Tuesday, January 31, 2017

I Have Joined the T205 Club

About two years ago I picked up my first (and to this point, only) T206.  That card was Tubby Spencer, a little-used catcher who played in just 28 games with the Red Sox in 1909.  Recently, I added my first T205.  It is another catcher, but this time, one that spent ten seasons with the Red Sox and was also the team's manager for back-to-back World Championship seasons:
This is Bill "Rough" Carrigan.  Here is a look at the back:
Obviously the front is in better shape than the back, but with these types of cards, I am not looking for something in pristine, or even good condition.  I am just happy that I was able to add this one.  Most of my oldest cards are catchers, which says something.  Of my five pre-WWII cards, three are catchers.  Carrigan is the best one yet, beating Moe Berg and Spencer.  As mentioned, Carrigan is also notable as the only Red Sox manager to lead the team to back-to-back World Championships.

Monday, January 30, 2017

All This for $10.00

A member on one of the trading forums that I frequent was selling a Red Sox lot for $10.00 delivered.  I took one look at it and jumped on it.  The below scan shows just the cards that I did not already have.  There were a few duplicates but none terribly exciting.
1.  2008 SPx Clay Buchholz.  This card alone makes this lot worthwhile.  This is an autographed rookie card of Buchholz, who spent ten years as a Red Sox starting pitcher, some good, some bad, and mostly frustrating.

2.  1970 Topps Gary Peters.  Ah, air-brushing.  Peters was a very good starting pitcher for the White Sox during the 1960's and had a couple of decent seasons with the Red Sox in 1970 and 1971.  He was 16-11 with a 4.06 ERA in 1970.

3.  2016 Bowman's Best Mirror Image Xander Bogaerts/Dansby Swanson.  With this card, Bogaerts becomes the second member of Boston's Killer B's to make it to 100 cards in my collection.

4.  2009 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection Quad Materials Jonathan Papelbon/Manny Ramirez/Travis Hafner/Victor Martinez.  I was a little disappointed when I saw this card.  Manny is listed as being with the Dodgers and has a Dodgers logo on the back.  Therefore only Papelbon gets credit in my Red Sox collection for this card.  Still a nice card though.

5.  2007 SP Legendary Cuts When it was a Game Jim Rice.  One of the more recent Red Sox Hall of Famers.  Rice's 1978 season was one of the greatest offensive seasons of Red Sox history as he accumulated a staggering 406 total bases.  At the time, it was the most total bases in a season since Joe DiMaggio had 418 in 1937.

6.  2007 SP Legendary Cuts Legendary Lineage Joe Cronin.  Another Red Sox Hall of Famer.  Cronin was a rare power-hitting shortstop during the 1930's and 1940's.  Defensively he was probably better suited to playing third base, but when you are also the manager, you get to make the calls.

7.  2014 Topps Supreme Styling Garin Cecchini.  Definitely the most obscure player in the lot, but probably my favorite card.  Cecchini's Major League career consists of just 13 games over two seasons in 2014 and 2015.  He was once a top prospect in Boston's system, but he has likely hit his ceiling at this point.

I thought this was a pretty good buy for $10.00.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Nice Knowing You, Ryan Hanigan

