Blue Jay Monday: 2010 Topps Gold Travis Snider

Jays fans and analysts have been talking about this guy for what seems like an eternity.  Drafted by the Jays in the first round of the 2006 June draft, Travis Snider got his first shot in the big leagues at the age of 20, hitting .301 in 73 ABs during the 2008 season. 

Travis was part of a very surprising trade pulled off by the Jays at the deadline, being sent to Pittsburgh for reliever/spot starter Brad Lincoln.  That trade was one of the rare "baseball" trades, in that both teams traded players for a specific need. 

So far, Travis has played well in Pittsburgh, hitting .292 in his first 25 games.  It appears that Travis is going to get the chance to play every day here, as the other two youngsters that had started the season on the big club, Alex Presley and Jose Tabata, have both spent extended periods down in AAA Indianapolis.

If Travis plays similar to his Twitter account name (@Lunchboxhero45) in Pittsburgh, he will be loved by the fans.  There is nothing that Pittsburgh fans love more than a player that has no problem getting dirty and playing hard.  Travis may have to change that number though, because he has donned the number 23 for the time being since Erik Bedard currently wears 45.

I decided to change it up a bit tonight, and instead of letting the Randomizer choose the card that was featured, I flipped through a bunch of pages that I have yet to put into a binder, and saw the inspiration for tonight's post.  The Topps 2010 Gold card featured here is #'d 499/2010 card is pretty cool.  It shows Snider finishing one of his many dead pull swings, which should bode well for him in Pittsburgh. The right field porch at PNC Park is definitely hitter friendly, and I believe that there should be a lot of dents in the Clemente wall for years to come.

thanks for reading, Robert