Ceddane, Say Hello

I keep saying I am not going to super-collect him, and yet it has been very clear in my collection in the last few weeks (which will be shown in posts over the next couple of weeks) that Ceddanne Rafaela is the current focal point.  This post will show off a pile of cards of him, acquired through a number of means.

Up first, is a COMC order that I used to fill in some holes.

Most of the cards that I bought in this order were less than a dollar and just an attempt to add as many cards as possible.  The center card, the 2022 Bowman Chrome Prospects Black & White Raywave Refractor was the most expensive.  I like the insert cards as well (Finest Arrivals, Topps Heritage Rookie Performers, Topps 1989 and Topps City to City).

This is the rest from the COMC order.  The top right card was one of the Throwback Thursday online-only releases.  The middle right was from the Chris Berman-curated set.  

September 12, 2023

This was the last Topps Now card issued previously that I needed to get.  This was from Rafaela's first career home run at Fenway Park.  It was also his first career home run in the Majors anyway.  Appropriately, it came against the Yankees.  The Red Sox have had a number of players in recent years hit their first career home runs against the Yankees, including Xander Bogaerts and Jeter Downs.  It was the only run in a 4-1 loss.

Up next is a TCDB trade:

1.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  My first relic card of Rafaela came from this trade.

2.  Isaiah Campbell.  There were a couple of other firsts in the deal too.  This is my first Red Sox card of Campbell, who I expected to be a bigger deal in the bullpen.  He has good stuff, just not good results.

3.  Quinn Priester.  This is my first Priester card too.  Priester was acquired in a deadline deal in 2024 for former first-rounder Nick Yorke.  He pitched one game last year for Boston, throwing five innings of one-run ball and winning the game, striking out two and walking one.  Earlier this year, he was traded to Milwaukee for two minor leaguers and a compensation round draft pick.  He has since been great for the Brewers.  Boston may regret this trade, depending on how their prospects turn out.

4.  Naoyuki Uwasawa.  My second Uwasawa card, giving him as many cards in my collection as he had games pitched in Boston.

5.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Yes, this trade was centered around two Rafaela cards.

These cards came together as a lot and again, filled in some holes in the Rafaela collection.  The early part of a collection is fun, because there are still so many cards out there that are easy to find and add to the collection.

I have not gotten a Living Set card in a long time.  I kind of forgot that was a thing.  This card was released last year (I also need to go back and snag the Wilyer Abreu).  There have not been many Red Sox this season yet, just Garrett Crochet I think.

Closing things out is a group of cards I bought individually off Ebay.  I targeted that Youthquake card immediately.  I also really wanted the relic with the yellow City Connect.  He had his single greatest game in a yellow City Connect uniform.  

So, that's it for now.  The Rafaela collection is on a roll.

Living Set: Tim Wakefield

For this Living Set card, I reached back to one that has been out for awhile.  This Tim Wakefield card came out in 2022.  I decided to get it one day when I was thinking about his unfortunate passing.  Wakefield was truly one of my favorite pitchers I have ever seen.  By all accounts he was an incredible human being.  Wakefield was also the winning pitcher in the first Red Sox win I ever saw (my second Red Sox game).  That day he pitched 8.2 innings, giving up just two hits and one run while walking one and striking out five.  Wakefield was a big part of my fandom and his death hit me particularly hard.  I know he will never be enshrined in Cooperstown, but he is in my own personal Hall of Fame.

Living Set: Luis Tiant

Absolutely I had to grab the Luis Tiant Living Set card.  One of these days, one of the Eras Committees needs to right the wrong of Tiant not being in the Hall of Fame.  I love that this card captured Tiant's charisma.  Plus, you gotta love the fu manchu.  

Living Set: Mo Vaughn

It is so cool to see so many Mo Vaughn cards being made lately.  I said recently I have been feeling kind of nostalgic about Mo Vaughn, an early favorite player of mine.  Vaughn was a rookie the year I started watching baseball, so I kind of felt like I grew up watching him.  Plus, he was SUCH a great hitter during his time in Boston.  I had difficulties seeing Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Mike Greenwell leave Boston, but I think the one that really hurt the most was Mo Vaughn.  He is someone who really should have spent his entire career in Boston.  