Ryan Hanigan has signed with the Phillies.
Before the 2015 season, the Red Sox acquired catcher Ryan Hanigan from the Padres in exchange for Will Middlebrooks.  It had been a roller coaster offseason for Hanigan coming off a .218/.318/.324 season with the Rays.  He was a part of a three team deal involving the Rays, Padres, and Nationals in which Wil Myers went to the Padres and Trea Turner to the Nationals.  That same day, Hanigan was sent to the Red Sox.  Middlebrooks's stock had dropped considerably.  Hanigan was never much with a bat, but he had a good defensive reputation.
Hanigan started Opening Day with the Red Sox in 2015 and was expected to be the primary catcher for the Red Sox as Christian Vazquez underwent Tommy John surgery.  Unfortunately, injuries limited Hanigan to 54 games and led to Blake Swihart getting pushed to the Majors.  Hanigan ended up hitting .247/.337/.328 with two home runs and 16 RBIs.  He threw out 33% of attempted base stealers, slightly more than the league average.  He made four errors for a .993 fielding percentage.
After a reasonably successful rookie season, Swihart was expected to be the starter in 2016 and Hanigan was to be the backup.  Injuries struck again though and Hanigan made it into just 34 games.  Catching was a big problem for the Red Sox due to injuries and poor play by Swihart, Vazquez, and Hanigan.  Sandy Leon ended up the primary catcher.  Hanigan hit just .171/.230/.238 with one home run and 14 RBIs.  He was slightly worse than league-average in caught-stealing percentage in 2016, but he did not make a single error.  He did have 18 passed balls though, likely as a result of catching knuckleballer Steven Wright.
With Vazquez, Swihart, and Leon all still under contract for the Red Sox, there was no room left for Hanigan.  He was allowed to leave as a free agent and joins Red Sox teammate Clay Buchholz in Philadelphia.  In two years, Hanigan hit .219/.298/.294 with three home runs and 30 RBIs.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Wantlist Hits

This was a trade package that knocked a bunch of cards off of my wantlist, which is always a good thing.  It is quite a range of cards.
1.  Pedro Martinez.  In the ongoing war between Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz, Pedro has come back in this package to retake the lead.  I missed a bunch of Pedro and Nomar cards for a few years just because I did not like to only get cards of those two players.  Now I am going back.

2.  Nomar Garciaparra.  This is the only Nomar from the package though.  He is starting to fall farther behind Varitek now that I have been focusing on cards of him quite a bit more.

3.  Pedro Martinez.  This is number 2.

4.  Wade Boggs.  I always liked the Greats of the Game sets.  Sometimes Fleer picked outside-the-box players like Johnny Pesky and Bernie Carbo.  Boggs was a much more common player to appear.

5.  Xander Bogaerts.  And in the race between Bogaerts and Bradley to 100, both players are now at 99.

6.  Pedro Martinez.  And here is #3 to take the lead back from Ortiz.
7.  Will Middlebrooks.  Middlebrooks is a player whose early decline meant that he did not come particularly close to 100 cards right away.  He looked like he was headed that way for awhile but has slowed way down.

8.  Chris Carter.  Not the good Chris Carter unfortunately.  This one never homered for Boston despite being a power hitter.

9.  Jon Lester.  Lester's Bowman rookie card.  Could he be a future Hall of Famer?

10.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Yaz had a lot of "Golden Moments" over the course of his career.

11.  Jimmie Foxx.  I always enjoy finding Foxx cards with Boston, for obvious reasons.  Even though he is in the Hall of Fame wearing a Red Sox cap, he still seems more remembered for his time with the A's.

12.  Rafael Devers.  Devers is one of the few remaining elite prospects in Boston's system.  I would like them to hold onto him if possible.  They have traded away so much young talent.

13.  Carl Yastrzemski.  And the last card is another Yaz.

So, not a lot of really exciting cards, but each of them crossed another card off of my wantlist.

Friday, January 27, 2017

The Jason Varitek Quest for 1,000: 910-911 and a JBJ

The Jason Varitek quest is still going strong for now:
1.  2016 Topps Five Star Autographs Rainbow.  I have attempted multiple times to get one of these cards.  There are several parallels.  I actually ended up getting the Rainbow parallel which is serial-numbered to 25.

2.  2016 Topps High Tek Lines.  Here is yet another High Tek variation.  I now have seven variations from this set.  There appear to be about 30.

