A Couple of Trade Packages

I have not been trading much either.  This year, I just have not been as active in acquiring new cards, and I do not really know why.  Other interests, maybe.  More likely it is that I have been so busy at work, that I do not really have the energy to keep up with things.

Nevertheless, I did pick up some cards in trades recently:

This was just a one card trade that brought me this nice Mookie Betts insert card.  I like this insert set quite a bit.  I have not managed to get all of the Red Sox from it yet.  I still need Xander Bogaerts, Dustin Pedroia, and Yoan Moncada.

This was the trade that I was happiest about as it knocked off a bunch of vintage cards from my want list:

1.  1960 Leaf Ron Jackson.  Not to be confused with the Ron Jackson that was a coach for Boston in the early 2000's.  This Ron Jackson had a short career in the 1950's, mostly with the White Sox.  He played ten games with the Red Sox in 1960 with a .226 batting average.

2.  1972 Topps Reggie Smith.  Smith is one of the most underrated players in history, in my opinion.  He should be a borderline Hall of Famer, but he never received much consideration.  He should be considered on Veterans' Committee ballots.

3.  1976 Topps Traded Tom House.  Boston needed some relief help after the 1975 World Series and sent Rogelio Moret, who was in the doghouse due to some drinking issues, to Atlanta for the southpaw House.  House did not help much, with a 4.33 ERA and four saves in 1976.

4.  1977 Topps Rico Petrocelli.  This is the sunset card for the great infielder for the Red Sox.  Petrocelli found his playing time drastically reduced with the arrival of Butch Hobson and retired.

5.  1977 Topps Bob Montgomery.  I suspect I would have been a big fan of Montgomery had I been alive during his tenure with Boston.  Something about helpful role players that speaks to me.

6.  1977 Topps Denny Doyle.  Doyle was a pretty decent second-baseman for Boston in the mid 1970's.  He was not as defensively gifted as Doug Griffin, but he was a solid middle infielder.

7.  1977 Topps Bill Lee.  Lee was nearing the end of his tenure with the Red Sox at this point.  His issues with manager Don Zimmer were getting harder to ignore and the clubhouse was fractured.  Lee was still a good pitcher though, which makes his eventual trade for Stan Papi inexcusable.

8.  1982 Diamond Classics Dom DiMaggio.  DiMaggio might be a borderline Hall of Famer, had he not missed a couple of seasons of his prime due to service in WWII and retiring early due to problems with manager Lou Boudreau, who wanted to play younger players.  DiMaggio was still better than the kids he was replaced with.