My Dish at the Baseball Card Buffet!

I am putting my new scanner to good use with a GREAT trade that I worked out a few back with the legendary BA Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet. I had posted up some 2011 Topps trade bait and we started going back and forth. It grew into a pretty big trade with me crossing many cards off of my needs list. The more awesome thing is that we already have another trade in the works… Anyway, here are some of the awesome cards that he sent. I tried to pick cards that haven’t been posted to death, plus I really wanted to show how cool he was to hook me up with cards from nearly all of my different collections. Lets start with the first card I have seen from 2010 Bowman Platinum, it’s a purplish refractor of Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, #PP3. Ya gotta consider Hellickson as one of the front runners to be the AL Rookie of the Year, I just hope he sticks around Tampa Bay for a while…
Next up is a card from 1994 Ted Williams featuring AAGPBL All Star Alma Ziegler… Yes, I collect cards of female baseball players and yes, I did not own this one yet, so it is awesome!
Another great card for my oddball PC is this sweet 1992 Upper Deck card of Danny Tartabull, card #237. The Bull wasn’t a great defensive outfielder, but I love that this card shows him making him a running catch, or at least running…
Next up is Rays awesomeness from 2011 Topps. Before this trade I had 1 Rays diamond sparkley card (Carlos Pena from Series 1) and no gold cards. Now I have 2 golds and 2 diamonds. It starts with the coolest of the bunch. The Longo sparkle! Card #340 of the Rays All Star third baseman. The golds are of the aforementioned Rookie of the Year candidate, Jeremy Hellickson on golden card #165. The other gold is a great looking card of the Rays shortstop Sean Rodriguez turning two on Delmon Young and the Twinkies on card #397.
I am going to end this post showing off 2 of my favorites out of the stack of 2011 Topps Series 2 cards he supplied me with… Card #347 of Cubs infielder Darwin Barney and my favorite – card #501 of Twins middle infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka putting Jose Bautista out and going for 2. Nishioka hasn’t really impressed in Minnesota yet, but I love the intense game face on this card. A HUGE thanks to Mike from BA Bennys Baseball Card Blog Buffet for hooking me up with these great cards. Thanks brother! Go Rays! Troll out.

Rangers Win and So Do I!!!

Well the Rangers did it. They ended the Yankees season and they are World Series bound for the first time in their history. A-Rod whiffed to end it. Fitting. As a baseball fan I am elated. As a blogger I am thrilled for the awesome Rangers bloggers out there who have been backing this team for so long. If you want a true Rangers fan celebration check out Spiff’s blog Texas Rangers Cards or Big D’s home Hey That’s Mine OR head on over to Play at the Plate. Actually I think there are a lot of bloggers that are pretty happy about this one. Yankee hatred tends to run rampant round here…
So congrats to Michael, Ian, Josh, Vlad, Nelson and the boys from Arlington! Now onto more unfinished business, my losing bet with Brian from Play at the Plate.

He had posted this Brian Roberts X-Fractor which I wanted so when we bet on the ALDS it was what I was hoping for. Well, the Rays lost and I lost the bet, but for some reason the card ended up in my mailbox a few days later AND it brought friends! Here is what your team losing in the playoffs can net you:
Of course, the Brian Roberts x-fractored shiny goodness which I am thrilled with. I do plan on bringing back my Brian Roberts Cards blog and I have a TON of new B-Rob cards to post (mostly from fellow B-Rob fan Ryan's Memorabilia, thanks dude!!!). Roberts remains my favorite current non-Ray (other than Jonny Gomes) but his back injury really took its toll on his season. He ended nicely however I thought. He played in only 59 games, but had 64 hits, 14 doubles, 4 homers and 12 steals... Not too shabby. . Of course that wasn't all I recieved in my concelation prize, not by a long shot. Lets start with a trio of shiny BJ Upton refractors of all varieties. Very cool.
I love these cards because I love colored parallels and refractors. I also like this pic on this card. I am on the fence about Upton though. I never set out to collect him, but there are just so many cards of him! I know he has the potential to be a superstar, but he leaves us Rays fans waiting and waiting each year. This year, his 5th, he set a career low with a .237 batting average and a futility mark with 164 strikeouts, BUT he also set career bests in doubles (38) and runs scored (89) and he hit 18 homers and stole 42 bases. In 2008 he shined in the postseason. He hit 4 homers and drove in 11 against Boston in the ALCS, BUT this year against Texas he managed just 4 hits in 21 at bats (.190). Not good. Can’t figure Upton out…

