I just finished a post on my other
blog about my Mom’s family, baseball and the first hero of my family, Tony Lazzeri, I hope you will check it out
here. I have also started another website with a dot com address. Not sure if I will mention it here yet, hopefully folks will find it and enjoy it on their own. This will be the first
Blogger Generosity post of many as my mailbox was full of goodies again today. I am really blown away by the kindness of the card-blogging community. You guys have raised my spirits immensely and really made me feel the love of our family. Thanks! I have no word yet on anything good, but I will keep you all posted. As for the contest, it will be up on Tuesday. Its gonna be a big one because I want to
extend my thorough appreciation back to the blog-o-sphere. I showed off one HOF autograph, there will be at least one more. The Collective Troll has reached and passed the 100 follower mark and I want to thank all 103 of you for following! That makes me feel great and because of that there will be at least one additional autograph and a bunch of relics as well. There will probably 7 random winners with the first winner getting first choice, moving all the way down. I think everyone (who wins) will be very happy.
Okay, onto this post. Here are some of my newest
Scott Kazmir cards.
The first came a few months back from the legendary
Rhubarb Runner as part of his entry into the Spring Break, Cards Gone Wild pack rip. This is going to finally happen next week. I will probably rip a box per day and post a few scans of the highlights and then a final card count tally per team.
I hope y’all understand. Anyway, this is the awesome Kazmir relic that came from RR. He sent some other stuff, cool Rays and cards I needed for my 2010 Topps set and curiously a pair of these Frank Catalonto cards.
They were the first 2 cards I saw when I opened it and I was sure that I had been bipped. If I was, it was a little one.
He followed it with a Post Greg Vaughn cuz ya can't miss a food issued card! I would like to show off the other stuff he sent, but I wanted to post his Kazmir card from Upper Deck SP because it fits in well with the next cards which all came from blog reader and friend
Joe M. Joe is a Mike Piazza fan and we have traded before. He doesn’t have a blog (yet!) but is still thinking about it.
He is a great and generous trader though. I ran out of steam (actually Piazza cards) during our last trade, but he hooked me up anyway with 3 Rays autographs, Danny Tartabull, Negro League and basically everything I collect. He had one Rays autograph left, but we agreed that he would hold that back for a future trade. This week he decided that my wait was over and surprised me with all of these great Kazmir cards and a
very cool drawing of an angry cow!.
I am a huge fan of Kazmir. I never got into collecting him, but I will never turn down one of his cards... The year that he
struck out 239 batters to lead the American League, my wife and I were going to at least 2 games a week and saw him pitch many times. He became one of her favs and he was on the mound the day I got to explain to her why fans hung signs that said “K” on them.
He put up a lot of those K signs with us in the audience. When my cousin Jon and his wife Kendra came to visit us in 2007 she had never been to a baseball game before. I was able to get tickets behind home plate for the 4 of us and we watched Kaz strike out 12 batters from about 25 feet behind the catcher. He doesn’t bring the heat as much as he used to, but the amount of movement he has on his 92 MPH fastball is amazing. He is brutal on lefties too. I don’t know if he will ever return to his 2007 form, but at 26 years of age, I think his best innings are still ahead of him.
While he was recovering from injury last year, he spent time rehabbing with the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs (A) and I got to see him work out close up and also got to speak with him. He felt like he had yet to reach his peak and really wanted to stay and succeed with the Rays. Obviously he didn’t stay with the Rays-he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in late August of last season for Sean Rodriguez (who is having an amazing spring!) . As an Angel Kaz was 2-2 with a
1.71 ERA in 6 starts to give him a total mark of 10-9 for the season. He pitched twice in the ALCS with little success allowing 5 runs in 4.2 innings of work. I look forward to seeing him pitch a full season in 2010. I don’t have the cards in front of me (my cards are staying at home from now on!) so I can’t list what they are, just look and enjoy and let each scan equal 1,000 words!
Amongst the Kaz cards Joe also included a
Yosemite Sam card to make me laugh. I will share it with y’all and hope for the same result.
