Here he is in all his creased glory, Cleveland Indians pitcher Early Wynn. Wynn had 300 wins over his career. He had just notched #200 prior to this card hitting the packs. 
Wynn would notch wins #100, 200 and 300 as a member of the Indians. troll out.
Okay, it started with me trying to build suspense, but it has since turned to me just having zero time... I had hoped to slowly pull each winning card and THEN announce the winner, BUT I think I have made y'all wait long enough... I had shown off the Al Kaline card already. Joining Mr. Tiger are 2 Hall of Fame hurlers. I wish I had scanned each card individually, but alas the time issue... Plus, since I no longer own these, it wouldn't be right for me to post them - that is the WINNER'S job!
Three of you were within 6 minutes, but the GRAND PRIZE WINNER guessed 11:31, just 4 minutes from the time. This Troll has already awarded two Honorable Mention Prizes, but this is the GRAND PRIZE. Well, the blogger with the neener neener rights is none other than my second favorite Padres fan (can't beat Padrographs Rod!)
The GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVER COLLECTIVE TROLL'S GRANDBABY CONTEST IS: (pause and drum roll please...) The granddaddy grand prize winner is the blogger we all know as Doc.who writes nearly as many blogs as I do, including, but not limited to Baseball Card Recollections, which, coincidentally is holding a contest RIGHT NOW!
Always quick to kill 2 birds with one stone (who doesn't love killing birds economically?) this is me pimping Doc's Contest RIGHT NOW! Another GREAT blog that Doc runs is the super cool 1,000,000,000,000,000 (or some large number) Cards For Kids... I LOVE making the trip to All Children's Hospital in St. Pete, Florida with bags of Rays cards for the awesome kids there. One day I will actually get some pictures and contribute to that blog. One day. Anyway, I managed to draw this out long enough...
The Cliff Notes version is this. Contest over. We have a grand prize winner. It is Doc of Baseball Card Recollections. He wins 3 cards. They are all 1956 Topps. They feature Al Kaline, Robin Roberts and Bob Lemon. It is now Doc's responsibility to acknowledge his win here. Then deliver the appropriate neener neeners throughout the blog-o-sphere and then email me his mailing address within 3 days of this post. 
THEN I will say goodbye to these 3 beautiful slabs of cardboard. Then I will attempt to return to "normal" blogging.
Personally I had a ton of fun with this contest. I loved sharing my amazing news and super new grand baby with all of my collector friends. The well wishes and comments made me feel great and I want to say thanks to ALL OF YOU who played along. There were over 130 entries and even more people who didn't enter, but showed me some love and support anyway. I love this forum we all exist in. Y'all rock!!!
Doc, congratulations to you sir. I hope you are pleased with your winnings. I am glad that I didn't pick the Jackie Robinson envelope cuz I REALLY love that card, but I hope you aren't disappointed with what you ended up with. Thanks again to all of you! Thanks for reading, commenting, following, trading, chatting and collecting with me!!!! I don't always have time for this blog, but I LOVE this hobby and always will!!!
On a collecting note - all of my want lists are current and up to date. I REALLY wanna finish off 2010 Topps before 2011 comes out. 
I sorted out ALL of my dupes and I am working on making a list today, so check that out when it happens... 1965 Topps Baseball shall be priority #1 until its done (which may take forever) so keep me in mind if you bump into any...
While I have your attention I must kill a third bird (not an orange one!) and pimp another SUPER contest at one of my favorite blogs.. . Want a chance to win a certified autograph of a Hall of Famer??? Just click here and leave him a comment. Its that easy...
Speaking of easy... I am killing a 4th bird right now... My buddy and fellow Floridian Chris from the Vintage Sportscards Blog is giving away some Hall of Famer cards himself... Check it out RIGHT HERE!!!
One more note... Does anyone remember last year when I worked as an outdoor security guard and braved the cold to blog like crazy? Well, I will be covering shift the next 3 Saturday nights so look forward to some actual card blogging from your friend the troll.
That's all for now... Seriously... No more birds shall be harmed today... Go vintage! troll out.