And just for good measure I added a card of another player who I once focused on:
This is card #99 of Jackie Bradley Jr.  I do not have a lot of relic cards of him yet, mostly because there simply have not been many.  I do think that is likely to change this next year on the basis of his strong 2016 season.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

It's Snowing

I missed work on Wednesday due to the bad weather in Northeast Nebraska.  Most roads were impassable, particularly the highways.  I live outside of town about half an hour and was not able to make it in.  So this one card is particularly appropriate.
This is the Metallic Snowflake parallel of Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel.  Nothing terribly exciting, but I did not have one of these parallels yet, so I worked out a trade to add one.  I have mentioned many times that Kimbrel had a bit of a disappointing season in his first year in Boston.  He was still striking out more than 14 batters per nine innings, but he walked a lot more players and he tended to get hit hard.  Hopefully, 2017 will be a rebound season.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Sons of Italy and More

This is the second part from yesterday's COMC package.  I could not resist adding some other Red Sox to my collection.
1.  David Price.  Nice-looking Stadium Club insert here.

2.  Carl Yastrzemski.  This is my favorite picture from this whole package.  Stadium Club is of course known for terrific photography and this is definitely one of the best photos I have seen for the Red Sox from last season.

3.  Xander Bogaerts.  This card would be really awesome with an MLB license.

4.  Xander Bogaerts.  With this card, Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. are now tied at 98 cards apiece.

5.  David Price.  It uses the same photo as the insert card from earlier.  I missed National Baseball Card Day.  Not having a local shop kind of sucks.

6.  Drew Pomeranz.  I counted this as a wantlist hit, even though the regular Chrome was the one listed.  Hey, I got one of them.

7.  David Price.  I added three new Price cards from this package, which is well behind Varitek, but he is up in the 30's now.  He could make it to 100 by the end of the season.

8.  Mookie Betts. Obligatory Mookie card here.

And now, the cards that I am the most excited about from the entire package, yes including the Varitek cards:
These are NEHF Sons of Italy cards, a set honoring Italian-American baseball players.  The set did not have an MLB license, so you kind of have to guess at the teams the players represent.  With these two, it was pretty easy.  There are a small handful of others out there that I will pick up as I go.  I really like this oddball set, just like the Jewish Major Leaguers set, the player selection is terrific.  Just look at the two players here:

1.  Doug Mirabelli.  Varitek's longtime backup catcher spent seven years  over two stints with Boston.  His best season was 2004 when he was .281/.368/.525 with nine home runs in 59 games.  He was the backup on the 2004 and 2007 World Championship teams.

2.  Dick Drago.  Like Mirabelli, Drago had two stints with the Red Sox and was an important bullpen piece for the 1975 AL Champions, which is likely when this picture was taken.  Drago led the team in saves that season with 15.  After a couple of seasons away, Drago returned to Boston in 1978 and continued to be a decent reliever for three more seasons.  Notably, Drago gave up Hank Aaron's final home run.

I really like these cards.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

The Jason Varitek Quest for 1,000: 899-909

Ten new Jason Varitek cards were added to the collection today, courtesy of a COMC package.  These are mostly parallels from cards toward the end of his career when I was drifting away from the Varitek focus.  That was toward the end of 2008 when he struggled greatly and finished the season with a .220/.313/.359 line.  The next season he became a backup catcher, where he stayed for the rest of his career.  The Documentary cards finish off the base set.  The Game 15 card there actually mentions Varitek as he homered in the ninth inning to take the lead.

I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the other players that show up in this scan.  Most importantly is Daisuke Matsuzaka on the last card, because of course he pitched to Varitek quite a bit.  And then there is the catchers card that includes two other players that appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot.  Ivan Rodriguez was elected and Jorge Posada, like Varitek, was eliminated from future ballots.