The highlight of Joe’s package is right here. A
Flair Showcase Fresh Ink autograph! It is a sticker auto, but on a clear sticker so from a distance all you see is a beautiful blue sharpie signature. I have heard that Kaz is a good TTM signer, but I have never had any luck with him. He is a spectacular in-person signer.
I remember he would sign on game day before and after warming up in the pen. I have watched him sign and he never puts his head down and just signs, he is always conscious of who is handing him things and I have seen him reach past adults to get to kids. I have also watched him stand there and sign for thirty minutes while engaging in chit-chat. I will also say that every time I have ever seen him, spoke with him or been anywhere near him I have felt awe. He has a presence about him and a star quality as well. I think that ultimately the Kazmir for Rodriguez trade will work well for both teams, but it sure was sad to him go. He was my teams first legitimate star, a real All Star, a league leader, a class act and a fan favorite. I wish him the best of luck in California and I hope for the best with Rodriguez in Tampa Bay.
My Kaz collection is one that needs some serious organizing. I know I have at least 100 different cards of him, but they are by no means in order or even in a binder. This package may give me a little incentive. I was planning on showing off some Longos from
Tampa Bay Sports Wasteland and some awesome new Rays from the
Sewing Machine Guy, but I think I will leave this post as a Kazmir exclusive. Mainly because I am at work, its 11 PM and I have been writing off and on since 5 this afternoon, but also cuz I think Kaz could use his own post. He deserves it. After writing that last sentence, I do think he deserves it, but I wanted to show off one more card from Joe M’s package, this one of Jackie Robinson.
Thanks so much for everything Joe!!! You floored me with your generosity!
Thanks to everyone who has blessed me with your kindness this week. I intend on posting everything, but I want to thank all of you and at the end of each post. I do also need to thank my favorite Minnesota Twins as well. Thanks
Mr. Rhubarb Runner! I will end this post as I started it, with and shiny Kaz card.
I do love refractors! I got my first blue refractor in the mail today, I can’t wait to scan that! Go Kaz! Go Rays! Troll out.
Here is another piece to my Carl Crawford 2007 Topps Rainbow Collection. A Topps Chrome RED Refractor, numbered to 99. I have never pulled a refractor of my favorite team from a pack and the 2008 Hunter Pence black Heritage refractor I yanked two years ago still stands as the only limited refractor I have ever pulled. I really don't care if I ever pull one honestly. This is a new favorite card of mine and it shipped to me for the same price as a hobby pack of 2010 Heritage. Awesome. I have seen it as a BIN in the 10 and 20 dollar range, but I only bid on actual auctions and I got a STEAL (ha!) on this one. Incidentally the Perfect Storm is having a pretty year so far. 
He is a three time All Star, won the games MVP last year and it looks like he has a shot to start this year. I haven't even cast my 20 votes yet! I think this card will be this weeks blog header, I REALLY like it... By the way... I am ripping and scanning cards for a Pack to be Named Later and I have a question. I have two unopend rack packs. This one of '87 Topps and an '89 Fleer. I hate to rip something I have kept sealed for so long. Does anyone want them to save? 
I will trade either one for any single card from my wantlists or for a 2007 Carl Crawford Platinum... Go Rays! Troll out.
The Night Owl is apparently aware of my fandom for the AAGPBL cuz he sent me two sweet sample cards from the ’95 Frisch set. I really need to bite the bullet and send away for the whole 234 card set, (and now I have a coupon) but it is so much more fun hoping and occasionally one or two of these gems. The sample cards feature starting pitcher and 20-game winner Dorothy Wiltse who is #1 in the set and card # 61 of Dorothy Ferguson. 
One of the reasons I want the entire set is that I would really like to know how high the percentage of players named Dorothy is. They can’t all be Dorothy’s, can they?
From the Ladies of Baseball he went on to attack other facets of my collecting preferences. He knows I like Heritage Chromes and sent a few of them. 
What I like better than chromes is refractors and he hooked it up with this refractor of Rays new closer Rafael Soriano. 
On the refractor tip, here is a 2009 Topps Chrome refractor of former Rays lefty Scotty Kazmir AND an X Fractor of the Rays Gold Glove first baseman Carlos Pena from the same set. 
