Congrats to Jeremy Hellickson!

The 2011 American League Rookie of the Year!!! He becomes the 2nd Rays player to win the honor after going 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA and helping Tampa Bay to win the AL Wild Card... A World Series ring would have been nicer, but I am feeling pretty proud as a Rays fan right now! Congrats again to Jeremy Hellickson!!! If you have any unwanted cards of JH, feel free to send them my way! Go Rays! troll out.

Don't Call It a Comeback...

So I hadn’t planned on a third post today, but I read Marc Topkin's column, The Heater on Tampa Bay dot com and got giddy over the news and scheduled this one to pop up while I am at work. Rocco Baldelli is expected to signing a minor league playing contract with Tampa Bay today. He is set to begin play as the designated hitter for the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Florida State League TONIGHT! 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 A Pack to be Named Later as I am sure I have a post up. Go Rays! Troll out.

At The End of the Rainbow AKA PC MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

I don't know why, but if I get a card of one of my favorite players and I learn that there other versions of the SAME card available in other colors-I WANT THEM! I have become obsessed with Topps Parallels. It started with the GOLD cards and now I am craving the black versions. Platinum cards of Carl Crawford are still just legend to me, but someday I hope to see and own one of them. It is the platinum 1/1 cards that have kept me from completing the Topps rainbow for any Carl Crawford cards. With only one copy of each card they just don't pop up often. I think there are only 3 different 2010 Topps Platinum cards on eBay right now. The series 2 Nick Markakis is up for bid right now if anyone is interested... I should get back on track though. This post isn't about Nick Markakis, Topps Baseball nor my inability to finish a Topps rainbow parallel, this post is about Carl Crawford and 2010 Bowman and my ability to fulfill that rainbow. Yep, I did it. It was one of my collecting goals for 2010 and I achieved it and I can say that I am the only Crawford collector to do it. I am probably the only one who wanted to, but still... It all started with the black (base) version that came in a trade when Bowman first broke. I got the orange version a few weeks later in a trade. The next two were purchased from a reader and the final card was an eBay purchase. The gold one ended up being the last one I found and that came in the mail on Monday. I have been itching to post them all ever since. I really don't know what to write about them other than that as an obsessive completest player collector I feel pretty happy right now... Check em out, that is CC safe at home in Miami with a black border, a blue border, an orange border, a gold border and finally a RED BORDER! I like the back of the red card the best... Sweet. I am pretty happy with these. As I write this post CC is still in the midst of an MVP type season. He is batting .322 with 11 homers, 50 RBI, 108 hits, 21 doubles, 6 triples and 31 steals. He has scored 70 runs, has a .380 on base percentage and a .519 SLG%. Last night he had 2 hits in a loss against the Yanks in New York. Thanks for checking out my latest acquisitions... As a player collector I am on top of the world right now. Regular readers may recall that I am chasing the printing plate versions of this card-I am still stalled out waiting to find the magenta one. Now if the Rays crush the Yankees tonight I will be REALLY happy. If you have any CC cards you think I might need, drop me an email. Bacontowne at yahoo dot com. I LOVE this hobby! Go Rays! troll out.

An All Star Shout Out!

I just got home from work and I have yet to watch the game, but I will soon. I am still in the dark as to the outcome, but someone spilled some positive Rays stats and also told me that Carl Crawford did NOT repeat as All Star MVP. Still I felt congratulations and acknowledgements were in order… I understand that young Mr. Price threw GAS and that young Mr. Longoria hit a double and young Mr. Crawford stole a base… I don’t know if Soriano played, but as long as he didn’t blow a save-congrats to him as well.

Da Rays...

I don't get to watch too many games on television because I work nights, but I did catch the Rays come from behind victory in Minnesota last night and I am watching the game today. Soriano is on the mound with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th trying to beat the Twins for the second time in as many days. Last night Twins designated hitter Jim Thome was 3-4 with a double and his 9th and 10th homeruns of the season. His second long ball was his 574th homer and moved him past former Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew into 10th place ALL TIME. Thome's second blast had the Twins in the lead, but the Rays exploded in the 8th inning behind Matt Joyce's GRAND SLAM. I was in attendance for Joyce's first homer as a Ray. I was also there for his third and final bomb. That came on June 2, 2009. He finished the 2009 season with the Durham Bulls, but his big league numbers were meager-.188/3/7. He started this season in AAA but was called up last week. He hadn't brought his bat with him and was batting below .200 at the start of the game. He got the call to pinch hit in the top of the 8th and came through with his first grandslam. Crawford, Aybar and Bartlett all had doubles for the Rays and Randy Choate got credit for his first win of the season. Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless 9th for his 20th save. In today's game he collected his 21st and James Shields earned his first 7th win to give the Rays some momentum before returning home to host the Red Sox tomorrow. I will be at the Trop to see Matt Garza go for his 10th win of the season. The All Star lineups were also announced today. I will have a full post on that later, but as everyone has heard 3 Rays players will be in the starting lineup. Evan Longorian at third, Carl Crawford in left and David Price on the mound. Huge congrats Guys! Go Rays! Lets beat Boston! Troll out.