The Jason Varitek Quest for 1,000: #994

I was pretty shocked when I saw that Jason Varitek appeared in the Topps Living Set.  Of course I had to grab it right away.  I am six cards away.  I have been pretty slow to add his cards since I have been spending most of my time on the other collection.  But I had to make an exception for this card.  

Living Set: Alex Verdugo

 

So, I guess Living Set is still going.  I guess I should not be surprised by that.  I do wonder if there have been any players who have appeared in the four-plus year going set more than once.  I am sure if there has been, it is almost certainly a Yankee player.  Probably Aaron Judge.  I could check, but I am not that motivated right now.  

Anyway, here is Alex Verdugo, who is still my pick for a breakout season in 2023.  As of this writing, he has had a good start to the season.  Hopefully that will continue.  I would love to see him develop into an All Star-caliber player.  

Living Set Singles

I have had three jury trials in the last two-plus months.  So things have been a little hectic.  I am 1-1 with my client not showing up for the other one.  I still did the work in preparation though, even if it did not actually go forward.  By the way, not showing up for your own jury trial is bad.

So, up first in my return is a couple of Living Set singles.  Boston suddenly got a bunch of these last year, and I grabbed up some of the not-as-prevalent players:

Nathan Eovaldi was Boston's ace in 2021.  He led the league in FIP (2.79), starts (32) and walks per nine (1.7).  He was an All Star for the first time and finished fourth in the Cy Young vote.  2022 is his last year of his contract, and I have a difficult time seeing him back with the team.  If it is his last year, he has had some big moments with the team.

Kyle Schwarber was the big midseason acquisition.  Hopefully Boston can find a way to bring him back, but with the universal DH now, the chances are getting slimmer.  Schwarber hit .291/.435/.522 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs in his couple months with the team.  The move was criticized at the time after the Yankees got assumed-target Anthony Rizzo and Schwarber was hurt, but he really turned out well.

Living Set and Turn Back the Clock

Unfortunately, with cards being hard to find on shelves in stores, the online sets are the best source of cards these days.  The problem with them is the price.  Cards are cheaper on Ebay, but still probably more expensive than they should be.  Nevertheless, I pick them up when the mood grabs me.

As the team's highest profile rookie, it is not surprising to see Bobby Dalbec all over the place, including in Living Set.  I still do not know how players are selected for this.  Seemingly at random, though there have been a few occasions this year where a Red Sox player got a card that felt inevitable.  This was one of those.  Dalbec made his Major League debut in 2020, playing in 23 games and hitting .263/.359/.600 with eight home runs.  He struggled early in 2021, but eventually came around to hit .240/.298/.494 with 25 home runs and 78 RBIs.  Unfortunately, strikeouts are a big part of his game.  He fanned 156 times in 453 plate appearances and walked just 28 times.  If he is going to be successful in the Majors he either needs to increase his walk rate, decrease his strikeouts, or both.  Otherwise, he is basically another version of Will Middlebrooks.  Prodigious power, but unable to stick around because he just does not hit enough.  And he does not have much time either, Olympian Triston Casas is waiting in the wings.  I said some time ago that I thought Dalbec's most likely future is with another team.  I still believe that.  It would be great to be wrong.  We will see.

This is the enduring image I have of David Ortiz.  His speech in the game after the Boston Marathon bombing still gives me chills.  I am not even a Bostonian.  Ortiz meant so much to this team for so long.  It is hard to believe it has been five years since he last wore a Red Sox uniform.  Ortiz absolutely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.  

My First Living Set Card

For the last few years, Topps has been releasing a couple of cards each week as part of an ongoing "living set".  The cards, like most of the online-only releases, are not cheap.  Also, since there are only a couple a week, there have not been a ton of Red Sox cards.  It is a mix of retired players and current players.  I decided early on I would treat it just like Topps Now and get things sporadically, and maybe jump on an unusual player choice.  Given the nature of the set, I did not have a lot of expectation for many of the latter.  Until this one: 

Now, Eduardo Rodriguez broke out last year, but he is still not exactly the kind of household name or hot prospect that one would expect for the set.  He has yet to appear in an All Star Game, even though he did receive some Cy Young votes last year.  Nevertheless, Topps decided to include him.  There had not even been a Mookie Betts card, until just recently with the Dodgers.  Yet we have an Eduardo Rodriguez.  I'm not complaining.  Just surprised.  Pleasantly.