The Most Underrated Red Sox Player of My Lifetime

I have just a one-card trade package from TCDB to show off today.  And it's not even Connor Wong.  I have been thinking about this a lot because it seems like everyday someone on Twitter talks about underrated players.  So, I was thinking about who the most underrated player of my lifetime is, and this is an appropriate time to talk about it because I got this Stadium Club Bash & Burn card of John Valentin.

This is the front:

And this is the back:

John Valentin spent the first ten years of his career with the Red Sox.  From 1993 through 1998 (his most productive seasons), he hit .288/.370/.475 with 101 home runs, 223 doubles, 426 RBIs and 46 stolen bases.  During those six years, he averaged more than 5.0 WAR per season.  Yet, he was never an All Star.  He only once got MVP votes (1995, he finished eighth).  He did win a Silver Slugger Award, but that was the only real accolade he ever received.  He once turned an unassisted triple play and hit three home runs in a single game.  He also performed in the postseason, hitting .347/.407/.639 with five home runs and 19 RBIs in 17 games.

On top of all of that, Valentin is extremely underrated in the hobby.  This card is one of the very few non-base insert cards of him out there (and almost all of them are from 1996, after his amazing 1995 season).  I counted seven, though I counted quickly.  In addition, he has never appeared in an autograph or relic set.  If it were not for parallels, there would be very few Valentin cards.  So yes, I believe this is a pretty easy call.  With apologies to Trot Nixon, John Valentin is the most underrated Red Sox player of my lifetime.