In It To Win It!!!

We are in!!!! To go along with the best record in baseball, the Rays now have a playoff spot guaranteed… David Price hurled 8 shutout innings of baseball for his 19th win, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena homered and leadoff hitting catcher John Jaso hit his 3rd triple of the year. I WISH I could have seen it, I wish I could have been there! Sucks when life (and work) gets in the way of the game I love… We are in! Tampa Bay Rays Postseason 2010! Go Rays! Oh and by the by... Congrats to Jonny Gomes and the Reds on reserving their spot in the playoffs as well... Once again, GO RAYS!!! Troll out.

A Rainbow of Gomes and Some Crowning Moments...

Lately, well the past couple weeks, I have received a few boxes (not envelopes) but boxes from my awesome readers. This is picked from one of the 2 two-hundred card count boxes that reader Noah from New York sent my way. I didn't even realize that these rookie cup cards were available in different flavors. I have had the base for a while, but now I have 4 colors of the rainbow. I would assume that there are more and naturally greed has taken over and I want them all. For now I am pretty happy with these 4. Another big group of cards he sent were these 6 different 2005 Donruss Crowning Moment cards. I remember when you had to be a legitimate star to have Dick Perez immortalize you in a Diamond King painting. I love all these players, but some of them are far from being Diamond Kings, at least Joey Gaithright is... The illustrations are really nice though and I really like this set. None of these were painted by Dick Perez, but by artists like Ron Adair who did Brazelton and Baldelli and Ron Stark who did Scott Kazmir. Now I am curious if Carl Crawford or Jonny Gomes appear in this set. If they do, I need 'em! Thanks so much for the great stuff Noah! I look forward to posting up the other goodies. Oh, the Carl Crawford related contest WILL happen. I will list the rules of engagement and prizes this weekend. Oh, as an end note. A few readers, most recently Ted, have sent me cards toward the forgotten 2009 Topps Updates set. I went through the trouble of putting this one in a binder, now I need to finish it off. I am getting close and I posted a wantlist HERE. Thanks again! Go Rays! Troll out.

Late to the Party With Topps T206

Since I took ten years off from collecting I missed out on a lot of great sets. I am working my way backwards through the Topps and Bowman Heritage sets that I missed along with Topps flagship and Allen and Ginter, but of late my favorite is Topps T206. I didn’t like this set when I first saw pictures pop up and the first Rays cards I got I didn’t really care for, but its one of those sets that has REALLY grown on me. I do admit that I am a neo-vintage obsessed collector so this does fall right into my tastes I guess. This Carlos Pena is one of my favorite cards of him. I haven’t purchased any myself yet, but I am strongly considering it. I wouldn’t mind starting with 2003 first. My introduction to this set was a card of Justin Schuda (who?) but since then cards have trickled in of all my favorites-Gomes, Brazleton, Grieve and a young and toothpick looking BJ Upton. Since I don’t have either year full on the team set I have a page mixed up of both and they all look pretty good together. I know that some people put together Allen and Ginter mini sets of mixed years showing the best card for each number they have. I think I am going to buy a box of 2003 and of 2009 and put together a mixed set. Oh, there are minis too, awesome! I love this hobby! Go Rays! Troll out.

Rhubarb Running for Rays!

My Rays haves and have nots have inverted. I have a whole bunch and I have yet to find 14 of them. Ten of them I really need-more on that at the end… It was everybody’s favorite Twins fan the Rhubarb Runner who whittled down the list.
This 1999 Quinton McCracken is the last regular issue card I needed from ’99. I just needed this Jose Guillen to close out 2000 Topps, but I needed a few from the traded set. The Rays 7th rounder from ’99, Andrew Beinbrink, who would have been the first Italian born Devil Ray had he made it past the minors. The Rays #1 pick in 2000 made it to the majors, to the World Series and into early retirement. It’s card #T86 of (then 18 yr old) Rocco Baldeli. He hooked up the rest of the cards that I needed from the bronze-a-riffic 2002 Traded set which I didn’t scan. I did scan this 2003 Traded card of Jonny Gomes, the Rays 18th rounder in 2001. I really like 2003 Topps and with all of these cards I am done with the traded set, but still need two base cards. Thanks so much Rhubarb for tracking all of these down! I really appreciate it! Okay, those were the new additions to the haves, now for the have nots…
I do still need some 2005 Topps, but I am pretty sure I have those somewhere… I know I don’t have these, so that means I officially have it narrowed down to my Top Ten Most Wanted Topps Cards. From 1999 Topps Traded I need T19 Paul Hoover, T20 Ryan Rupe, T66 Josh Hamilton and T83 Jose Canseco.
I need just one more card to finish off 2000 Topps Traded, it is T106 Greg Vaughn. From 2001 Topps Traded I need 3 cards. I actually have 2 of them, but they are reserved for the PC, so I need number T172 Josh Hamilton, T192 Jared Sandberg and T253 Joe Kennedy. Lastly from 2003 Topps, which is incidentally my favorite Topps set of the 2000s, I need 36 Aubrey Huff and 541 Lee Stevens. With as many Aubrey Huff cards as I have lying around, I really can’t believe I still need this, but I can’t find one. Okay, that’s it, thanks for looking… Be like Rhubarb and hook a Troll up! Coming soon are want lists for Upper Deck 1998 - 2010, then Topps Chrome, Topps Gold and Fleer Tradition... My want lists are on the side bar. Many need some serious updating, but can point you in the right direction. By the by... big congrats to Chris Tillman and Norfolk on hitting the Gwinett Braves last night! Go Rays! Troll out.