He included 1 more card in the package and this one really shocked me. This is another guy that I don’t really collect, but for different reasons. It is Evan Longoria and I don’t chase him because he is expensive. I own 1 autograph of Longo and 2 relics (both multiplayers). I had a few other premium cards, but they were all LOST a while back. This year Longoria set personal bests in batting average (.294), doubles (46) and steals (15) and started the All Star Game at third base. His power numbers and run production dropped a bit, but I really couldn’t think of anyone I would rather have manning third base on MY team. Still, Longo, like Upton, forgot his bat in the ALDS. He was 4 for 20 (.200) against Rangers pitching. Over his short career he is just 16 for 82 (.195) in the postseason. I recall seeing someone holding up a sign at Tropicana Field during game 5 which said “We showed up Evan, WHERE ARE YOU???”. Sad but true. Anyway, next year is a fresh season and all is forgiven and I was THRILLED to see this card – a 2010 Allen and Ginter jersey relic of the All Star third baseman. Thanks to blogger generosity I am nearly done with this set without buying a SINGLE pack, BUT this is my FIRST relic.

Thanks so MUCH Brian!!! I hope to lose a lot more bets with you in the very near future! I mean seriously, your team crushes the Yankees and I get a bunch of sweet cards too... Win win baby!

Go Rangers! Goodnight Yankees - you are gonna need to waste a couple hundred million more next year if you want to buy your way into the Series. Oh, as a trader FYI - those are the ONLY 2010 Chrome I have so far. I NEED the Carl Crawford Rainbow. Get in touch if you can help a Troll out... Oh, Shannon Stewart couldn't be reached for comment, but the Waxaholic has 2 great reasons to be a Rangers fan! Troll out.

An All Star Shout Out!

I just got home from work and I have yet to watch the game, but I will soon. I am still in the dark as to the outcome, but someone spilled some positive Rays stats and also told me that Carl Crawford did NOT repeat as All Star MVP. Still I felt congratulations and acknowledgements were in order… I understand that young Mr. Price threw GAS and that young Mr. Longoria hit a double and young Mr. Crawford stole a base… I don’t know if Soriano played, but as long as he didn’t blow a save-congrats to him as well.

More Blogger Kindness, Amazing Generosity and Cardboard Rays of Sunshine!

The mission for the weekend was to sort cards and I have been doing it like crazy. I have scanned over 200 cards today so far. Many of them are for a Pack to be Named Later where I am keeping my pledge to post often, but some are trades that I do plan on posting before the World Series. I have posted a few cards from this super generous collector before, but here are a few more from Jacobmrley. He was one of the ultra super kind collectors who sent me tons of cards after I posted regarding the loss of some of my collection. His contribution was super cool because he also included a two-page letter explaining a similar ordeal that he had gone through personally. I think everybody has "bought a $2,000.00 roll of tape" at some point in their life, but his story really helped me get back on the horse. The stack of Rays he sent was extensive and uber-generous. Here are a few samples of his kindness which are currently being sorted into the appropriate binders on sorting day... I tried to limit the giant stack of cards into just the best, but there is still a lot here and I have already posted a bunch of stuff from him before. Are you ready? Here goes! The first cards I am going to show off are a trio of Rocco Baldelis. First up is a 2004 Fleer Ultra Performer, card #UP/RB with a white jersey swatch on it. Now that Rocco is somewhat retired, I am getting more into collecting his Rays cards. This one is serial numbered 062/500. The next Rocco is a 2004 Fleer Skybox Autographics. It isn't actually autographed, but does have a low serial number of 083/150. The final Rocco I am going to show off has the lowest serial number of the bunch. It is from 2008 Topps, the black parallel. This is my FIRST black parallel. I am a big fan of Topps flagship series, I love collecting the base, I chase the golds and I have always wanted a black. This is card #464 and is serial numbered 23/57. I have since got a few more black parallels and am on a mission to get EVERY Crawford and Bartlett out there. The next card comes from 1998 Upper Deck, it is card #6 of original Devil Rays infielder Bobby Smith. I initially scanned this card because it lists his name as Robert Smith, like the singer from the Cure. That made me chuckle. When I put this card on the scanner I noticed it was serial numbered, too. This card is a parallel of some sort and it is numbered 084/100. Back in the 90s they numbered cards to 10,000 so finding a card from '98 that is numbered to 100 is pretty awesome. From '98 up till '08 this next card is from 2008 Bowman of 6th round pick Shane Dyer. Dyer is playing for my favorite minor league team, the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs. He is 2-1 in 3 starts for the Crabs this season. Did I mention I love X Fractors? I love refractors, too. I imagine that I would really love superfractors, but probably not enough to drop 16K on one. The Dyer card is numbered 032/199. I think that every card Mr. Mrley sent me was serial numbered... I am realizing that I still have quite a few more cards I wanted to post from him, but its almost time to leave for work, so I will end this post with a pair of BJ Upton cards. I will save the Crawfords, Penas and Longorias for tomorrow. First up is a weird one from 2005 Donruss Playoff. It is weird because it isn't a normal card, I think it's a game piece of some sort, but it has a really low serial number on it and a classy looking design. The card is #PG-89 and the serial number on the front reads 33/45. Nice. The last Upton card and final card of this post is from 2005 Fleer Patchworks. I have quite a few of this card already, but none of mine are numbered. This one is. The back of the card mentions Upton's MLB debut against Boston on 8/2/2004. He was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored. Right below that is the number 91/99. SWEET! The only thing is I can't really tell the difference between this card and the non-numbered version. Okay, today's post ends here.After looking at all these great scans of tough pulls and serial numbered cards I can't believe that one person sent me all of this. If I got confused and mixed up stuff that someone else sent me, I am really sorry and PLEASE let me know. Otherwise, Jacobmrley, I owe you a HUGE DEBT OF GRATITUDE FOR YOUR KINDNESS!!! Thanks so much! Go Rays! troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page!

