Still going here. I just have not had the patience or motivation to get through more than a few packages at a time. So, here is the third post in a row. Let's see how far into this we can get. The first package is full of oddballs and reprints.
1. Tony Perez. Perez is one of many Hall of Famers who had a brief stop in Boston. He spent three seasons in Boston and had his last great season there in 1980. That season, Perez hit .275/.320/.467 with 25 home runs and 105 RBIs.
2. Jake Jones. Jones spent parts of two seasons in Boston in 1947 and 1948 after being acquired in a trade with the White Sox for Rudy York. He was the primary first-baseman in 1947, but hit just .235/.310/.403 with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs. After a slow start in 1948, he was replaced by rookie Billy Goodman.
3. Hal Wagner. Wagner spent parts of three seasons with the Red Sox and was an All Star in 1946. That season, he hit .230/.354/.322 with six home runs and 52 RBIs. How that got him in the All Star Game, I am unable to guess.
4. Tom Seaver. There are going to be a lot of Seaver cards coming soon. This is one of the Broder cards.
5. George Kell. Like Perez, Kell is a Hall of Famer who had a brief stop in Boston over the course of three years. He was an All Star in 1953 when he hit .307/.383/.483 with 73 RBIs and a career-high 12 home runs. He also had 41 doubles.
6. Sammy White. White spent nine seasons in Boston and was an All Star in 1953 when he hit .273/.318/.435 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs. It was not his best season, but it was his only All Star season.
1. Tom Burgmeier. Burgmeier was an All Star in 1980 with the Red Sox after going 5-4 with a 2.00 ERA in 62 games (99 innings pitched). He notched 24 saves (fifth in the A.L.), struck out 54 and walked 20.
2. Nick Esasky. Esasky is one of the greatest One-Year Wonder Red Sox in history. He hit .277/.355/.500 with 30 home runs and 108 RBIs in his only season in Boston. He signed a big free agent deal with the Braves for the 1990 season, but suffered from vertigo and had to retire early.
3. David Eckstein. The very popular diminutive middle infielder came up through the Red Sox minor league system, but never played in Boston. The Red Sox DFA'd him to make room for Lou Merloni in 2000 when Boston was desperate for third base help. Merloni had his best season, but Eckstein might have helped a bit more.
4. Eduardo Rodriguez. Surprisingly Rodriguez has yet to make an All Star team.
5. Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia was an All Star in 2008 through 2010 and then in 2013. I am not sure how he missed the All Star selection in 2011, his best season. That year, he was a 20/20 man, setting career highs in home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, triples, OBP and walks. He did win the Gold Glove that year, one of four.
6. Rafael Devers. Devers has been an All Star twice so far, in 2021 and 2022. Third base is something of a stacked position these days. He certainly had the numbers for selection in 2019 and 2023.
7. Wade Boggs. Boggs was an All Star every year from 1985 through 1992 with Boston. Memorably, he and Bo Jackson hit back-to-back home runs in 1989.
8. Bobby Dalbec. I am not sure what Boston is going to do with Dalbec coming into this season. It is kind of surprising he is still there.
1. Jonathan Papelbon. Pap recently hosted the Red Sox fan festival question and answer session in a state of increasing inebriation. Still, he is a surprisingly funny guy and fun to follow on Twitter. He was an All Star four times with the Red Sox from 2006 through 2009.
2. J.D. Martinez. Martinez was also an All Star four times with the Red Sox, since this seems to be a random theme tonight.
3. Chris Sale. Sale was only an All Star twice with the Red Sox, 2017 and 2018. He started both games.
4. Eduardo Rodriguez.
1. David Ortiz. Ortiz was a 10-time All Star (2004-2008, 2010-2013 and 2016). He won the Home Run Derby in 2010 and took part in five of those.
2. Alex Verdugo. It's kind of disappointing that Verdugo is no longer with the team, though I saw it coming. I'll probably surpass 100 cards of him in the near future.
3. Trevor Story. I am looking forward to seeing if Story can return to his pre-injury form. I think he could be in for a big year this year.
4. Chris Sale.
5. Alex Verdugo.
6. Rafael Devers.
7. David Ortiz.
8. Dustin Pedroia.
9. Brayan Bello. Bello is a player that seems to appear a lot in posts lately.
10. Justin Turner. Turner's One-Year Wonder post is coming soon. Is his year enough to unseat one of the All-Time One Year winners? I guess that depends on if I should consider him a DH or a utility player. He spent most of his time at DH, but appeared in 41 games at first, ten at second and seven at third.
1. Rico Petrocelli. Petrocelli was an All Star twice, in 1967 and 1969. 1969 was the season he hit 40 home runs, a record for A.L. shortstops that held until 1998. It's sort of surprising Petrocelli received virtually no support in his only year on the Hall of Fame ballot.
2. Felix Mantilla. Mantilla was an All Star in 1963, the year after he hit 30 home runs for the only time in his career. In 1963 he hit .275/.374/.416 with 18 home runs and 92 RBIs. The RBIs were the only number more than his 1962 season.
3. Joe Cronin. Cronin was an All Star five times with Boston and was an original All Star in 1933. He appeared in 1935, 1937-1939 and 1941.
4. Mo Vaughn. Vaughn was an All Star in 1995, 1996 and 1998 for the Red Sox. First base at that time period was stacked with great hitters. That's how great Vaughn was that he managed to still make it to the game.
5. John Smoltz. Another Hall of Famer with a brief Red Sox stint. Smoltz started eight games with the Red Sox in his final season before being released and finishing up with the Cardinals.
1. Connor Wong. Nope, I have not moved away from my Connor Wong collection. There just have not been a ton of cards out there lately.
1. Babe Ruth. This is an inverted variation short print from the 2023 Topps Archives set. I snagged this for a pretty good price after turning down a trade for it where the other person wanted way too much for it.
1. Chris Sale.
2. Michael Chavis. Chavis never made it close to matching his numbers from his 2019 rookie season. He did hit 14 home runs for the Pirates in 2022, but his .654 OPS and 83 OPS+ was not getting it done.
3. Andrew Benintendi. Benintendi is another player who has never been able to match his rookie season. In 2017, he hit .271/.352/.424 with 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases and 90 RBIs. He has had some good years with average, but his power and speed are almost non-existent at this point.
That's it for now. The next package is a big one that might need its own post.
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