Tromp's Sports Cards with the hookup: New Online Card Resource

It's been awhile. I've been thinking things would get less hectic (and they have!) but things are still crazy. Or crazier than usual.

Anyway, I've been cruising the intertoobs trying to complete 2008 Stadium Club Elliot Johnson rainbows (minus the plates, which would still be a HUGE bonus). While looking for the blue proof /99 I came across Tromp's Sports Cards. It was, literally, the ONLY place in the www that had one. I dropped the owner, Mike, an email to make sure it was the blue proof of the variation I need and he got right back to me.

Price? .79 with a VERY reasonable $2.50 shipping, for a grand total of $3.29. Seriously: can't beat that.

Card arrived secure in a bubble mailer, etc., and here it is:

Here it is with the other 3 variations:

Now I need the Platinum 1/1 plus the plates (maybe one of them) and it'll be complete!

Thanks again, Mike! Seriously, check his site out!

Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

On Baseball Wives...

Go here, check out this post. It's awesome!

EJ x 3: Thanks GCRL!

I'm going after the 2011 Topps Update EJ Rainbow. I was able to land the first two plates fairly easily but hit a snag with plat #3. As outlined here, Jim over at GRCL stepped up and took what I was offering in order to land the EJ. Thanks to Jim, here's 3/4 of the plate rainbow which, as a bonus, includes CC as a foreground lurker. Pretty serendipitous.

And then he included a TON of extra Rays, among them this gem of Fer Perez. 

We lost Fer in the Matt Garza trade, he was later picked up by the Mets, and he was another ballplayer that the compa and I really enjoyed watching back in Durham. He's got a degree from Columbia and has even published in Poetry. A renaissance man, he's a great actor (seriously, check this out), maintains an active Twitter feed, and always has craziness up on Tumblr. A cool guy and a cool card. Compa is still devastated that we let him go!

Thanks again, GCRL!

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Has someone brought home the bacon!?!

Just for kicks I went to check out the EJ black printing plate and saw this.

Who bought it? GCRL? Moose? Someone else? Maybe a completely different ebayer that'll keep me from completing the rainbow? It sold for almost 3X what the other two went for, so I almost can't imagine it's the last of these. Guess I'll know soon enough.

That said, if this was successful it'll be the first of many CCC headhunting expeditions to come, and with much more difficult to find cards.

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Headhunting Part I: Who Wants This Card?

OK, so here's the deal. I'm working on EJ rainbows. 2005 Bowman Chrome will take a while, but should be fun.

Over the past few days I've acquired the lion's share of the versions of the 2011 Topps Update Elliot Johnson Cards. I'm still missing the regular issue (go figure!), the gold (emailed someone who posted one), the Diamond sparkle edition, the Target Red Border, and two printing plates, one of which is here.

Here's where this card comes in.

It's probably a Topps furniture leg, but still, it's a Jackie Robinson relic. If you can get the plate away from that guy, I'll flip you the Robinson for that plate and some assorted Rays (your choice, just assorted fun cards). 

Why am I doing this? Well, for starters I'm on a budget, a budget which is tapped until December. I made this dude several offers, but he took none of them and ignored the last one. Keep in mind the BIN on that plate is $20 plus s/h, and I scored my two other plates for about $16 TOTAL. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did and talk him down to a fair price, meaning JR will be a steal. I made solid offers based on market value, but whatever. 

So there is it. The link. The card for trade. The first edition of Headhunters around here.

Any takers?

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

The EJ Collection Goes to 11: The 2005 Bowman Chrome Superfractor

Seriously.

I sold a few things on the 'bay recently and decided it was time to step out of my normal purchasing range. WAY out.

I'd been following the card for a while and the BIN on it was more than I wanted to pay. I was looking to get one of several cards and even though this buyer didn't have an OBO on it, I thought I'd drop him a  line. I offered, he countered, we agreed on a price. 

Give it a few days and here it is:

I'd never seen, much less held a superfractor in person before, and let me say that they are sweet. REALLY sweet. 

I've stated before that I'm a HUGE EJ fan. This was only increased this past 4th of July, but that story will have to wait. Suffice it to say that he's a cool, down-to-earth guy and one of my favorite players of all-time. Hence the superfractor purchase.

A 1/1, but look at that story. How many undrafted free agents make it so far as to have their own card, much less all the way to the show? He's a hell of a guy and a hell of a ballplayer. This is also a hell of a card.

So, keep an eye out in the next few days for some headhunting trade offers I'll be putting out. I'm obviously going after the 2005 Bowman EJ rainbow, as well as this year's 2011 Topps Update EJs. If you have any put them aside, it'll be worth your while!

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Have a good 

Jeff Niemann says it all: Blech!