I like these a lot. I think these came from the dusty packs of chrome that the Owl acquired in late March. I am on a mission to collect the 8 card set of 2009 Chrome refractors and X Fractors. I am more than halfway there with each. A list will come soon...
Nice! The Owl didn’t stop there. Oh no, there is plenty more to see here people… He hit up 2010 Upper Deck too. I think that his stance on this year’s Upper Deck is officially ANTI, but the two packs he bought were very Rays rich apparently. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these two were included in the set at all and I was thrilled to own them. 
Card #476 of Fernando Perez sliding in safely and card #483 of 
Moving right along onto 2008 Upper Deck X, here is an XPonential (X2) card of Rays All Star left fielder Carl Crawford. 
I have not ripped a single pack of X myself and I don’t intend to, but I think I would like to chase down all of the Crawford XPonential cards I can. I think this is the last square card I need, but I don’t have a cube root from any year… Moving back to Topps, 2006 Topps, of the GOLD variety, here is #519 of shortstop Julio Lugo. 
In 2005 Lugo batted .295 with 182 hits, 36 doubles, 6 triples and 6 homers, too. He also stole 39 bases, good enough for 4th in the AL. Sweet. The last couple of Topps cards I will post come from the 2010 set that I am so aggressively working on. First off is a Tales of the Game insert, card #TOG1 of Ty Cobb sliding in spikes up. 
A card I am happy with from an awful set I would never buy is this one from 2010 Topps Attax. Being a player collector you need to get some funky product every now and then. That said I am glad that I can scratch this off the list so I don’t need to yearn for a card from Attax. 
Okay, here is the final card I am going to show off. Normally I end my trade posts with a relic or autograph card, but this package went far beyond just mojo hits… I prefer refractors to relics anyway and I posted them first, so this card from History of the Game, #HOTG8 gets finale status. 
This card celebrates baseball being broadcast for the first time in August of 1921 by Harold Arlin. The photo is a close-up of an old style microphone. I really don’t think it is Arlin’s original mic and I also doubt it is from the 20’s. It looks more like a late 30’s style to me. The card rocks for a few reasons. One I need it for the set, but more importantly as a fellow broadcaster I collect cards of players holding microphones and broadcast equipment in general. In the last year this is the first microphone card I have got in the mail. I like it. 
I want to extend a GIGANTIC thank you to my friend the 
He was the 23rd player to join the 3000 club, but the FIRST to do it by hitting a homerun and the FIRST to reach the milestone in a Devil Rays jersey. Celebrating that same event is this insert from 2000 Topps Finest. 
The card is number FM4; it is a REFRACTOR and shows Boggs without a helmet getting his high fives. Did I mention it’s a refractor? I LOVE refractors! Normally Wade Boggs is a man who should not remove his hat when cameras are present, but this card works. The last card I am going to show off is number 1141 from the hated 2009 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary collection. 
This card celebrates a different event that took place in Tampa Bay. On 3/31/1998 the D-Rays played their first game. Wade Boggs was there, as was I. They lost to the Tigers behind Wilson Alvarez, but gained a lifelong fan. Thanks so much to 
Okay, back to this package. The 
The back of the card mentions that Pena is the Rays only homerun champ (so far) and that he owns half of the clubs six 30-homerun seasons. Next up is my favorite rookie pitcher from Lake Wales, Florida, 24-year-old right-hander Wade Davis on card #298. The botc touts that Davis fanned the 1st four MLB batters he faced. 
The final 2010 Heritage card I am gonna show off is of my favorite Ray, their All Star shortstop and probable lead-off batter, card# 399 of Jason Bartlett (a card soo nice I had to show it twice!). I haven’t read the short print list for this set, so I don’t know if any of these cards are SPs, but either way I am thrilled to have Bartlett’s card already. I am still trying to track down his 2009 SP. 
The botc touts that Bartlett batted .386 with runners in scoring position last year; he stole 30 bases in 37 attempts and jumped from 1 homer in 2008 to 14 in 2009. His .320 batting average last year is a Rays single season record. All mega impressive, but the real reason he is my favorite player is his glove and leadership on the field. It’s still up in the air as to who his double play partner will be in 2010, but with Longoria to his left and Pena to his right, the Rays will have a sharp team defensively. Speaking of Evan Longoria… 
The next 3 cards will get progressively shinier. I will start off with a 2007 Bowman Chrome, card #BDPP55 of left-handed starter David Price. 