This brings me up to 909 Jason Varitek cards.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Bowman Color Refractor Trade

I sent a bunch of Sandy Alomar Jr. doubles and other Indians cards to a guy for a couple of Bowman Chrome color refractors of players who were on the 2013 World Championship team.  I was pretty happy with this trade, mostly because of the orange refractor (numbered to 25) of Jon Lester there.  That was the highlight of the trade and I almost was not able to get it.  The other party originally just wanted to sell it until I sweetened the deal with the Alomar doubles.  I probably gave up a little much, but I am okay with moving duplicates.  The Middlebrooks card is numbered to 150.  His signature printed on the card looks like it is written in Arabic.  Neither player is currently with the Red Sox, but both were important for the 2013 team.  I am definitely pleased with the Lester card.  I don't usually buy lower-numbered cards like this (of players other than Jason Varitek), so adding one through trade is pretty thrillling.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Camouflaged Herrera

This is the second time I have tried to acquire this card, it is possible the other one arrived and I just can't see it.  Herrera was a utility infielder acquired in a trade with the Rockies before the 2014 season for Franklin Morales.  Not a great trade.  Morales has not been a great pitcher, but he has had some decent moments.  Herrera did not provide much value at all.  He played in just 42 games and hit .233/.307/.289.  According to the back of the card he did bunt for a base hit with the bases loaded, something that had not been done since Gary Allenson walked off with one in 1982.  He left as a free agent to the Cubs after the season.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

The Jason Varitek Quest for 1,000: 899

I have decided that Jason Varitek should be the largest player in my entire collection.  He is already the largest player in my Red Sox collection, although not really by that many over Nomar Garciaparra (and there are a lot more Nomars on my wantlist than Variteks).  The first step in doing that is by going for a big milestone.
This is #899.  101 more to go.  This is the Topps The Mint Gem 10 Autograph.  I love this card because of the inscription of his uniform number.  That is not something he typically does with his autograph, and I have seen a ton of his autographs in the past.

Friday, January 20, 2017

The Most Dominant Bullpen in Red Sox History?

I was recently watching an MLB Network documentary on the 1990 World Champion Cincinnati Reds.  The major thing that anyone remembers about that team is The Nasty Boys, their incredible three-headed bullpen monster made up of Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble, and Randy Myers.  Teams are trying to replicate that success, with the 2015 Royals and the 2016 Yankees being particularly notable.  The documentary referred to the three pitchers' SO/9 numbers as the best evidence of their dominance (though it erred when it said all three had more than 10 strikeouts per nine as Charlton only had 6.8).  I decided to use 9.0 SO/9 as a base line and find years in which the Red Sox had two or more relief pitchers with a higher number (using 50 innings pitched as a minimum).  It is not perfect, not even close really, but it is a start.

1989
THE PITCHERS: Lee Smith (12.2 SO/9) and Rob Murphy (9.2 SO/9).  #3 was Joe Price with 6.7.
Lee Smith was a monster.  He was the closer in 1989 and was 6-1 with a 3.57 ERA, striking out 96 in 70.2 innings.  He walked 33 for a 2.91 SO/BB ratio.  He racked up 25 saves.  His ERA was a little high for a closer but that SO/9 ratio was incredible.
Southpaw Rob Murphy was in his first year with the Red Sox after being acquired in a trade with the Reds that also included Nick Esasky.  Boston gave up Todd Benzinger, which worked out well for Boston.  Murphy was awesome in 1989 going 5-7 with a 2.74 ERA.  He led the team in games pitched (74), and struck out 107 in 105 innings.  He saved nine games. 

2010
THE PITCHERS: Jonathan Papelbon (10.2 SO/9) and Daniel Bard (9.2 SO/9).  #3 was Scott Atchison with 6.2.
In his prime, Papelbon was one of the most dominating closers in Red Sox history.  At this point, he is the greatest closer in Red Sox history.  2010 was a bit of a down year for him, but he still managed to save 37 games, striking out 76 and walking 28 in 67 innings.  Even in a down year he was striking out 10.2/9 innings.
Daniel Bard, on the other hand, was at his best in 2010.  He saved three games and had a 1.93 ERA in 74.2 innings.  He racked up 76 strikeouts and walked 30.