Personal Collections, Team Collections and More!

I am still obsessing about finding a new player to collect. I shouldn’t be. With my changing of jobs I am going this week without a paycheck, so I am lucky to eat never mind buy cards, but I have a minute to post and that is what I am thinking about. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that I left my player collection up to a reader poll and it ended in a 3 way tie between Bill Mazeroski, Larry Doby and Bill Madlock. Readers have treated me to cards of each, but I haven’t picked one. A huge thanks goes to reader Claudia for this autographed Mad Dog postcard. I certainly don’t mind collecting any of these players, but I am not SUPER collecting just yet.
Anyway, I have been sorting my thousands of Rays cards into team sets. I am pretty darn close to finishing off all of the Topps team sets for the past 13 years (more on that later). I have started binders of a few specific players doubles and got them all their own binder, calling it my Elite Eight Favorite Ex-Devil Rays. That list includes Jared Sandberg, Jonny Gomes, Joe Kennedy, Ben Grieve, Quinton McCracken, Dewon Brazelton and now, the newest addition, Dave Martinez. I posted this card a few weeks back and was a little bummed that it didn’t get a reaction, so I will post it again. I got to talk with Dave at length during spring training this year. I was writing a feature on the 1998 Devil Rays Inaugural Season and since Martinez posted the organizations first ever hit, he factored prominently in the story. At the end of our talk I brought up card blogs and he confided that reading them was a guilty pleasure of his. He also mentioned one of favorite haunts and I pulled this card out of my bag for him to sign for the Troll. This is officially the 4th “To Troll” card in the collection. I may post the others someday. I have begun sorting out my Dave Martinez Rays cards and he now fills a few pages in the binder. If you are curious I have zero interest in cards of him on the Cubs, Reds or White Sox or any team other than the Rays. If you are further curious, he has been known to swing the bat in BP every now and then and I believe I would much rather have him in the lineup than Pat the Bat. Anyway… This is all just a prelude to a pair of actual posts which are coming. One is a trade that nearly wiped out my team set needs and the other is the unveiling of my new player collection… Oh, speaking of player collections... Here are 2 gems that Madding from Cards on Cards sent me about 6 months ago. He had come into a big lot of basecards and sent me about 500 Rays cards. He also sent this SP '05 (numbered 108 of 199) Carl Crawford jersey relic and this '06 SP Gomes. These got completely buried and never got posted. I hope to sort through and binderize the Carl Crawford collection soon. I can't decide what to do with autos and relics. The thin ones fit in pages fine, but thicker cards don't. I have some super special CC cards in the display case, but I really want to have ALL of my CC cards together. Any suggestions? Stay tuned! Oh, thanks to everyone (all 4 of you) who entered my shopping spree contest. Roof God was half right and Play at the Plate was correct. I don't have any Rangers or Tigers relics or '65s, but I do have a few to pick from. Send me an email please... 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.

Chipping Away...