2008 American League Champions Autograph Chase-Part 9

Happy 4th of July to all and welcome to part 9 in an ongoing series showcasing on-card autographs of all of the members of the 2008 American League Pennant winning Tampa Bay Rays. Willy Aybar came to the Rays right before spring training in 2008 via a trade with the Atlanta Braves. Willy made an immediate impact playing in 95 games and filling the role of super utility infielder. He logged time at all 4 infield positions as well as designated hitter. He was the replacement for both Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena when they missed time with injuries. Willy batted .253 with 10 homers and 33 RBI in his first season in Tampa Bay. In the playoffs he caught fire, particularly in the ALCS, but overall he batted .353 with 2 homers and 7 RBI in the postseason. Aybar battled some injuries early this season, but after the release of Pat Burrell he found himself an everyday player. He can still fill in anywhere in the infield, but he is now the team’s main designated hitter. Over the last 7 games Aybar is batting .333 with a homer and 7 RBI. He produced a game winning homer last week and on Thursday he provided a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning against the Twins. I have yet to find a certified autograph of Willy Aybar, but I am happy with this on-card, in person signed 2010 Upper Deck card. Go Rays! Troll out.

2008 American League Champions Autograph Chase - Part 8

EDITORS NOTE: (This post was originally part 2, it was written a month ago but I couldn't find the card to scan. Since this was written Navarro's bat had been ice cold and he was demoted to Triple A Durham. Thus far in three games Navi has a homer and 2 RBI. I also added a couple of sweet 2010 Topps Series 2 cards to the post. Yes, one is a gold parallel and the other is a black printing plate ONE of ONE! Get your bat right and hurry back for the playoffs Navi!!!)The Tampa Bay Rays sent three players to the All Star Game in 2008. One of them was catcher Dioner Navarro. Navarro entered the game in the bottom of the 7th inning as a pinch hitter for Jason Varitek. Of course the 2008 All Star Game lasted 15 innings and Navarro was the last available catcher for the American League squad. He caught the rest of the game, handling 10 AL pitchers and going to the plate 5 times. In the top of the 15th inning Navarro caught for his teammate Scott Kazmir who pitched a scoreless inning. In the bottom of the 15th inning Navarro came up with one out and Justin Morneau on 1st base. Navarro singled to put Morneau into scoring position. JD Drew walked to load the bases and the game ended when Michael Young hit a deep pop-up off of Brad Lidge which scored Morneau. The American League won the game 4-3 in 15 innings. Kazmir was the winning pitcher and the game ended with all 3 Tampa Bay All Stars still in the game. Navarro finished the game 1-4 with a walk, 9 put-outs and 1 caught stealing. This was the first real national exposure that Navarro had received prior to the playoffs. In the ALDS Navarro hit .400 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. He cooled off in the ALCS, but his hot hitting returned in the 2008 World Series. He was the Rays leading hitter with a .353 WS batting average. Of course the Rays lost to the Phillies in 5 games. Navarro remains the Rays starting catcher. His batting average is hovering around the Mendoza line this year and he is serving a two-game suspension, but history says that his bat WILL wake up. I am lucky to own a few certified autos of Navi, but now can add this 2009 Upper Deck card of Navi as a Ray in a play at the plate against the Red Sox. I think he is outta here! I love this hobby! Go Rays! Beat the Yankees! Troll out.

