Red Sox With No Cards Pt. 4: Gary Gaetti

Wait, Gary Gaetti was with the Red Sox?  Yep, just look at the above picture for proof.  In 1999, Gaetti was signed as a free agent in early April to help out at designated hitter.  He was 41 years old.  There are no card of him with the Red Sox though because he played just five games with the Red Sox before retiring.  He had eleven plate appearances drawing a walk and not recording a single hit.  He struck out three times but did manage an RBI.  So yes, it makes sense that there are no cards of Gaetti with the Red Sox, but it is still disappointing.

Card Shop Buys and Pack Breaks from My Birthday Weekend

As I mentioned a few days ago, it was my birthday on Tuesday.  It was also my grandmother's birthday and my mother-in-law's birthday.  It was also Mother's Day yesterday.  So yeah, it was pretty busy.  I went back to my hometown over the weekend and had a chance to go to the card shop that I used to go to all the time when I was growing up.  The owner knows me pretty well and always pulled Red Sox for me.  He has not been doing it lately because it has been a long time since I have been back, but he still had an old pile, so I flipped through it and found some stuff.

This is the result of my search.  The Kevin Youkilis is the copper parallel, which was 2007's version of the black parallel due to the fact that all of the cards were black.  Manny Ramirez is numbered 10/10.  Then there are some random David Ortiz cards and the Bowman Draft base card of Jose Iglesias which was number 6 on my Most Wanted list.

Then I bought a box of 2009 Topps Heritage High Number.  I still need a lot of cards from that set and they are prominent on my Want List, so if anyone has any of them, please let me know.  This was not a terrific box for me honestly.  I pulled the below cards.  Each pack contained two cards from 2009 Update and Highlights, which explains the Takashi Saito.

And now, for the tradebait from the weekend pack pickups.  If you see anything you want and have some Red Sox for trade, preferably from my wantlist, please comment or email me to trade.

The McCutchen has been traded.

Red Sox Drop 2 of 3 from the Blue Jays

Boston continued to struggle this weekend losing two of three from the Blue Jays.  I was away all weekend so I was not able to do this for each game.  I am not going to get too in-depth into the summaries, I might just list Players of the Game.

MAY 10, 2013: Red Sox 5 (22-14) Blue Jays 0

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JON LESTER: Complete game, 2 hits, shutout, 5 strikeouts

May 11, 2013: Blue Jays 3 Red Sox 2 (22-15)

Clay Buchholz pitched well but stand-in closer Junichi Tazawa gave up the game-winning home run in the ninth inning.  Boston needs Bailey back soon.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

CLAY BUCHHOLZ: 8 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

May 12, 2013: Blue Jays 12 Red Sox 4 (22-16)

Ryan Dempster did not have it in this game at all.  Boston was crushed by five home runs, two by Jose Bautista.  The injury bug came back and took David Ross (concussion) and Shane Victorino (ribs).

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

MIKE NAPOLI: 3 for 4, home run, double, 2 runs

Mailday 05/08 and Pack Break 05/09 and Some Tradebait

The last few days have been pretty busy for me.  Boston has been terrible over the last week which has kind of sucked the fun out of blogging about them. 

The one trade package I received so far was a small one.  I sent a Nolan Ryan SP from Gypsy Queen to an individual in a nearby very small town (oddly enough) for two cards from 2012 Bowman Chrome, the Jacoby Ellsbury base and the refractor of Boss Moanaroa, one of my favorite names in the Red Sox system. Moanaroa is an aboriginal native of Australia.  His brother Moko once played in Boston's system as well.  Boss is more talented and stands a slightly better shot at making the Majors, but I am not holding my breath honestly.  I would love it if he makes it, it just does not seem all that likely.

Yesterday was my birthday.  To celebrate I bought a blaster of 2013 Bowman and a blister pack of 2013 Heritage.  I did not get any Red Sox out of the Heritage which was disappointing.  I got the following from the Bowman blaster:

I am counting the Prospect Challenge card because I always count them if they have a picture of a Red Sox player on them.  In this case it is Matt Barnes.  

