Damn it Otto, You're Addicted to Allen and Ginter!

I tried to resist it, but when I got bit by that Ginter bug; man did I fall into the frenzy that is Allen & Ginter. From begging the hobby shop to get more boxes in to ending up at Wal Mart (where I swore I would never shop at again) at 3 in the morning covered in sweat and shaking like a junkie, I have completely succumbed to the Ginter chase. I have had a ton of help on my mission because every pack I rip seems to have the same cards in it (Coco Crisp, Todd Wellemeyer, Gil Meche and Jose Lopez National Pride) and after the kindness of about 10 different fellow bloggers, I am 92% complete, threw with this awfully addictive set. I have upped my rip total to 171 packs (I am disgusting) and have very little (other than a lot of Coco Crisp cards) to show for it. Generally, as soon as the trade envelope comes in the mail, I tear it open and put the cards in the book. Last night I received two Ginter-rich packages, one from Sarah at a Rookie Card Collector and this package from Chris AKA Fanofreds from the Nachos Grande blog. This isn’t the first trade we’ve pulled off, but the first involving Ginter crack. He is chasing the same sets as I am this year (Topps Heritage, Topps and Allen and Ginter) so a trade was very convenient for both of us. Plus, he is super organized and always has up-to-date lists of what he needs and what he has to trade. We worked out a deal a big box of Ginter’s was on its way to me! What made this trade cool was he included a few Heritage cards from my list, too. I had hit the proverbial wall on that set and hadn’t been able to pull off a trade in weeks. There is a card shop in Tampa that has a ton of short prints (which I need) but he charges five bucks a pop for them. Ouch! I had to replace 3 that I promised to Mike a few weeks back and it set me back 15 bucks. I would rather drop another five and get a blaster and take my chances. Anyway… with this package my needs list for base cards has shrunk to just 5 cards (79,162,300,318 and 337) but I still need 41 more short prints(426,427,430,431,432,433,436,437,438,439,441,442,444,445,446,447,450,452,456,

457,459,460,461,462,465,468,469,475,476,477,479,480,481,487,488,489,491,496,497, 499 and 500) to close the book on this set. Does anyone have any of these to trade?
When I just know what numbers I need it is always a surprise who is on the cards that bear those numbers. In this case, I guess I needed James Shields (one win in past 11 starts) who has been PATHETIC for the Rays of late. Speaking of pathetic, I guess I needed Manny, too. On the Ginter side of things he hooked me up with a BUNCH of National Pride cards, now I just need 7 more (24,26,27,36,51,52 and 64) to finish that subset, which is pretty awesome because I wasn’t even gonna chase that one…The only one that really stood out to me is card number NP1 of Rays killer Ervin Santana who is apparently the newest member of the X Men.
He hooked up some base cards that I had been seeking including card #290 of the always awesome and hard to hit (cousin of Esther Gin) Cat Osterman, a couple of Nats named Zimmerman, #208 of Michael Young who accounted for 3 of the 5 hits against Scott Kazmir last night and the ever prolific power hitter #46 Brian Roberts (is he at like 4 in 3 games now?) and #68 of Jamie Moyer (who looks cool in water colors). This brings me to needing just six more cards to finish the 1-300 base set. They are card numbers 83,107,108,135,203 and 219. He brought me closer on the SPs too. Sending (among others) card number 340 of Richard Gatling and #316 of Rick Porcello. Rick (the guy who dropped Youk to the ground) caught my attention last year when he went 8-6 for the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League. He jumped for A level to the majors this year and even though he is a Tiger, I am contemplating collecting him. That sums up this trade. If you have spare SPs you wanna send me from this set, I still need cards 303,304,305,307,308,310,312,315,319,325,327,328,330, 334,343 and 346.Thats it and my foray into Allen and Ginter is complete. Thanks to everyone who has helped me out on this (and anything) I will try and get caught up with my trades soon. Don’t forget to check out the post right below this one, this is FREE stuff to be given away, sign up and win! Oh, by the by. There is a free Coco Crisp card for anyone who gets that title reference…This is somewhat odd, but both Chris and I posted our trades this Saturday afternoon, I guess we were both happy... Go Rays! Troll out.

Midseason Awards, The Troll Names the Rookie of the (Half) Year in Each League

As promised I will name my choices for midseason awards. I will start with the Rookie of the (Half) Year for each league.
American League’s Troll League Midseason Rookie of the (1/2) Year Award goes to Detroit Tigers right handed starting pitcher Rick Porcello. Porcello, who stands 6’5” has made 16 starts for the Division leading Tigers this year. He is 8-6 with a 4.14 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 87 innings.
First honorable mention goes to 24-year-old left handed pitcher Ricky Romero. The young starter for the Toronto Blue Jays is 6-3 with a 2.85 in 11 starts for the Jays this year. He has 61 Ks in 72 innings of work so far this year. His stuff is awing, had he had a few more successful starts, the award would likely have been his.
The 3rd mention of honor in the AL is Elvis Andrus, a 20-year-old slick fielding shortstop for the Texas Rangers. He is hitting .269 with 3 homers and 15 RBIs while stealing 16 bases so far this year. He has proven himself in the field, teaming with Ian Kinsler to create a formidable double play combination.

On the National League side,
The National Troll League Midseason Rookie of the (1/2) Year award goes to the Milwaukee Brewers 26-year-old 3rd baseman, Casey McGehee. He has hit .343 with 6 home runs and 27 RBIs so far this year. The right handed hitting McGehee boasts a .396 OBP and a .567 SLG Percentage. He has also hit 10 doubles in the 46 games he has played this year.
Honorable mention goes out to Atlanta Braves starter Tommy Hanson. Although he has only 6 starts so far, he has gone 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA, he has 23 Ks in 36 innings pitched. He had a scoreless inning streak of 26 going until Adam Dunn hit a solo shot off of the rookie, it was Dunn’s 300th of his career. Hanson would be the leading candidate for the actual postseason Rookie of the Year if he can keep it up. With only 6 games under his belt, it is still too early to tell and far too early to start dishing out awards. Up next will be the Comeback Player of the Year for each league as well as the MVP and Cy Young awards.
Just a reminder, there will be a contest going up on Thursday. This will be the first Troll contest, a no purchase necessary, no questions asked deal. The only requirement is you must follow this blog to win. Stay tuned for that. Go Rays! Troll out.