The race for the MVP of the National League is pretty much a lock. I’m sure that Prince Fielder, Hanley Ramirez and Raul Ibanez will get some votes, but they will all be 2nd and 3rd place votes. Albert Pujols may win it unanimously. The American League MVP race is a little more open. A few months ago, I would have handed the award to Torii Hunter, the Gold Glove, and slugging center-fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Now, it is looking more like Minnesota’s catcher Joe Mauer (.370 BA), his teammate Justin Morneau (28 HR/91 RBI), Angels first baseman Kendry Morales (25 HR), Seattle’s right fielder, Ichiro (.359 BA), Tampa Bay shortstop Jason Bartlett (.343 BA) and Toronto’s second baseman-Aaron Hill (27HR/78 RBI) are among the leading candidates. Along with those six players, the obvious choice in my book (er, blog) is the Tampa Bay Rays leftfielder, Carl Crawford. CC is having a breakout year. He’s batting .318 (7th in AL), he has been pacing the Majors in steals all year with 53, he has scored 73 times (9th in league) and is second in the AL with 7 triples (so far). He was selected for his 3rd All Star game this year and took home MVP honors for that game. He has been stellar in left field all year for the Rays, with his glove and his arm. He has just 3 errors in 251 total chances with 5 outfield assists. Most importantly, he’s been the most consistent player in the Rays lineup in their battle to reach the playoffs any way they
can. He has remained healthy all year long, setting the table for Longoria, Zobrist, Pena or anyone who wants to drive him home. He gets a hit every third to the plate (he was 4 for 4 last night) and he guarantees a steady diet of fastballs for the power guys batting behind him. He changes his opponent’s game plans, demands the pitchers attention, frustrates the catcher and generally steals the base anyway; unless Longoria smacks a fastball into the seats before he has the chance. His aggressiveness on the base paths is contagious, with his teammates BJ Upton and Jason Bartlett following him in the top-6 base stealers in the AL.
CC is second in the league with 7 triples, with Bartlett and Zobrist tied for 3rd behind him with 6 each. He is a leader by example and he is a winner AND he has the numbers to back it all up. Unless the sportswriters voting for the league MVP are looking SOLELY at power numbers (CC has 12 HR/55 RBI) he will be getting a healthy amount of votes this year. If blogger worship counts for anything (and it should!), he would have the edge there, too. My buddy Paul named his very awesome blog after my leading MVP candidate calling it Carl Crawford Cards and showing a Turkey Red card of CC stealing 2nd in the masthead. The two of us are not alone either in our quest for cardboard treasures of the fleet-footed outfielder. I don’t know how many trades I have tried to negotiate that begin with the other person saying “Well, I have a ton of Rays, but I collect Crawford myself.” Or “I can send you some Pena’s and Longoria’s, but so and so already got me for all of my Crawfords”.
My local card shop, Ryan’s Sports Cards (941-727-3000) in Bradenton, Florida, can’t keep CC cards in stock.
No one locally is selling any, and if he rips a pack and pulls one there are people waiting to buy it. He is pretty much forced to buy what he can on eBay, and then have the cards sell in the Shop on the same day. I should also note that he can’t keep any Bartlett or Zobrist cards on the shelf for more than an hour either, but those two have far less cards available. Meanwhile, his display cases are filled with stacks of current Rays like Longoria, David Price, Carlos Pena and BJ Upton as well as current stars across the league like Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Prince Fielder and Tim Lincecum. No other player moves like Crawford-on the base paths or out of the card shop. Anyway, switching gears back to Paul’s (always amazingly awesome) blog-Carl Crawford Cards. Incidentally, it isn’t a Rays or Carl Crawford fan site, even though he is a fan of both (as I am, too).
Paul writes often about vintage cards (he collects T-205s and turn-of-the-century tobacco cards) as well as names from baseball’s past-he has recently written about Chief Bender and former Detroit Tigers Ace, Virgil “Fire” Trucks. The CCC blog currently has a contest going on, focused on giving away a vintage card signed by Mr. Trucks, who pitched two no-hitters in a single season and owns a career 177-135 record with 1,534 strikeouts. Mr. Trucks is currently 92 years old. Paul did a Q and A session with him, as well as a history lesson to go along with the contest giveaway.
There is no purchase necessary, so check it out! Anyway, when I joined the BLOG party 3 months ago, I was worried that Paul and I would become bitter rivals in our mutual quest for CC cards.
I had even officially switched my collecting target from CC to Jason Bartlett, but that hasn’t worked out too well for me. I love me some JB cards, don’t get me wrong, but 3 months of trading (begging for Bartlett cards) has yielded me exactly 4 different Bartlett cards (thanks to Greg, the Night Owl for the latest one!).