2011
THE PITCHERS: Jonathan Papelbon (12.2 SO/9), Matt Albers (9.5 SO/9), and Daniel Bard (9.1 SO/9).  #4 was Dan Wheeler at 7.1.
Papelbon was back at the top of his game in 2011, though he did take the loss in the final game of the season that eliminated the Red Sox from making the postseason.  He was 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA, striking out 87 and walking just 10 in 64.1 innings.  
Bard, on the other hand, was starting his downward spiral.  He still pitched well enough in 2011, finishing with a 3.33 ERA, but a 2-9 record.  He struck out 74 and walked 24 in 73 innings for an impressive 3.08 SO/BB ratio, so that was not the problem.  Bard would struggle greatly after 2011 though.
For the first time, Boston had three relievers with more than a strikeout an inning.  Albers struck out 68 and walked 31 in 64.2 innings, but he had a 4-4 record and 4.73 ERA.  He was not great, other than the strikeouts.

2013
THE PITCHERS: Koji Uehara (12.2 SO/9) and Junichi Tazawa (9.5 SO/9).  Andrew Miller (14.1 SO/9), Andrew Bailey (12.2 SO/9), and Brandon Workman (10.2 SO/9) all did very well in shorter work.
The World Champs had a top-flight closer, having an amazing season.  Uehara was 4-1 with a 1.09 ERA and 21 saves.  He struck out 101 and walked just nine for an incredible 11.22 SO/BB ratio in just 74.1 innings.  He won the ALCS MVP.
Tazawa was a very underrated member of the Red Sox bullpen for years.  He was 5-4 with a 3.16 ERA in 68.1 innings.  He racked up 72 strikeouts and walked just 12 for a 6.00 SO/BB ratio.  

2014
THE PITCHERS: Same culprits as 2013.  Koji Uehara (11.2 SO/9) and Junichi Tazawa (9.1 SO/9).  Andrew Miller (14.7 SO/9) once again excelled, though in just 42.1 innings, and this was the season he was traded to Baltimore.
Not quite as impressive as 2013, but Koji was still 6-5 with 26 saves and a 2.52 ERA in 64.1 innings.  He struck out 80 and walked just eight.  His impeccable control was his biggest strength.  
Tazawa had some better numbers in 2014, going 4-3 with a 2.86 ERA.  He struck out 64 but walked 17 in 63 innings.  His SO/BB ratio dropped to 3.00, which was still a pretty decent number.

2016
THE PITCHERS: Craig Kimbrel (14.1 SO/9), Matt Barnes (9.6 SO/9), and Robbie Ross Jr. (9.1 SO/9).  Junichi Tazawa (9.8 SO/9), Koji Uehara (12.1 SO/9), Joe Kelly (10.8 SO/9), and Brad Ziegler (9.4 SO/9) just missed the innings cut-off.
Kimbrel's first season in Boston had its ups and downs, but he was still a strikeout machine, notching 83 in 53 innings.  His SO/BB ratio was down to 2.77 and his other numbers were down somewhat as he had a 2-6 record and 3.40 ERA.  He picked up 31 saves.
In his first full season in the Red Sox bullpen, Barnes put together a solid year.  He had a 4.05 ERA mostly as a result of a few bad outings due to overwork.  He struck out 71 and walked 31 in 66.2 innings.  Barnes could get even better.
Ross has quietly been a very impressive member of the Red Sox bullpen as the primary lefty.  He had a strong season that should get him some more notice in 2017 (I'm talking to you Topps, we need Robbie Ross cards).  He was 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA, walking 23 and striking out 56 in 55.1 innings.

CONCLUSION
One team that just missed the cut that I was somewhat surprised by was the 1993 team.  Four relievers had over 8.0 SO/9, but less than 9.0.  That quartet was made up of closer Jeff Russell (8.7 in 46.2 innings), Greg Harris (8.3), Ken Ryan (8.8), and Tony Fossas (8.8 in 40 innings).  That was a very underrated pen.

