Rays are Rad in Red and Winning in Toronto!

Greetings Trollites!!! I am not quite halfway through a miserable stretch at work – we are working twelve days straight for 12 hours a day, then we are “rewarded” with 2 days off before starting all over again… Anyway, I still have a long way to go before getting a day off and I am pretty freaking tired already…

I have been spending my nights “chillaxing” more than usual. Tonight the Rays are on TV, so I am getting my chill-ax on in front of the TV and presently the Rays are up 3-1 in the second. Sweet!

They have been on a miserable slide of late. After starting the season in spectacular fashion – sweeping the Yankees at home, they been horrible, dropping 6 of their last 8 games including being swept in Boston and dropping their first game in Toronto last night. They NEED to get back on track…

Their awesome starting pitchers need to start pitching like the awesome starters that they are and the offense needs to wake up!!! I know BJ is out, but if your 1 and 2 hitters don’t get on base, you won’t be scoring many runs.

That is the truth, but also a smooth segue into this post… I have been looking for an excuse to post these 2 rad in red cards from 2011 Topps. Desmond Jennings was awesome in the season opener against NY, but has not been a good leadoff hitter since – his OBP is barely over .300 – he just hasn’t been setting the table like he needs to… Tonight he led the game off with a base hit and good things happened…

The good thing being his scoring when Ben Zobrist, also mired in a slump, hit a long drive over the right field wall… It was just his second homer in 38 at bats – Zorilla was hitting just .216 coming into this game. Hopefully his first inning homer is the end of his slump.

Either way, batting first and second and both getting hits is the perfect excuse to post these 2 gems. I think these were bonus cards, exclusive to factory sets and numbered to 245. I have been on a mission to collect up EVERY parallel version of these 2 cards. I still need a bunch more to have the whole rainbow, but I am thrilled to ad these 2 cards into the mix…

I put the computer down for a couple of innings – we are into the 6th inning, the Rays are up 6-2 and David Price is leaving the game. I don’t know if Price was pie in the face great tonight, but he pitched well enough to earn the W if the bullpen can maintain his lead.

With another perfect excuse to show off another new parallel of a favorite player – here is Rays reliever Wade Davis in sparkly puke-fractor form.

Going into the seventh inning, the Rays are still in the lead – will the winning streak start tonight?

Oh... If you have parallels of Zobrist, Jennings or Davis, PLEASE get in touch, I NEED Them!!!

Go Rays! Troll out.

Welcome Back Carlos Pena, Welcome to First Place Rays!!! What a Way to Start the Season, a Recap in 1,000 Words...

It seriously felt like October at Tropicana Field and not just because the AC is set at the same temperature… I am one of a small minority who loves the Rays home field, but having been to a dozen or so Opening Days there, I don’t think it has felt this intense and exciting on the first day of the season.

I got to see so many familiar faces in the stands – and I am proud to report that I saw VERY FEW stoopid Yankees fans out tonight. Back on (their home) Opening Day in 2007 the New Yawkers invaded and outnumbered us in a 70 – 30 split. Now I am proud to say our crowd is made up of at least 95% dedicated Rays fans.

I got to the game late, because of work, and I had missed much of the Rays fireworks, highlighted by Carlos Pena’s first inning GRAND SLAM.

I arrived just in time for Evan Longoria’s third inning solo homerun, but for the most part the bats from both teams had cooled off and the score had settled down to 6-5 in favor of the Yankees once I got there.

That stated, we will fast forward past the boring parts and get to the good stuff.

Here is the scene, it’s the bottom of the ninth inning, the Rays are down 6 – 5 and the Yankees bring in the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera in search of his career 604th save…There are 35,000 fans in blue on their feet and holding their breath hoping the miracle Rays can make magic again. Tall order though, Rivera is 60 out of 61 in his career against the Rays… It should have been a foregone conclusion that Rivera would shut them down like he had done so many times before…

Desmond Jennings led off the inning against #42 with a base hit – he was 2-4 with a walk and 2 runs scored as the Rays’ leadoff man… Ben Zobrist followed him. Zorilla had a horrible day at the plate with an O-for with 3 strikeouts at that point. He drilled a triple into left field which plated Jennings to tie the game. This was the Rays first scoring since Longoria’s homerun in the third inning. Longo was up next and Rivera walked the slugger intentionally. Not a bad idea as Longoria was 3-3 with a solo homerun and 2 runs scored in the game.