2008 American League Champions Autograph Quest Part 7

Part 7 in this ongoing series shows Rays reliever JP Howell on a 2007 Bowman Heritage Signs of Greatness card. As I continue to gather certified autographs of my favorite team I am beginning to build favorite sets. 2009 Goodwin Champions and 2007 Bowman Heritage are definitely among my favorites. Good art, simple design, clear on card autos, awesomeness! JP Howell has been an integral part of the Rays bullpen the past two seasons. This year he started the year on the DL with soreness in his throwing arm. It turned out to be worse than anticipated and he had season ending surgery in May. Dr. James Andrews performed the procedure and JP is expected to be back and better than ever for 2011. JP came to the Rays from the Royals who chose him in the first round of the 2004 draft. The Rays sent Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez. That was another of the wise trades that led the Rays to the postseason in 2008. Things were not good for Howell in his first 2 seasons in Tampa Bay. In 2006 and '07 he was 2-9 with an ERA over 7, but he came into his own in 2008. He was 6-1 with a 2.22 in 61 games striking out 92 in 89 innings while serving as a setup man for Troy Percival and Dan Wheeler. In 2009 Howell was forced into the role of closer and was not really ready for that position. His record was still respectable going 7-5 with 17 saves and an ERA of 2.84. He also struck out 79 batters in just 66 innings. Like most fans I am so used to seeing a closer come out of the pen throwing heat that seeing Howell in there in the 9th tossing the ball 78 MPH was a bit weird. I have heard he can reach 90 MPH with his sinker, but I have never seen it. He has a cutter, a curve, knuckle curve and change and they all stay between 75-85 MPH, but his movement and location keep batters swinging and missing. I look forward to seeing Howell back on the field, in the pen and on the mound in 2011. Go Rays! Troll out.

Quick Post, A New PC Addition, A Contest Update and a Question for the Group Break Faithful...

I miss my blog!!! All of them. I got so used to posting daily on at least two of my blogs and it is driving me crazy to not be around. I am working 7 days AGAIN this week and I have finals on Monday and Tuesday and then I begin summer semester B on Wednesday. No rest for the wicked I suppose... I have hundreds of great cards that I have recieved in trades to post, kind bloggers and readers from all over the world have been tearing up my want lists which are all updated. I also updated my needs list on the side bar for autographs from the 2008 AL Champs team. I am down to needing just 5 cards. I have autos of three of them already, but not on Rays cards. I think ultimately I want to upgrade and have the whole team on-card. I looked through the collection and I am pretty close. I only have one sticker auto that I still need to upgrade. The unfortunate thing is that sticker auto is of their third baseman and his on-card autographs ain't cheap... I will get a few posts up this weekend. I will also update on the promised contest. It will coincide with my 600th post which should happen next weekend. The question will be how many cards I have in my Carl Crawford collection. I have been buying recieving a lot of new cards lately, so you can't guess yet. I will set a date and then count everything. The closest to the right number will win. First prize will be closest without going over and second prize will be closest over. The prizes will include a Carl Crawford Topps Traded rookie card and a few other goodies for the non-Rays fans out there. One prize will be a very nice Tony Gwynn rookie card so stay tuned and start thinking of your guesses. I will give you a hint now... I passed 200 at the end of 2009. I will also tell you that I count variations as different cards so if I have a 2007 Topps, the same card with a red back and the same card in gold it will count as three different cards. I will also count any card that pictures and names Crawford on it. For instance this new addition to my collection will count. It is a 2007 Upper Deck Premier Rare Patches Dual card with BJ Upton. It is numbered 48/50. I like dual player cards when they make sense and Crawford and Upton have patroled the same outfield together for a while now. I really don't like all the Crawford cards with Scott Podsednick (sp?) or Jose Rios. Those don't make sense. This card doesn't identify which swatch is from which player, but I love that the patch is below the photo of CC. I know everyone out there is over jersey swatches. I became obsessed with them when I got back into collecting and now I am getting bored a little bit, too. Patches on the other hand still have my interest 100%. Thats it for now, I really hope to be able to post some of the amazing trades I have recieved very soon. You guys-my readers and fellow bloggers-are amazing and your generosity continues to blow me away. Oh... one last thing. If you are a participant in my long overdue group break I have a question. Would you rather continue to wait for me to slowly post the rips OR would you rather I tear EVERYTHING and not post it, but send all of your cards out and you-the recipient-will post them on your blogs? Please let me know. I feel really bad that everyone rushed payment and I have not sent anything in return out yet. I put up a poll question, please vote on it. Oh before I sign off I have a very odd card in my Rays collection. I found this card-it is a 1998 Best Trading Cards promo card of Kerry Wood. Wood came up with the Cubs obviously and he never played for a second in the Rays organiztion, but in 1997 he was in AA with the Cubs and played for the Orlando Rays, which were still a Cubs team. Oddness... Does anyone know if Wood signs TTM? I would love to have this card signed... Thanks for reading! Please check out my freshly updated want lists. Go Rays! Troll out.