I have finally put together a full team set of the Rays from 2009 Topps Ticket To Stardom and here is the completed page proof. There are actually 10 cards in the team set but Scott Kazmir volunteered to sit out and hang by himself on a separate page. 8 cards would be least favorite quantity for a team set. 10 would be up there. Anything that is not in multiples of 3 just looks weird in the binder. Anyway, I don’t know how long I have had this set finished, but I finally tracked down the checklist and confirmed that I have all of the Rays cards. It is a happy time for like the title says, I am experiencing the Joy of a Completed Page! Again, the joy would be more if instead of 10 Rays there were 18 and Carl Crawford, Jason Bartlett, Ben Zobrist, Dioner Navarro, Jeff Niemann, JP Howell, Grant Balfour and Gabe Gross had made the cut. Oh well, it is another set in the book, er binder. And hey, if anyone is working on putting this set together and needs a dozen copies of card #190 of Andy Sonnanstine, get in touch, I got 'em to spare! Go Rays! Troll out.

Heartbreaking Awesomeness!

This package of awesomeness came to me from Matt F. the legend behind Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius and also a Pack To Be Named Later which are easily two of the best card blogs on the web. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that Matt has a birthday coming up Sunday. Since you’ll be checking out his blogs anyway, drop him some well wishes while your there. Matt is the provider of the image for my header. Since I was planning this post I took it down to cut down on redundancy, but trust me it will return. It is tri-fold card from 1993 Upper Deck. It is styled after the 1912 T 202 cards. I think these came from 1993 Baseball Heroes, but this is honestly the first one I have EVER seen. I really love this card. It is a pain to store yes, but it is the ideal size for a blog header and this one features 4 of my favorite players of All Time who also happen to be majorly historically significant. It shows Larry Doby and Minnie Minoso on the sides, but the center picture shows Minoso, Joe Black, Doby and Monte Irvin. It’s awesome. The T202 header card didn’t arrive alone. He sent a fairly well stuffed envelope of goodies. This arrived well I had the poll up for the next player I should select. Matt picked Larry Doby as many of you did. The poll ended in a tie between Doby, Bill Mazeroski and Bill Madlock. I have yet to think of a tie breaker, but I certainly don’t mind picking up cards of any of those guys and Matt hooked it up with some great Doby cards to add to the binder. These first two had post its attached to them asking if they count as Doby cards. The answer is Yes! It does seem a little bit selfish of Gene Mauch to be SO much bigger than everyone else, but managers can be glory hounds. The Expos were my original childhood favorite team and these cards are super special to me. My true favorite Doby card in the bunch (other than the T202) is this one. It is a 2002 Topps Archives version of Doby’s 1954 Topps card which I don’t have YET. Of course I would rather have the original, but this card is all shiny and chromed out and pretty darn awesome in its own right. Next up are a trio of cards of former Devil Rays, Rays and Swallows infielder Akinori Iwamura. Aki is currently holding down second base for the Pittsburgh Pirates who got off to a surprisingly good start this year. Reality is setting in for the Bucs who have dropped to 7-8 after a humiliating 20-0 loss to the Brew Crew last night. Aki is holding down the leadoff spot for the young Bucs and is still waiting for his bat to wake up this season. The first card to show is this GOLD version of his 2008 Topps card, #243. I am obsessively trying to replace my lost GOLD cards and also trying to fill the Rays team sets in gold. This card gives me 9 (a full page!) for 2008. Also from ’08 Topps is this WBC card, #WBC4 of Aki representing Japan. The last Aki card comes from 2009 Goodwins and has a little swatch o’ jersey in the shape of an M at the base. From one former D-Rays leadoff hitter to another, this is a 1998 Pacific Paramount card #98 of Quinton McCracken. The D-Rays grabbed McCracken from the Rockies and he was the sparkplug of their Inaugural squad. I have been organizing my PC in my spare time this week and I have my Longoria binder straightened out and free of dupes. The dupes that are sorted out aren’t very fancy, but are up for trade if you are interested. Anyway, this one has a spot in the binder waiting for it. It is a 1st Issue stamped version of card #108 from 2008 Stadium Club. In person Longo is a super signer and I like the kids in background. I do feel bad for the beheaded girl in the back. The last card I will show from this awesome surprise package is from 2007 Fleer Ultra. Matt seems to be a magnet for Jonny Gomes cards. I think this is the 3rd auto or relic he has pulled and sent me. It is from the Dual Materials series and is serial numbered 136/160 and shows two bits of white jersey. I don’t know if you can tell from the scan, but there is dirt on the swatches. Awesome! Thanks so much Matt! Happy Birthday a few days early! I sent you a package, but you will probably get it a few days late, so it all evens out. Go Rays! Troll out.