Ever had one of those days? Jeff Niemann has:

My man Elliot Johnson gets injured the same night I post about him throwing me a ball.

Then tonight the Rays get 6 runs (SIX runs!) off of Justin Verlander, only to lose 7-6 to SMG's Tigers. AND they dropped the lead in the AL-East.

When it rains it POURS!

At least the new Walking Dead comes out this morning. Zombies!

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

The Post Where Elliot Johnson Rules the World

So, three weeks ago I was talking about the Rays games I caught in the Twin Cities.

Like I said in that post, Elliot Johnson (currently the starting SS for the Rays!) came over to talk with the compa and I a few minutes before the game. He even signed an ancient (from 1997) Durham Bulls jersey I have. That really made our trip. But that was before this:

After the players had finished warming up and had come off of the field, I heard somebody yelling off to the right. I looked over and EJ was gesturing over at us with a ball. I have no idea what I said/did, but I managed to successfully communicate "Dude that would be AMAZING!" (probably looking like a total goon) and EJ threw it over.

I never hit too many games growing up, and now that I'm well beyond the acceptable age for ballhawking I had pretty much just accepted that I'd never get a ball at a game unless one hit me in the head. It never occurred to me that EJ would toss us a ball, and as cool as it was for EJ to sign the Bulls jersey for us, tossing the ball over was WAY beyond that.

He's having a good season with the Rays so far, and is getting more and more playing time as other guys struggle. I'm really pulling for him to come up big!

Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Cards I'll Acquire Update: Thanks to Cardshop and Barrell

With the New Year I posted this, 7 cards on my "must get" list for 2010. Thanks to Daniel over at It's Like Having My Own Cardshop and Ed over at Roll Out the Barrel I'm down to 5. Words fail to say how much a@@ these cards kick. I've posted about Elliot and these cards more than once, and I'm really stoked to have these in my possession.

First, the EJ auto from Cardshop. We were already working on a trade for some Topps Co-signers Ed had posted for trade, so that conversation segued into including a copy of the Johnson Daniel picked up at his local. Thanks!

Next, the base from the Barrel. Apparently there are not only multiple versions of this card, but there's also a version that has Elliot taking infield practice, a card Ed included among a bunch of other awesome Rays. Personally, I don't think this card can possibly be topped.

Many thanks to both of you! You really got my year off to a great start.

Don't know what ya got...: Part 2, Elliot Johnson

I know I misspelled Chris Richard's last name "Richards" several times in the last post. I had to mention it, or compa would be packing her things.

Like Jonny Gomes, I imagine that your average Rays fan 10 years from now will not know who Elliot Johnson is. This says a lot more about our culture and our preference for the flashy and trendy than these two ball players. Elsewhere I've posted my feelings about Gomes and his instrumental role in serving notice to the rest of the AL that the Rays were no longer doormats, so this post is about Johnson and his role in those same events.

First, Elliot is a super fan friendly guy, like Richard. A friend of mine one complained about how some of the Bulls, especially in the wake of their success over the past few years and the Rays WS run, basically gave up on interacting with the fans. I don't know whether or not that's 100% true, but I do know that I have seen kids standing 20 deep, all screaming "Elliot," waiting to get a sig, and that Elliot has stood there and signed until everyone had an auto. I never asked for one myself, which I now kinda regret, but there you have it. (As an aside, I similarly watched the O's Adam Jones sign for about 30-minutes prior to the Rays/O's double header two seasons ago. Again, no auto for me, but that made quite an impression)

Second, and like Richard, Eliot is no slouch as a player. Elliot has a decent bat for a middle infielder and Rays Index has this play from the Int'l League Championship as the Rays organization's play of the year. Elliot only got a brief cup of coffee with the Rays in 2008, and it looks like this past season will have been his last with the organization (scroll down to the last bullet point). Although he advanced pretty quickly through the Rays' system he has been a victim of organizational depth as much as anything else. I mean, without naming names, there are guys on ML rosters whose stats are far less.

Third, he's another guy who plays all out. The first brawl Gomes was involved in? It came after this play. I'm no unbiased observer, so I'll tell you a different play at the plate story for context. When I was a Little Leaguer I was a pretty fat kid who ate, slept, and drank baseball. I was a solid hitter, but obviously no great runner of the bases. Championship game, I'm on second and the batter hits a soft single to right. The coach sends me home, which I still think is one of the stupider decisions I've ever been a part of. Ball beats me by a bit, OK a lot, catcher is blocking the plate, so I absolutely blew the kid up. Seeing as how the ball beat me I'm initially called out. But the ball is now over in the on-deck circle, so the call is reversed and I'm called safe. UNTIL the other ump comes in from left and re-reverses the call, saying that not only am I out because runners coming home MUST slide, but that technically I should also be tossed from the game. I had no idea about the rule, and let me be square with you: that wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to my fat 13 year old self, but it was up there. Between my teammates and coach calling me out the next few innings things really sucked. Of course we lost and I caught unmentionable Hell for it from all involved. As far as I know no one ever got on the coach for a) sending the fat ass home from second on the play or b) no bothering to inform us we had to slide going in to home.