2008 American League Champions, The Autograph Quest Part 3 The Spitter

The third card in this ongoing series comes from 2009 UD Goodwin’s Champions. It is an on-card gem of Matt Garza. 2008 was Garza’s first year with the Rays. He and Jason Bartlett came over from Minnesota in exchange for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris. I think that Delmon Young will be a great player someday, but that trade is one of the best in Rays history and paid immediate dividends. Garza was 11-9 with a 3.70 ERA in 30 starts for the Rays. He tied for the league lead with 2 shutouts and was third in the AL with 3 complete games. He dazzled on the national stage in the 2008 ALCS. Against Boston Garza was awesome! He was 2-0 in 2 starts with a 1.38 ERA. He pitched 13 innings and struck out 14 and was award the ALCS MVP honors. Like Bartlett, Garza has many certified autos available during his days as a prospect with the Twins, but not too many Rays autos. This is my favorite. After 2 months of being outbid at the final second I finally won this one and I love it! This is my third Rays auto from Goodwin’s and I hope to get them all. Incidentally, Garza started this season red hot. He has cooled down a bit, but is still holding onto a very respectable 7-4 record with a 3.50 ERA and a shot at making his first All Star appearance this year. I expect to see Price and Niemann on the staff, but it would be amazing if Garza makes it, too. I love this game and I love this hobby! Thanks for reading! Go Rays! Troll out.

A One-Card Post - Yes, It is Carl Crawford...

It’s Sunday and I am enjoying my first day off so far this month. My wife is out with her best friend. One of my friends called and asked if I wanted his Rays tickets for today, but wifey has the car so I am “organizing” my cards. This means there are thousands of cards all over the floor. I have about 12 posts half written or partially scanned for 4 different blogs. I haven’t posted anything all day, so here is a quick one-card post. It’s a favorite card of mine, so it’s okay. It comes from 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights and the highlight is the game that Carl Crawford had on May 3, 2009. I was glued to my TV set for every single pitch of that one. James Shields earned his third win of the season beating Brad Penny. Carl Crawford was on base 5 times in 5 plate appearances going 4 for 4 with a walk. He drove in a run and scored 2 more and oh yeah, he also stole 6 bases!!! That is a record folks. Actually it tied a record. Otis Nixon and Eric Young Sr. did it. Hall of Famer Eddie Collins did it too. Collins actually did it twice, in the same season, actually in the same month - September of 1912. The official record is 7 steals in one game. Hall of Famer Sliding’ Billy Hamilton did it 1894. He also batted .404 that year and stole 98 bases. Six is considered the modern record however. The back of the card points out that Crawford and Eddie Collins were the only 2 to steal six while having 4 hits in the game as well. Crawford’s six steals gave him 17 for the season. Jacoby Ellsbury, who would lead the AL in steals in 2009, was thrown out in his lone stolen base attempt. All of Crawford’s steals came against Sox Captain Jason Varitek. The card is #UH179 in the set. I don’t know for sure, but I really hope the picture on the front is from that game. Being under that assumption, this is one of my favorite cards. This now the third version I own of it. The regular base, the gold #ed to 2009 and now the BLACK version. Mine is numbered 42/58. I bought this card for myself as an early Father’s Day gift. I have “black Crawford Topps” as a “saved search” on an auction site, but seldom get an alert. When I saw this one for auction, I HAD to have it. Now if I could just find the platinum version I could finally complete a Crawford Quadrifecta. Thanks for reading! Go Rays! Troll out.

