American League’s Troll League Midseason Rookie of the (1/2) Year Award goes to Detroit Tigers right handed starting pitcher Rick Porcello.
Porcello, who stands 6’5” has made 16 starts for the Division leading Tigers this year. He is 8-6 with a 4.14 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 87 innings.First honorable mention goes to 24-year-old left handed pitcher Ricky Romero.
The young starter for the Toronto Blue Jays is 6-3 with a 2.85 in 11 starts for the Jays this year. He has 61 Ks in 72 innings of work so far this year. His stuff is awing, had he had a few more successful starts, the award would likely have been his.The 3rd mention of honor in the AL is Elvis Andrus, a 20-year-old slick fielding shortstop for the Texas Rangers. He is hitting .269 with 3 homers and 15 RBIs while stealing 16 bases so far this year. He has proven himself in the field, teaming with Ian Kinsler to create a formidable double play combination.
On the National League side,
The National Troll League Midseason Rookie of the (1/2) Year award goes to the Milwaukee Brewers 26-year-old 3rd baseman, Casey McGehee.
He has hit .343 with 6 home runs and 27 RBIs so far this year. The right handed hitting McGehee boasts a .396 OBP and a .567 SLG Percentage. He has also hit 10 doubles in the 46 games he has played this year.Honorable mention goes out to Atlanta Braves starter Tommy Hanson.
Although he has only 6 starts so far, he has gone 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA, he has 23 Ks in 36 innings pitched. He had a scoreless inning streak of 26 going until Adam Dunn hit a solo shot off of the rookie, it was Dunn’s 300th of his career. Hanson would be the leading candidate for the actual postseason Rookie of the Year if he can keep it up. With only 6 games under his belt, it is still too early to tell and far too early to start dishing out awards. Up next will be the Comeback Player of the Year for each league as well as the MVP and Cy Young awards.Just a reminder, there will be a contest going up on Thursday. This will be the first Troll contest, a no purchase necessary, no questions asked deal. The only requirement is you must follow this blog to win. Stay tuned for that. Go Rays! Troll out.
On the season Upton is batting .244 with 7 home runs and 32 RBIs. He has scored 53 runs, hit 18 doubles and swiped 30 bases (3rd in AL). He was left off of the American League All Star roster, most likely due to the low season batting average.
Batting second, the 2006 Rookie of the Year, a two-time All Star, The Florida Marlins shortstop…
In the #3 slot, at 30 years old he is making his first All Star appearance, the Colorado Rockies right fielder who is replacing Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez and his wounded groin in the starting line up today…
Batting cleanup is perhaps the best hitter in all of baseball, an 8-time All Star and 2-time NL MVP, the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman…
In the five slot, the Milwaukee Brewers first baseman, getting the start at DH on this team, the youngest player ever to hit 50 homeruns, a 2-time All Star…
Batting 6th for the NL is one of the biggest surprise players of the year, playing in his first full season, the man they call Kung Fu Panda, the San Francisco Giants 3rd baseman…
Batting 7th is a 4-time All Star at age 25, the Atlanta Braves catcher…
In the 8th spot, the Arizona Diamond Backs phenom outfielder, making his first All Star appearance this year, the 21-year-old…
Rounding out the lineup for the NL is the 2006 Batting Champ, a 3 time All Star, the Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman…
The starting pitcher today is the NL’s reigning Cy Young Award winner, earning his second All Star selection, currently riding a streak of 23 scoreless innings, the San Francisco Giants…
There you have it, that is the starting lineup for the 2009 National League All Troll Team. The reserves for both leagues will be named this week. I will also give out the midseason All Troll awards for top rookie, pitcher and MVP. Stay tuned.
He is leading the American League in stolen bases with 40. He set a record earlier this year with an unprecedented 6 steals in a single game. He currently sits at 110th on the All Time steals list, one behind Ryne Sandberg, but he is only 11 swipes away from catching Rod Carew and entering the top 100 All-Time in that category. He has led the American League in steals 4 times and is on his way to the 5th. Last year he hit his 1,000th career hit becoming the 8th player ever to hit 1000 and steal 250 bases before the age of 27. He has paced the league in triples 3 times and is the Rays franchise leader in that category as well as stolen bases, runs, hits, total bases, extra base hits and career batting average. 