I personally remember the 2013 season very fondly, for obvious reasons.  I did not even discuss Craig Breslow and Felix Doubront who also pitched well in relief.  Injuries kept that pen from being even better.  Bailey and Miller were both lost for the season early on.  Of course, if Bailey had not been hurt, Boston may not have gotten the year it did from Uehara.  The bullpen in 2013 was one of the team's strengths and a big reason why they won the World Series.

From a strikeout standpoint, the 2016 team was probably the most impressive.  It is kind of amazing how many of these teams have come in the last five years.  This is definitely becoming a primary focus in bullpens.  The 2017 team could be the best yet.  Barnes, Ross, and Kelly will all be back, with a better idea of what their roles will be.  Kimbrel could have a bounceback season.  And new setup man Tyler Thornburg had a 12.1 SO/9 ratio last season. 

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Big Hall of Fame Wrap-Up Post

Three players were elected to the Hall of Fame today by the BBWAA.  None of the three played for the Boston Red Sox, although one did play in the minors for them.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching all three players.  Jeff Bagwell was a terrific hitter and first-baseman, and of course the questions of what might have been were always present.  I will count down my favorite Bagwell cards in my collection later in the post.  Ivan Rodriguez was a terrific defensive catcher, and could hit a little bit too.  Finally, I missed the best of Tim Raines, but he was still a decent player with the White Sox, and was one of the few Yankees I actually liked.  

The representatives of the Boston Red Sox did not fare as well.  Here is a quick rundown, in descending order by vote total:

ROGER CLEMENS (239 votes)
Clemens took a big step forward and received 54.1% of the vote.  It now looks likely that he will be inducted in the next couple of years or so.

CURT SCHILLING (199 votes)
Schilling's mouth got him in a whole bunch of trouble and he saw a 31 vote decrease this year.  It may be a one-year thing, hopefully.  His political opinions and his Twitter comments, neither of which were at all related to his baseball performance, seem to have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

LEE SMITH (151 votes)
It was Smith's final year on the BBWAA ballot.  Next stop: Veteran's Committee.

MANNY RAMIREZ (105 votes)
Manny's biggest problem is the fact that he tested positive for PEDs twice at the tail end of his career.  Nevertheless, he did reasonably okay on his first ballot.  Time will tell if he can build enough momentum to make it in.  Strictly based on stats, he should be in.

BILLY WAGNER (45 votes)
Wagner was a terrific closer who has a better case than a lot of people realize.  Is he a Hall of Famer though?  I guess time will tell.

EDGAR RENTERIA (2 votes)
His two votes mostly recognize the fact that he had the World Series-clinching hit in two World Series.  He will no longer be on the ballot.

JASON VARITEK (2 votes)
I predicted one or two votes for my all-time favorite player and I was apparently right on point.  His numbers do not measure up, though there is an increase in appreciation for his defensive skills such as pitch-framing.  He was an elite pitch-framer.  He drops off the ballot as well, though I am not surprised by this. 

TIM WAKEFIELD (1 vote)
I am surprised by the one vote Wakefield received.  He will always be a favorite of mine, but his chances at the Hall of Fame were always slim to none.

J.D. DREW (0 votes)
Drew was a much better player than his reputation.  He deserved a little more of a look.

FREDDY SANCHEZ (0 votes)
He won a batting title in a terrific 2006 season with the Pirates.  Like Bagwell, he was part of a bad trade, but he was never going to make it to the Hall. 

ORLANDO CABRERA (0 votes)
Cabrera will always be remembered as the shortstop on the 2004 Red Sox World Championship team.  That is good enough.

MATT STAIRS (0 votes)
Stairs was a lot of fun to watch, mostly because he did not look like a professional baseball player, but he was not getting in.