2008 American League Champions Autograph Quest Part 2-From the Wicked Vault!!!

Okay, here is an awesome card that I have been eager to post for some time. This one came to me in a big (unposted) lot from my buddy Wicked Ortega of the My Past Time I Love It blog. It is a 2007 Topps Triple Threads card of Devil Rays catcher Shawn Riggans. This is one of the coolest cards I own. It is a triple relic swatch including a 2-color patch and it is autographed! It is one of those cards that is really awesome, but you kinda wish it was of someone else... I take that back, Shawn Riggans was an awesome guy. He is missed in the organization. He left this spring when he signed a minor league deal with the Mets, but didn't make the club out of spring training. I think he is a man without a ballclub right now. In 2008 he appeared in 44 ball games for the Rays. He added 6 homeruns. He was the only player to spend the entire playoffs on the roster without appearing in a game. As always I owe a HUGE thanks to My Past Time I Love It! for this great card. I just got another package from him with even more goodies! I promise to scan and post them someday! I posted the autos I still need for this project in the side bar. There are 7 players total. Thanks for reading! If anyone knows where Riggans is right now, please let me know... I will try and post one of these per day, so stay tuned! I posted on the Nitty Gritty today for the first time all week. Check it out! I am tomorrow and will try and schedule a full week o posts. Go Rays! Troll out.

One More For the CC PC

When I first got back into collecting in 2007 I bought exclusively Heritage. One day the shop was out and I bought a box of '07 Topps. That yielded my first ever Carl Crawford card. It was just a plain old base card, but I put it in a screw down holder anyway. I wasn't buying singles at the time and the CC Heritage card was an SP that I hadn't pulled yet. Anyway, it is a really cool shot of him sliding and it has become one of those cards that I can't get enough of. 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.

From the Wicked Vault...

Here is another one-card post from your friend the Troll. Another Rays pitcher, but this time a starter turned reliever. Sonnanstine has been responding well to his new role. Sparing a rough outing in New York where he was shelled for 4 runs on May 19th, he has been stellar in relief. His last two outings have spanned 4 shutout innings. Obviously I would prefer to see him back to his form in 2008 when he won 13 games as a starter, but I am happy that he remains on the team and he is doing well in his new role. Middle and long relief has long been a weak point for Tampa Bay and Sonnanstine has the ability to burn up a lot of innings. He is 1-0 so far this season with a 3.43 ERA and 13 Ks in 15 appearances spanning 21 innings. Opponents are batting .232 off of him this year. This card comes from the Wicked Vault and came to me recently from My Past Time…I Love It!. It is from 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Beginnings Signature Series and shows Sonnanstine in spring training 2006 on the front with an ON-CARD blue sharpie signature on the bottom. There is also a plastic miniature batting helmet embedded on the card. I think that is a bit goofy, but I am not complaining. I really like this card! This is the third Sonny autograph to come my way from South Florida and the 9th total in my collection. If this card wasn’t ¼ inch thick, I could fill a binder page full of Sonnanstine autographs. This card, however, is far too thick to fit into a binder page. Thanks so much for this and all of the great stuff you have sent to me Wicked! Hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day Weekend. This was a "scheduled post" but I just read on My Past Time, I Love It! that our friend and fellow blogger suffered a flood in his home this weekend. It took out more than half of his collection, plus baby pictures and many belongings. Stop by to show him some love and support. We are here for you homie!!! Go Rays! Troll out.

A Number One Draft Picks Who Is Already Winning Games in the Big Leagues...

This one card post is brought to you by Adam E from the Thoughts and Sox blog. Adam had posted this on his blog a few months back and I expressed interest because I didn’t have any cards of David Price in his Vanderbilt uniform and I thought it looked pretty cool. This was during spring training and I don’t think anyone thought that Price would jump out like he has, but he is acting like the Ace that the Rays hoped he would be when they used the first overall pick to select him in the 2007 draft. The card is from the 2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition set, card #5, and Adam didn’t just send the Price card, he sent me the ENTIRE set!!! As soon as I get it sleeved up I will start posting pages, but for now here is David Price when he was dominating the NCAA. He failed in his bid for his 8th win the other night, but at 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 10 starts he is looking damn good. He has one shutout to his credit and 50 strikeouts in 66 innings this season. I do have a question about this card that maybe someone can answer for me. Why does it say (NL) after Drafted by Tampa Bayon the cards front? Thanks so much Adam for this great addition to my growing David Price collection. Look for more posts from the Thoughts and Sox vault in the near future. Go Rays! Troll out.

Oh No, Not Another Trade Post!!!

