As promised, here is my latest trade with everyone's favorite Twins fan, Rhubarb Runner... The Runner has a super awesome local card shop and he is always shopping for just about everyone in the blog-o-sphere. His goal is to turn good deals into Twins cards he needs. This worked out great for me because I had just found a 2007 Glen Perkins autograph the same day he wrote me. He found 4 Rays cards at his shop and I needed 2 of them, so we agreed on the deal. Thing is, the stuff we agreed on was already pretty great, but the extras he threw in were AWESOME!We will start with this Team Quad card from Playoff Absolute. Not to sound ungrateful, but I despise the design of Playoff cards. The blatant waste of space, the lack of information and stats and the tiny pictures and the serial numbering of cards that just don't seem that special. That said, I still chase them when they feature certain players and this quad includes Brandon Backe, Chad Gaudin, Toby Hall and Dewon Brazelton.
I collect Brazelton and therefore had to have this one. I swapped player collections with the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame not too long ago and snagged his rad Brazelton collection. I haven't posted it yet because I am not sure anyone would appreciate aside from myself and GSNHoF, but I will!
Next up is a card I sort of posted already, but wanted to put up again because it is really a neat card. It is Crowning Moment card #402 from 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings showing current Giant and former Devil Ray's first baseman Aubrey Huff. 
The reason I wanted to show this card again is that the rendition is truly amazing and I wanted to give the artist, Dave Kramer, a little love for it... Huff, by the way, is hitting .429 in the Series so far. I would say I am rooting for Huff to do well, but for his team to lose... By the way, I do NOT collect Huff. He had some success for the D-Rays, but I just wasn't a huge fan. Like all former D-Rays though, I have a page in the binder showing his 9 best cards. I upgrade whenever I can and this card made the cut.
Next up is the first surprise. From 2008 Upper Deck Documentary UPDATE. 
I didn't even realize there was an update, but I guess there is. All 8 cards are from the postseason. If you read the backs the Rays were. 500 over these 8 games. Ultimately they beat the White Sox and the Red Sox, but lost to the Phillies. Memories. When Documentary was on the shelves I thought it was a horrible, horrible set. Now, I desperately want to complete the 163 card set, PLUS the update version. 2008 was a magical year for the Rays and I would love to fill a binder with this. 
Its funny, but this year with Topps monopoly I find myself appreciating things that I never gave a second thought about before. I probably have at least 50 of these cards, so many trade packs have included 1 or 2, someday I will get them all together and into a proper binder.
Incidentally, a case of Ultra Pro pages is tops on my Christmas list!
Okay, back to the trade and the 2nd HUGE BONUS the Runner included... Another set I need to get all together and make a list of is 2009 Topps Update GOLD. 
I am trying to build the gold parallel version of EVERY D-Rays Topps team set. I need many, so I haven't made a list. Cards trickle in here and there, but Rhubarb sent me 4! This was a total surprise and a HUGE bonus. I don't get to scratch 4 cards off of my imaginary list very often! They are #UH55 Ben Zobrist All Star, UH103 of Evan Longoria All Star, #UH272 of All Star Carlos Pena in the home run derby and #UH287 of Matt Joyce. Awesome!!! The final card I am going to show off was actually the cornerstone of the deal.
It turned out great that the throw in cards totally overshadowed it, but this one is still pretty rad...It is from 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces, another set that I appreciate more and more as time goes on. This set was actually really cool then, but now that Masterpieces only lives on Beardy's blog, they are that much cooler!
This is a Captured on Canvas insert of Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli. 
Opposite of Playoff, the design of this card is awesome! Great color, great use of space and a cool name. I don't really have too many Rocco Baldelli jersey cards. I decided that I need more. Rocco isn't my favorite, but I hold him in high enough regard that he gets multiple pages in the binder. This card is going right in.
Thanks so much for trading Rhubarb!!! I know we will deal again really soon! Thanks for reading and if you insist on sending me cards, I will def appreciate it, if those cards are gold, there will be even more appreciation...
Thank you Rhubarb Runner!!! Go Ra(y)ngers! troll out.
First is a serial numbered gem of centerfielder (then shortstop) BJ Upton. It is #ed 074/150 and the bat sliver was certified to having been used by Upton in an official game. Pretty cool, eh? It is, but I can't get over the tiny picture on the side and the tiny sliver breaking up the Tampa Bay logo and ALL OF THE WASTED WHITE SPACE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CARD. Its one of those great cards that could be better. From the same set is an even lower serial #ed card (77/97) of outfielder Rocco Baldelli. This is from the Portraits series of the set. That seems a weird name for a card that has a black and white photo of the cards namesake SO DAMN SMALL. On the bright side the jersey swatch is a patch and is freaking awesome. There are 3 seperate bat slivers (excess?) too. All of them are certified game used by Rocco too. 
