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.

An Epic Post of Blogger Kindness from Reds and MORE!!!

Greetings and good afternoon Trollites! I apologize for my absence yesterday, but I am back! It is a very busy week for me. There is a National Invitational Roller Derby Tournament this weekend that I will be calling, the Stone Crabs are opening their season and the Rays will be defending first place against the Yankees this weekend, after they complete the sweep of the Orioles tonight that is. Oh and I have a small speaking role in an independent film. Plus, I’m scheduled for 9 shifts at work and… Busy, busy Troll. Anyway…
My wonderful readers are continuing to wow me with very kind packages and I do plan on posting each and every one of them. I am way behind, but I am ready to roll!
I have been sitting on this package for exactly one month now. It came to me from Cameron in Tulsa the author of the Reds and More blog. Honestly I had never met Cameron before, online or otherwise, but after I posted this last month Cameron got in touch and got a gigantic and generous package in the mail for me the next day. It has been a little bit over a month since the heart of my collection was stolen, I went to the card shop yesterday and to the flea markets this weekend and the cards still have yet to surface. I am not giving up hope, but that crappy situation has really turned into a blessing for me. I believe that things happen for a reason and if not for that post and the Cardboard Junkie aka the King of the Blog-O-Sphere linking it I would have never met Cameron or a score of other bloggers. I love this virtual community that we all exist in-I am proud to be a part of it and I never get tired of saying how wonderful and amazing it is. Okay, back to the package from Reds and More. Like I said I got this over a month ago-I know this because I left the cards in their original envelope so I wouldn’t forget where they came from and the postmark says March 6. I have posted several editions of Blogger Kindness and I have MANY more to show off, but getting a package from a complete stranger sent IMMEDIATELY after reading of my experience really blew me away. Damn work for taking up all my time and keeping me from posting this! That said, I do need to get ready to go back, so let’s get back to the business of showing off some of the highlights of this package that included Negro Leaguers, HOFers, autographs, relics, Clementes and a whole ton of Pirates and Rays. He included quite a few David Price cards that I needed, but I am going to show this one because this is the only one I have ever seen like this. It comes from 2009 Topps, but isn’t the standard pose from the set. The card is number JCP2. If Google is correct, the JCP stands for either the Journal of Computational Physics or JC Penney. Anyone know anything about these? Moving on to a serial numbered rookie card of my favorite shortstop Jason Bartlett. This is card #62 from 2004 Fleer Draft Edition, serial numbered 0514/1000. He sent me a few Topps Chrome refractors which are always welcome here, including a 2008 BJ Upton and a 2009 Matt Garza. He also sent the most amazing refractor I have ever seen… From 2008 Bowman, card #171 of 2009 Home Run King Carlos Pena. As much as I love refractors I am not too knowledgeable about the different varieties. I thought this was an X Fractor, but since then I have gathered quite a few of those and none compare to this one. Is this a SUPER FRACTOR? It is serial numbered 216/250 and shiny as all hell! The pile of Rays he sent was never ending and it seemed that I needed all of them, but I won’t every card. I have trimmed it down to just 3 more beginning with an old school Wade Boggs from 1999 Topps Stadium Club. I picked this one because as many cards as I have of Boggs as a D-Ray (100+) this might be the only card that shows him running. Next up is a SWEET new RED Turkey Red that I have been coveting for a while. This is from 2005 (I think, my eyes are failing me), card #152 of All Star Carl Crawford. AWESOME! The last card to show off comes 2008 Topps Series 2, card #TR-SK, a jersey relic of the Rays former Ace Scott Kazmir. I am pretty sure with this one I have every Rays card from this subset. I love being an obsessive team collector!
Sticking with 2008 Topps, but switching gears to my favorite player of all time and the third best right fielder in history according to my readers, Roberto Clemente, this card is from the Ring of Honor insert set, card #RH26. It celebrates Clemente’s second WS win in 1971 where he batted .414 and took home WS MVP honors.
Since we are on the topic of the Pirates, he sent a slew of sweet cards of the Bucs. I love vintage Pirates cards but don’t really collect modern Pirates because no one stays on the team long enough to build an attachment and if I do build one, they get traded and I get really bummed. That happened with Jason Kendall who spent a few years as my favorite player. He and I actually became friends, went surfing together and hung out a bit and from there I obsessively collected his cards during the pre-relic era. When I got back into things last year I considered chasing him again, but I wasn’t that interested anymore. That said I am thrilled to have this one! It comes from the 2002 SPx Winning Materials Combo Jersey set and features Kendall and Brian Giles, each with a different color jersey swatch. It is AWESOME! I dug out some old Kendall cards I had and filled 2 pages in my PC binder. Ah, memories! From the past to the present, here is a pair of Ticket to Topps Town cards of future star Andrew McCutchen. I REALLY like the photo on the GOLD version, great angle, bad crop, but still great. I am starting to think about chasing TTT Gold now, too. I have 6 cards so far… We went from the past to the present, now here is a great relic of the future. From the 2008 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection, here is a black jersey swatch of outfielder slash first baseman Steve Pearce. The Pirates have a lot of weak spots on their roster, but they have a ton of depth at first base and right field and Garrett Jones IS the real deal. That leaves Pearce behind for now, but I think this guy has a shot… Shifting back to the past, these 2 were my favorites from the package. These cards wowed me so much that I thought about chasing both of these guys and YES I got these before the poll where you guys voted for Bill Madlock (in a tie) as the next play I collect… This is my first relic of Mad Dog and my only one so far… It comes from 2006 Fleer, the Decade Greats set, card # DEC-BI. I really like the design of this card, the batting pose from the former batting champion and little piece of his bat in the corner. I still haven’t decided how to break the 3-way tie between Madlock, Larry Doby and Bill Mazeroski. I don’t see a problem in collecting all of them a little bit-they are 3 of my All Time favs… I thought it was awesome that Cameron was so clairvoyant with this one. I have been typing for over 2 hours and I really need to go to work, so I am going to close up this super post of a super package from a super kind blogger… This is a great Pirates card to close it on, it comes from a set that I didn’t even know about until recently, but have recently become obsessed. I love Hall of Fame autographs, but I get tired of seeing the same players in every set. That makes these sets super awesome because of the variety. This is a chrome version of a 2004 style Topps card of one of the best relievers the National League has ever seen. I am rushing and not too great with words right now, so just enjoy this super great, uncirculated awesome certified, on card auto of Elroy Face!!! I LOVE this card. I like vintage players on modern designs; it’s like a reverse Heritage type thing. Anyway, this card is easily one of my favorites. This was my first Face card (a KING!) and later that week Chris from Project '62 sent me a few vintage Topps cards of him. Those are two great reasons to start collecting a guy that I was already a huge fan of. More cards that he included from a set that I didn’t know existed are these amazing 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game cards. He sent a stack of former stars from the Negro Leagues. Among the group were this card of one of my favorite people in the world, former Kansas City Monarchs player and manager Buck O’Neil. This last card inspired me too, stay tuned for some Buck O’Neil obsessiveness!!! In the awesome letter that Cameron sent with these awesome cards he suggested that we could talk some smack during the season, Reds vs. the Pirates. It’s hard for me to talk bad about the Reds since my favorite player Jonny Gomes plays for them, but… The Pirates, much like the Rays are undefeated and in sole possession of first place! I never thought I would be able to say that outside of April Fool’s Day! The Pirates rule, Reds suck! This so concludes another amazing episode of Blogger Kindness. Thanks so much for everything Cameron!!! You blew me away! Go check out and follow Reds and More right now! It isn’t just for Reds fans, hence the more, you won’t regret it! Stay tuned for more amazing stuff coming soon from Jacob Marley, Wicked Ortega, Stale Gum, GCRL and more, much more!!! Thanks to all who read this all the way through! If you thought this was long, imagine if I had posted EVERYTHING he sent and not a few highlights... Man if I only had a little bit more time... Go Rays! Troll out.