Here is the tradebait.  As you can see it was a good day for Chase Headley and Ryan Zimmerman.  I also got two nifty Pirates refractors.  I am currently in talks to trade one or both of them, but if anyone has any trade offers, please comment here.

05/09: Twins 5 Red Sox 3 (21-14)

The Red Sox are officially slumping.  Bad defense, not enough offense, and pitching problems have taken a once-promising season and plunged it into doubt.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JOHN LACKEY: 7 innings, 1 earned run (5 total), walk, 8 strikeouts

05/08: Twins 15 Red Sox 8 (21-13)

I don't even want to discuss this one.  It was ugly from the moment it began.  Allen Webster still has some seasoning to do.  I have serious concerns about Felix Doubront's velocity.  Boston fell into a tie for first place.  Just an ugly game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JONNY GOMES: 1 for 4, grand slam, 5 RBIs

Quintana Mailday 05/07

I have mentioned previously that Carlos Quintana was the first of my "unknown heroes".  I really liked Quintana when I first got into baseball.  I am not really sure why.  So I was thrilled when this buyback from 1990 Leaf showed up on Ebay.  Numbered to just 20, it is a rare card.  Even though I have the original, which is certainly not hard to find, I had to add this one. 

05/07: Twins 6 Red Sox 1 (21-12)

This was a frustrating game all the way around.  Lots of things went wrong.  To start with, there was no offense.  Boston managed only four hits, the only run came on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's home run in the ninth. The defense was bad, particularly errors by Saltalamacchia and Pedro Ciriaco that put the game out of reach.  Craig Breslow was terrible in relief of Ryan Dempster.  And to top it all off, both David Ross and Will Middlebrooks left the game with injuries.  Just a bad game all the way around.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

RYAN DEMPSTER: 7 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned runs, walk, 8 strikeouts

Trade with Nolan's Dugout

Recently Night Owl posted about a package that he received from me.  I read through the comments and Kyle from Nolan's Dugout said that he had a number of Pacific singles and asked if anyone wanted to work anything out.  I loved Pacific so naturally I jumped on the possibility and contacted him to work something out.  I sent some of his set needs in exchange for the following:

Pacific focused quite a bit on Hispanic players, particularly in the early years.  Jose Canseco was obviously a big star in the early 1990's so Pacific produced a lot of cards of him.  When I was first getting into baseball my older brother was an Oakland A's fan and particularly a fan of Canseco (he stopped watching them when Canseco was traded to the Rangers).  So it always seemed so strange to me that he was a Red Sox DH for a couple of years.  He is one of those players that I always like to get, despite his, shall we say, issues, off the field.

Thanks Kyle! Hope to trade again!

Mailday 05/06

It's time to catch up on yesterday's random packages.  I am going to be cooling it on Ebay for awhile so I will definitely be looking to do some more trading.

Up first is a pretty big trade I pulled off on one of the forums for some random cards of Griffey, Jeter, Pujols, and the other usual culprits that almost everyone collects.  In this first scan is a bunch of the Ted Williams .406 cards.  I have quite a few of these now.  Perhaps I should shoot for all of them.  The only problem with them is recycling the same picture for every single one.

It was not all Ted Williams though.  I also added these cool cards as well.  That's a very nice blue refractor of Jason Bay with a terrific action shot of a catch against the Green Monster.  I am not sure what the T205 cards were, probably something like Turkey Red inserts from a couple years ago.  Then there is the Trading Card History of Josh Beckett, no that's not a Heritage card from this year.  Finally, I really do not have a lot of Josh Reddick cards for some reason.  This one helps a little.

Up next is a small trade in which I gave up a few base cards from Gypsy Queen.  The Will Middlebrooks was the target.  That is the photo variation only available for the mini.  The Felix Doubront was a throw-in that I was not expecting but am thrilled with because I am a big Doubront fan.

Finally, there is this card I got off of Ebay.  This is a nice-looking silk card of John Lackey.  Lackey is not terribly popular with Boston fans yet, but if he has a good year he will be.