The Roof God Rocks!

This is another quick edition of blogger kindness, slash trade post here. These cards came from the Roof God, that Detroit Tigers slash Mark McGwire fan, slash Brett Favre fan that owns the Off Center Cards blog which hasn’t been updated in like 2 years. Seriously Roof God, POST! Anyway, Roof God hooked it up with an envelope full of AWESOMENESS. Here are some of the highlights… Beginning with a couple of new cards of Akinori Iwamura. First off, the serial numbered GOLD version of his 2009 Topps card. This card is number 98 and it is serial numbered 0709/2009 and it’s GOLD! Y’all have been hooking me up with gold Rays like crazy. I lost about 100 of them, but they have been replaced with a whole bunch and the GOLD collection has more variety than ever before. Thanks blog-o-sphere!!! Another Aki card he sent that somehow has avoided me is this 1952 Topps rookie card of Iwamura, number 1 in the set. I love it when a card is the same number as a player. AWESOME! Moving back to 2001 and a couple of cards that I was lacking, but lack no longer… Starting with 2001 Topps Chrome. He sent a few, but I want to show off card #T253 of Joe Kennedy. I had teased the idea that I might be collecting Joe Kennedy after I finish off the Jared Sandberg PC. That is still the plan and since I mentioned that my collection of the Patriarch has improved from about 3 cards to over 20 and it seems to grow every week. Another 2001 card he sent was the Topps GOLD card of the legendary Toe Nash. He was called the “Greatest Little Leaguer ever”, but didn’t quite translate that into adulthood. I think his legend has prevented most people from parting with his cards and up till last month I had a total of none of his cards. Now I have a few, but this is easily the best. It is GOLD and serial numbered 1378/2001. Moving up to 2007, here is another card #1, this time from Tri Star Prospects Plus featuring first round pick David Price. I’m not sure I really like the DMV style photo or the airbrushed cap, but I don’t mind adding another ’07 Price card to the binder. When I opened the package, this card was on top. I was worried that RG had sent me someone else’s package because Jeter cards are normally not welcome in Trollville. That is unless they are for a set that I am desperately trying to finish, then they are VERY welcome. This is an SP from 2009 Topps Heritage, card #487. I wonder if I will ever finish this one… At least I am one step closer. Speaking of short prints and speaking of Jeter… This is the final card I needed to finish off the Rays team set of 2008 Goudey, #200 of Evan Longoria. Wait, I said speaking of Jeter… I am sorry, it looked like Jeter, but it is actually Ken Griffey Jr. wearing a Yankees hat and a stoopid grin. I need to go back and look at my other cards and see often they showed Griff looking like this. Anyway, I owe a huge thank you to the Roof God! These cards are awesome!!! I wish I had more time, but I must get back to work… I am taking Tuesday night off to enjoy Opening Day at the Trop and then Saturday off for the Charlotte Stone Crabs home opener. This means I will be working every other minute of the next two weeks… MANY more awesome blogger kindness, trades and PC addition posts to come. Go Rays! Troll out.