MIKE CAMERON (0 votes)
Cameron is another player that I think should have gotten a few more votes.  He was a pretty good player for quite awhile.  He was a fantastic defensive outfielder who had some pop.  No, I don't think he should have gotten in, but I am surprised he received no votes at all.

The biggest surprise among players that dropped off the ballot in their first year was Jorge Posada.  I really thought that he might stick on the ballot for several seasons and possibly build some support.  He received just 17 votes.

Now, as promised, my countdown of my favorite Jeff Bagwell cards in my collection:

#3.
Not much to say about this one.  I kind of like the border on it, but this is as generic as they come.

#2.
Slightly less generic than the first one, though the border is annoying.  He looked very young at this point, and even has a wisp of a mullet.

#1.
I do love this card.  I grabbed it as soon as I became aware of it.  I think it is most likely photoshopped, but I have no real basis for that.  Still, it is the only Boston Red Sox card of Bagwell in my collection, so it gets extra points for that.

Of course the reason that Bagwell never appeared in a Major League game with the Red Sox is all because of this guy:
The story was that Boston needed some relief help in order to help make it to the postseason.  They had foolishly traded Lee Smith earlier in the season, Rob Murphy was struggling, and Jeff Reardon was hurt for awhile.  The Astros were asking for the moon.  Boston eventually agreed to send Bagwell to Houston to get Andersen.  Bagwell was behind Scott Cooper and Wade Boggs on the third base depth chart and Carlos Quintana and Mo Vaughn on the first base depth chart.  So Bagwell was viewed as a spare part.  He was not a very good defensive third baseman and did not have a ton of power in the minors.  Of course Bagwell turned out to have a terrific career with the Astros and finally was elected to the Hall of Fame.  So in hindsight it was a bad trade.  But Andersen did well in his short stint with Boston, appearing in 15 games with a 1.23 ERA, one save, and 25 strikeouts versus just three walks in 22 innings.  He was terrific in his very short time with Boston, though he did take the loss in an ALCS game, and of course he left as a free agent after the season.  The trade looks terrible now, but it made some sense at the time.  Things just do not always work out as planned.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Bowman Draft Trade and a Fan Pak

I recently made a trade with a guy for a few Bowman Draft singles.  Nothing real exciting, just a couple of cards from my wantlist and a refractor of one of Boston's draft picks.  
1.  Nomar Garciaparra.  Nomar was the 12th overall pick in the 1994 Draft.  Boston did not select higher than that again until 2013 when they apparently wasted a pick on Trey Ball.  Nomar was one of the best draft selections Boston has ever had as he had a terrific run of success from his rookie season through the 2003 season.

2.  Roger Clemens.  The Rocket was the 19th pick in the 1983 Draft.  None of the previous 18 picks came close to the career Clemens had.  Of course Clemens is one of the greatest pitchers of all time.  Boston was lucky Clemens fell to them.

3.  Mike Shawaryn.  Boston's fifth round pick from the 2016 Draft fell in the draft due to a loss in velocity, but he was very successful in his first stint as a professional, going 0-1 with a 2.87 ERA with 22 strikeouts versus seven walks in 15.2 innings.

I was a little surprised when I opened up the package with those three cards in it to find one of these:
These are the Upper Deck Fan Paks issued by the company for the Red Sox and Yankees with slightly modified versions of Upper Deck brand cards.  I had a lot of these already, but out of the 25 cards, I did get these seven new ones:
The 2007 and 2008 Upper Deck sets are both printed on thinner card stock and are glossier.  The UD Future Stars cards have darker green and silver foil.  The SP Legendary Cuts cards have silver foil as well.  The most notable difference though is with the Masterpieces cards, none of which are shown here as I have them all.  Those feature a glossy instead of a textured finish.  The Mike Lowell card is probably the best picture.  I'm guessing he made a catch into the stands in foul territory and was showing he had the ball.