Random Awesome Photos: World Series Celebrations

I had to put these two together.  As a Red Sox fan the 2004 World Championship was one of the happiest days of my life.  Then, just three years later, they did it again.  I chose these two cards to show off because they depict the immediate aftermath of the final out of the two World Series wins.

The Jason Varitek card is from 2004 Donruss World Series.  More particularly it is from the special extended box set after the Red Sox won.  Donruss produced cards of all the players from the World Series roster except Kevin Millar who was ineligible for membership in the Players' Union due to being a former replacement player.  The checklist included players like Curtis Leskanic, Pokey Reese, and Mike Myers.  The Varitek is notable because it shows Tek leaping into Keith Foulke's arms immediately after the last out had been recorded at first base.  There are also celebration shots shown on the cards of Foulke and Doug Mientkiewicz.

The Jonathan Papelbon is from 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces.  Yes, Papelbon is kind of a douchebag and it is particularly evident on this card.  This comes from immediately after Papelbon striking out Seth Smith swinging to end the World Series.  The excitement in Papelbon's face is palpable.

05/06 Walk-Off Win: Red Sox 6 (21-11) Twins 5

Clay Buchholz had his first rough start of the season giving up four runs in six innings.  He still struck out nine though so his impressive year has continued.  Boston won on walk-off fashion thanks to singles from Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Will Middlebrooks in the 11th and the winning run scored on Stephen Drew's single.  Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia both homered for the first time this season.  Joel Hanrahan blew the save and looks to be headed to the DL for the second time this season and joining fellow closer Andrew Bailey.  Bad bullpen luck.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

STEPHEN DREW: 4 for 5, home run, double, 3 RBIs, tied game in seventh, won game in 11th

PWE Bomb from Backstop Cards

I had a small army of PWEs show up in my mailbox over the weekend from Marcus from the fantastic Padres blog Backstop Cards.  I had a plethora of Padres cards just sitting around and approached him about a trade.  Below are the cards I got in exchange.

I needed the Vicente Padilla because the 2013 Topps is likely the only card there will ever be of him with the Red Sox and the parallels have been a little hard to get. The Youkilis and Lester cards were both on my wantlist.  The Fred Lynn (who cares about the other guys? even though George Scott was a former and future Red Sox at that point and oh yeah R.I.P. John Mayberry) was a card he had in a tradebait post.  The others were throw-ins and I am happy with them.  I had not had a 2012 Bowman Platinum purple refractor and Garin Cecchini is hitting very well this year.  I like the Desert Shield cards and they have been hard to find.  I now have five.  The Ortiz gold is terrific as well.  I did previously have the Williams and Egan but that is perfectly fine.

Thanks Marcus!

Maildays 05/03 - 05/04

I am catching up on the weekend's mail here.

Up first was an incredibly small trade in which I gave up one Wal Mart blue parallel and got a Target red parallel in return.  Daniel Bard has not been the same since 2011, hopefully he will get it together and get back to the dominant setup man he once was.

I have mentioned before that I have not done much with Panini.  This time I had to make an exception.  It is not every day you can add a game-used (hopefully) bat piece of a Hall of Famer from the 1910's.  I did not previously own a game-used piece from Tris Speaker.  My previous earliest player for my Red Sox collection was Rick Ferrell, though I did once have a Home Run Baker bat card.

Then I got another one of the five-card factory set only bonus packs.  I am not sure these are the best representatives they could have gotten to drum up interest in the factory sets.  Manny Delcarmen was a popular player due to being from the Boston area.  Jed Lowrie was fairly popular but not really a highly sought-after card.  Then there is Sean Casey, David Aardsma, and Kevin Cash who were just sort of there.  I am thrilled with the cards because I did not have many of any of them, but not sure how much of a big draw those players were for the factory set.

Finally, another Panini card.  I had to add a Jarrod Saltalamacchia autograph to my Red Sox collection.  I can not tell from this picture, but it looks to have been taken from earlier in his career.  He has short hair and appears clean-shaven.  Neither of which has been true for quite awhile.