Regarding the Guess the Grand Babies Name Contest... I purposely didn't try to brag about who the cards would be of. I wanted readers to enter whether they were winning Richie Ashburn or Roberto Clemente. Actually, y'all have a shot at both of them. I stated before that I sealed each of my 1956 Topps cards in an envelope and I am having a friend (who doesn't collect) chose one. My friend and Bradentucky Bombers skater (who will remain nameless right now) picked the first envelope. This is one of my FAVORITE cards in my collection, well it was... Anyway, when I announce the winner, he or she will receive 3 cards including this one, card #20 of Mr. Tiger himself Al Kaline!!! Oh, by the way, the first place winner picked the time within 4 minutes. The second place was within 5 minutes and the third place pick was within 10 minutes, too. When announced the GRAND PRIZE winner will have 3 days to comment and claim their prize. This is to prevent contest trollers (ha!) and make sure the winner occasionally reads this blog. If he or she doesn't claim within 3 days, it will go to the second place winner. Sound bueno? Stay tuned for the other 2 cards AND the winner. Oh, still waiting to hear from the winner of the 1962 Warren Spahn. Please comment and email me soon or miss out! Oh, on a totally unrelated note, I just listed a bunch of machinist tools and gages on the 'Bay. I am warming up before I list my entire Carl Crawford collection. Stay tuned... Bye bye Matt Garza! troll out.
Greetings Trollites! I am currently in Houston at the airport on a layover... I should be in OKC in a few hours. I wanted to share this photo which taken on December 26, 1991 of my little baby Zadeh (the one in the Santa suit). I thought I would share and embarrass him and let you know that there is still time to enter the contest. I may close it later tonight, maybe tomorrow, whenever I can get access. Basically, GUESS, guess and guess some more. Have fun with it... No one has come close to guessing his name yet, so that means that the world will have to wait for Revolving Door Generous. Go Rays! troll out.
Yesterday my days were off a bit... Tonight is the night that the Rangers are going to drive the final nail into the coffin of the Yankees season. I couldn't find any more Play at the Plate cards to celebrate, but I did find a play at third base that you can find right HERE. I hope you will check it out in all of its Nitty Grittiness. The Carl Crawford card has no significance to this post, but it is shiny and new and mine. GO RANGERS! Spank the Yanks! troll out.
Starting with my current blog header pic showing Vic Power sliding into home plate on card #67 from 1956 Topps. A great base runner, Power once stole home twice in one game. He scored 91 runs in 1955 for the Athletics and made his first of 6 All Star appearances. He also switched to first base that year and would be fantastic at the position. From 1958 to 1964 he won 7 consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. 
It probably could have been more, but the Award wasn't given out for each League until 1958 and Power was the dominant fielding first baseman in the AL.
The Play at the Plate shows Ozark Ike beating the throw and sliding in safe at home. 
Zernial spent 11 seasons playing in the American League and finished in the top-10 in homers six times. In 1951 he paced the league in both homeruns and RBIs.
Hamner was a key member of the Phillies Whiz Kids team that won the National League Pennant in 1950. In the Phils loss to the Yankees Hamner batted .429 in the Series. He was a 3-time All Star and one of the defensive leaders of the Whiz Kids. He also brought some pop to the plate, especially when he topped 20 homers in 1953. 
He held the record for homers by a shortstop for the Phillies which stood for over 50 years before Jimmy Rollins broke the mark in 2006. Brian, these are all yours for the claiming. 
It seems like a year ago, but I think it was more recent than that. The Tampa Bay Rays were in Texas playing the Rangers and were down 2 games to one and facing elimination. I, the Rays fan was looking for Rangers fans to make a bet on the Series. I was confident that my team was going to come back and take the Series. Brian, aka the Play at the Plate Dude agreed to my bet. I offered him the choice of any of my 1956 Play at the Plate cards against his recently pulled Brian Roberts X-Fractor from 2010 Topps Chrome. He accepted the wager, he e-shook hands and the bet was on. For my end of the deal I promised to post Play at the Plate cards on my blog if the Rays lost. Obviously the Rangers took the short series, they beat the Rays at home in the decisive game 5. The better team won - no hard feelings.