The back of the card shows off his stats at Vanderbilt University in 2007. He was 11-1 with a 2.63 ERA with 194 strikeouts in 133 innings. Many people have written David Price off after he didn’t dominate in his rookie season, but I seriously think this guy can be an All Star starter. Speaking of rookie pitchers with All Star potential, Jeff Niemann showed what he could do last year leading the staff in wins. 
This is my first refractor of him (and I LOVE refractors!); it is card #192 from 2008 Topps. Speaking of refractors and 2008 Topps, the last card I am going to feature from the SMG is card #200 of Elliot Johnson, a young infielder who just celebrated his 26th birthday last Tuesday. 
He is shown here in full refractorific glory. Bronze refractor to be exact, the kind with a serial number (079/599), yep it is pretty awesome. I am thrilled with these new additions to my collection and 
It is a 2001 Bowman Chrome, card #231. I now have at least 1 card from every year and a total of 188. My goal was 200, but I might have to raise it. I am going to show some of the highlights of what readers have sent in during the last two weeks-I am still behind, of course, on my trading posts. I owe a couple of posts each to Mike from JDs Wild and Alfredo from My Past Time, I Love It! and I also got big packs from Cards on Cards and Bud from First Day Issue that I need to post. I have also been sorting through my older Topps cards and I have already filled some want lists, but I am totally ready to take on anything from 1974-1983, so bring it on! Oh, and yes, Tom Terrific is on the trade block… 
I am done with my 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1991 and 1996 sets and am now focusing on finishing up all my undone Heritage sets, plus 1979, 2007-2009 Topps and 2008 Allen Ginter. There is less than 2 months left in the year and I am broke like a joke, but I really wanna put all these sets to bed before the year is up. After that I want to dive into my favorite set of all-time, 1965 Topps. Okay, onto the new and awesome Carl Crawford card highlights. I will start with a 2006 Topps Turkey Red, card #152. 
A lot of people try and fill these sets, but I am pretty satisfied with plucking the Rays when I can. Next, from the 2005 Topps Cracker Jack-when I first saw this I thought it was a mini and I though that was pretty cool, but it’s a sticker! 
That makes it awesome. This is one of the dullest looking refractors I have ever seen, I wouldn’t know it was a refractor if it didn’t say it below the number, from the 2008 Topps Chrome, card #86, serial numbered to 599. 
Now, a refractor that looks like a refractor should! From 2009 Topps Finest, card #78, a Carl Crawford REFRACTOR!!! 
I love refractors, it is somewhat of an obsession, I just love them and I think they really make every blog better. I had a few 2002 cards, but not many and not this one, from the Fleer Tradition Diamond Debuts, card U12. 
I didn’t have any 2008 Bowman CC cards at all, but this week I got them all covered including the Chrome version, card #20
and the sweet blue parallel, card #21, serial numbered to 500. 
Back to Finest for a four more gems and then I need to do some studying, or at least go to the Post Office before work… From 2003, the oldest Finest CC I own, card #33. 
I have nothing against the #8, but I am really glad that CC switched over to #13-#8 suits JB better anyway. This is from 2006, Topps Finest card #127. 
I always like reading the Finest Moment on the back and this one is pretty cool… On May 25, 2005 Crawford became the first player to hit a homerun and a triple in the 1st inning of a game. He led off the game with a triple and added a two-run homerun when they batted around. The Rays dropped 10 runs in that 1st inning and went on to beat Oakland 14-6. Okay, I think I will end this with a couple of refractors. These didn’t scan as well as I had hoped, but trust me, they are awesome! 
First is a 2005 Finest, card #20, serial numbered 001 of 399. 
The last card is the same shot, but it looks even better as a BLUE REFRACTOR, card #20, serial number 128/299. 
To everyone who has hooked me up with Crawfords these past few weeks it is really appreciated! I love this hobby and I love chasing cards of my favorite players. If you have any Craw cards laying around, please check my 