Here is another LONG overdue post of blogger kindness… I have had this stack of cards on my desk for a couple of months now. My desk is actually covered in stacks of cards, some of them staggering at over 6 inches high. I will someday get through them all. Like the good folks in AA say, I will do it one day at a time… This stack of cards came from Spiff in Kansas. Spiff, like me writes a couple of blogs. He is a Civil War buff (George Costanza?) and writes the Spiff’s World blog from that angle, but most of you are probably more familiar with his Texas Rangers Cards blog. If you check out his Rangers blog today you will see a post on Tom Grieve, papa to Ben, one of my favorite ex-Devil Rays… Anyway, he generously shared a note and a stack of cards with me and here are a few samples of what he shared… I never complain about getting Jonny Gomes cards, EVER. Gomes was 1-3 with a couple of RBI in a win over the Dodgers tonight. At less than a million bucks this season I think he is one of the best bargains in MLB. Plus I really like collecting his cards. The first one is from 2006 Upper Deck; it is card #443 and shows Gomes sliding in slow motion. The next one is one of those cards that I had never seen, but thought must exist and therefore wanted it. It is from the Topps 50th Anniversary All Star Rookie Cup team insert series. Gomes won the cup as a DH in 2005 when he hit 21 homers as a rookie. He also hit 3 homers in one game for the first time that year and became the first Devil Ray to do so. Actually he is the only DEVIL Ray to ever hit 3 in one game. Evan Longoria did it as a Ray, but Gomes is the lone Devil Rays slugger to do so. Since I never get tired of this fun fact I will share it again… During his career Hammerin Hank Aaron hit 3 homers in one game just once. Joltin Jonny Gomes has done it twice so far. Okay, moving on to Scott Kazmir. I used to be a big Kazmir fan. Actually I still am, but I have backed off on collecting him. I still enjoy getting cards of his I don’t own though. This one comes from 2006 Fleer Ultra, the Rising Stars insert set. It is card #URS8. The back of the mentions Kaz ranking 4th in the AL with 174 Ks at age 21. Speaking of awesome left handed pitchers… I am going to end this post with this sweet card of David Price. It is from the gigantic 2008 Topps Year in Review subset, card #YR135. The cards topic is 10 first rounders signing at the deadline on 8-15, Price being one of them. The card shows Price’s stats at Vanderbilt where he was 11-1 with 194 Ks in 133 ip. Price didn’t live up to the hype as a rookie last year, but I really believe he has a solid All Star career ahead of him. Thanks so much for these and all of the great stuff you sent Spiff; sorry it took months to post up. Go Rays! Troll out.

X Fractor Awesomeness!

Greetings and good afternoon Trollites! The Tampa Bay Rays had their first pitch of the spring season against the Baltimore Orioles about 2 hours ago in Sarasota, Florida. I REALLY wanted to go, but I had a big test today and work soon, so I had to pass. I had also planned a big post on all of the hits and dupes that I have gathered from 2010 Topps. I have all the cards scanned, but I don’t think I will be able to post, but I will try. I didn’t want to not post before work, so here is a quick post of 2008 Topps Chrome X Fractors. Almost all of these have been posted previously; they have all come in trade. I have mentioned before that once I get more than 1 of any set or subset, I start to chase it. Well this is no different. When Play at the Plate sent the Aki card about a month ago I started searching around for the other ones. I found the elusive Gomes and Johnson cards this afternoon while sorting my 2010 Topps. Don’t ask. Anyway, here they are, poorly scanned, but X Fractorific! From 2008 Topps Chrome we have card #70 of Akinori Iwamura.
Card #86 of Carl Crawford.
Card #182 of Jonny Gomes.
And finally card #200 of Elliot Johnson. EJ should get some playing time in the first game of the spring as he and Rodriguez and Brignac and Aybar are all fighting for a job on the team. If anyone has the Carlos Pena, BJ Upton, Scott Kazmir or whomever else is in this set, please get in touch. Look for a monster post on 2010 Topps very soon. Oh, by the way, does anyone have advice on how to scan these awesome cards any better? Thanks to PatP, Night Owl, SotCS and Cards on Cards for these shiny cards! Since I have a minute and some space here, earlier this week I got a package from Chris OK of the Budget Cardboarding blog. He sent a huge stack of Pirates cards for my little Brother. THANKS!!! There were also some really nice legends cards from 2008 Stadium Club and cool Devil Rays cards that hopefully I will post later. He also included this Pat Burrell refractor from 2009 Topps Chrome. I think I have 2 others from that set and yes I am chasing it! THANKS Chris! In the outgoing mail department, Play at the Plate, Cardboard Junkie, Condition Poor, Thoughts and Sox and Cards on Cards should have mailbox love coming next week! Go Rays! Go Baseball! Troll out.