Assorted Cards, 1953 Archives, and Pinnacle

Lots of stuff in today.  A couple of packages that came in featured a fairly large number of new cards.  That is always fun.  

The first one is a buy I pulled off on one of the forums.  It filled in a bunch of holes from the 80's and 90's, with a few other cards thrown in.

1.  2013 Bowman Hometown/International Jacoby Ellsbury.  The biggest question of the offseason is whether or not Boston will re-sign their center-fielder.  He stole his 50th base of the season last night.  His personal record (and the team's) is 70.  He stands an outside shot at beating that number.

2.  1983 Fleer Bruce Hurst.  One of the best left-handed pitchers in Red Sox history.  Hurst was named the 1986 World Series MVP right before the team unraveled in the sixth game.

3.  1994 Topps Gold Tim Naehring.  It would have been interesting to see how good Naehring could have been had injuries not ended his career.

4.  1994 Topps Gold John Dopson.

5.  1994 Pinnacle Billy Hatcher.

6.  2009 Upper Deck Spectrum Mike Lowell.  Lowell actually was the World Series MVP, in 2007.

7.  2009 Upper Deck Spectrum J.D. Drew.  I am a Drew supporter.  I think he had a very good term for the Red Sox.

8.  2009 O-Pee-Chee Daisuke Matsuzaka.

9.  2009 O-Pee-Chee Jed Lowrie.

10.  2009 Upper Deck Spectrum David Ortiz. 2004 ALCS MVP.

11.  2008 Topps Heritage New Age Performers Manny Ramirez.  Another World Series MVP, this one in 2004.

12.  2008 Topps Heritage New Age Performers Josh Beckett.  2007 ALCS MVP.

13.  2007 SP Rookie Edition Curt Schilling.  Schilling should be in the Hall of Fame.

14.  2008 Upper Deck First Edition Coco Crisp.

15.  2007 Upper Deck First Edition Craig Hansen.  A 1st round draft pick bust.  Luckily Boston picked up Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz in the same draft.

16.  2005 Topps 1st Edition Trot Nixon.  One of my favorite players in the early 2000's.

17.  2005 Topps 1st Edition Terry Francona.  Easily the most successful manager in Red Sox history, Francona could be considered for the Hall of Fame himself, particularly if he helps the Indians improve.

18.  2008 Bowman Josh Beckett.

19.  1995 Ultra Mike Macfarlane.  Yes he is shown in a Royals uniform, but that Red Sox logo is all that matters for me.

20.  1998 Score Rookie/Traded Michael Coleman.  I had high hopes for Coleman, but he simply never got a real shot.

21.  2005 Topps 1st Edition Johnny Damon.  Complete with long hair and beard.

And next we have a trade that got me almost the entire team set from the 1991 Topps Archives set reprinting the 1953 set, with some new additions.  I had Dom DiMaggio and Dizzy Trout already.  I still need Mel Parnell now.

22.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Gene Stephens.  One of the biggest problems with the Red Sox in the 1950's was not letting prospects play.  That was the problem with Gene Stephens who could have been a decent outfielder if he had been given a chance.  Instead, he rotted away on the bench and by the time Boston started to play him, it was too late.

23.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Sid Hudson.

24.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Milt Bolling.  Another problem was rushing players.  Bolling fell into that camp.  He simply was not ready.

25.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Jimmy Piersall.  This is one of the new additions to the set that was not in the 1953 set.  Piersall was a fantastic defensive player, but he had a mental breakdown.  After spending some time in an institution, he returned and became a star.  He wrote his autobiography Fear Strikes Out which was also adapted into a movie.

26.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Hoot Evers.  Another new addition, Evers was acquired in the trade that sent icon Johnny Pesky to Detroit.

27.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Lou Boudreau.  Another new addition and a Hall of Famer with the Indians.  He is credited with the Ted Williams shift.

28.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Ted Williams.  I have no idea why Williams was not in this set.

29.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Billy Goodman.  Goodman won the batting title in 1950 despite not having a permanent position.  He played a lot of third and left field, as well as a variety of other positions. 

30.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Ted Lepcio.  Another prospect that was rushed to Boston.

31.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Willard Nixon.

32.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Faye Throneberry.  Marv's brother.

33.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Maurice McDermott.  He was a fascinating personality and lived life a little bit too hard.  He was Bill Lee before Bill Lee, and he was a southpaw.

34.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Gus Niarhos.

35.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Dick Brodowski.  One of Night Owl's favorite cards is the original of this one.

36.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives William Kennedy.

37.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives George Kell.  Kell was also acquired in the Pesky deal.  Kell had a decent stint with the Red Sox and is in the Hall of Fame.

38.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Sammy White.  White was an underrated catcher for the Red Sox in the 1950's.

39.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Bill Werle.  

40.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Al Zarilla.

41.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Hal Brown.

42.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Clyde Vollmer.

43.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives John Lipon.

44.  1991 Topps 1953 Archives Ellis Kinder.  A terrific pitcher who apparently pitched a lot better drunk than sober.  That is certainly interesting.

Finally, a quick trade for some Pinnacle singles.

45.  2013 Pinnacle Shane Victorino.  Victorino is red-hot this week.  He is having a surprisingly good season and looks well-worth his contract.

46.  2013 Pinnacle Dustin Pedroia.