Two Nice Packages

I received two very nice packages today.  In the first one, I picked up a number of nice inserts and parallels from a variety of years:

1.  2004 Leaf Exhibits 1947-66 Printed in USA Signature Second Edition Nomar Garciaparra.  Figuring out this set requires a ton of work.  You have to look at every single detail to work it out.  This is my second Nomar from this set.

2.  2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Black Dustin Pedroia.  He is not having his best season so far this year.  Still a fantastic defensive second baseman though.

3.  2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Black Clay Buchholz.  Speaking of not having his best season...  That no hitter seems like a long time ago.

4.  2000 Pacific Prism Slider Silver John Valentin.  This Prism set is one of my favorites.  I have all of the variations for Jason Varitek already but very few for any other player.

5.  1998 Bowman International John Valentin.  Valentin was one of my favorite players in the mid to late 90's.  Unfortunately his career derailed quickly.

6.  1996 Score Titanic Taters Mo Vaughn.  I love 1990's inserts and Mo Vaughn had a bunch of good ones.

7.  1997 Pinnacle Shades Mo Vaughn.  This does not show well in the scan unfortunately but it is likely my favorite of the Red Sox cards I received today.

8.  1996 Pinnacle 1st Rate Mo Vaughn.  Another nice Vaughn card here.

The next package consisted of 2014 cards:

9.  2014 Topps Red Hot Foil Jonny Gomes.  I have said it before and I will say it again: I love this shot.

10.  2014 Topps Target Red Jake Peavy.  Hopefully his last start is a sign of things to come.

11.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Mike Napoli SP.  The offense desperately needs him back.

12.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Debut All Stars David Ortiz.  A shot of him in an All Star Game jersey.  Ortiz has been an All Star almost every year since 2004.

13.  2014 Topps Gyspy Queen N174 Wade Boggs.  My first favorite Red Sox player.

14.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Dealing Aces Pedro Martinez.  Pedro and Nomar are starting to show up in a number of sets this year.  Pedro will be a Hall of Famer next year (hopefully).

Prizm Blaster and Some Trades

A few things in today: a Prizm blaster, and a couple of decent trades:

1.  2014 Prizm Xander Bogaerts RC.  I bought a Prizm blaster after comparing the Red Sox cards available in Prizm versus Archives, figuring my chances would be better with Prizm.  Well, not many cards, but I did get this great Xander Bogaerts card.

2.  1998 Sports Illustrated Dennis Eckersley.  One of the trade packages I received contained two Eck cards from his second trip to Boston.  This one is a good shot of his mullet.

3.  1998 Online Gold Winners Dennis Eckersley.  This is a parallel from the awesome Online set.  I loved that set and wish someone would do something similar again.

4.  2007 Trade Up Jason Varitek.  I am happy about this card.  Someone on one of the forums picked up a board game which had these cards.  This was one of the cards available and I found some of his player collection needs.  I had never heard of this before.

5.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Variation Ted Williams.  Another Gypsy Queen trade since I have had terrible luck with those packs.

6.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Sepia John Lackey.  This came with the Williams.  A nice action shot really, and low-numbered as well.

Another Successful Bowman Blaster

I have had reasonably good luck with Bowman so far this year.  I still need a bunch of stuff, including all of the mini refractors, but packs have been pretty good to me.  This was my second blaster and it gave me the most Red Sox I have gotten in a blaster this year, which is kind of sad.

1.  2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Wendell Rijo.  Rijo emerged last year.  He is young yet, but may have a bright future.

2.  2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Trey Ball.  The highest draft pick Boston has had since 1994 (Trot Nixon).  Ball has not gotten off to the best start since becoming a professional but his stuff is there.

3.  2014 Bowman Jon Lester.  A recycled shot of Lester that also appeared on his Topps card.  I really wish Topps would work on this.

4.  2014 Bowman Prospects Ty Buttrey.  Buttrey has been improving and moving up the ladder on the prospects lists.

5.  2014 Bowman David Ortiz.  What group of Red Sox cards would be complete without the Large Father?