Even though the Phillies were one of the first teams I followed back in the early 1980’s, Steve Carlton retired a long time ago and the Phillies now sit near the top of my most hated teams. In fact, the only team I really hate more than the Phillies is the freaking Yankees.
Yeah, backing Texas was an easy choice for me. I can remember going to Yankee Stadium (the original one) with my Great Uncle Julius in the mid-80s. I wore a jacket on the subway and when we got to our seats I took off my coat and had a #1 Scott Fletcher Rangers jersey on underneath. My Uncle was FURIOUS, but I wore the shirt all game and the Rangers won. Both teams were cellar dwellers back then, but that was my first taste of backing Texas against New York.
If I still had (and could fit into) my Scott Fletcher jersey I would have worn it this morning when I watched the game this morning.
Yes, this morning. I work nights and missed the game, BUT my neighbor DVRed it for me and I woke up early and just finished watching it. Josh Hamilton quieted the Yankees fans early and Cliff Lee was AMAZING! 
He made the Yankees batters look like the Rays hitters did against Lee. I had followed the Rangers a little bit this season, mostly reading about them on PatP and the Texas Rangers Cards blogs. Even before this season, Texas is my 5th favorite American League team. If you care, my favorites in order are: Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Minnesota, Chi Sox (long story) and Texas. I don’t mind Toronto or Kansas City, but I would say every other team falls into the column of teams I hate OR teams l am indifferent about like the Mariners or Angels.
So, I am a Rangers fan (now). Midseason I thought they had a shot. My eyebrows raised a little this July when they made smart trades to pick up Bengie Molina AND Cliff Lee. 
I had wished the Rays had made moves like that, but I really didn’t think those two moves would have THIS MUCH IMPACT. They turned out to be genius. Molina’s leadership, defense and skill and no how in handling a pitching staff has proved huge. Their acquisition of Jorge Cantu endeared them to me, but that move hasn’t provided much of a dividend yet, but I am holding out hope that he will play hero.
Of course before those midseason pick-ups, the Rangers showed they were serious this offseason by signing up 9-time All Star Vlad Guerrero to boost up the middle of the lineup. His 115 RBIs this season were a big reason they made it this far. Unfortunately every October Vlad the Impaler’s bat falls asleep and his .154 batting average isn’t helping Texas’ cause too much.
When you talk about wise moves the Rangers have made to help their cause you need to mention the move they made after the 2007 season to pick up Josh Hamilton from the Reds. The former first player chosen in the 1999 draft was a bust for the Devil Rays, but succeeded in making the big leagues with the Reds in 2007. The Rangers saw his potential and he has blossomed in Texas. In 3 seasons he has been an All Star each year, he led the AL in RBI in 2008 and his .359 average this year earned him a batting title.
In the ALDS the Rays pitching staff had his number and held him to a .111 clip with no power. After rooting against him I was cheering hard for him this morning and was delighted to see his first inning long ball. It looked like he had a second homer, but it was just a long fly out. In 3 games against New York Hamilton is batting .300 with 2 homers, 5 walks, 3 steals and 5 RBI. I think he is just getting warmed up.
Of course as fun as the long balls are, it is all about pitching and Lee has been the story. In 8 postseason games the dude is 7-0 and has hit double digits in strikeouts in each of his 3 starts. I wanted to see him get the complete game shutout against NY, but after the long top of the 9th and big lead, it made sense to let him sit and the pen kept the Yankees from coming back.
I don’t recall how many Rays Cliff Lee K’ed in his 2 starts, but I remember that 11 of them looked at the 3rd strike. I think everyone’s game plan against Lee is to just hope for a walk. I wished the Rays would just swing the damn bat, but man did I love watching the Yankees batters look like fools last night.
Okay, this concludes my Rangers love fest for the day.
Actually it doesn’t. I mentioned all of the smart choices that Texas management made. Ron Washington was named the BBA Connie Mack Manager of the Year and he has been genius this season. Their front office brought the team Vlad, Cliff Lee, Bengie Molina and Jorge Cantu this season. They snagged Hamilton in ’07 and in 2006 they traded for Nelson Cruz who has been amazing! (Thanks by the way to Madding from Cards on Cards for this much needed SP of Cruz...) 
