I recently made my first blog trade in a very long time with Bert from Swing and a Pop Up, a fellow Red Sox fan. Almost all of the cards I received were off of my wantlist, with a few exceptions. A lot of them were oddball cards, though there were some other base cards as well.
And here we go:
1. Dennis Eckersley. This card finished off the 1998 Stadium Club team set for me. Oddly, I had the magenta printing plate of this card. Not sure why I did not have this one. Eckersley spent the final season of his career with the Red Sox and recorded the final save of his career with the Red Sox. He also threw more than twice as many innings with the Red Sox than any other team for whom he pitched.
2. Jose Malave. Malave looked like a promising prospect when he hit .299/.369/.563 with 24 home runs and 92 RBIs for the Red Sox Double-A team in 1994. Unfortunately in parts of two seasons with Boston, he hit just .226/.248/.368 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 45 games.
3. Roger Clemens. This completed the 1995 Bazooka set for me. Clemens seems to be the last card standing in a lot of sets in the mid 1990's. I have no explanation for that, other than maybe fatigue. I do tend to not focus as much on players that I already have a lot of cards of (with the obvious exception of Jason Varitek). Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez have also been players that happened with.
4. Cory Bailey. This finished off 1994 Pinnacle. Bailey came up as a reliever prospect, but pitched in just 16 games over two years with Boston, throwing 20 innings, striking out 15 and walking 15. He had an ERA of 5.40 and was 0-2. He was traded to the Cardinals along with Scott Cooper for Mark Whiten and Rheal Cormier. He had some decent seasons with the Cardinals and Royals.
5. Babe Ruth. Coming from the Ruth Conlon set, there are still a handful of Red Sox cards out there I still need. This card discusses Ruth winning 17 of his last 21 decisions in 1915, his first full season in the Majors.
6. Babe Ruth. And this card discusses Ruth breaking the single-season home run record in 1919 when he hit 29 home runs as a member of the Red Sox. The previous record of 25 belonged to former Red Sox Buck Freeman, who hit that number as a member of the Washington Senators of the National League.
7. Carl Yastrzemski. I love this shot of Yaz with the camera crew.
8. Jim Rice. This seems more like a standard shot of Rice.
9. Mike Torrez. Torrez pitched the ill-fated one-game playoff in 1978 and gave up Bucky Dent's home run. In five years with Boston, Torrez had a record of 60-54 with a 4.51 ERA. He struck out 480 and walked 420 in 1,012.2 innings pitched. His best season was 1981 when he went 10-3 with a 3.68 ERA.
Up next is a bunch of singles from the 1982 Brigham's/Coca-Cola set, which is one I am still trying to complete.
10. John Tudor. Tudor spent the first five seasons of his career with the Red Sox, going 39-32 with a 3.96 ERA. Boston then traded him to the Pirates for Mike Easler. Tudor had the best season of his career in 1985 when he went 21-8 with a 1.93 ERA and led the league in shutouts. It would have been nice if Boston had held on to him.
11. Dave Stapleton. Stapleton was a very impressive defensive player, but did not hit much. At least most of his career. He was great in his rookie season in 1980 when he hit .321/.338/.463 with 33 doubles, seven home runs and 45 RBIs. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year vote to Joe Charboneau. He was primarily a second-baseman that season.
12. Bob Ojeda. Another pitcher Boston would have been smart to hold on to, Ojeda spent his first six seasons in Boston, going 44-39 with a 4.21 ERA. He was traded to the Mets prior to 1986 for Calvin Schiraldi and Wes Gardner. Ojeda went 18-5 with a 2.57 ERA for the Mets that season and was 1-0 against his old team in the World Series.
13. Carney Lansford. Lansford, along with Mark Clear, was the major return in the trade of Rick Burleson and Butch Hobson to the Angels. Lansford won the batting title in his first season with the Red Sox, hitting .336 and winning his only Silver Slugger Award. He was later traded to the A's in the deal that brought Tony Armas to the Red Sox.
14. Glenn Hoffman. Trevor's much older brother, Hoffman was supplanted as the third-baseman by the acquisition of Lansford and moved over to shortstop. His best season was his rookie year in 1980 when he hit .285/.326/.397. Like Stapleton, he declined quickly.
15. Rich Gedman. Gedman was second in the Rookie of the Year vote in 1981 when he hit .288/.317/.434 with five home runs and 26 RBIs. Gedman was a two-time All Star in 1985 and 1986. He hit .259/.310/.412 with 83 home runs in eleven seasons with the Red Sox.
And now for the primary reason this trade got started, the 1991 Swell Baseball Greats remaining cards for the team set.
16. Tris Speaker. Boston never should have traded Speaker. Yes, unfortunately this has been a problem with this franchise for a very long time. Speaker was Boston's best player. In nine seasons, he hit .337/.414/.482 with 39 home runs (it was the Deadball Era) and 542 RBIs. He also stole 267 bases. Speaker was traded for Sad Sam Jones, Fred Thomas and cash. Jones was at least decent.
17. Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz is one player Boston kept for his entire career, and his was the longest career in team history, spanning 23 seasons and 3,308 games. Thus, he holds a number of career records for the Red Sox, most notably his 3,419 hits. He is the only Red Sox player to have 3,000 hits with the team.
18. Rico Petrocelli. Petrocelli at one point held the single-season record for home runs by a shortstop. He hit 40 home runs in 1968. He spent his entire 13-season career with the Red Sox and hit .251/.332/.420 with 210 home runs and 773 RBIs.
19. Jim Lonborg. The third member of the Impossible Dream season in a row. Lonborg won the first Cy Young Award in Red Sox history. It was also the first year that the award was given to a pitcher in each league. Lonborg was 22-9 with a 3.16 ERA and struck out 246 while walking 83 in 273.1 innings. He led the league in wins and strikeouts.
20. Rick Ferrell. Ferrell, like Speaker and Yaz, is a Hall of Famer. Ferrell was elected by the Veterans Committee in 1984. Ferrell is largely considered one of the worst Hall of Famers, but he was a very good contact hitter for a catcher. He hit .302/.394/.410 for his five years in Boston. Ferrell was caught for Boston at the same time his brother Wes was a pitcher. They were traded to the Senators together in a deal for Ben Chapman and Bobo Newsom.
21. Don Baylor. Baylor was acquired in a rare deal with the Yankees in 1986. Rarer still, the deal actually seemed to help both teams. A novel idea. Baylor hit .238/.344/.439 with 31 home runs and 94 RBIs for the pennant-winning Red Sox. The next season he broke the record for being hit by pitches. Baylor was traded to the Twins late in 1987 season. Later, he became the first manager for the Colorado Rockies.
Thanks for the trade Bert!
Great pickups!
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