At any rate, this is all to say I'm totally behind Elliot Johnson on his collision with Cervelli now and forever. My fat 13 year-old self would agree. That is how the game should be played. If not, then don't block the plate, period, or go back to Little League. As for the current narrative, the next day the Yankis retaliated, Gomes clowned several Yankis, and the rest is history.

I hadn't thought too much about that play until I saw this card over at a post at Play at the Plate:

A signed Elliot Johnson depicting the Cervelli play. Improbably enough, his base card is also of the same play:

Both are from the 2008 Stadium Club set, and I'm going to try to get my hands on them ASAP after the first of the year. Hopefully by trade, then by bounty, and finally via flea-bay if all else fails. Not only is this a great card of one Hell of a player, but it also depicts THE moment when the Rays fortunes changed for the better. Who knew that one hard play at the plate could send a team to the World Series?

Thanks for the memories Elliot, loved watching you play.

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Don't know what ya got...: Part 1, Chris Richard

til it's gone. Cue the hairbands, people.

After the last post I've been thinking about how I miss Minor League ball. I've said it 1000 times, but I follow the Rays because I've lived in/near cities with Rays minor league affiliates, Charleston, SC and Durham, NC. It's always awesome to see the hot prospects come through on their way to the bigs (Price, David) or get stuck going over the basics before making it large in the bigs (Upton, BJ), but you watch the lesser guys over the years to the point you start to look through them. You just assume, like you, they'll ALWAYS be there.

I realized after my last post I left a lot unsaid about Chris Richard and Elliot Johnson, both of whom are professional ballplayers. I know, any dude who gets paid is a pro, but bear with me.

The words "throwback" gets tossed around a lot these days, too much in fact, but these guys are real throw back type players. Two more who come to mind are guys like former Bull Darnell McDonald and his brother Donzell. Darnell made an opening day roster for the first time in his career this year with the Reds at the age of 31. I watched Donzell play for the Leones of the Mexican League a few years ago when they won the championship. A dude who plays in the Bigs for a million plus per is NOT a throwback type guy. Guys like these embody it.

And I'll admit, I now realize that what I miss about watching Minor League ball is these guys, the guys you root for to have September call ups or to make the Opening Day Roster once, or one last time. Hell, they all started as HOT prospects but hit a wall somewhere whether due to injury, ability, or lack of opportunity.

I was doing my MA at Johns Hopkins when Richards came to Baltimore. He had tantalizing 2000, hitting 13 HRs in 221 ABs with the O's, and great things were expected. He had 15 HRs in 542 ABs the following year and was dealt to Colorado in 2003. I remember him coming to Durham a few years ago, and it almost felt like a mini-reunion although dude has no idea who the Hell I am. He didn't see the bigs again until last season when injuries to Carlos Peña pressed him into service. He didn't bat all that well and I remember the game where he made his only error. I was so excited for him to be up I felt sick after watching it. Another Chris Richard fact: he came out to the bar where Bulls fans congregated to watch the WS when the Rays made it a few years ago. How awesome is that?

Part II on Elliot Johnson is coming tomorrow. Feel free to share any stories you've got about players you've enjoyed watching, and beginning now if you have any spare Chris Richards or Elliot Johnsons I'll take them off your hands.

Have a good one and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Bulls on Parade

We do it like this. Having moved from the Durham area about 7 months ago, compa and I missed out on seeing the Bulls win the International League Championship. And then the Bricktown Showdown for the AAA Championship. Which sucked for us, at least a little, seeing as last year we sat there and watched the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankis take to to the Bulls in the International League Championship. Nothing so much against the AAA Yankis as their fans who, despite being AAA Yankis fans, were definitely ready for the bigs in terms of being some of the most....well, I digress.

We missed out on all the post-championship euphoria. We watched the showdown on ESPN2, which was great, but we missed out on being there with our friends and the Bulls. There was even a Bulls event where you got to go into the dugout out onto the field and meet Chris Richard and Elliot Johnson. Well, my former neighbor over at Noboru Aota was kind enough to send me a post card. One signed by the aforementioned Chris Richard and Elliot Johnson. Awesome!

Man Adam, I can't thank you enough. For those of you who don't know that's the old park, the one in Bull Durham, located a few blocks from where the Bulls currently play.

Have a good night everyone and have a good one Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!