This is my first Rocco patch and I am pretty stoked about that, but again the design of the card drives me nuts... Again, cool cards that could be cooler... Thanks again Wicked! Since I have only posted 5 of the 400 cards I planned to post this week, Wicked Week on the Troll will be extended until its all been shown. Oh, and there are plenty more giveaways at 
Rocco hasn’t played in a game since last season with Boston. He was on the field with the Rays at home last week, basically just playing catch, but it was a shoulder injury that caused him to “retire” so seeing him throw from the outfield to third base is pretty huge. Now is an ideal time for Rocco to begin his comeback. He will need some serious time to get back into playing shape. I’m thinking 2 weeks with Charlotte, a few weeks in AA and then more time in Durham. He would need to be on the big league roster by August 31st to be eligible for postseason. 
If the Rays don’t need him, the Durham Bulls could certainly benefit from his bat in their effort to repeat as AAA Champs. I personally would LOVE to see the outfield of Rocco Baldelli, BJ Upton and Carl Crawford ONE more time. Good luck Rocco! We’ll be waiting for you! Oh, from a career milestone perspective Rocco currently has 59 career homers and 59 career steals. He also has 98 doubles. I would love to see Rocco belt his 100th double and reach 60 homers and steals. Obviously that doesn’t make him a Hall of Fame candidate, but it would be cool to see him reach those personal plateaus. It would also be cool to see him playing for the Stone Crabs. I am going to have to see if I swing a night off from work to check that out... For more baseball card awesomeness, please zoom over to 
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,
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 
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 
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.
You all know it and read it and love it. I know you do. Well, Beardy got his hands on some 2004 Topps Finest as well as some 2004 Topps Pristine. I know this because I have seen these cards pop up all over, all coming courtesy of the Beard Man. Beardy is nothing if not a generous dude with a penchant for creating posts that everyone needs to read. 
Anyway, on the generous side I will start with the Topps Pristine. These are two cards that look cool and look horrible all at the same time. They are awesome in their design and they are awesome because they are of a favorite player of mine. They are horrible because 6 years ago said fav player was in the most horrible organization in MLB and their name and logos are all over these cards. 
These are 2 cards I am glad to have, but not really thrilled about. The player is Dioner Navarro, the Rays catcher. Navi is hitting .154 this season and his platoon mate is out for an extended period of time with an injury suffered against the evil Yankees. Navi is going to get the chance to stay in the line-up until his bat wakes up. 
I really hope it does. I like this guy a lot and it wasn’t too long ago that his bat got him a spot on the All Star team. He is one of the nicest guys on the team, he lights it up in BP, and he is a hard worker behind the plate and has a quick release and a decent arm. He is a pretty streaky hitter and is in a funk. I expect (hope) it gets better. The bearded one knows my love for the second baseman on his team, the horrible and I mean horrible Orioles. Said second baseman is on the DL and may be there for a while. I am speaking of Brian Roberts and his back problems. I have the same issues with my back, but I don’t play pro ball for a living. My job is far less demanding, but my back still gets in the way so I feel for ya B-Rob, I get it. Anyway, here is one card he sent, a serial numbered gem from the 2009 UD Ball Park Collection. 
I am posting the rest of the B-Rob goodies he sent on the 
A very patriotic looking card with a white jersey swatch that looks like a cobra’s tongue. Sweet. The clock is ticking on me so I must tie this post up. I will end with the Finest card (pun intended) of the package. I showed off two crappy looking cards of Dioner Navarro in the last paragraph. This card on the other hand is PERFECT and goes right on the wall in the showcase. I truly love everything about this card. It starts with the fact that there are no visible team logos or a team name. Yes Navi was a part of the Yanks in 2004, but you can’t tell from this card. Second, it has a beautiful ON-CARD autograph across the base. 
Navi has stellar penmanship and his sig covers the card nicely. This is my first and only Navi graph and I love it. Great chrome design, classy and bubbly and no team logos and on-card equals perfect! Oh AND its a freaking REFRACTOR, I love it!!! 
Thanks so much 
After appearing in the World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 (and hitting a home run in the losing effort) Baldelli wasn’t re-signed by the Rays. He left Tampa Bay in favor of Boston in January of 2009. He played in 62 games for the Red Sox last year, batting .253 with 7 homers. He was not included on the Sox postseason roster and wasn’t offered a contract for this season. He had some teams interested in signing him for 2010, but he is hampered by a shoulder problem which may require surgery to repair.
He was originally drafted by the Rays with their first round pick in 2000, the 6th player chosen overall. In 2002 he was selected as Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year after batting .331 with 19 homers and 71 RBI with 26 stolen bases while rising from A to AA and finally to AAA. The next season he was a 21 year old rookie for the Devil Rays in 2003. His He batted .289 with 11 homers, 78 RBI and 27 steals. He finished 3rd in the American League Rookie of the Year vote, behind Angel Berroa. Baldelli had more hits, RBI, steals, doubles and a higher batting average than Berroa, but had 6 fewer homers than the Royals outfielder. He played almost a full year the next season and upped his homerun total to 16. 
