This is going to be one of those posts that doesn't need much introduction. It's just a card post.
2022 Donruss Optic Rated Rookie Signatures Silver Star Prizm. This is just another variation of the Donruss autograph card. I have 21 of these now.
Up next is a big trade that features a completely random assortment of players.
1. Jody Reed. Reed was an early favorite player of mine. He was an underrated, scrappy player who had virtually no power, but managed 40+ doubles three seasons in a row, including tying for the league lead with 45 in 1990.
2. Rafael Devers.
3. Luis Tiant. I was apprehensive about getting this card because I thought it would be oversized. This is fine though. I am still pissed he didn't get elected to the Hall of Fame this year.
4. Chris Sale.
5. Roger Clemens.
6. Tris Speaker. Speaker was the first major star Boston traded away, even pre-dating Babe Ruth.
7. Tom Bolton. Bolton was one of two Red Sox players in my first pack of baseball cards, along with Dennis Lamp.
8. Masataka Yoshida.
9. Bob Zupcic. Zupcic hit three home runs in 1992. Two of them were grand slams, and one was a walkoff.
10. Steven Wright.
11. Aaron Sele. Sele and his college batterymate Scott Hatteberg were both drafted in the first round of the 1991 draft.
12. Brayan Bello. Bello has been on a roll lately. Hopefully he has turned the corner and will develop into a solid starting pitcher going forward.
13. Roger Clemens.
14. Andrew Benintendi.
15. Celebration card. This is from the 2004 World Championship parade.
16. Dave Stapleton. Stapleton should have been playing first at the end of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. He hit .321 in his first season, but declined every year the rest of this career.
17. Jose Iglesias.
18. Kevin Morton. Morton was a first round pick in 1989. He made it to the Majors in 1991 and was 6-5 with a 4.59 ERA but never made it back to the Majors.
19. Ceddanne Rafaela. I am not going to super-collect Rafaela, I am way too late in the game for that. But I am going to pick up a bunch of cards to position him as a major player in my collection. I have a lot of cards of him coming.
20. Rick Miller. Miller had good speed, was a great defender, and a very good pinch hitter. He served two stints in Boston, from 1971-1977 and then 1981-1985. He left Boston as a free agent in 1977 and then was re-acquired in the deal that sent Rick Burleson and Butch Hobson to the Angels for Carney Lansford and Mark Clear.
21. Daisuke Matsuzaka.
22. J.D. Martinez.
23. John Kennedy. Kennedy was a decent utility infielder for a few seasons. His best season in Boston saw him hit .276/.320/.412.
24. Jacoby Ellsbury.
25. Don Pavletich. Pavletich didn't play much after being acquired by Boston. He was picked up in a trade with the White Sox that also brought Gary Peters and was sent to the Brewers in a huge trade along with George Scott, Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett and Billy Conigliaro for Tommy Harper, Lew Krausse and Marty Pattin. You don't see franchise-altering trades like that anymore.
26. Victor Martinez. I never really warmed up to Martinez during his time in Boston, because he relegated my favorite player to backup duty. But he was great in Boston. I recognize and appreciate that now.
27. Phil Gagliano. Gagliano hit .324 in part-time duty for Boston in 1971.
28. Lee Smith. This is a Tiffany card.
29. Eddie Kasko. Kasko was the manager after Dick Williams and played his final season in Boston.
30. David Price. I don't get a ton of relics anymore, but there were a couple in this trade.
31. Rob Deer. I remember being excited when Deer was acquired in a trade during the 1993 season. I didn't really understand the trade deadline at the time, so I was disappointed when they did not bring him back after the year. He homered in his first Red Sox at-bat.
32. Drew Pomeranz. I hated the deal that brought Pomeranz to the Red Sox because it sent their big pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza to the Padres. It worked out though because Pomeranz had a 17-win season the next year and Espinoza didn't make it to the Majors until just recently.
33. David Price.
34. David Ortiz.
35. Roger Clemens.
36. Dustin Pedroia.
37. Brayan Bello.
38. Triston Casas.
39. Ceddanne Rafaela. Here is another one, my second in this trade.
40. Alex Verdugo/Enrique Hernandez.
41. Rafael Devers.
42. Roger Clemens.
43. Roger Clemens.
44. Kevin Plawecki. Plawecki was a solid backup catcher in 2021 and hit .287/.349/.389.
45. Wade Boggs.
46. Roger Clemens. There were a lot of Clemens oddballs in this trade.
47. David Ortiz.
48. Roger Clemens.
49. J.D. Martinez.
50. Pedro Martinez.
51. Tom Burgmeier. Burgmeier was an All Star in 1980 when he had an ERA of 2.00 and 24 saves as the team's closer.
52. Mookie Betts.
53. George Scott. I am a big fan of the Boomer, even if I never saw him play. He just seems like the kind of player I would have loved.
54. Gary Wagner. In 1970, Wagner saved seven games for the Red Sox and had an ERA of 3.35. It was his last Major League season, though he was just 30.
55. Wilyer Abreu. Abreu is criminally underrepresented in my collection. I still have fewer than 10. I am waiting on the trade deadline. If he doesn't get traded, which seems less and less likely, I will probably add him to Rafaela as players to target.
56. Wade Boggs.
57. Wade Boggs.
58. Jose Santiago. Santiago turned into a solid pitcher in the Impossible Dream season and homered in his first World Series at-bat. How many pitchers can say that? He was an All Star in 1968, but suffered an arm injury that eventually ended his career.
59. Hanley Ramirez. We close things out with the second relic. Ramirez had a huge 2016 season when he hit .286/.361/.505 with 30 home runs and 111 RBIs.
That's it for today.
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