A Couple Hits Off My Top 10 and More

A few things to show off today.

Up first is a quick and easy Yankees for Red Sox trade that brought me the gold parallel of Ellsbury  and my first Cream of the Crop Mini Refractor, this one of Matt Barnes, the top pitching prospect in Boston's system.  Both are from 2013 Bowman.

Next is a second package from the Beckett marketplace.  One card I ordered was out of stock, but the seller made up for it by refunding the money for that card, plus all of the shipping cost.  That is a good seller.

1.  1985 Donruss Charlie Mitchell.  This was on my Top 10 Most Wanted list as the last remaining Rated Rookie card I needed to have all the Red Sox from the golden period from 1985 to 1993 when that logo was used.

2.  1992 Topps Gold Carlos Quintana.  This was also on my Top 10 list previously.  I have ordered this card three times in the past and each time the Winners card was sent instead.

3.  1996 Metal Universe Platinum Edition Tom Gordon.  I have always liked Tom Gordon from his time in Boston.  He actually started the first game I ever saw, of course that was with Kansas City, but I also saw him get the save in a game against the Royals in his terrific 1998 season.  This card shows him in a Royals uniform but a Red Sox logo.  I still count it.  As long as the Red Sox team name is there, it is a Red Sox card.

4.  1996 Upper Deck Kevin Mitchell.  This is the third Kevin Mitchell card I have added in the last week, two for my Red Sox collection and one auto from this year's Archives.  I think that these were only available through the company, much like the previous year's update set.

5.  2001 Topps Archives Jackie Jensen.  I have very few cards of Jensen.  A shame because Jackie was a great player for Boston in the 1950's and won the AL MVP in 1958.  This is a reprint of the 1961 card which was issued when he returned from a short retirement due to fear of flying.  He retired for good after the 1961 season.

I love a good story.  This is an autograph card of Bob Montgomery, and though it does not specify that it is a Red Sox card, he only played for the Red Sox.  When batting helmets were mandated in 1971, players who previously did not wear one could elect not to wear one in the future.  Montgomery was the last player to bat without a batting helmet.  Montgomery was the backup catcher to Carlton Fisk and got some decent playing time due to frequent injuries to Fisk.