TCDB Madness

I mentioned recently that I have been doing a lot of trading on TCDB lately as a result of simply adding all Red Sox cards I needed to my wantlist.  So, there have been a lot of proposals.  I have not accepted every one.  There are still some things I am not that interested in, such as minor league cards and over-sized cards.  But, it has been a way to fill in holes and track down some oddballs.

1.  Tony Armas.  Armas is sort of a forgotten star.  He was a two-time All Star and a Silver Slugger winner (1984) who led the league in home runs twice, RBIs once and total bases once.  His 1984 season with Boston was huge, hitting .268/.300/.531 with 43 home runs and 123 RBIs.  He was seventh in the MVP vote that year.

2.  Don Baylor.  Baylor also had a big season with Boston in the mid-1980's.  His 1986 season featured a line of .238/.344/.439 with 31 home runs and 94 RBIs.  He won the Silver Slugger and led the league in being hit by pitches (35), one of four straight seasons in which he led the league in that category.

3.  Brian Conroy.  Conroy was a 22nd round pick by the Red Sox in 1989 and never made the Majors.  

4.  Cory Bailey.  Bailey pitched in 15 games with the Red Sox over two seasons in 1993 and 1994.  He was then traded to the Cardinals along with Scott Cooper for Mark Whiten and Rheal Cormier.  He had a few good seasons as a middle reliever for the Cardinals and Royals.

5.  Tim Naehring.  Naehring was on the verge of breaking out in 1997 when he suffered an injury that turned out to be career-ending.  He spent his entire eight-year career with Boston and hit .282/.365/.420 with 49 home runs and 250 RBIs.  

6.  Jim Leyritz.  I really liked Leyritz when he was acquired in the deal that sent Aaron Sele to the Rangers.  He hit well, batting .287/.385/.519 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs, but he was acquired to be in a platoon at catcher and designated hitter.  Unfortunately for Leyritz, Jason Varitek emerged as a strong catcher and Scott Hatteberg became the backup, meaning there were no at-bats available for Leyritz except as the right-handed DH.  So he was traded for some fringe Major Leaguers, none of whom did much.

7.  Aaron Sele.  Speaking of Sele, here he is.  Sele looked great until getting hurt early in 1995.  After that, he was never quite the same in Boston and was traded to Texas where he turned things around.  He was 38-33 with 4.41 ERA in five seasons with the Red Sox.  

8.  Jeff Suppan.  Suppan was a highly-touted pitching prospect who appeared in parts of three seasons with the Red Sox.  He was 7-3 with a 5.69 ERA in 1997, starting 22 games.  Boston left him unprotected in the expansion draft and he was the second overall selection, but was traded to the Royals during the season after going 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA for the Diamondbacks.  Suppan was re-acquired by the Red Sox from the Pirates in 2003 for Freddy Sanchez, but struggled to a 3-4 record and a 5.57 ERA.  He had some decent seasons with the Cardinals later on.

9.  Mike Greenwell.  Like Naehring, Greenwell spent his entire career with the Red Sox, hitting .303/.368/.463 with 130 home runs and 726 RBIs.  He was a two-time All Star in 1988 and 1989 and won the Silver Slugger in 1988.  That year he finished second in the MVP race to Jose Canseco's 40/40 season.  Greenwell was one of my favorite players early on.

10.  Wil Cordero.  Cordero was acquired to be the second-baseman in 1996, but got hurt early on.  His defense left a lot to be desired and he was moved to left field in 1997.  That year, he hit .281/.320/.432 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs, but off-field problems led to his release in September.

11.  Jackie Jensen.  Jensen was the 1958 MVP hitting .286/.396/.535 with 35 home runs and a league-leading 122 RBIs (one of three times he led the league in RBIs).  In seven years with Boston, he hit .282/.374/.478 with 170 home runs and 733 RBIs.  Unfortunately, a debilitating fear of flying led to his early retirement.

12.  Jimmie Foxx.  Foxx won the 1938 MVP when he hit a league-leading .349/.462/.704 with 50 home runs and 175 RBIs.  He also led in RBIs.  His home run total was a team record until David Ortiz broke it with 54 in 2006.  His 175 RBIs is still a single-season team record.  He hit 222 home runs with the Red Sox.

13.  Brayan Bello.  Bello is a player that I have been getting a number of cards of lately, which makes sense since he is a promising starter coming into the season.

14.  Xander Bogaerts.  In ten years with Boston, Bogaerts ended up hitting .292/.356/.458 with 156 home runs and 683 RBIs.  He won five Silver Slugger Awards and was an All Star four times.  He should have stayed in Boston for his entire career.

15.  Chris Sale.  Sale is also gone now.  In six seasons he went 46-30 with a 3.27 ERA, 945 strikeouts and 156 walks in 670.2 innings pitched.  He was an All Star twice, finishing second in the Cy Young vote in 2017 and fourth in 2018.  He also notched the final strikeout in the 2018 World Series.

16.  Xander Bogaerts.

17.  Eduardo Rodriguez.  I did a whole post about Rodriguez recently.  I was a big fan.  He is another player I am disappointed is no longer with the team.

18.  Jody Reed.  This is a factory-set variation.  Reed finished third int he Rookie of the Year vote in 1988, but had a lot of better numbers than the winner, just in fewer games.  He tied for the league lead in doubles in 1990 with 45.  In six seasons he hit .280/.358/.372 with 17 home runs and 227 RBIs.  He had 180 doubles.  He was left unprotected in the Rockies/Marlins expansion draft and was taken by the Rockies, who turned around and traded him to the Dodgers.

19.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Not sure what else I can say about Yaz that hasn't been said before.  I do like this photo.  Any card with the red helmet/hat is a plus for me.

20.  Brian Johnson.  I never understood why Boston released Johnson in 2020.  They needed pitching desperately.  Johnson was a former first round pick and pitched parts of four seasons in Boston, going 7-9 with a 4.74 ERA.  He had a solid 2018 season, with a 4-5 record and a 4.17 ERA in 38 games (13 starts).

21.  Steve Lomasney.  Lomasney was a highly-touted catching prospect whose career was ruined by injuries.  A shame.

22.  Opening Day team card.  This card features the opening day ceremonies in 2007 in Kansas City.  Curt Schilling started the game and Boston lost 7-1.  

23.  Steve Lomasney.  Another Lomasney card.

That's it for today.