Why I Don't Focus on Red Sox Prospects

I am a team collector, as if you could not figure that out.  I like to get as many Red Sox cards as I can.  I like cards of just about anyone as long as there is a Red Sox logo.  However, these days I do not focus as much on prospect cards as I used to.  In the early 2000's this was a major part of my collecting.  I would get as many cards of the big Red Sox prospects as I could.  Not to turn around and sell, I was never a prospector. No, just to have in my collection.

This stopped though after awhile.  Boston had the habit of trading their prospects before they even really played for Boston.  I would be left with a bunch of cards of players who hardly played for the Red Sox and it was frustrating.

These are three of those players, in order of least to most frustrating.

DAVID ECKSTEIN

Yes, David Eckstein was once in the Red Sox system.  He never played a game for Boston but he was very successful as a minor leaguer.  Eckstein was originally drafted by Boston.  He was supposed to be the second baseman of the future and showed promise with his contact-hitting ability and stealing 30+ bases.  So what happened?  Boston's third base problems in 2000 happened.  Eckstein was on the 40 man roster and Boston had to keep adding third basemen to have someone to play that position in the Majors.  Eventually they had to put Eckstein on waivers to get him off the 40 man roster to make room for new players.  Well he did not last long on waivers getting claimed by the Angels.

I have four Eckstein cards including that autograph card.

KELLY SHOPPACH

I was excited about Shoppach from the time he was drafted.  I saw him quite a bit as a catcher for Baylor because they were in the same conference as the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Shoppach was an impressive collegiate catcher and looked like he had the same skill set as Jason Varitek.  So when he started getting cards in 2003 I picked up quite a few.  Shoppach played well in the minor leagues for the Red Sox.  Then in 2005 the trade rumors started.  Varitek had just been signed to a four year deal so if Shoppach was going to be a starter it would have to be with another team.  He was almost traded to the Rockies.  He made it to the Majors in 2005 and played just nine games.  He had 15 at-bats but no hits.  Then he was traded to the Indians in the Coco Crisp trade.  This one is alleviated somewhat by the fact that Shoppach played a half season with Boston in 2012.

I have 15 cards of Shoppach including the above autograph and a few more autos.

HANLEY RAMIREZ

This one hurt bad.  Ramirez was the Red Sox top prospect early on.  His cards were big in 2003 and I got a lot of them.  He looked like the real deal, a shortstop with power and speed.  He looked like a star.  He was going to finally take over as the best Red Sox shortstop since Nomar Garciaparra.  He made it into two games at the end of the 2005 season and struck out in his only two at-bats.  Then he was traded to the Marlins.  The Red Sox got Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell so it was certainly a worthwhile trade as those players played big roles in getting the 2007 World Championship but Ramirez turned into a star right away.  He has slipped in recent years but is still a good player.

I have 30 cards of Hanley Ramirez including the above autograph, almost every mini version from Topps 205, a printing plate, a bat card, and multiple autographs.  I spent a lot on Hanley Ramirez expecting him to be a big Red Sox star.  This is the number one reason I do not spend a lot on prospects anymore and why I do not have many cards of Xander Bogaerts yet.  

Forgotten Stars Pt. 1: Bill Werber

When a team that has as long a history as the Red Sox it is natural to have players who have been largely forgotten.  These are some players who simply do not get mentioned anymore or are largely forgotten.

(As much as I would love to, I do not own this card)

Boston's fortunes were beginning to change after 1932, the lowest point in team history.  Tom Yawkey had bought the team and was beginning to sink money into it to try to become competitive.  Just over three months after taking the reins, Yawkey bought some players from the Yankees.  Players coming over from the Yankees had generally not performed well in Boston, but this time it worked out.  Yawkey purchased former star George Pipgras and up-and-coming third baseman Bill Werber for $100,000.00 or $25,000.00 less than the Yankees paid former owner Harry Frazee for Babe Ruth.

