamored with Topps Finest lately. I haven’t ripped a pack of it since ’95, still trying to finish that set, I think, but I have got a few cards lately from that series.
This is my first 2005; card #7 0f then teenaged infielder BJ Upton.
Another cool ’05 Upton he sent is a Leaf Century Collection card,
showing Upton post swing. I can’t make out his jersey number on this one, 15, 25, 35? I can’t tell. The picture on the card’s back has his number airbrushed out. Odd.
That’s all for another awesome trade! Thanks Dan, I really appreciate the cards. Since I have started to write this today I have gotten 4 more envelopes in my post box, so I gotta a lot of work to do. Right now, I am signing off, gonna watch the Rays try and take the second game of the series against the Jays! Did anyone watch that game last night? Niemann, Upton, Crawford, Bartlett and everyone looked awesome, great game!
Oh, the Longo card at the start of this is from Dan, too. I never get tired of getting Longo cards and that whole UD Masterpiece set is pretty awesome. Does anyone know how Greg Vaughn or Roberto Hernandez are TTM? Go Rays!! Troll out.
As promised, here is part two of the Saints of the Cheap Seats trade. Dan outdid himself sending over all of those awesome and amazing 1978 Topps cards-like I said there were 120 cards and ten of them featured Hall of Famers, it was an amazing pile of 30+ year old card board and it brought me to 90% completion of the set. Dan also sent over some very nice Tampa Bay Rays cards that are new to my collection. First off, my favorite. Topps Finest, like Bowman Sterling, is an amazing looking; high class set that is just a bit out of my price range. I do love getting these cards in trade, though. This card is a Finest Moments insert from 2008 Finest set; it is card #FM-AS and is serial numbered 93/99. 
The card is of Andy Sonnanstine, who had a really terrible season in 2009. I still think he has the “stuff” to be a big league pitcher and I really hope that the Rays don’t give up on him like they did with Jason Hammel, Scott Kazmir and Edwin Jackson. I think Sonny can be a solid 5th or spot starter and I really like this card. He also sent 5 cards from the 2007 Bowman Heritage set. I had been chasing this set, but then I gave up and decided to just go after the Rays cards. With these 5, I think my team set is done. 
Unfortunately the ex-Rays (Elijah Dukes, Kazmir, Rocco and Brian Stokes) outnumber the current Rays player pretty badly with Sonny being the lone Ray remaining from this bunch. 
He went back a few years prior with the Bowman Heritage, too. 
This one of former Rays catcher, Toby Hall. From ex-catcher to current catcher, there is 2009 Topps Gold of Dioner Navarro. I love the 2009 Topps set, it is easily my favorite design of this decade for Topps and it is one of the nicest sets of the year for any brand. The design, photography and composition is all top notch. 
Gold and serial numbers make nice cards nicer, he hooked it up with this Gold Navi… I’ve mentioned before that my collection is very, very weak when it comes to cards from the start of this decade. I wasn’t collecting then and many of the cards that I get in trade are more recent ones. 
These two Devil Rays sketch cards from the 2001 Topps Gallery set were a real treat for me! I wonder who else is in this set? I think both of these cards would look great signed, so they will hopefully reappear in a TTM success post sometime down the road. Another big thank you to Dan from the Saints of the Cheap Seats blog for hooking it up with this awesome trade! I can't resist re-posting at least one card from before that he sent for my 1978 Topps set... A former starter from Dan's favorite team and a Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley...
I keep on mentioning this, but if you haven't signed up yet for the SotCS group break, I believe there are only a couple of slots available, so get on over there quick before your kicking yourself for missing out!-http://cheapseatsaints.blogspot.com While you are there, check out his (very well organized) want lists or you can always send him cards of Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel or any Indians for that matter...Thanks again!!! I love being a blogger and I LOVE trading cards! I also have the evening off from work tonight and baseball starts soon!!! Thanks! Go Angels! Go Twins! Troll out