A BA Rays Buffet!

In continuing on the theme of the kindness of other bloggers, this early evening post comes courtesy of B.A. Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet. BA Benny is a Mets fan and a somewhat new blogger. I have been blogging about cards for about 10 months now and the more great new blogs that pop up, the more I feel like a veteran blogger. Anyway, the Card Buffet opened for business about 2 months ago and already he is posting at a torrid pace, has a ton of followers and a bunch of happy trade partners. As yet, I am not one of them, but I may have a few Mets up my sleeve… Anyway, BA Benny came through for me with a sweet 8-card (course) offering of great Rays cards. First up is a pair of 2009 Scott Kazmir Topps Chromes. I am pretty sure I have posted the base before, so I skipped that, but I know I have never posted the blue refractor, as this is the first one of these I have ever seen. I am a lover of refractors, I definitely have a soft spot for them, but colored refractors are even better. I wasn’t able to get a great scan of this one, but I will. One of the things that I love about refractors is that if you take the time to set them on the scanner just right, they look GREAT scanned. I will def rescan and repost this one soon. Probably with the other 2009 Topps Chrome blue refractors I have. So far I have collected this Kazmir along with Shields, Pena, Burrell and Aki. I know I still need the Garza and the Longoria, but I don’t remember who else is in that set. I know that Mets fans have a weird love/hate relationship with Kazmir as New York shipped him to Tampa Bay for a song (and Victor Zambrano) and a bag of balls while he was still a prospect. I guess Rays fans are in the same boat now that Kaz is an X-Ray, but I think that Tampa Bay got a better deal in return… Anyway, BA Benny also sent a Gold (another favorite Topps parallel of mine) Scott Kazmir from 2008 Topps. Losing all of the Topps Gold Rays that I had been hoarding for so long was pretty difficult, but thanks to blogger kindness, some good trades and a few online purchases, I am getting back on track with my Gold Rays. I have noticed that I don’t have any before 2001. Does anyone know when Topps started the gold parallel? I remember black gold in 1993, but I have stopped and started collecting so many times I don’t remember when gold became a regular thing. I know they had those in 2007 cuz BA Benny also sent this 2007 Topps Gold card of former D-Rays pitching prospect Juan Salas, #628. He went older school than that with this 2006 Gold card from Topps Updates and Highlights, card #UH114 of former D-Rays catcher Josh Paul. Sticking with the Topps theme, BA Benny also sent this 2007 Topps REDBACK rookie card of Akinori Iwamura. Another 2007 Aki card that he included is this foil card of the infielder, #233 from ’07 Bowman Heritage. He rounded out the package with a jersey card from 2009 Upper Deck SPX of Rays centerfielder BJ Upton. Now that is a Rays buffet! Thanks so much for the cards and note BA Benny! Muchas gracias Mike G! They are very much appreciated. I think you have the early lead for best new blog of 2010, so keep up the good work! For all things Mets, baseball, sports cards and occasionally whatever else, go check out BA Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet, tell him the Troll sent ya! Before I go, I have a totally unrelated end question... Can anyone recommend some free software? I don't have any type of photo editing software on my laptop. I need something. Basic is fine, just enough to be able to crop scans. Any advice? Thanks! Go Rays! Troll out.