Randomness

I have been a little frustrated lately with the Red Sox.  I have been having a hard time getting cards in packs and making trades.  Everybody wants to sell it seems like.  Those that want to trade want way more than I would be willing to offer.  So I have some huge gaps in my 2014 Red Sox collection.  That coupled with the fact that there are not really too many exciting sets coming up and Boston has been playing like crap lately, it has not been much fun.  I looked at the 2014 Archives checklist and that bummed me out too.  Boston only has players in three of the four designs and hardly any inserts.  The only Fan Favorite auto is Mike Greenwell, who had one last year.  

Luckily this package (which I had to buy of course) came in today and helped things out a little bit: 

1.  2014 Donruss Stat Line Shane Victorino.  He is finally back from injury.  Unfortunately his offense has been a little slow this year.

2.  2013 Finest Green Refractor Will Middlebrooks.  Speaking of slow offenses...  This bothers me.  Middlebrooks is the only player my wife seems to like at all and he may not even last on the team if he keeps hitting like this.

3.  1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified Mirror Blue Mo Vaughn.  This is a really nice card.

4.  2012 Panini Cooperstown Crystal Jim Rice.  My first card from this parallel set, believe it or not.

5.  2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects Green Refractor Boss Moanaroa.  He will likely never sniff the Majors, but he has a great name and an interesting story.  That's enough for me to chase his cards

6.  2010 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor John Lackey.  Even he pitched terribly recently.

7.  2009 Bowman Sterling Refractor George Kottaras RC.

8.  2009 Bowman Sterling George Kottaras RC.  Don't ask why I wanted two more Kottaras cards.  I don't even know.

9.  2012 Finest Moments Adrian Gonzalez.  At least one card knocked something off of my wantlist.

10.  2012 Panini Bronze History Harry Hooper.  I had no idea there were cards like this.  I need to see that checklist and find the Red Sox.  Awesome idea.

11.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Mike Carp.  Only my third card of the fish-named guy.

12.  2010 Finest Blue Refractor Josh Beckett.  The scan does not do this card justice.

13.  2009 Topps Gold Rocco Baldelli.  Unfortunately a very tragic story.

14.  2011 Topps Update Gold Alfredo Aceves.  I actually liked Aceves, though he was a little crazy.

15.  2014 Topps Gold Xander Bogaerts RC.  He is finally starting to hit recently.  The power will come soon.

Redemption Mailday (Finally)

I had three Topps redemptions that were pending for months and months and months and months.  Recently I actually received two of them, leaving one more to fill.  One of them was a card I got in a pack, the other is this:

2013 Finest Green Auto Jumbo Relic Jackie Bradley Jr.  I have not been getting many JBJ cards lately.  It's nice to finally get this one in.  I still have a Felix Doubront redemption yet to get though.

Some Minor Pickups

I recently bought a few Red Sox minor league singles to go along with a Sandy Alomar Jr. minor league card that it turned out that I already had.

1.  2008 Grandstand Michael Bowden.  Bowden shuttled between the Majors and Minors for a few years.  He never quite reached the potential that made him a supplemental draft choice between the first and second rounds in the 2005 draft.

2.  2003 Grandstamd Jorge De La Rosa.  Yes, De La Rosa came up through the Red Sox minor league system.  He never played for Boston though.  He was part of the trade to the Diamondbacks for Curt Schilling and was then immediately traded to the Brewers for Richie Sexson.

3.  1988 TCMA Triple A All Stars Carlos Quintana.  Quintana was one of my favorite players early on when I got into baseball.  Never really knew why.  Just one of those things I guess.

Gypsy Queen Trade and Bowman Blaster

I received a package full of some 2014 Gypsy Queen singles yesterday.  Nice because I have not been terribly successful in pulling Red Sox from packs in this set:

1.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Shane Victorino.  Nice to have him back in action.  Boston has been missing speed this season.

2.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen David Ross.  I am thrilled he made it into this set.

3.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Black Daniel Nava.  He was sent back to the minors earlier.  He just can not catch a break for long.

4.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Shane Victorino.  Another card of the Flyin' Hawaiian.