I am still pursuing Bartlett, but fortunately the blogosphere holds enough CC cards for both Paul and I to collect them up. In fact, the idea of he and I being rivals couldn’t be further from the truth. We compliment each other’s latest card acquisitions and happily share the blog readers and traders markets.
I can remember reading on his blog last month that he owned 230 different Crawford cards. At that time, I had 63 in my own collection. He had a list typed up of all the cards he had and I printed it out to use as a checklist and a goal. When I first started this blog (about 3 months ago) my Rays collection stood at about 50 cards, I owned 9 different CC cards; one of them had a jersey swatch. Today, the collection totals 103 different card including 14 jerseys, 1 autograph and 1 patch (I love that card!) and now (thanks to Paul) one bat card. It is fitting that my collection passed the century mark after receiving a package from Paul of 14 different (and all new to me) CC cards.
One of them, a 2008 Allen and Ginter (#AGR-CC2) has a sliver of CC’s dangerous bat imbedded into it. Like I said before, this is my very FIRST Carl Crawford bat card and it comes courtesy of my very “bitter rival” in the card-collecting game, Paul from the CCC blog. The other 13 cards that he sent my way were all duplicates to him, but were all new to me. I have placed the scans randomly throughout this post, but the years and makers of these are as follows:
1999 Bowman, card #440 (His ROOKIE!!!)
2000 Bowman, card #199
2002 Bowman Draft Pick, card #BDP139
2002 Upper Deck Star Rookie, card #30
2004 Donruss Throwback Threads, card #183
2005 SP Authentic, card #18
2005 Donruss Diamond King, card #221 (AWESOME!)
2005 Topps Chrome, card #42 (catch at the wall)
2005 Topps Heritage, card #32
2006 Upper Deck Artifacts, card #87
2006 Upper Deck Ovation Embossed, card #25
2006 Bowman Heritage, card #43
2006 UD SPx, card #89
2008 Allen & Ginter Bat Relic, card #AGR CC2
A huge thank you goes out to Paul for helping to push my collection up over the century mark and onto the next level. Don’t forget to check out his contest for the Virgil “Fire” Trucks signed card. You’ll also get a history lesson on who Trucks is and what he accomplished over his career. You can also find the mailing address for “Fire” on the CCC blog so you can send him a letter yourself. Mr. Trucks also has autographed copies of his autobiography available via mail order, you can learn how to order your own copy-I did.
Anyway, that about sums it up. I think we have proven that two different collectors of the same player can in fact peacefully coexist in the same blogosphere. Don’t forget to check out the always awesome Carl Crawford Cards blog, tell him that the Troll sent you! Also, be sure to enter his contest while you are there. Carl Crawford for American League MVP!!! Go Rays!!! Keep on trading!!! Troll out.
Riggans came to the Devil Rays organization in 2000 when they selected him in the 24th round of the amateur draft out of Indian River Community College. 
He spent 9 years in the Rays system and spent the entire 2008 American League Pennant winning season in Tampa Bay. Although he didn’t see any action, he was on the postseason roster for the duration of the playoffs in ’08. 
Riggans should have a legitimate shot to make the Mets roster as a backup (or starting) catcher, corner outfielder, first baseman and pinch hitter. 
Riggans rose on the prospect charts when he hit .310 for the AA Montgomery Biscuits in 2005. He has long been regarded the Rays’ catcher of the future and would have had a chance in 2009 had a shoulder injury not derailed his season.
The health of his throwing arm has been the one thing to hold him back. He is above average defensively behind the plate and has the athletism to play other positions. A career .287 batter, he has shown flair at the plate in the minor leagues. 
He was a solid player for the Rays system, a class act on the field and in the clubhouse and a great ray of hope for the future. 
I wish him the best of luck in New York and in the future. Mets fans, you can look forward to a hard-working, fan friendly, hard hustling player. Go Riggans! Go Rays! Troll out.
After receiving an awesome and unexpected package from Madding of Cards on Cards fame on Friday (post to come) along with 2 TTMs, there were three more packages today. One of them came courtesy of the Mojo Hand. Mojo chases the same products as the Troll and chases one of the same players-the super awesome Cat Osterman, but we were somehow able to pull off a trade anyway. There were 4 very awesome cards in that package, but 3 are going to be trade bait with one card going straight to the Rays display case. The trade bait cards are of Rickie Weeks, Fausto Carmona and this 2003 Upper Deck Team USA jersey card of Conor Jackson. 
Jackson had a breakout year in 2008 for the D-Backs, batting .300 with 12 homers and 75 runs batted in. He has been on the disabled list since May of this year suffering from Valley Fever which gives him a combination of symptoms similar to pneumonia, chronic fatigue syndrome and the flu. He will participate in the D-Backs fall instructional league program starting on Monday to ready for the 2010 season. The gem of the trade is a 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Rookie Autograph Refractor (wow that’s a long title) card of Durham Bulls catcher John Jaso. 