Blown Away by Blogger Generosity! The Scott Kazmir and Yosemite Sam Edition

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.

5 From 5, Rays Autograph Edition

Thanks to everyone who entered the quick Chipper Contest. It is now closed; I will randomize a list sometime next week. A sorry to those of you who didn’t make it, your time will come! Today was supposed to be the last day of full-squad workouts at Pirate City, BUT it has been raining all day. I pick lil bro up at 9 AM and we came back to my house to wait it out. Let me just say that playing ping pong in my garage is a lot of fun some days, but not when you plan on watching baseball out in the sun.
I just dropped “Dan” back off at home and now I am supposed to be cleaning the house to prepare for my niece to come over. I figured I would probably have time to write a quick post though… This is a 5 From 5, Rays Autographs Edition. I have received quite a few Rays graphs lately, but these are close to the keyboard, so I will go with them.
The first is of the Rays fearless leader, our manager Joe Maddon, shown here on his 2009 Topps base card, belly and all. This is rad for a few reasons. One is that (as far as I know) there aren’t any certified manager autos out there. I know there are scout autos, but I haven’t seen managers and I wondered how I would add Maddon to the collection. This one came to me from (the other reason it is rad) my wife, the lovely and legendary Esther Gin N Juice who waited in line at Fan Fest for this one. The security guards at the Fan Fest were living out their Cop Fantasies and EVERYONE out of line was complaining about them. “One item per person, no pictures, don’t talk to the players” they said, it was stupid. I didn’t wait in line, but my lovely wife did and she proved my theory that pretty girls get special privileges with this. Normally that would irritate me, but having a 9=8 Maddon ball on the mantle looks pretty good.
The next one comes from reader Derek L and shows the Rays new closer as a rookie with the Mariners from 2002 Donruss Rookie Crusade. This is obviously before Donruss lost their licensing and it is a sharp and shiny card with a shinier sticker on it. You can see the evolution of Soriano’s signature here on this one from EGnJ’s (again) Fan Fest adventure. The next Rays auto comes from Joe L. of the Cobb and Halladay blog. Joe has hooked me up with several Rays graphs and has a knack for finding ones that I need. This one is from 2007 Upper Deck Spectrum and shows Juan Salas. It is a sticker auto, too, but Upper Deck used the more sublime scotch tape sticker on this one. Salas spent 10 years in the Rays organization, originally as a third baseman, then converting to a hard throwing pitcher. He made appearances as a reliever with the big club in 2006-2008 before being traded and released from Cleveland. The 4th auto comes from another super trader who seems to hook me up on a weekly basis, Mr. Alfredo Ortega from My Past Time…I Love It!. He sent 4 other autos in this batch, but for now I will show this one as it came from my “most wanted” list. I think this is a redemption auto as it is in a screw-down case with a Bowman sticker sealing it. The card is 2005 Bowman Draft Pick card showing the Rays #1 pick from the 2002 draft, BJ Upton. This card is signed on-card in blue sharpie and is numbered quite randomly 435 of 667. The fifth card is in a similar case with the 2006 Bowman Originals sticker on it. It comes from another reader, Gary N. The card is a 2005 Bowman of Scott Kazmir and it is signed in blue sharpie (very fine tip sharpie) on-card. It is also randomly numbered 045/155. Thanks to everyone for this great autographs! The most wanted list now includes Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Willy Aybar, Gabe Gross, Matt Garza, JP Howell and Cliff Floyd. THEN, I will have EVERYONE on the 2008 American League Championship team! Next I will start working on the 2010 Championship team, cuz it is gonna happen! Thanks to everyone who hooked it up with these awesome cards! More autos and more awesomeness to come… Oh, if anyone knows anything about these 2005 Bowman autos with the 2006 Bowman Originals stickers on the case, let me know... Go Rays! Troll out.