My First Moncada and a Bunch of Packages in One Day

Lots of stuff to show off here.  My local retailer finally got Donruss in stock, but it has been pretty difficult to pull Red Sox so far.  And I had a number of new packages coming in.  Let's get started here:

1.  Mookie Betts.  So far, out of more than 100 pack-pulled Donruss cards, this Betts is the only Red Sox card.  I have pulled duplicates of the Studio insert of Michael Conforto, but only one base Red Sox card.  That is simply ridiculous.

2.  Dustin Pedroia.

3.  Dustin Pedroia.

4.  Clay Buchholz.

5.  Adrian Gonzalez.

6.  Adrian Gonzalez.

7.  Chet Nichols.  Yes it's a buyback.  But I like buybacks.

8.  David Ortiz.

9.  David Ortiz.

10.  Yoan Moncada.  Yes, this is where things get interesting.  Moncada is Boston's top prospect after signing a huge deal coming over from Cuba.  He may make it to the Majors next season.

11.  Wade Boggs.  This is one of the Berger's Best reprints.  It would be nice if Topps would stop making reprints over and over again.

12.  David Ortiz.  Albert Pujols appears on this card as well, but it is a Big Papi card.

13.  Henry Owens.  Owens will likely start the season in the minors but could give Boston three (possibly four) left-handers in the Red Sox rotation (David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez, and possibly Roenis Elias).

14.  Rusney Castillo.

15.  Xander Bogaerts.  Bogaerts and Betts are two players I feel are somewhat underrepresented in my collection.  I would like to see both players above 100 by the end of the season.

16.  Xander Bogaerts.

17.  Mookie Betts.

18.  Mookie Betts.  This is quite the look on Mookie's face.  Very serious.

19.  Xander Bogaerts.

20.  Mookie Betts.

21.  Mookie Betts.  They are well on their way.

22.  Jonathan Van Every.  Van Every played parts of three seasons with the Red Sox as an outfielder, but oddly pitched in two games over that time period as well.

23.  Jimy Williams.  The Red Sox manager from 1997 through part of 2001 was very successful, leading the team to the postseason twice.

24.  Tony Fossas.

25.  Mike Napoli.  This card celebrates the best beard in the Majors.

26.  Hanley Ramirez.  I love this insert set.  This is my first card from it but celebrating the players' debuts is a fun concept.  I am most excited about the Josh Reddick card.

27.  Vicente Padilla.  My favorite Padilla moment was when he called Mark Teixeira a woman.  Just a creepy guy.  He is the baseball version of Danny Trejo.

28.  Terry Francona.  Easily the manager I have the most cards of.  I have nearly 30 cards of Francona.  Of course it helps that he is one of the most successful Red Sox managers of all time.

29.  Josh Beckett.  A rare bat card of a pitcher here.

30.  Mo Vaughn.  This is a Top 10 hit.  This is the last regular Diamond Kings insert I needed.

31.  Jacoby Ellsbury.

32.  Craig Breslow.  I have four autos of Breslow now.

33.  Dernell Stenson.  Stenson was unfortunately murdered before he could make an impact in the Majors.  I always felt that Boston held him back for far too long.  He spent four seasons languishing in Pawtucket without a Major League callup.  He finally made it to the Majors after being traded to the Reds.  And was murdered the next Spring.

34.  Josh Beckett.

35.  David Pauley.  Pauley was acquired along with Jay Payton and Ramon Vazquez for Dave Roberts.  He made a couple of brief stints with the Red Sox.

36.  Kyle Weiland.  Weiland was rushed to the Red Sox in 2011, struggled, and then was shipped to Houston along with Jed Lowrie for Mark Melancon in a trade that did not work out well for Boston.

37.  Tommy Hottovy.

38.  Shane Victorino.

39.  Hanley Ramirez.

40.  Daniel Nava.

41.  Cody Ross.  Ross had a very good season for the Red Sox in 2012 but had very few cards issued for that stint.  Even more annoying, only one card was not photoshopped.

42.  Ryan Kalish.  Kalish had some nice action shots and looked fairly promising.  Unfortunately injuries wrecked his potential.

43.  Kevin Youkilis.  This is a nice action shot of Youkilis.

44.  Hanley Ramirez.

45.  Troy O'Leary.

46.  Dusty Brown.  Brown, like Van Every, played in just 14 games for Boston over two seasons, but, like Van Every, also pitched an inning in a blowout loss.

47.  Josh Beckett.

48.  Hanley Ramirez.  Ramirez is a player that is increasing quickly in my collection.

49.  Pablo Sandoval.

50.  Jamie Brown.  Brown pitched in just four games for Boston in 2004.  I have 10 cards of him.  Andrew Miller pitched in 157 games for the Red Sox over four seasons.  I have 0 cards of him, nor was there one made of him with the Red Sox.  Sometimes these things make no sense.

51.  Bryan Barnowski.  And Barnowski never played for the Red Sox.  I have three cards of him.  It is strange.