The future looked bright for the Rays outfield with prospects Carl Crawford, Jonny Gomes and BJ Upton all joining Baldelli in the majors. Unfortunately an injury sidelined Baldelli for the entire 2005 season. He returned in 2006 and equaled his career high of 16 homers in only 92 games, while batting .302. The decline in games played has been Baldelli’s downfall. He played in less than 40 games in 2007 and 2008. The talent and ability is there for him to be a superstar, but the health has not been. 
He returns to Tampa Bay today, but not as a player. Still, as a fan it is hard to not be nostalgic at the sight of number 5 back in blue. Baldelli will serve as a special assistant coach helping minor league players on base running and outfield defense during spring training. It hasn’t been determined yet if he will join the coaching staff at the major or minor league level during the regular season. He may find his shoulder is healthy once again and try to earn a spot on the team. I personally would rather see him wearing #5 than the other guy this year… Welcome back 
Here is a sample of what I got. I will start with this wide angle view of Miguel Cairo sliding into 3rd on a 2000 Stadium Club card. I scanned this one because it is the first card I have received from 2000 SC but also because it looks like Miguel started his slide just a little early… I would love to see the next few frames and see if he beat the throw and if he made it to the bag. 
Next up is a another original Devil Ray, but this one is a new-to-me card of my favorite original D-Ray, Quinton McCracken from 1999 SPx with a gold embossed cut-out logo and some oddly placed dots framing the card. 
Fast forward to 2009 for the next one, a chrome version of David Price numbered to 1960. This card put to within one card (Carl Crawford) of finishing off the team set, but then they came out with high numbers and I am miles away again. The best for last card that I will post up here comes from the 2007 Bowman Heritage set. 
After a pretty awesome year as the Devil Rays second baseman and occasional third baseman in 2005 Cantu found himself in all of the fancy insert sets. He followed that year up with a less impressive 2006 and 25 games into the 2007 the D-Rays dealt him to the Reds in a really stupid trade for 2 minor leaguers (a bag of balls) who never played an inning for Tampa Bay. Of course he found a new home in South Florida and drove in 100 runs for the Fish last year. I have tried him twice in Miami with TTM requests and was ignored both times so I was super psyched to add this autograph to my collection. Thanks so much Dan! I’ve said it before, but I will say it again, you rock! Once my happy dance was completed I headed on over to look at the Saints of the Cheap Seats want list page to see what I could send him in return and I saw this 
Russ was a pretty decent third baseman for the D-Rays but he was traded after the ’02 season to the Mets for Rey Ordonez. If you’re yawning now it does get better… Apparently Mr. Scott had ripped some of the new 2009 Topps Unique and sent along a 4-card sampler platter of Rays for me. 
I have read mixed reviews of this product, but I personally like the base cards. What I wouldn’t like is paying 6 bucks a pack for this-I know the inserts are pretty fancy and that is what people are chasing, but come on… Anyway, I kinda felt like Topps was rubbing it in to Rays fans by releasing this card of Aki AFTER the trade. 
A flip of the card has a “Unique Moment” on the back-kinda like a finest moment I guess. 
The back of the card isn’t too different from Topps Ticket To Stardom (and Finest) , but thank goodness they didn’t recycle the same “moment”. There were literally hundreds of cards in the box and they were all pretty awesome, but I won’t bore you with everything, but I may post more at a later date… 
He did knock a card or 2 (actually 6) of my 
He sent card #UD-RB of one of my favorite x-Rays Rocco Baldelli. I can’t believe the Rays had 6 relics in a set back in ’07, but I really can’t believe that I have all 6 of them. Thanks Mr. Scott!!! I am only going to post 2 more cards from this amazing box, but they are a couple of gems so I will likely repeat that last sentence again. First up we have a card from the 2008 Moments and Milestones set of Justin Ruggiano, card #RA-JR. I actually like the Moments and Milestones series and I am still hoping to get my hands on a Carlos Pena 1/1 from that set, but anyway… I had arranged a trade with a reader a while back for a Stadium Club auto a while back, but I got burned on that. That is why I only trade with my established traders or traders who get referenced my established traders. I have been burned too many times this year. Okay, I didn’t get burned on this one, so I will shut up. 
This card is far nicer than the Stadium Club one anyway and I was shocked when I found it in the box, thanks Mr. Scott! The back of the card references JR going 20-20 in Durham in 2007. I thought he would get a chance with the Rays this past year, but they went out and traded for Matt Joyce and then left both of them in Durham. The last card I am going to show is my favorite. It is from the 2003 Donruss The Rookies set and features former Rays prospect Brian Stokes with a sweet blue sharpie sticker auto on the front. 
I wasn’t a big Stokes fan, but since he went to New York he doesn’t sign TTM (not for me at least) so like the Cantu up top this is my first Stokes autograph and the goal is to get one of every Rays player ever. I have some non-licensed Donruss autographs, so I was pretty “stoked” to see Stokes with a Rays logo on his cap. You can view my 
