2026 A&G Blaster

I have actually stumbled upon some cards out in the wild lately.  I have tried to take advantage of it as much as possible.  The first time, there was just one blaster of Allen & Ginter available.  I was skeptical as I have not had a ton of luck with A&G in the past.  This one worked out quite well though. 

1.  Cy Young.  I don't really know, but I don't think the Boston (they were not the Red Sox yet and were not really called anything) uniforms were red.  I think this is added in now to make it identifiable with the team they became.  Young was Boston's first huge star (though Jimmy Collins was also on the team) and helped them win the first ever World Series in 1903.  He was 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA in 34 innings pitched in four World Series games.  He notched 17 strikeouts and just four walks.  

2.  Roman Anthony.  Anthony is the odd man out in the category of World Series heroes with the Red Sox.  Anthony didn't play in the postseason last year due to injury and he played in just the first game this year, again due to injury.  Time will tell if he eventually joins the other four players in this post as World Series heroes.

3.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Yaz played in two World Series, in 1967 and 1975.  Yaz followed up his amazing 1967 season by hitting .400/.500/.840 with ten hits, four doubles and three home runs in the World Series loss against the Cardinals.  He drove in five runs, scored four runs, walked four times and struck out just once.  Had Boston won, he likely would have been the MVP.  He followed that up with a .310/.382/.310 mark in the 1975 Series loss to the Reds.

4.  Manny Ramirez.  Ramirez was the 2004 World Series MVP, the first such award winner in Red Sox history.  He hit .412/.500/.588 with one home run and four RBIs.  He kind of won it by default because no one really stood out above everyone else.  He also played in the 2007 Series, but hit a much more modest .250/.333/.313 with just two RBIs.

5.  Tris Speaker.  Speaker played in two World Series with the Red Sox, in 1912 and 1915.  In 1912 he hit .300/.382/.467 with a double, two triples, two RBIs and a stolen base.  In 1915 he hit .294/.429/.412 with a triple.  

Still Going on the Rafaela Collection

Ceddanne Rafaela is still my primary target in cards, though not to the same extent.  I still grab as many as I can, I just don't buy cards as frequently as I trade them.  That being said, here's a few:

The aqua refractor at the top as eluded me a couple of times.  I was supposed to get it in a trade, then I tried to buy it and each time it was a light blue version.  This is why it would be helpful to serial number everything.  The fire parallel that is the second card was a target of mine in a trade that was turned down.  I ended up getting it anyway alongside this other parallel.

I expect Rafaela to win the Gold Glove on Sunday.  He stands an outside chance at Platinum Glove and possibly even a Silver Slugger (though I think Mike Trout will win that one).

Topps Now: Sept. 13, 2026

 

An immaculate inning is when a pitcher throws nine pitches in the inning, all strikes and records three strikeouts.  It is a very rare thing.  I am not sure how long it has been tracked, maybe we can go all the way back to the beginning, no idea.  Anyway, Payton Tolle recorded this feat on September 13 in the first inning against the Royals.  Unfortunately, the offense didn't do much with him on the mound so he did not figure in the decision, despite pitching six solid innings, giving up just one run and striking out seven.  Eventually, the bats came to life and the Red Sox won 4-1.  Caleb Durbin homered and Adley Rutschman doubled.  Trevor Story drove in two runs.

Nine Cards from a TCDB Trade Version 2.0

Here is another quick trade.  I focused on All Star games last time, which was not initially intended, but worked out okay.  I won't be able to do the same this time for reasons that will become clear. 

1.  Xander Bogaerts.  Bogaerts has been an All Star four times, each time with Boston.  He has also won five Silver Slugger Awards, again all with Boston.  He still has a chance at the Hall of Fame, and if he gets in, he may still wear a Red Sox cap on his plaque based on the fact that he was so much better in Boston than he has been in San Diego.

2.  Payton Tolle.  Tolle could have been an All Star this year.  I think he has a reasonable chance of getting it next year.  He will likely finish third in the Rookie of the Year vote.

3.  Johanfran Garcia.  Last year the Red Sox called up an outfield prospect named Jhostynxon Garcia.  This is his brother and he is a catcher.  

4.  Alex Verdugo.  Verdugo never managed to make it to an All Star team.  I am not sure he was terribly close either.  He just did not hit as much as it was believed he would.  

5.  Ted Williams.  I talked about Williams plenty in the other post.  Simply put, Williams is Boston's all-time franchise player.

6.  Rafael Devers.  Devers was an All Star three times, all of them with Boston.  He has also won two Silver Slugger Awards, again, both with Boston.  

7.  Roger Clemens.  Clemens was an All Star eleven times.  With the Red Sox, he went to five, including 1986 when he was the All Star Game MVP.  He was an All Star both seasons he was with the Blue Jays.  With the Yankees, he was also an All Star twice.  And finally, he was an All Star twice with the Astros.