The card is #BCP264 and is both a certified autographed card (serial #270/500) and an uber-shiny refractor. John has spent 7 seasons in the Rays system since they picked him in the 12th round of the 2003 draft. During that time Jaso has a minor league career average of .290 with 57 homeruns and 329 RBIs. He is rated as the Rays number 1 organizational catching prospect. It is really awesome that the card arrived today because today (September 18th) is Jaso’s 26th birthday. Happy Birthday John!!! That isn’t all John Jaso has been celebrating this week either. On Thursday night his team, the Durham Bulls defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3-2 in twelve innings to win the Governors Cup and International League (AAA) Championship. The game-winning hit (in the top of the 12th) was a double off of Jaso’s bat, which scored Elliot Johnson to give the Bulls the lead. With that win, they won their league’s crown, but they have one more series to determine the best AAA team in baseball. Beginning on Tuesday night, the Durham Bulls will travel to Oklahoma City to meet the Memphis Red Birds (PCL Champs) to compete for the AAA National Championship. The game will be televised on ESPN2 (the Deuce!) and will begin at 6 PM (Eastern). I will be watching to see Jaso, Desmond Jennings, Elliot Johnson, Matt Joyce, Justin Ruggiano 
and the rest of the Bulls kick some Redbird booty! The feathers will be flying, no doubt! Thanks to the Mojo Hand for the very awesome cards! If anyone out there should pull any Cat Osterman cards, contact Mojo first. If he already has the cards, send ‘em my way! On a different note, I didn’t make it out to the Trop tonight as I had hoped. My empty bank account got in the way again, but it didn’t stop the Rays! They won their 3rd game in a row (longest streak in a month) as Matt Garza (on Matt Garza figurine night) outdueled Ricky Romero (now 12-9) beating the Blue Jays 4-0. Garza lasted over 7 innings, striking out 10 and allowing just 3 hits, all singles. In fact, there wasn’t a single extra base hit in the game and after the Rays 4-run first inning; both pitchers put up zeros the rest of the game. Garza improved his record to 8-10 with a 3.80 ERA and 177 strikeouts. Since joining the Rays, Garza is 6-2/0.81 ERA versus the Jays. 
Three of his 8 wins this year have been against Toronto. The Jays and Rays conclude their series tomorrow (Sunday) with Roy Halladay facing David Price at the Trop. The Rays welcome the Mariners to Florida for a two-game series beginning on Tuesday. The Rays will be heading to Texas for a three-game series beginning on Friday. Switching gears back to cards and what was in my mailbox this weekend… There were a (Troll record) 17 autographed cards in the mailbox this weekend. The other two trade packages came from Wicked Ortega of South Florida and Jeff (another Rays fan!) of Largo, Florida. These were two of the best packages I think I have ever got (gets better every day!) and I will post them on Monday and Tuesday. There was also a pair of TTM autos, including the 5th card for my Ginter autograph quest, this one from Legendary player and Coach Frank Evans. 
I also stopped at my parents storage (Mom found an old box of my stuff) and I picked up a bunch of goodies that I thought for gone forever including a box of letters (correspondence from former White Sox players) from my 1999 book. Some notes from my interview with Johnny Sain and an autographed poster that he gave me,
a ’87 Topps Traded set and a very OLD box of Necco Wafers. 
Treasures. Till next time, Happy Birthday John Jaso! Thanks for trading with the Troll! Go Bulls! Go Rays! Troll out.
So, back to Durham. There were 8,666 fans packed into the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (they set an attendance record this week) to watch the epic battle between two lefties, both of whom are undefeated in International League (AAA) play this year.
He lasted only 3-2/3 innings, striking out 4, but walking 5. He threw 82 pitches, only 43 (52%) for strikes. He only gave up 1 earned run before leaving the game, but was down 2-1 when he was yanked, courtesy of a throwing error by (rehabbing) shortstop Jed Lowrie which allowed the second run to score... Incidentally, in his rehab start, Lowrie was 0-3 with a throwing error and was replaced by Travis Denker in the field in the seventh inning. I don’t think he’s quite ready to return.
Kazmir faced the minimum 3 batters from the 3 inning on. I don’t know if his strength is there yet to join the big team, but his composure, mechanics and location are right on. Joe Maddon has not yet announced if Kaz will rejoin the Rays in St. Pete for this home stand.
, walked 3 batters and served up a home run to John Jaso before being yanked after 2 innings. Javier Lopez replaced him and went 1-1/3 scoreless. Billy Traber pitched the bottom of the 8th for the Sox and sent the Bulls down in order.
Brad “Lights Out” Lidge will likely see action with the Florida State League’s (A) Clearwater Phillies tonight.
BJ Upton was named the American League Player of the Week. He hit .429 with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 2 steals and 9 RBIs. Way to go BJ!!