5.  2014 Topps Gyspy Queen Framed Blue Pedro Martinez.  Nice to see him in sets again this year.  He will be in the Hall of Fame next year.

Next, I bought some packs of Bowman and pulled this as the first card (though no other Red Sox were pulled):

6.  2014 Bowman John Lackey.

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, technically I bought these yesterday, but today is my birthday and that is why I bought a 2014 Bowman blaster.  This one worked out better than they have been lately with four new Red Sox including Xander Bogaerts and Boston's newest uber-prospect:

1.  2014 Bowman Dustin Pedroia.  Nice shot of Laser Show here.

2.  2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Ty Buttrey.  Buttrey has had a stellar start to this season in the minors and is emerging as a good pitching prospect.

3.  2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Mookie Betts FY.  This is the next big prospect in Boston's system.  he has already shot to #1 on the Top Prospects list and is lighting up the league.  He will need to change positions if he makes it to Boston however.

4.  2014 Bowman Xander Bogaerts.  He usually starts slowly so this is not alarming.  His OBP is good, but his hitting has yet to really come around yet.

A Bunch of Wantlist Hits and Some 2014 Bowman

Two packages came in this weekend that knocked off almost 30 cards from my wantlist.  That is pretty impressive.

The first trade got me one card, the first one in the below scan.  All of the rest came in a second trade:

1.  2014 Topps Opening Day Stars Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia is heating up this year.  It should be another good season for the second baseman.

2.  2014 Topps Heritage Stephen Drew.  Still out there as a free agent.  But Xander Bogaerts is beginning to show signs of breaking out.

3.  2014 Topps Heritage Mike Napoli/Jonny Gomes WS.  Nice shot of the beard tug here.  I am counting this as both players.

4.  2014 Topps Heritage John Lackey.  He is having an exceptional year this year.

5.  2014 Topps Heritage Ryan Dempster.  He had an impressive postseason last year but decided to take this year off.  Not really sure why.

6.  2014 Topps Heritage Edward Mujica.  Don't give up on him yet.  Remember Mark Melancon?

7.  2014 Topps Heritage Koji Uehara/David Ross WS.  Another one I am counting for both players on it.

8.  2014 Topps Heritage Jon Lester WS.  With this card I just need a few SPs and the Jake Peavy for the team set.

9.  1969 Topps Ken Harrelson AS.   Harrelson had a great year in 1968, leading the AL in RBIs.  He is clearly wearing an Athletics jersey in this picture.  Topps for some reason never got around to getting a picture of Harrelson with the Red Sox despite him playing parts of three seasons in Boston.

10.  1981 Donruss Tom Burgmeier.  An All Star in 1980 as a left-handed closer.

11.  1981 Donruss Glenn Hoffman.  Trevor's older brother.

12.  1981 Donruss Jim Dwyer.  I know next to nothing about Dwyer.

13.  1981 Donruss Tony Perez.  One of many future Hall of Famers who spent some decline seasons with the Red Sox, joining such players as Heinie Manush, Al Simmons, Lou Boudreau, Juan Marichal, Tom Seaver, Andre Dawson, and Rickey Henderson.  Perez lead the team in home runs and RBIs in 1980 and it was downhill from there.  This card finishes off the 1981 Donruss team set.

14.  1982 Donruss Frank Tanana.  Once a dynamic left-hander, he was in the midst of a transformation into more of a crafty lefty at this point.  The results were not there yet.  

15.  1982 Donruss Jerry Remy.  The second half of his Red Sox career was unfortunately marred by injuries.

16.  1982 Donruss Julio Valdez.  His ML career was basically finished when he was arrested in the dugout during a game for statutory rape.

17.  1982 Donruss Steve Crawford.  Nice, rare action shot for early Donruss.  And with that, I have completed the 1982 Donruss team set.

18.  1983 Donruss Rick Miller.  Decent role player for a long time in Boston.

19.  1983 Donruss Bruce Hurst.  One of the top left-handers of all time for Boston.

20.  1983 Donruss Jim Rice.  Of course Rice is a Hall of Famer.

