My First Two Packs of 2016 Topps Update

Topps Update is often one of my most anticipated sets of the year.  I love the player selection.  Not just because of the players that switched teams during the season, but oftentimes it will include a little-used utility player or middle reliever, or players who spent just a short amount of time.  In years past, players like John Olerud, Kevin Jarvis, Carlos Pena, Casey Kotchman, Bill Hall, Darnell McDonald, Eric Patterson, Matt Albers, James Loney, Franklin Morales, Jonathan Herrera, Kelly Johnson, Jean Machi, and Carlos Peguero made their only Red Sox appearances on cardboard in Topps Update sets.

Unfortunately, this year, Topps Heritage High Numbers kind of stole a lot of Update's thunder.  All of the players that appear in Topps Update have also appeared in Heritage High Numbers or other sets.  But it was still an opportunity to add some newer players to my collection.  So I bought two packages on Tuesday.  Here are the additions:

1.  Drew Pomeranz (2).  After a less-than-stellar performance down the stretch, Pomeranz was very impressive in the postseason, striking out seven in 3.2 innings.  I do really like the throwback uniform from the late 1970's era Red Sox.

2.  Jackie Bradley Jr. (89).  At one time, JBJ was a major focus in my collection.  I still really like the player, he is one of my favorites, but I have definitely slowed down on collecting him.  That may change with another season like 2016.

3.  Chris Young (1).  This is my first card of Young.  He is a top contender for my Underrated Player of the Year due to his remarkable ability to hit left-handed pitching, but he had a very good year all around.

4.  David Ortiz (612).  The top photo from the new cards definitely goes to this fantastic shot of David Ortiz celebrating his final All Star appearance.

I also pulled this First Pitch card, which, while it is not a Red Sox card is the first I have really appreciated so far:

I like Aubrey Plaza.  I think she is beautiful and funny, and she looks very good on this card.