I am going to go ahead and say on record that Longoria WILL be the 2012 AL MVP. Back to the game… Luke Scott followed and was also intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs.

Sean Rodriguez was up next…

My FAVORITE Ray had been perfect on the day with a hit, 2 walks and a sacrifice till that point. The Yankees gift wrapped the ideal hero opportunity for the young infielder with the bases packed; score tied in the bottom of the ninth. Rivera’s cutter was too much and S-Rod went down swinging against the closer.

This brought up the Rays first baseman Carlos Pena. In his first game since re-signing with the Rays this offseason Pena was 1-3 with a first inning grand slam, the 8th of his career. That was the Rays LONE hit with runners in scoring position tonight.

Pena put the Rays on the board in the first with the bases juiced and guess what; he did the same thing in the 9th! Well, not the exact same thing… The first innings blast went into the right field seats like so many of his homers have. In the 9th he went the other way and hit one off the wall in left centerfield. It could have easily been a base clearing triple for the left handed slugger, but the Rays needed just one run to win it, so as soon as Zobrist crossed the plate, the celebration began as the Rays came from behind to beat the mighty Yankees on Opening Day behind the heroics of Carlos Pena.

Pena was an offensive leader for the Rays from 2007 till 2010. He spent last season in Chicago with the Cubs before returning to Tampa Bay where he became an offensive star. A former first round pick, Pena had 27 homers for the Tigers in 2004, but in 2006 he spent most of the year in the minors and had just one homerun all season. The following year, his first in Tampa Bay, Pena blasted 46 homeruns and won the AL Comeback Player of the Year.

Over the last 5 seasons he has slugged 172 homers, an average of 34 per year. Along the way he has won a Silver Slugger, a Gold Glove, an All Star selection, a World Series appearance and a homerun title.
Now he is back in Tampa Bay in search of the final piece – that World Series ring!

The Rays are on top of the AL East and there is no reason to look back… Welcome back ‘Los!!!
If you are wondering, the Trop was ELECTRIC in the 9th; it truly felt like playoff baseball in April!

If you are also wondering about the pitching – what the Rays are known for, well… Shields pitched like he looks on this card. Sloppy and uncomfortable.

He did not his big game stuff and was lucky to get through 5 innings. He allowed 6 earned runs on 9 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. He was sloppy and the Yanks were hitting the ball hard. Shields did work out of jams. It seemed like the Yankees ended every inning with the bases loaded… I think the final number was 12 runners left on base for New York. I didn’t think that Shields was going to get out of the second inning, but he stuck it out. It was nice to see that Shields could battle for 5 innings when he clearly had nothing…

The pen was very nice though… Six pitchers combined to throw 4 innings of no hit, no run baseball.

My favorite pitcher, Wade Davis made his FIRST EVER professional relief appearance. He worked one inning, following JP Howell.

Another fav of mine, Jake McGee pitched a perfect full inning as well.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was VERY EXCITING!!!!

I need to be at work at 4 AM and I am still shaking with excitement… Its gonna be a LOOONNNGGG day.

Thanks for reading! Go Rays! Troll out.

Rambling On... A Little Bit About a Lot of Stuff...

Greetings Trollites!

It seems I am slapping together a post once a month to claim that I am still alive and will be posting soon…

Well, its February, I am still alive and I will be posting soon, ha!

Things have been good in Trollville… The Legendary Esther Gin N Juice, AKA la espousa, started her new job last week and she loves it…

I have been a part of the day shift at my job for nearly six months now. Although I hate the alarm clock at 5 AM, things are going pretty well and I LOVE having my nights free. I am back in school again after taking a semester off. It’s Statistics for now and I got a high B on my first exam. I think I can pass this thing. Statistics is pretty much perfect for a baseball stat nerd like me…

I just finished reading “Odd Man Out”.

I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it as an enjoyable read. I was going to offer it up to Rod from Padrographs. Rod, if you are reading, I would be glad to send it your way. If you have already read it, well, who wants it???

