COMC Blaster

I recently decided to do one of my own "COMC Blasters", buying some Red Sox cards for the price I would normally pay for a retail blaster.  I had a few goals in mind, a little vintage, some buybacks, three players who have eluded me so far, at least one new Tzu-Wei Lin (this was a little before deciding on the new mini player collection), and then I would play it by ear.

Here are the results: 

1.  1959 Topps Bill Renna.  The 1959 Topps team set remains one of my primary goals to complete.  I have not made any progress on that in a long time, so I figured it was time.  Renna was apparently a very effective pinch hitter in 1958 for Boston, logging seven hits in 24 at-bats, including a homer.

2.  2017 Topps Heritage Rookie Performers.  Andrew Benintendi continues to grow quickly in my collection as he becomes a superstar.

3.  2012 Bowman Draft Silver Ice Austin Maddox.  I missed this card when it came out and Maddox played in the Majors last year with Boston.  He was a player I had to track down.  He actually had decent numbers, a 0.52 ERA and 14 strikeouts versus two walks in 17.1 innings.  He has been injured much of this season or he would probably be given a chance again.

4.  2017 Topps Heritage Joe Kelly.  I like Kelly, despite his recent struggles.  I used a scan of this card recently in a post and realized I did not already own it.  Oops.

5.  1975 Kellogg's Luis Tiant.  What's better than a '70's Kellogg's card?  A '70's Kellogg's card featuring Luis Tiant of course.

6.  2017 Elite Extra Edition Aspirations Daniel Flores.  This card breaks my heart.  Flores was one of the top picks in the international free agency period last year and Boston worked hard to get him signed.  He already had elite defensive skills at catcher and had the chance to be a truly special player.  Unfortunately, he died in the fall from complications from cancer treatment.  He was just 16 years old.  Truly heartbreaking that a terrific kid and special talent is gone so young.

7.  2017 Topps Update Gold Mitch Moreland.  I just love this photo.

8.  2015 Topps The Originals Buyback 1975 Topps Danny Cater.  Cater is infamous for being part of the return the Red Sox received when they sent lefty relief ace Sparky Lyle to the Yankees, the other being Mario Guerrero.  That was not a good trade for Boston.

9.  2015 Topps The Originals Buyback 1979 Topps Bob Bailey.  Bailey was at the end of the line when he joined Boston in 1977 and hit just four home runs for Boston in his last season and a half.

10.  1976 Shakey's Pizza Joe Cronin.  Well, since I just finished that biography on Cronin, I thought I should add another card of him.

11.  2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Steven Wright.  The knuckleballer was my most recent mini player collection, which kind of fell by the wayside when he struggled and was injured last year.  I still want his cards though, and I missed a lot apparently.

12.  2017 Topps Heritage Now & Then Andrew Benintendi.  I do not even know if I intended to pick up two Benny cards.  It just worked out that way.

13.  2018 Topps Gold Matt Barnes.  Boston's most consistent bullpen performer this year is Barnes, who was once a first round draft pick by the Red Sox.

14.  2017 Donruss Silver Marco Hernandez.  Like Maddox, Hernandez had been eluding me.  I did not even know this card existed.  It was only available in Panini Chronicles as an extension of the Donruss set.  Hernandez looked like a decent bet to be the new Brock Holt before injuries curtailed his career.  He is currently on the DL.

15.  2017 Topps Update Gold Ben Taylor.  And here is the third player from last year that has eluded me.  Taylor was a surprise addition to the Opening Day roster last year and the second 2015 draftee to make the Majors (Benintendi was the other).  He pitched well early but was then sent down.  He was waived and picked up by the Indians prior to this season.

16.  2017 Topps Rediscover Gold 1989 Topps Carlos Quintana.  Ah, the first mini player collection.  Quintana is still one of my favorite players to pick up, so I jumped at the chance to add a buyback.

And finally, some Linsanity:

17.  2017 Panini Chronicles Gold Tzu-Wei Lin.  This is just my seventh card of Lin as my collection is still in its infancy, but there is more to come.