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.

Never Gonna Stop, Never Gonna Stop, Never Gonna Stop RIPPING!!! Pack #14 (already) of 1997 Pinnacle X Press

We are up to pack 14 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press…
These have been a lot of fun to rip, with only 8-9 cards to pick they post really quick which is nice, but the box yields 192 cards and I don’t know how many cards are in the set, but I wonder if it has more than 100 cards on the checklist. I am saying this because this pack was mainly dupes. Anyway, decided to post it none the less and here is what we got:
#61 Manny Ramirez Cleveland Indians (I scanned the back of this because I forgot what Manny looked like pre-weave…He had a pretty standard, read awesome, year at the plate in ’96-he batted .309/33/112.)
#50 Steve Finley San Diego Padres (I just posted Finley from ’94 while he was on the Astros. Here he is in his Padres uni coming off a year where he hit 30 homers and batted .298. He hit .381 with 20 RBI in the month of July)
#32 Derek Jeter NY Yankees (I don’t think anyone is gonna complain about getting 2 of these Jeter cards-I bet you can find a trader without much of a problem…)
#21 Vinny Castilla Colorado Rockies (Another card showing Castillo after a 40 homer season…)
#30 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants (I still consider Hank Aaron the Homerun King)
#109 Tom Glavine Atlanta Braves (Glavine was 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in the month of May ’96)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card Dave Nilson Milwaukee Brewers
#113 Troy Percival California Angels (Percy saved 36 games and struck out 100 batters in 1996)
#121 Wilton Guerrero LA Dodgers (Vlady’s little brother…)
Well that’s it, another pack opened and stacked in little team piles. The Braves are still the tallest. The Giants and the Rockies are getting taller. I will probably get a count and post the team by team results because I am a geek and I am addicted to stats. Until the next pack, troll out.

Ripping Wax, Pack #11 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press... A Braves-Free Break...

Back to the break… How about pack #11 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press? This was a good one… I pulled A-Roid and Jeter consecutively. You have to imagine me laughing to myself as I scanned the two together. It was a tough decision as to who was on top and who was the bottom… I really am morally opposed to gay jokes, but with two its hard to resist… They just make such a cute couple! Anyway, I am finally starting to pull some Indians cards (and didn't pull any Braves). I ripped a few packs ahead so I could scan them all at once, so I know what I am saying when I say a few… I mentioned I was a Marlins fan in ’97. I was, but even I didn’t think they could beat the mighty Indians. Top to bottom they had one of the best hitting line-ups of all time. The guy who got it all started was this man:
#6 Kenny Lofton Cleveland Indians (Lofton only stole 27 bases in ’97 and he broke his streak of 6 consecutive stolen base crowns. He is 15th All Time with 622 steals. When I look at the players from this era and think about the Hall of Fame-all of steroids and inflated power numbers-I think Lofton stands a better chance than anyone at making it. His stolen bases weren’t aided by a juiced ball or juiced player and he is 56th All Time with 1528 runs scored. Just something to think about…)
#15 Alex Rodriguez Seattle Mariners ( A-Roid had ridiculous triple crown numbers in ’96-.358/36/123)
#30 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants (All you have to do is talk (type) about steroids and juice and blammo, Bonds appears)
#87 Jason Giambi Oakland A’s (and so does Giambi…)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card -2
#96 Randy Johnson Seattle Mariners (In the juiced era, they still couldn’t hit Johnson…He only started 8 games in ’96, but came back to win 20 in ‘97)
#32 Derek Jeter NY Yankees
#124 Dmitri Young St Louis Cardinals (Where is the Meat Hook??? Is he still active?)
#150 Chase Checklist featuring Hideo Nomo LA Dodgers (This one is for you Owl!)
Pack 11 is posted and done…A lot of juicers and a few potential future Hall of Famers, a nice Who’s Who of the 90’s… Christmas is coming and I am not close to ready… I decided to listen for a change and didn’t get my wife anything this year. She says “Don’t get me anything” each and every year and this year I actually did it (or didn’t do it). I will let y’all know how that works out for me…troll out.