I have not yet purchased any 2012 Topps. I actually went to Target today to get some puppy food and they didn’t have it on the shelves yet. They DO have 2011 Allen and Ginter marked down 20%. I didn’t buy any, but I was excited to see it marked down. I didn’t buy it mainly because I am broke, but also because I only need 3 more cards to finish off the set… I know I am not the Night Owl, but if you wanna send me cards numbered 119,120 and

130, I won’t try to stop you…

If you want to ship them to me, you might run into a roadblock, though… You see, I pay for my Post Office box every 6 months. Well, I am supposed to… The Box fees seem to go up as often as the price of stamps. In July, when I renewed last, it was $38. This January, the renewal was $47. The wifey and I got this Box while we were still dating (and we celebrate 6 years of wedded bliss next month) and it was $18.Yeah, it has nearly tripled in cost in less than a decade. Either way, I am kicking myself for not paying it on time. Now, not only do I have to cough up the 47 bucks, but they are getting me for a $25. Late fee… Blurgh. Not happy about this, but I gotta have my PO Box. I hope to havethe $$$ to get this current before the end of the month. Stay tuned and I will keep y’all up to date. If you are desperately eager to send me a package – shoot me an e-mail and I can give you my home address.

Okay, so several of you have e-mailed me to ask about my pending Trade Me Anything extravaganza. This WILL still happen. Basically the delay is solely because of the PO Box issue. As soon as I have that current again, TMA will happen! I promise…

The original reason we got the PO Box was for our record label – Bacon Towne Records. Some of you may not be aware, but aside from being a totally obsessed baseball card nerd, I am also a record collector geek.

The Wifey and I have been running Bacon Towne Rex for seven years. We release exclusively on vinyl and have had 9 releases (eight 7 inches and one 12”LP) since 2005. We have sold records to people in each one of the fifty states and over 20 different countries. It is a labor of love and is also tons of fun for us. We LOVE hardcore, thrash and punk rock music, we love our bands, we love going to shows, being on tour and we love doing mail-order. I don’t discuss the label (often at least) here on Troll Might Rule, but every now and then the paths do cross. I bring it up now because earlier this week I finalized a trade with my new friend Jesse from

Minneapolis. He wanted 3 of our releases and offered up some sweet Allen and

Ginter minis as trade bait.

Long story short, we worked out a deal that both sides are happy with and I now have 294 of the 350 minis needed for my Frankenset!!! That is 84% completion! I am thrilled and a little surprised. When I decided to chase this a few months ago I thought it would be a season long (at least) quest. The season hasn’t even started and I am down to 56 cards!! You can find my list HERE. Let’s make a deal!!!

Okay, so that covers it, I guess… Trade Me Anything will happen when I get my Post Office Box unlocked. My PO Box is temporarily unavailable. If you NEED to send me cards, shoot me an email and I will send you an alternative address.

I AM still alive. I do still lurk around the blog-o-sphere… I still read the Night Owl on a nightly basis. I still check Play at the Plate while I sip on my morning coffee and I had a beer (or seven) to celebrate The Cardboard Don’s 3rd Blog Birthday. I still have cards all over the house. There are binders on the coffee table, the dining room table and next to the bed. I still plan on ripping and chasing Topps as well as Allen and Ginter in 2012. I still plan on taking my “Little Brothers” to spring training. Now that I don’t work the night shift anymore, I plan on being a fixture at Tropicana Field in 2012. The Misses and I have been spending a lot of time on our monthly budget and we have determined that we can def fit 2 games a month (at least) into the budget.

Oh… Una Cosa Mas…

Before I sign off, I need to mention that Side of Bacon lives and I will remain the voice of the Bradentucky Bombers roller derby league. Still recovering from her knee reconstruction – Esther Gin N Juice is starting the season on the injured reserve, but I haven’t lost my voice yet and I will be there for Opening Night. We kick the season off THIS SUNDAY night at Astro Skate in Bradenton, Florida. It will be: The Bradentucky Bombers Present the Nuclear Bombshells VS, The Miami Vice City Dolls.

For more info, check out our website… If you don’t live in Florida, do yourself a favor and look up and check out your town’s own roller derby leagues…

As always, thanks for reading! I truly appreciate all of you! For everyone that has been patient with me declaring that I am back each month right before I disappear for another 29 days, I thank you!

