Today, I am going to be showing off some Topps Now cards that I picked up of new favorite player Ceddanne Rafaela. I will not be doing a full-on player collection of Rafaela, but I felt it was necessary to start adding some cards. I only had about 16 when I decided he was now my favorite. By the way, I am officially caught up to the point that all cards from this point forward were added to my collection after my post ranting about the Rafael Devers trade on July 12. I have a pile of cards right now to still show off, but they are all new within the last month.
On June 4, 2025, Rafaela walked-off the game with a home run. One of the things I like about Rafaela is his ability to come through in the clutch. What made this particularly interesting was that it was one of the shortest walk-off home runs in history as Rafaela wrapped it just inside the Pesky Pole in right field, also impressive since Rafaela is a right-handed hitter. This shot gave Boston an 11-9 win over the Angels in the bottom of the ninth inning.
For this card, I reached back to 2023. I am not sure why I did not grab cards of Rafaela at the time. I suspect I was frustrated with the team and they were obviously not making the postseason. On August 28, 2023 Rafaela made his Major League debut, coming into the game late. He singled in his only at-bat of a 13-5 loss to the Astros. I suppose that might have been another reason I missed it, I just was not expecting it.
On May 14, 2025, one of the more bizarre plays I have ever seen was made in the outfield. The Red Sox lost to the Tigers 6-5, but it could have been worse. In the seventh inning, Kerry Carpenter hit a ball that would have been out, if not for the valiant effort of Wilyer Abreu. Abreu was not able to hold on to it though, just deflect it back into the field of play, where Rafaela managed to grab it out of the air, recording the out. What a weird play.
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