Since World War 2, only 18 players have had more hits than him before the age of 27, the list includes Al Kaline, Robin Yount, Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols. He is Carl Crawford and he is establishing himself as one of the top players in baseball. He is the catalyst for the Rays. He gets on base and makes things happen. His speed throws pitchers off of their rhythm and his aggressiveness on the bases has been contagious to his teammates with BJ Upton and Jason Bartlett both running more than ever. He can hit the long ball, too. Almost 80 in his career and when he hits them, that gets contagious too. He added two more home runs last year in the World Series; his first was a solo shot in game 1 off of Cole Hammels. It was the first ever World Series homerun by a Rays player. He also was a perfect 7 for 7 in stolen base attempts in the postseason last year; the Rays as a team set a postseason record with 24 steals total. He tied a postseason record himself with his 5 hit game in Game 4 of the ALCS against Boston. He was 5-5 in that game with two doubles and a triple.
The message was short. It read, “Every time we’ve played a show lately a celebrity dies. So far we have Farrah Fawcett, then David Carradine, and now Billy Mays. I hope you guys don’t know anybody famous.”
Batting second, the left fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays, a two-time All Star and 4-time AL stolen base leader…
Batting third, the 1st baseman for the Minnesota Twins, a two-time All Star, two-time Silver Slugger and the AL’s MVP in 2006…
The clean-up hitter is the Los Angeles Angels centerfielder, an 8-time Gold Glove and two-time All Star…
Batting fifth today is The Tampa Bay Rays third baseman, an All Star last year and also the American League’s Rookie of the Year…
Batting 6th is the Minnesota Twins catcher, a 2-time All Star and two-time batting champion, currently chasing .400…
Batting 7th, from the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers, a 4-time All Star and last season’s AL home run leader…
Batting in the #8 spot is the Toronto Blue Jays second baseman, currently 4th in the AL in home runs, making his first All Troll or All Star appearance…
Your #9 hitter today is the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop, another infielder having a breakout season and making his first appearance on an ALL team…
Your starting pitcher today comes to you from the Kansas City Royals; he was the AL Pitcher of the Month in April, also making his first ALL Star/Troll appearance…
That is the starting line-up for the 2009 American League “All Troll Team”.
It was September 9, 2008. The Rays and The Red Sox were battling it out for the lead in the AL East. Dan Johnson had been called up from AAA that day. He drove to Boston to meet his new team, got suited up and sat in the dugout for the game until Joe Maddon called his number in the top of the 9th inning. The Rays were losing and Jonathan Papplebon was on the mound for the Sox, sealing the victory. Johnson hit a pinch hit home run to tie the game and the Rays went on to win that game and the division. Johnson stayed with the Rays in September and started the next game of that series at first base. He did hit a second home run that year, but it was far less dramatic. He finished 2008 with 5 hits in 25 at bats (.250). He didn’t make the Rays postseason roster and didn’t attempt to re-sign with the Rays for ’09. He is currently playing in Japan with the Yokohama Bay Stars. In all honesty, when I first saw this card, I said "who?", hence the history lesson on Dan Johnson. It only took a second for my memory to jog and then I was reliving that awesome day watching the Rays at Fenway Park (via the TV in my bedroom with my lovely wife) proving that they were better than the Red Sox. It does make me wonder who will be our Dan Johnson this year? Who is going to step up down the stretch and make things happen, reach beyond their potential and become part of history?
ALL STAR Carl Crawford. It’s a 2006 Upper Deck Amazing Greats card #AG-CC with a nice bright white jersey swatch centered at the card’s bottom. I had never sought out to be a Carl Crawford collector, I figured his cards would be out of my price range, but thanks to my fellow bloggers and readers, this is jersey card #7 of CC for me.
I picked Ben Zobrist to play 2nd in the AL and Juan Pierre (its a shame he will be back on the bench soon) in the outfield for the NL. I did vote mostly Rays, but not to a ridiculous degree. I didn’t vote for Pat Burrell as an outfielder or anything crazy like that. I will post the ALL TROLL team soon, stay tuned!
All other teams are claimed, packed and shipped (or at least ready to ship). Please comment on this, the current post, if you want those cards.
The Royals, A's, Mariners, Reds, Astros, Rangers, Mets (no team logo card), Cubs and The Expos. Don't forget that you need to e-mail me your mailing address and it's nice if you follow the blog, too.
Someone (who requested anonymity) had sent me the CC jersey card from 
’08 A&G, it’s like a mini, but it’s in a frame. This mini is unabashedly mini.
The sweetest mini is a BJ Upton from 2007. Great batting pose portrait and writing on the back so small I can’t begin to read it. Oh yeah, and it’s a black border card!!! I don’t collect A&G, as I’ve said a thousand times in this post, but from reading everybody else’s blogs, 
I know black border equals AWESOME!!!
I truly despise the portraits on the ‘09s for Goudey this year. Everyone looks like the ghost of a pre-teen girl, but in slightly smaller form, it looks cool!