Pitchers and catchers will be invading my town VERY soon. I can’t wait! Thanks to all! I love this game, I love this hobby and I love this forum! Baseball IQ starts in a few minutes and that is MY SHOW, so I gotta go. All of my want lists are up to date, so check em out… GO RAYS!!! We are going all the way in 2012 and I will be there to cheer y’all on in person!

Oh, before I sign off - The ever elusive black bordered 2011 Ben Zobrist card is now in my collection and at the top of this post. I have the base, the blue and the black, but still need the gold, puke, sparkle, hope, red... Help a Zorilla fan out, okay? Once again, Go Rays! To my wife, I love you! You are beautiful, thanks for decorating my blog! Go Bombers! Troll out.

Topps Update, I Got It! I Love It! - Mucho Pictures From My Cardboard Collection!

So a couple of weeks ago I bought a cool retail 4-pack of Topps Update. As usual it didn't arrive in Bradenton, Florida until months after most of you had already finished your sets. I was pretty happy with the 48 cards I pulled and ended up with 3 MCG codes and one of them actually unlocked a 1965 Topps card! I was pretty amazed as I had been on a long streak of unlocking 1987 Topps. Anyway, I flipped that '65 for one that I needed and I quickly typed out a VERY long wantlist for the set. Within minutes of posting the list I got a comment from Colbey Flywheels saying he could put a big dent in my wants list. Sweet. This weekend I bought 1 more pack (it was pretty awesome, more on that later) and got a used Ultra Pro binder with 50 pages CHEAP at my LCS. I put the 50 cards that I had in it, filling an average of 1 card per page. It looked pretty sad. Anyway, that all changed yesterday when I got a package from Colbey aka Mr. Flywheels from the Cardboard Collections blog. Colbey sent over no less than 146 different cards that I needed. I could not believe it. Thats practically half the set! I was floored with his generosity and pretty darn psyched too. 5 packs and one generous package and I am 70% of the way done with Updates. Sweet! I only have a few minutes before leaving for work, but I wanted to show off a few of my favorites. Oh and by the way, since I owe Colbey now and already owe some of you other Braves fans out there, I am going to post up some Braves cards from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s very soon. Stay tuned for that. Anyway, here are some of my favorites from 2010 Topps Updates. I will start with a trio of my favorite players. One current Ray (hopefully that title remains) and 2 Ex-Rays. A trio of guys who I watched in spring training, but then disappeared from my radar. Interesting to see where they ended up... Argenis Diaz shown at Pirate City in my hometown of Bradenton, Florida... A guy I had never heard of who has an awesome name to match his awesome stache... Anthonys Lama. Ha. A classic goofy delivery shot. Former Ray Mitch Talbot in his new role as starting pitcher in Cleveland... Heath Bell in front of some folks who just got married... Rays catcher John Jaso eating dirt. Mike Gonzalez looking like a bad ass on the mound. This obviously wasn't opening day when Mr. Gonzalez blew the save and the game for the O's. One of my favorite non-Rays, catcher Jason Kendall blocking the plate as only he can. I love the indifference on the bench behind him. J-Kendall sliding into home against Rob Johnson, JK looks safe and there is a slight bit more enthuisiasm behind him...There is a guy who hit 56 doubles in 2002 and 6 in 2010... Then there is Vlad Guerrero showing his speed and Mark DeRosa swinging like Mark Reynolds. And last, the starter for the American League All Stars and perhaps the last Ray Standing... Awesome. Thanks SO much Colbey!!! I can't believe this was our first deal. I will find you some Braves goodies very soon. In the mean time go check his blog, Cardboard Collections its cool even if he is a Braves/Panthers/Bobcats fan. Thats still okay... Speaking of okay, the goings on at the winter meetings are NOT okay. My team is being dismantled and I aint happy, but this is a happy post so I will refrain from that topic for now... Thanks again Colbey! Go Rays! troll out.

Moving a First Time Trader to the Front of the Line...

This wasn't really a trade. Last week I posted some packs of space cards and Spankee from My Cardboard Mistress claimed them. I told him I didn't want anything in return, BUT that I wouldn't ever refuse cards. Well, he sent some rad cards and some other goodies too... I received his infamous calling card AND a SWEET Nasa sticker AND a NASA pen too. I think this is the first time I ever got a pen in a trade package. I didn't scan the pen. It says NASA on it, BUT it isn't an astronaut pen. Like I said, I didn't need anything in return, but he said "Take the pen!" and I did. Here is what else I got...