21.  1983 Donruss Tom Burgmeier.  Another Burgmeier.

22.  1983 Donruss Chuck Rainey.  See Jim Dwyer.

23.  1983 Donruss Carney Lansford.  Won the AL batting title in 1981.  Had some surprising speed.  But he lost playing time in 1982 to upcoming star Wade Boggs and was expendable.  Was traded for Tony Armas, among others.

24.  1983 Donruss Roger LaFrancois.  I'm pretty sure Roger LaFrancois did not actually exist.

25.  1987 Donruss Jim Rice.  

26.  1987 Donruss Spike Owen.  Believe it or not, "Spike" is not a nickname.  His real name is Spike Dee Owen.  One of the great baseball names.

27.  1987 Donruss Ed Romero.  Your average utility infielder.  Hit .210 in 233 at bats in 1986.

Next up, I bought some Bowman.  The Trey Ball is mine.  Anyone want anything else shown:

28.  2014 Bowman International Trey Ball.  Boston's top draft pick since Trot Nixon was also taken seventh overall in 1993.  Looks like a good southpaw.

The rest of the cards are up for trade.

Cards from Chipp 'n Dale and a 1958 All Star

A couple of packages, the top card came in in a small deal, the remaining four all came from one blogger:

1.  1958 Topps Jackie Jensen AS.  As I mentioned, this card came separately from the rest of the cards.  Jensen was one of Boston's best players in the 1950's, but he started his career with the Yankees, backing up Mickey Mantle.  Jensen was eventually traded to the Senators, then the Red Sox where he flourished.  He was great in 1957, but the best was yet to come as he won the MVP in 1958.  He retired early due to a crippling fear of flying.

The remaining cards all came from James of the Braves site Chipp 'n Dale.  My blog trades have been a little sparse lately but I saw the Lester jersey for trade and figured I'd jump in.  These were the cards that were new to my collection from the package:

2.  1996 Select Jose Canseco.  Canseco actually was having one of his best seasons in 1996 until he went down with an injury.  He was one of several stars who complained their way out of Boston after the season, along with Roger Clemens and Mike Greenwell.  Dan Duquette must have been a terrible GM.

3.  2013 Panini Cooperstown Bobby Doerr.  Strangely, this is the first card I have gotten from this set.  I am slipping.  Doerr is the oldest living Hall of Famer.

4.  2014 Topps Jonny Gomes.  Knock one off the wantlist.  I love this shot.  

5.  2009 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection JSY Jon Lester.  I don't really have a lot of game-used cards of Lester for some reason.  Hopefully he re-signs with Boston after the season.  He is their ace.  This was the card that started this deal.

Thanks James!  Your cards are on their way.

Tired of Mailday Posts...

...Yet I can't stop.  The influx of mail keeps coming, so I like to show it off.  There were two packages today, one which nailed down a number of desired Gypsy Queen cards, and a couple random cards from the turn of the millenium:

1.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Koji Uehara.  How can you not like this guy?  Koji always looks like he is having a blast.  He has fun playing the game and his enthusiasm is infectious.  Great shot here.

2.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini A.J. Pierzynski.  Yeah it's probably airbrushed, but a nice shot anyway of Boston's new #1 catcher.  He doesn't walk much, but he can hit.  A grand slam over the weekend put Boston in the driver's seat in Toronto.

3.  2014 Topps Gypsy Queen David Ross.  I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get a David Ross Red Sox card.  Thankfully Gypsy Queen came through.  Nice shot of "The Wolf", the nickname for his beard last year.

4.  1998 Donruss Silver Press Proof Dennis Eckersley.  There will be several new Eck cards coming soon.  Just one of those weird, random events.

5.  2000 Topps Tek Nomar Garciaparra Pattern 8.  I love the Tek cards but I just never got as into them as I thought that I would.  I guess who needs 90 different patterns of the same card?  But now that my Sandy Alomar Jr. player collection is going strong again, I have focused on the Tek cards as my #1 priority.  It's nice to add the occasional Red Sox card too.  And of course the rules were a little different by this point.  I think there were a couple of different pictures used.