8.  Kristian Campbell.  I seem to get a lot of Campbell cards lately.  I suspect people are more than willing to move his stuff and there was a lot of it last year after his hot start.

9.  Rafael Devers.

Topps Now: Sept. 3, 2026

 

It did not take long for Adley Rutschman to haunt his former team.  In his first game against the Orioles since being traded to the Red Sox, Rutschman hit two homers, driving in two runs and scoring three times in a 6-5 victory.  Nick Sogard and Roman Anthony also homered in the game.  Jake Bennett started the game, but did not figure in the decision.  Deadline acquisition Erik Miller got the win with a scoreless inning of relief in which he walked two, but also struck out two.  Aroldis Chapman got the save.

Nine Cards from a TCDB Trade

 Just a quick trade for today:

1.  Tanner Houck.  It's easy to forget that Houck was an All Star in 2024 before injuries derailed his 2025 season and kept him out until the very end of the 2026 season.  He pitched in one game at the end of the season, giving up three runs in three innings with no walks and a strikeout.  It will be interesting to see if he comes back next season.

2.  Wade Boggs.  Boggs was an All Star eight consecutive times with the Red Sox and then four more times with the Yankees for a total of 12 consecutive All Star games.  He also won eight Silver Slugger Awards (six with Boston, two with New York) and two Gold Gloves (both with the Yankees).

3.  David Ortiz.  Ortiz was a ten-time All Star (2004 through 2008, 2010 through 2013 and 2016).  He was a Silver Slugger winner seven times.  All of these accolades came with the Red Sox.  

4.  Ted Williams.  Williams was an All Star every season of his career except 1939 (his rookie year) and 1952 when he played just six games due to military service in Korea.  Obviously he was not an All Star in the years he was serving in World War II, but he did not play at all those seasons.  All told he was an All Star 19 times.

5.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Yaz was an All Star 18 times.  He made it for the first time in 1963, the year he won his first batting title.  Then he was an All Star every year from 1965 through 1979 and then 1982 and 1983, his final season.  He was the All Star Game MVP in 1970 when he had four hits in six at-bats, including a double.  He scored a run and drove in a run.

6.  Ted Williams.

7.  Vaughn Grissom.  Grissom sticks out like a sore thumb in this post.  The trade of Chris Sale for Grissom is one of the worst trades in recent memory for the Red Sox.  Grissom made it into 31 games for the Red Sox and hit .190/.246/.219.

8.  Manny Ramirez.  Ramirez was an All Star 12 times in his career: four times with Cleveland and eight times with the Red Sox.  That is the only significant difference between his time with those two teams.  His stats are remarkably similar.  If he ever makes the Hall of Fame, it will be an interesting decision as to which cap will be on his plaque.  

9.  Pedro Martinez.  Martinez was an All Star eight times: twice with the Expos, four times with the Red Sox and twice with the Mets.  He won the All Star Game MVP in 1999 on his home turf when he struck out five of the six batters he faced.       

Topps Now: Aug. 7, Aug. 6 and May 4, 2026

I had a few Topps Now cards come in around the same time.

 

On August 7, Payton Tolle had one of the best games of his career.  The Red Sox beat the Athletics 13-1 with Tolle pitching six innings and logging 14 strikeouts.  He had a no-hitter going for awhile and ended up giving up just two hits and a run.  He got the win with Raymond Burgos getting the save.  On the hitting side, Jarren Duran hit a homer and recently-acquired catcher Jake Rogers hit two doubles.  Rogers would not last in Boston, he was just a placeholder while Adley Rutschman recovered from his injury.

One of the most entertaining games of the year was the absolutely crazy final game of a three-game set against the White Sox.  The Red Sox trailed five times in this game, and still ended up winning.  The last few innings were particularly crazy.  The White Sox led in the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th innings and the Red Sox kept coming back before eventually winning in the 13th.  In the 9th, Wilyer Abreu (pictured on the left) singled to drive in Eli White to tie it.  The White Sox scored two runs in the tenth on a homer by former Red Sox prospect Chase Meidroth.  Andruw Monasterio doubled in Abreu and then Anthony Seigler drove in the tying run with a flyball to score Jahmai Jones.  The White Sox took another lead into the 11th, but Abreu came through again to drive in Nick Sogard on a flyball.  The White Sox again scored in the 12th, but Rogers drove in Jarren Duran on a flyout.  Finally, Brayan Bello held the White Sox scoreless in the 13th and Caleb Durbin singled to score Sogard for the win.  

This is obviously not a Topps Now card, but it came in around the same time.  I have another City Connect relic card of Rafaela in the yellow jerseys, so I had to grab one in the forest greens.

It seems weird to think about now, but May 4 was Payton Tolle's first Major League win.  He came up in 2025, but innings limits and a leaky bullpen prevented him from getting that first Major League win.  He did not start the season in Boston either.  He pitched seven innings, giving up two runs, walking one and striking out eight.  The major offense was provided by a Jarren Duran homer.