A very cool looking Toby Hall Just Minors 2K card. I really love the look of these. He included a bit of Bowman including this numbered (125/150) BLUE rookie refractor of Alexander Colome. Alexander Colome is the nephew of former Rays pitcher Jesus Colome and he throws smoke.

The other Bowman inclusion is ten years older and shows current Rangers centerfielder Josh Hamilton. Hamilton would never work out as a Devil Ray, but it is reassuring that the Rays top pick in 1999 made it.

They did pretty well with their 2nd pick that year, netting Carl Crawford with that one. Spankee included some sweet CC cards that I didn't have yet. A pair of miniature 2009 Allen and Ginters - an ad back and a black bordered mini. Nice! He also sent a 2010 Topps T206 Bronze version of Crawford. I don't like the hatless style of this, but I am glad to own it!

I will end this "trade" post with a sweet and shiny blue refractor of Rays centerfielder BJ Upton. I love refractors, but I am becoming a bit obsessed with the blue ones making this one really great. Making it more interesting - I believe that Spankee went to high school with the Upton Brothers. Very cool. You definitely need to check out the My Cardboard Mistress blog - if not to check out his wantlists and posts, then to see his hilarious blog header... I might actually collect golf cards if I could pull that... Thanks so much for the great cards Spankee!!! Go Ra(y)ngers! troll out.

Rays Versus Rangers, PAYBACK!!! A Cardboard Tribute to MY Team!

The game starts VERY soon. After yesterdays pathetic showing against Cliff Lee (hats off to you Mr. Lee) today is a MUST WIN for Tampa Bay. As a fan, I blame myself. Maybe the Rays lost because they didn't get their normal support from this card fan blog. I am not going to recap yesterday, I would much rather forget it. I want to start fresh today and see the Rays jump on CJ Wilson early! As a fan I have to put my trust in Joe Maddon, our fearless leader. I didn't like the looks of the line-up yesterday with two sub-Mendoza-line bats in the starting lineup. Today, for a second day in a row Maddon is giving the start behind the plate to Kelly Shoppach. It seems silly to me, but Maddon is a genius beyond my level of comprehension. I REALLY hope it works out Joe! Willy Aybar has been activated for the rest of this series and Rocco Baldeli has been deactivated for health issues. Seeing Rocco up with 2-outs and the bases loaded yesterday was riveting. He is one of the most popular Rays EVER and I wanted him to be a hero SO BADLY. I am glad he got a start in front of the home crowd though... Okay Rays, lets get pumped! Here is a favorite card of mine of each of the 10 guys getting the start and the chance to even the score... Here they are-a 10-card tribute to the starting line-up for the Rays...Here's the Rays' lineup for Game 2:
1. Jason Bartlett, shortstop (You need to set the table JB, come on!)
2. B.J. Upton, center field (Smooth as silk, thanks so much Wicked!)
3. Carl Crawford, left field (CC for MVP - of the ALDS!)
4. Evan Longoria, third base (A one of a kind card of the games best third baseman, do what you can do Longo! Happy 25th Birthday, lets celebrate!)
5. Ben Zobrist, first base (Zorilla hit his first playoff homer as a right fielder, now he gets his first start at first base...Looking for even more power!)
6. Willy Aybar, designated hitter (All you need to do is HIT Willy!)
7. Kelly Shoppach, catcher (Prove Joe Maddon is a genius Shoppach!)
8. Sean Rodriguez, second base
9. Desmond Jennings, right field (Des J gets his first playoff start and I am EXCITED!)

and on the hill it's Big Game James. Lets do it boys!!! I really hope the scene in a few hours looks more like this and less like this... Brian and Spiff - you boys want to get a bet going? I am in, even though we spotted you guys one... Thanks for checking out my cardboard tribute to the starting 10, I am behind you guys, LETS DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! First pitch in 10 minutes...Get it done for the SOLD OUT crowd. By the by, best of luck to the Twins tonight, beat them freaking Yankees! GO RAYS!!! Troll out.