Yep, still going on this. I am getting close. Ish. There is going to be another large one here soon, which will probably delay things just enough for a whole lot of other packages to come in. Which will be annoying, but still.
Anyway, several packages will be in this one.
1. Chris Sale. I am looking forward to my first Vaughn Grissom card. I have run out of things to talk about with Sale. Unfortunately his Red Sox tenure was downhill from buckling Manny Machado's knees for the final out of the World Series in 2018.
2. Andrew Benintendi. This is from Benintendi's game-saving catch for the last out of Game 4 of the ALCS in 2018. The bases were loaded with two outs and Craig Kimbrel pitching against Alex Bregman. Bregman smashed a sinking liner that Benintendi dove for and came up with. It was a great play from an underrated defensive outfielder.
3. Carlton Fisk. Fisk of course had some big moments in the postseason himself. His game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series is one of the most famous home runs of all time.
4. Rafael Devers. Devers has yet to have a signature moment in the postseason, but he has hit .303/.382/.573 with eight home runs and 26 RBIs in 26 postseason games. Those are damn good numbers. I targeted this card in particular.
1. Jarren Duran. Duran is expected to be the leadoff hitter for the Red Sox this season and will likely play left field, moving Masataka Yoshida to DH and allowing Ceddanne Rafaela to play center.
2. Andrew Cashner. Cashner was once traded for former Red Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo. He was Boston's big trading deadline pickup in 2019 when he was 9-3 with a 3.83 ERA for Baltimore. His numbers immediately tanked though and he went 2-5 with a 6.20 ERA with the Red Sox. He was even removed from the rotation. That was his last Major League action. Luckily Boston did not give up much to get him.
Meet Roman Anthony. These are my first cards of Anthony. He was the second round draft pick in 2022 and had a fantastic season in 2023. He was so impressive that some sources have him as the Red Sox top prospect, edging out Marcelo Mayer. I am not that sold on him yet, but another strong season may change my mind.
1. Ryan Kalish. Kalish was once a highly-regarded prospect whose career was mostly wrecked by injuries. He had an impressive rookie season in 2010 when he hit .252/.305/.405 with four home runs, 24 RBIs and ten stolen bases while playing impressive defense in 53 games.
2. Rafael Devers. This is one of the image variations. Check out the Santa hat.
3. Bobby Dalbec. Dalbec has been talked up this Spring and could make the roster as a bench bat.
4. Nomar Garciaparra. Derek Jeter gets a lot of credit for his postseason success, but Nomar's slash line was better, granted in significantly fewer games. He hit .321/.386/.589 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 32 games.
5. Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis had some huge offensive seasons for Boston in 2008 and 2009. He was the 2008 AL Hank Aaron Award winner when he hit .312/.390/.569 with 29 home runs, 43 doubles and 115 RBIs. He was third in the MVP voting.
1. Kenley Jansen. Jansen may be a future Hall of Famer. He has 420 career saves with a 2.52 career ERA and 1,159 strikeouts in 813.2 innings pitched. He has a few years left and could possibly get close to 500 saves. I am rooting for him.
2. Ellis Kinder. Don't get too excited, these 1954 cards are just reprints, not the vintage cards. Kinder was a very important part of the Red Sox rotation in the late 1940's and had some great seasons in relief in the early 1950's. Kinder had a record of 86-52 in eight seasons with the Red Sox. He had a 3.28 ERA and notched 93 saves. In 1949 he was 23-6 with a 3.36 ERA and finished fifth in the MVP vote. His best year in relief was 1953 when he was 10-6 with a 1.85 ERA and a league-leading 27 saves.
3. Ted Lepcio. Lepcio was a part of the youth movement that manager Lou Boudreau pressed into action at the expense of established stars like Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky. Lepcio was a utility infielder and only once played in more than 100 games. His best season was in 1956 when he hit .261/.335/.454 with a career-high on 15 home runs (he never hit more than nine any other season) and 51 RBIs.
4. Buster Mills. Mills was a coach at this time, but he was a very good One-Year Wonder in 1937. That year he hit .295/.361/.418 with seven home runs and 58 RBIs, along with eleven stolen bases. He was then traded to the Browns along with the well-traveled Bobo Newsom for Joe Vosmik.
5. Hal Brown. Brown was originally with the Red Sox system, but was traded to the White Sox prior to making his Major League debut. He was then re-acquired by the Red Sox in a trade that sent Vern Stephens to the White Sox. His best season in Boston was in 1953 when he went 11-6 with a 4.65 ERA. He then spent several seasons as a back-of-the-rotation starter in Baltimore.
6. John Burkett. Burkett had some great years with the Giants early in his career, once finishing fourth in the Cy Young vote. He spent his last two seasons with the Red Sox going 25-17 with a 4.85 ERA. He was past his prime but ate up some valuable innings with a roughly league-average ERA, particularly in 2002.
7. Manny Delcarmen. Delcarmen was a local kid who was an underrated part of the Red Sox bullpen in 2007. He appeared in 44 games with a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings, striking out 41 and walking 17 and notching one save. He had another good year in 2008 before his career started going downhill.
8. Enrique Hernandez. Hernandez had one of the greatest power displays I have seen in a postseason by a Red Sox player. He hit five home runs in the 2021 postseason.
9. Shea Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand's best season was 2002 when he was elected to his first All Star Game and hit .293/.330/.459 with 18 home runs and 83 RBIs. He was generally a good hitter whose defense made it difficult to keep him in a lineup.
10. Angel Santos. Santos was a fourth-round pick of the Red Sox in 1997 and made his Major League debut in 2001. He played in just nine games with the Red Sox and hit .125/.211/.188 with two hits, including a double and an RBI. He was traded in 2003 to the Indians for Jamie Brown.
11. David Murphy. Murphy was the Red Sox first-round pick in 2003. He played in parts of two seasons with the Red Sox, hitting .250/.357/.500 with his first Major League home run. He was the primary piece sent to the Rangers in 2007 for Eric Gagne. He spent several seasons as a solid outfielder with the Rangers. He signed back with the Red Sox in 2016, but did not make it out of Spring Training.
12. Paul Schreiber. Schreiber was a pitching coach in the early 1950's. His Major League career consisted of 12 games over three seasons with the Dodgers and Giants.
13. Alex Verdugo. Verdugo is going to look very different with the Yankees this season. The facial hair and jewelry will have to go. I suspect his stay in New York will be short.
1. Triston Casas. Casas was Boston's first-round pick in 2018 and looks like a rising star coming into the season.
2. Christian Arroyo. Another former first-round pick (though by the Giants), Arroyo never really put it together. His best season was 2022 when he hit .286/.322/.414 with six home runs and 36 RBIs as a utility man. Arroyo will try to catch on with the Brewers this year.
3. Ted Williams. My favorite stat is Williams's career OBP was .482. That is utterly insane. For his entire career, he got on base almost half the time.
4. Roger Clemens. Clemens was an All Star five times with Boston, though not in 1984 as per this card's design. That was his rookie season.
5. Carlos Quintana. Closing things out today with one of my early favorites. There are not many Quintana cards still out there for me to get unfortunately.
And that's it for today.
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