COMC Order and the Jason Varitek Quest for 1,000: #s 953-960

I recently went a bit nuts on COMC, primarily after discovering a number of Jason Varitek cards I shockingly still needed.  That and finding some of the oddball Yawkey Red Sox oddball cards.

Here are the results:

 

1.  Xander Bogaerts.  There have been some rumblings that Xander could be traded.  That would be a massive mistake, particularly after trading Mookie Betts.  

2.  Craig Kimbrel.  I feel like I am getting more cards of Kimbrel now than I did when he was active with Boston.  That happens sometimes.  Victor Martinez was another player that it seemed like I appreciated more after he was gone.  Of course Martinez replaced my favorite player, so there is that.

3.  Jason Varitek.  Here is #953, another parallel from 2016 Topps High Tek.  Of course he would be in a set sharing his nickname.

4.  Babe Ruth.  This is an insert from a Diamond Kings set recently.  I always enjoy picking up Ruth cards depicting him with Boston.  Yankees cards are another story.

5.  Eduardo Nunez.  One of the nice things about COMC is finding Topps Now cards I missed out on.  This card celebrates the Opening Day inside-the-park home run he hit in 2018.

6.  Jason Varitek.  #954.  This is a parallel mini back from 2009 Topps 206.

7.  Luis Tiant.  I love Tiant cards.  Easily one of the most charismatic players in Red Sox history.  I imagine he was a lot of fun to watch.

8.  Felix Doubront.  Doubront was the subject of one of my very short-lived mini player collections.  Steven Wright and currently Tzu-Wei Lin have been others.

9.  Dennis Eckersley.  Eckersley spent eight seasons in Boston, primarily as a starter (his last season in the Majors was as a reliever for Boston in his second stint).  He had a record of 88-71 with a 3.92 ERA.  He threw more innings for Boston than any other team.

10.  Jason Varitek.  #955 is from 2019 Allen & Ginter X.

11.  Bobby Doerr.  Here is the first of the Yawkey Red Sox cards, but not the most exciting.  The nice thing about the set is the player selection.  Doerr is in plenty of other sets.

12.  Dick Stuart.  I am not sure why I did not have this card before.  Stuart was a great hitter who was born too early to take advantage of the designated hitter role.  He was an atrocious fielder who was nicknamed Dr. Strangeglove.  He hit 42 home runs for Boston in 1963.

13.  Ski Melillo.  Melillo spent the last three seasons of his career in Boston after spending much of the time with the Browns.  He cost them Moose Solters, so maybe not the best trade ever.

14.  Jack Russell.  Russell is sort of an odd inclusion in this set.  He originally came up with Boston in the 20's, and was one of the better pitchers on the team.  His best season was in 1928 when he was 11-14 with a 3.84 ERA for a really bad team.  He was brought back in 1936 but was less than good.

15.  Luis Tiant.  Tiant was another player I picked up heavily in this order.

16.  Rube Walberg.  Walberg was acquired in the same deal as Max Bishop and Lefty Grove.  He had been a great pitcher in the past, but was well past his prime by the time he joined the Red Sox.

17.  Dusty Cooke.  A rare player who actually played better with the Red Sox after being acquired from the Yankees.  Cooke did not have much power, but hit .284 over four seasons with the Red Sox.  

18.  Bucky Harris.  Harris was a manager for the Red Sox.  I needed this card for an upcoming post.

19.  Pinky Higgins.  Higgins is mostly known for being an unapologetic racist as a manager for the Red Sox in the 1950's.  He was once a pretty good hitter though, hitting over .300 and driving in more than 100 runs in his two seasons with Boston in the 1930's.  He was reacquired for the 1946 stretch run and had a couple of RBIs in the World Series.

20.  Jimmie Foxx.  Another Hall of Famer from the Yawkey Red Sox set.

21.  Roy Johnson.  Johnson hit .313 over four seasons with the Red Sox and drove in 119 runs one year.

22.  Mike Lowell.  Lowell was the 2007 World Series MVP.

23.  Luis Tiant.  Same picture as the above Tiant, but still, a new Tiant card.

24.  Jason Varitek.  #956.

25.  Johnny Pesky.  If only Pesky hadn't missed three seasons due to military service.  He led the league in hits in each of his first three seasons, and the military time was in between those seasons.  He was never quite as good after those first three seasons.

26.  Jason Varitek.  #957.

27.  Sandy Leon.  Had to grab one of the few Leon cards available.  He was never as good as he was in 2016, but that was not really surprising.

28.  Jason Varitek.  #958.

29.  Jason Varitek.  #959.

30.  Jason Varitek.  #960.

31.  Babe Ruth.  Sort of an interesting insert set.  2019 Panini Diamond Kings had this insert where it picked Diamond Kings for 1919.  Ruth was the obvious pick for the Red Sox as he set a then-record with 29 home runs.  It would have been better if each team had been represented with one card, but that was not quite what happened.  

32.  Norm Siebern.  Siebern had three pinch-hit at-bats in the 1967 World Series for Boston, with a hit and an RBI.  He was sent by the Yankees to the A's in the deal that brought Roger Maris to New York.

33.  Xander Bogaerts.

34.  Johnny Pesky.  Not sure why I did not have this card either.  This is from Pesky's managerial stint.