His rise to prominence totally reminds me of Carlos Pena’s success when he got to Tampa Bay. Very similar hitters. Unkike Pena, Cruz batted .318 this year and is a huge part of the Rangers offense. Of course getting Neftali Perez as part of the Teixeira deal was huge!
Beyond those moves it is the homegrown talent that really makes this team. I have always been a quiet Ian Kinsler fan. At the All Star break I proclaimed Elvis Andrus as the BEST shortstop in the American League and he is a super exciting player to watch. Michael Young is awesome. CJ Wilson is amazing and Scott Feldman is a great story. His numbers dropped badly in ’10, but to think he was a 30th round pick – that is great player development! A testament to a good system.
It wasn’t a part of the bet, but I have decided to temporarily rename this blog "Troll at the Plate". After the beating they gave the Yankees last night it felt like the thing to do. The name will remain until the Rangers raise the trophy in a proper champagne celebration. What was part of the bet were 1956 Topps cards. I will be posting those later today or tomorrow... After that, I will post the surprise package I got from Play at the Plate last week. Good shiny stuff. Stay tuned for the ‘56s and the mail day goodies. As far as this post – I believe all of the Hamilton Rays cards came from my buddy Wicked Ortega who has provided me with half of my collection. 
Thanks to him and thanks to everyone who has filled my mailbox these past few weeks. I will get your stuff posted up very soon. I think that Shannon Stewart agrees when I scream GO RANGERS!!! Troll at the Plate out.
It is a play at the plate featuring a pitcher which is awesome. I have owned this card for longer than most of my (3) readers have been alive. In fact, Hackenbush is one of the few bloggers who has been collecting longer than me... Why do I love this card? Just look at it. It shows Burdette before he became a household name and starting making records. It illustrates the non-typical image of a pitcher trying to score. I hope that PatP gets this one because of his impeccable researching skills. I have always wondered who the opposing team was and whether Lew scored or not... He has scored some pretty big runs over his career. In 1960 he no-hit the Phillies, beating them 1-0. The only player to safely cross the plate was Burdette himself. The card also shows a golden time in baseball and in America. I wasn't alive then. My Dad was just a boy in '56, but he went to the World Series in 1957. Not as a player, just a fan-he was 12. He saw one of the most remarkable performances by a pitcher ever. The Braves beat the Yankees (which could be a preview of this years contest) and Burdette was the MVP. He was 3-0, pitching 3 complete games, 2 of them shutouts. In 27 innings pitched he struck out 13 and gave up only 2 runs. A few years later he was the winning pitcher in one of the best pitched ballgames in history. In 1959 Burdette pitched 13 innings of shutout baseball against the Pittsburgh Pirates when the Braves beat Harvey Haddix, who pitched 12 PERFECT innings. How does this tie in to Can't Have Too Many Cards and his contest? Well, no one knows how old he is. That is part of his contest - guessing the year of a black and white class photo of his. I wonder if he is old enough to remember Lew Burdette pitching 24 consecutive shut out innings against the Yankees in the World Series? Could be... Obviously this card ties into the contest at Great Orioles Autograph Project because his contest involves picking the winner of the World Series. In 1957 not too folks thoughts Burdette and his Braves could stop the mighty Yankees. They did. I think the Twins can stop the Mighty Yankees in the first round - with Delmon Young on their side, they can't lose! Okay, got to show off a favorite card AND pimp 3 great contests a second time... Oh, speaking of contests... Once I finally ship off the last cards from the group break, there will be a good ol fashioned contest here at the Troll. I am nearing 100,000 hits, the Rays are on the brink of making history, I am hoping for 150 followers, I will someday organize and count my Carl Crawford collection, I am getting more and more cards from the 1930s and 40s which ALL come with looong stories, I am one page away from sponsoring 20 different player pages on Baseball Reference dot com, I am getting close to finishing quite a few sets (wantlists are uptodate!!!) and I am generally excited about this game and this hobby... So much to be thankful for and happy about! Stay tuned! Games start tomorrow... Don't know if I can afford to go to a game in the first round, but I am working extra overtime to guarantee a trip to the ALCS! Enter these contests please! Don't make me drop a 3rd post about it! Go Rays!!! WIN! troll out.
