I have said many times on this blog that the Fan Favorites autographs are probably my favorite ongoing autograph set. I have lately been considering going back after all of them, including the 2003-2005 cards that were a parallel to a base set. Of course that will be difficult, and possibly expensive. I missed out on a few Carl Yastrzemski autos that were short-printed and very hard to find. But, I will give it a try.
For this post, I have three out of the four cards from this year, and one from 2018 to show off. This year, Topps put together a very intriguing checklist of players. It is full of retired players, which was supposed to be the point of the Fan Favorites in the first place. No rookies, no current stars. And even more interesting is that most of these players are from the 1980's and 1990's, so they are players that I grew up watching. I love it. Even the non-Red Sox cards are intriguing as there are such players I remember from my childhood as Benito Santiago, Danny Tartabull, Tom Henke, Dante Bichette, Bob Walk and more. And of course I love the four Red Sox cards.
Well, enough of that, here is the scan:
1. Bernie Carbo. Carbo retired the year before I was born, so I never saw him play. He was mostly an extra outfielder, who had some pop in his bat. He hit a huge pinch-hit three-run home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series that ultimately set up the Fisk homer. Carbo appears on a 1974 Topps design, which is appropriate as it was his first season in Boston. However, the photo is clearly from 1975 or later, since he has the red helmet. 1974 was a good season for Carbo as he hit .249/.364/.414 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs. However, I would have preferred a 1975 design, because it is a better-looking design, the photo is more likely from 1975 and Carbo had his best his best season with the Red Sox then.
2. Marty Barrett. This is the 2018 card. Barrett was mostly done as a Major Leaguer when I started watching baseball, having suffered a debilitating knee injury, but I did get a bunch of cards of him right away. Barrett appears on a 1986 Topps design. Barrett of course had a terrific postseason in 1986 gathering 24 hits combined in the ALCS and World Series. He was the ALCS MVP. Barrett also received some down-ballot MVP votes that year and had his best season in the Majors. He hit .286/.353/.381 with 94 runs scored, 179 hits, 29 doubles, four home runs, 60 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Barrett previously appeared in the 2005 set, which I own. It was a 1987 design that year.
3. Rich Gedman. I had to grab this card as soon as I saw it. It is Gedman's first certified auto card that I am aware of. I missed Gedman playing for Boston as he was traded during the season before I started watching, and he was well past his prime. I am a huge fan anyway. Gedman appears on a 1985 design, which was his best season, even if he hit more home runs in 1984. Gedman appeared in his first All Star game in 1985 as he hit .295/.362/.484 with 18 home runs, 80 RBIs and 30 doubles. He received some minor MVP consideration that year as well.
4. Jose Offerman. I am not quite sure Offerman qualifies as a fan favorite. He was not well-liked to my recollection and had the unenviable task of essentially replacing true fan favorite Mo Vaughn in the lineup. He started off pretty well though and actually had the higher WAR in 1999. Offerman appears on a 2001 design, which is kind of over-used. It also does not really work for him as Offerman hit just .267/.342/.374 with nine home runs, 76 runs scored, 49 RBIs and five stolen bases. That's five, for a guy who stole 45 the year before he came to Boston. 1999 would have been a better design as he hit .294/.391/.435, scored 107 runs, walked 96 times and led the league with eleven triples.
These won't be the last Fan Favorites autos in the short term, there are a couple more coming. I do still have a list of players I want to see in future Fan Favorites set. How about Rick Burleson, Butch Hobson, Bruce Hurst, Tony Armas, Jody Reed, Tony Pena, Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, Reggie Jefferson, Mike Stanley, Tom Gordon, Trot Nixon, Johnny Damon, Bill Mueller, Pokey Reese, Mike Lowell, Hideki Okajima and Koji Uehara? And of course, there is Jason Varitek. So Topps, get on those players. Or at least some of them.
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