BIRTHDAY BOOLSHEET BLASTER: PART 11 - RAYS

 HERE'S THE FIRST TEAM IN THE BULLSHIT BOX THAT DIDN'T EXIST WHEN THE 1987 TOPPS TRADED SET CAME OUT SO WE WILL HAVE TO MOVE STRAIGHT ON TO THE 2002 TOPPS CARDS. THEY ALSO DIDN'T EXIST DURING THE JUNK WAX ERA SO THIS PILE IS SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER THAN MOST OF THE OTHERS AT ONLY 33 CARDS. THE LACK OF QUANTITY ISN'T QUITE REPLACED BY QUALITY BUT LIKE THE LAST BRAVES POST YOU WILL GET TO SEE ALL THE CARDS

OVER TWO-THIRDS OF THE RAYS PILE WAS 2002 TOPPS BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, I GOT THE FIRST COMPLETE TEAM SET OUT OF THE BOX. THERE'S NOT MUCH IN THERE, GREG VAUGHN, BEN GRIEVE AND MAYBE MANAGER HAL MCRAE ARE PROBABLY THE HIGHLIGHTS BUT A COMPLETE TEAM SET IS A COMPELTE TEAM SET

2002 TOPPS COUNT: 108/718

LOOKING AT MY 2003 TOPPS WANTLIST I REALIZE ALMOST EVERY CARD IS A BRAVE, AND NOW I'M PERTURBED I GOT NO 2003 CARDS IN THAT BRAVES LOT. I COULD EASILY COMPLETE THE BASE AND TRADED SET IF I GOT MY ACT TOGETHER, THAT MAY BE PUT ON THE 2024 GOALS LIST

YES! GIVE ME ALL THE SKYBOX METALS. ESTBAN YAN IS ON MY WANTLIST. I SHOULD HAVE KEPT A RUNNING COUNT OF ALL THE CARDS I ACTUALLY NEEDED OUT OF THIS BOX BUT IT'S PROBABLY STILL IN SINGLE DIGITS OTHER THAN THE 1987 TRADEDS. I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY FLEER DECIDED TO DITCH THE COMIC BOOK BACKGROUND GIMMICK ONLY TO REPLACE IT WITH A DESIGN THAT HAD TO BE WAY HARDER TO PRODUCE WITH A DIFFERENT LAST NAME TO EMBOSS ON EVERY CARD  

EARLY 00S UPPER DECK MEANS I GET TO CHECK THE WANTLISTS AGAIN! IT ALSO MEANS I NEED TO GOOGLE THE DESIGN TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YEAR THIS IS. LOOKS LIKE THIS CARD IS FROM 2002 AND.... I GOT IT. I SHOULD PROBABLY RECONSIDER IF I'M ACTUALLY COLLECTING A SET IF I CAN'T RECOGNIZE THE DESIGN AT FIRST GLANCE

NOW WILSON ALVAREZ I KNOW IS A 2001 CARD BECAUSE I ALWAYS CONFUSE THAT DESIGN WITH THE 2006 SET BUT WHEN I SEE THE LAST LINE OF STATS ON THE BACK IS 2000 I REMEMBER. IN THIS CASE THE STAT LINE IS 1999 BECAUSE WILSON WAS INJURED AND DIDN'T PITCH IN 2001. OR 2002 FOR THAT MATTER. BUT LET'S CHECK THE WANTLIST! DO I NEED THE CARD? NO... NO I DON'T. ANY OF YOU OUT THERE COLLECTING THESE SETS ARE GOING TO HAVE A BALL ONE DAY WHEN I GIVE UP AND DUMP ALL MY UPPER DECK CARDS 

FLEER ULTRA CARDS ALWAYS LOOK NICE AND THIS PHOTO OF BEN HACKING AT A PITCH IS PRETTY EXCEPTIONAL. DUE TO A WATER LEAK CATASTROPHE I WILL NEVER ATTEMPT TO COLLECT ANY OF THESE SETS BUT I DO STILL APPRECIATE THEM. I'M JUST NOTICING NOW THAT THE STAT LINE INCLUDES ON BASE PERCENTAGE AND SLUGGING ALONG WITH THE BATTING AVERAGE. THAT SEEMS PRETTY FORWARD THINKING FOR 2002, I WONDER IF THAT'S ABOUT WHEN THE STATHEAD INTERNET CROWD REALLY STARTED TAKING OFF

OUR PACIFIC RED RUBY PARALLEL CARD FOR THE DAY IS MIGUEL CAIRO GIVING THE HARD TAG TO JOE GIRARDI. GOOD FOR YOU MIGUEL. THIS IS THE TRUE BEAUTY OF CRAPOLA BOXES, YOU ALWAYS FIND THESE TINY HIDDEN GEMS WITH COOL PHOTOS YOU'D NEVER SEE OTHERWISE

THE BACK OF THIS CARD STATES THAT LEE'S NICKNAME IS BULLDOG AND YES, I QUITE AGREE THIS IS A VERY BULLDOGGY CARD. LEE PITCHED IN THE BIGS FOR FOUR SEASONS AND HAD A FANTASTIC YEAR OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE MARLINS IN 2007. AFTER TWO STRAIGHT POSTS WITH ROYAL ROOKIES IN THEM I REALLY THINK I'M COMPLETELY DONE WITH THAT SET. APOLOGIES IF YOU WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DIAMONDBACKS MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS BUT UNLESS MIGUEL CABRERA INEXPLICABLY SHOWS UP IN THE MARLINS PILE THIS IS THE LAST ROYAL ROOKIE I CAN STAND

THUS ENDETH THE FIRST ROW OF CARDS IN THE BOX. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS  - NEXTPOST YOU WILL BE TREATED TO A BIG PILE OF RANDOM GARBAGE USED TO PAD OUT THE BOX. SOME CRAZY STUFF AWAITS!