Some words on Troy Tulowitzki

Last night when the alert about the trade came up on my phone, shortly after the Rockies lost a walk-off game against the Cubs, I didn't believe it. It was dark, and raining, setting the mood perfectly. I had trouble actually saying the words to my Blue Jays fan soon to be wife. This surprised me because Troy Tulowitzki was never really my favorite player. I always loved watching him play and appreciated that when he was healthy, I was watching a generational HOF type talent. I was shocked, I thought Carlos Gonzalez would go, but Tulo moving, with no warning, still a few days away from the trade deadline, to the Blue Jays, shocked. I cried when Cam Neely retired. I cried when Sean Taylor died, and cried again watching the Sean Taylor "A Football Life". This was close.

When Todd Helton retired, we were all ready for it, it was time. When Ray Bourque was traded it made sense, and was validated when he finally lifted the cup. Even thought he didn't do it as a Bruin, every Bruins fan shared in his joy. Even when Ubaldo Jimenez was traded you knew it was coming, weeks were spent on internet forums on what the return for Ubaldo would be and what teams what to offer. I drooled over Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, and the return softened the blow. This was different. There was talk of the Mets stable of young pitching, but the feeling was the Rockies wanted too much, and no one had enough to pry Tulo and his long term, team friendly contract. Enter the Blue Jays. And Jose Reyes. Gone is the homegrown, last link to Rocktober, unassisted triple play turning, cycle hitting for, Gold Glove winning, Silver Slugger having, All-Star, carrier of Todd Helton's face of the franchise torch, does everything and does it better than everyone else Short Stop.

Jose Reyes will be the lightning rod that will allow Trevor Story or Christian Adames to not be the guy that replaces The Guy. Every time Reyes boots a ball, or just doesn't have the range or arm to complete a play, we will miss Tulo. Every time he makes a highlight on sportscenter with a blue and white jersey, we will miss him. But that is the beauty in it, he will still be there, not here, but somewhere. He will be Matt Holliday, he will make All-Star games, possibly postseasons, and eventually, he will come back to Coors, and we will be glad he is there.

Now there are prospects to follow. More trades to come, CarGo, Jose Reyes, Nick Hundley, Drew Stubbs, maybe Jorge del Rosa. None of these will surprise anyone, the first brick has been knocked out, the rest of the wall will follow. It had to happen, Tulo was here for 10 years and reached the playoffs twice, once with Carlos Gonzalez. I wasn't working. They define insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. This is something different. It had to happen.

This was not was I indented to write. I was gonna list stats from bbref and try to explain with numbers the player Tulo was. This is different.

Zistle Trade #45

How can you not lead off with this card, being a National League fan, Paul Konerko means very little to me, probably about as much as Todd Helton would mean to a White Sox fan, but this card is amazing. Base card gems like this is what make collecting fun, not low numbered parallels or cards with a piece of cloth that may or not be from a players jersey, cards like this.

Acetate Appreciation: 1995 Stadium Club - Clear Cut

A rare case of a card that scans better than it looks in real life. The weird bluey-greenish-teal dominates the card while the color wheel thing in middle doesn't really add much either. Stadium Club is usually know for quality stuff, but this one leaves a lot to be desired.