Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary

Recently, I came across Brian's blog Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary.  Brian is a Twins fan and he was showing off some boxes of cards from various teams along with a few random cards.  One of those cards caught my eye and I contacted Brian to start a trade.  Here is the package he sent:

1.  1979 Topps Jim Rice/George Foster.  Rice and Foster led their respective leagues in home runs in 1978.  Foster hit 40, Rice hit 46.  Rice was in the midst of the season that largely led to his induction into the Hall of Fame as he accumulated 406 total bases, an insanely high number.

2.  1990 Bowman Mike Rochford.  This was the last card I needed for this team set.  Rochford pitched in eight games over three seasons with the Red Sox and was 0-1 with a 9.58 ERA.  He struck out two and walked nine in 10.1 innings.

3.  2015 Leaf Heroes of Baseball Pedro Martinez.  This is the last card I needed for this set.  I love this set, just some nice-looking cards, despite the lack of an MLB license.

4.  2016 Donruss The Prospects Statline Yoan Moncada.  I am glad that Moncada was at least able to play a little bit in the Majors with the Red Sox.  It is disappointing that he was traded, though I look forward to Chris Sale pitching for Boston.

5.  2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Autographs Henry Owens.  Owens needs to show he can be a Major Leaguer this year.  I think it is his last chance in Boston, and that might not even be true with the number of left-handed starting pitchers ahead of him on the depth chart.

6.  2016 Bowman's Best Mirror Image Yoan Moncada/Jose Altuve.  Moncada's Red Sox numbers include 20 plate appearances over eight games.  He hit just .211/.250/.263 with a double and an RBI.  He struck out 12 times.

7.  2014 Topps 1989 Mini Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia is the senior member of the team now, and as the next two posts will show, he is picking up steam in my collection.

8.  2016 Bowman's Best Top Prospects Rafael Devers.  After Benintendi graduates from prospect status, Devers will take over as the team's top prospect.  He has hit 29 home runs over three seasons in the minors so far.  He has impressive power.

9.  1996 Select Certified Jose Canseco.  Canseco is sneaking up on 100 cards in my collection.  This is #93.  Canseco was in the midst of one of his best seasons in 1996 when he went down with an injury.  He hit .289/.400/.589 with 28 home runs and 82 RBIs, despite missing the entire last month of the season.

10.  2016 Topps Bunt Nomar Garciaparra.  I am slowly adding these Bunt cards to my collection.  Somehow I completely missed out on them last year.

11.  2016 Topps Bunt Henry Owens.  Owens is getting quite large in my collection, which will be annoying if he never amounts to anything.

12.  2016 Topps Bunt Roger Clemens.  Clemens may finally make it into the Hall of Fame next year.

13.  2016 Topps Bunt Ted Williams.  A fairly typical photo of Williams here.

14.  2016 Topps Bunt Wade Boggs.  Boggs was my favorite player when I first started watching baseball.  He finally had his number retired last year by the Red Sox.

15.  2016 Topps Bunt Dustin Pedroia.  At this point in his career, Pedroia needs a few more seasons like 2016 to start to look like a lock for the Hall of Fame.  His numbers currently are .301/.366/.445 with 132 home runs, 1,683 hits, and four Gold Gloves.

16.  1953 Bowman Color Hoot Evers.  This is the card that started the trade.  This is my first 1953 Bowman card.  After several impressive seasons with the Tigers, Evers was traded to the Red Sox after one game in 1952.  It was the same deal that sent George Kell to the Red Sox and Johnny Pesky to the Tigers.  He hit .262/.318/.429 with 14 home runs and 59 RBIs.  He declined further in 1953 and was exposed to waivers and claimed by the Giants.  He never played as well as he had with the Tigers.

Thanks for the trade Brian!  I am still working on finding more cards for you.