This post is meant to accomplish a few things. First I wanted to welcome a new (sort of) blogger to the Blog-O-Sphere Family. His name is Ryan and he is a fan and collector of all things Baltimore Orioles. Now there are already quite a few Orioles blogs out there and there are 3 of them that I can think of which are run by people named Ryan (first OR last name) so his blog title is super appropriate. It is called Oh No, Another Orioles Blog. I suppose he isn’t THAT new. He already has 22 posts AND 22 followers to his credit, but I am ALWAYS late, so naturally I am late on the welcome wagon. Anyway, a big blog-o-sphere welcome to ANOTHER Orioles blogger named Ryan. Okay, purpose number 2. Ryan and I made a trade and I wanted to post it. Actually Ryan sent me some cards and I owe him some, but I want to get these in the binder and off the desk, so here they are. I will start with some Topps cards he sent of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Enter purpose #3-to pimp my want lists. You can find my Rays Team Set list right HERE. Ryan found it and knocked a few cards off of it which is always appreciated. This brought me down to needing just 13 more cards for total Topps/D-Rays domination from 1997 to present. Of course that number will rise now that 2010 Topps Series 2 is out and I don’t have any of those YET, but anyway… I have mentioned that 2003 Topps is one of my favorites; I now need just one more card to finish that off. I barely remember Lee Stevens playing for the Devil Rays, but THAT’S BECAUSE HE NEVER PLAYED FOR THE DEVIL RAYS!!! His last game in the big leagues was in September of 2002 and he was with Cleveland. He did play in 18 games for the Indianapolis Indians (AAA) in 2003 before officially retiring, but those Indians are a Brewers affiliate. Maybe he got a non roster to spring training with Tampa Bay in 2003? Who knows? Anyway, Topps gave him a card, #541 in their set and I needed it and now I have it. Another name I can knock off my list is from 2005 Topps Updates, a Futures Game card of Delmon Young. I don’t know why or how I still need so many cards from ’05 Topps, it seems like I have 100s of dupes, but I still need 4 more cards. Huh. Of course the fourth and final purpose is to show off some SWEET Carl Crawford cards! Along with the team set cards he sent me some fresh new Carl Crawford’s for my growing collection. Shown here is a really dark scan of card #199 from 2000 Bowman. He included a few other CC Bowmans from the past few years that I might need as well. I have my box of CC cards next to my bed and I swear I am going to sort it soon! The thing about this package that I was most excited about was the 2010 Bowman stuff he sent. People are going apesh…t over this stuff. Mainly because Stephen Strasburg cards are selling for more money than a three bedroom fixer upper does in my neighborhood. For that reason I probably won’t buy any 2010 Bowman myself, but I am super fascinated by this product. I have seen most of the Rays cards on the ‘Bay, but now I own a few of them. I really like this shot of CC sliding in safe at home in Florida against the Fish. I think that was from the same series where both Aki and Bartlett were injured last year. Anyway, I have admired this one from a far. With so many people trying to pull a million dollar Strasburg card they are peddling the other “hits” from this set for next to nothing. As SS has yet to throw a pitch in the big leagues CC is a proven All Star and you can find his cards very cheap. I am on a mission to collect one of EVERY single 2010 Bowman there is of Crawford. This includes the one of ones, printing plates, EVERYTHING! I know that sounds a bit crazy especially considering that Ryan sent me the three coolest cards in the set already, but I never claimed to be a sane collector. I really like this Bowman throwback of CC styled after 1992. I never ripped a single pack of that either, but people went crazy after that as well. I did not like the rookie cards of guys in street clothes. Didn’t like them then, still don’t. I honestly don’t own a single 1992 Bowman card, but still I think this one; card #BT24 is super rad! The last CC from 2010 Bowman is super rad as well. It is card #BE 14 from the Bowman Expectations set and has CC on one side and the centerfielder of the future Desmond Jennings on the flip side. I think DJ is going to do big things in Tampa Bay, probably starting next year. He rounded out the 2010 Bowman fest with a couple of Rays starters who have a shot at being first time All Stars. I like the Price, the Garza is bland. I need to find a checklist to see who else I need. The last card I will show is probably my least favorite. I HATE variation backs; I am with the Night Owl on this one. Just don’t like em. As a super player collector I have to deal with them though and I can now scratch 2007 Topps Red Back off of my CC needs list. Thanks for all the great cards Ryan!!! There will be Orioles a plenty heading your way soon!!! As a trader he officially has the Troll Stamp of Approval, so go check out his blog RIGHT NOW!!! Now, if you have 2010 Bowman cards of Crawford or any Rays, get in touch and let’s make a deal! I despise printing plate 1 of 1s, but for some reason I want them all... I love this game, I love this hobby, and I love TRADING! Go Rays! Troll out.