Werber was no Babe Ruth but he was a very successful third-baseman for the Red Sox for a few years.  As a 25 year old rookie he hit .259/.312/.379 with three home runs and 39 RBIs but stole 15 bases.  He had the best season of his career in 1934 hitting .321/.397/.472 with 11 home runs, 67 RBIs, and a league leading 40 stolen bases.  

Werber would go on to have two more largely successful seasons as the Red Sox third-baseman and lead the league in stolen bases again in 1935.  Werber was then dealt to the Athletics for Pinky Higgins.  

Werber arrived in Boston at a time that fans were desperate for someone to root for.  He was a good third-baseman who possessed a lot of speed.  He was largely forgotten even at the time because Yawkey was busy picking up star player after star player.  The team went from cellar dwellers to the home of future Hall of Famers Lefty Grove, Joe Cronin, Jimmie Foxx, and Rick Ferrell.  But Werber was one of the first pick-ups to make an impact, acquired just three days after Ferrell.

Red Sox in Cooperstown Pt. 4: Jack Chesbro

JACK CHESBRO
Years with Boston: 1909 (1 game, 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts)
Best Year in Boston: 1909 (1 game, 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts)

(I don't think there is a Red Sox card)

"Happy" Jack Chesbro is mostly in the Hall of Fame for his incredible 1904 season in which he won 41 games and threw 48 complete games, both records, for the New York Highlanders.  Most of the rest of his career ranged from average to good, but that one season got him in the Hall of Fame.  In 1909 Chesbro was 35 years old and was on the downswing of his career.  He had pitched in nine games with a 6.34 ERA with the Highlanders when he was placed on waivers.  Boston picked him up and he pitched one game with the Red Sox.  He pitched six innings and gave up seven hits and three earned runs, walking four, and striking out three.  That was it for his stint with Boston.

Chesbro is in the Hall of Fame for his 1904 season.  He pitched only one game for Boston and it was not a particularly good game.  That one game is as irrelevant to his Hall of Fame case as is possible.

Unknown Heroes Before My Time Pt. 4: Bob Stanley

I have mentioned before that I am a fan of closers.  Bob Stanley was never really a superstar although he did have some highly successful seasons.  In fact, Stanley was an All Star in both 1979 and 1983.  Nicknamed "The Steamer", Stanley was an important bullpen arm for the Red Sox at the time that the closer role was evolving into a much more important role.

Stanley came up in 1977 and split time as a starter and reliever.  He was mostly used in relief in 1978 and went 15-2 with a 2.60 ERA and 10 saves.  He was never really known as a strikeout pitcher and he only struck out 38 in 141.2 innings.  He received votes for both the MVP and Cy Young Award.  In 1979 he made his first All Star team going 16-12 with a 3.99 ERA.

In 1980 Stanley was shifted into more of a bullpen role.  He still started 17 games, but finished 25 with 14 saves.  He still won 10 games.  From 1981 through 1986 though he only started two games.  This was an important time period as closers were becoming a much more prominent part of baseball.  Bruce Sutter, Dave Righetti, and Dan Quisenberry were all highly successful closers at that time.

1982 through 1984 were his most successful seasons as a reliever.  In 1982 Stanley went 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA and 14 saves forming an impressive bullpen tandem with Mark Clear.  1983 was Stanley's best season and was one of the most successful closer seasons in Red Sox history, certainly since Dick Radatz.  He set a record with 33 saves and finished the season 8-10 with a 2.85 ERA.  His saves record held until 1991.

Unfortunately Stanley played an instrumental role in the 1986 World Series loss, uncorking a wild pitch that tied Game 6 and then giving up the go ahead run on the Mookie Wilson dribbler that went through Bill Buckner's legs.  The next season Stanley was used as a starter but went 4-15.  He was a reliever the rest of his time with Boston.

Stanley retired in 1989 and held team records for appearances (637) and saves (188).  His saves record has since been eclipsed by Jonathan Papelbon but his appearances record seems safe for quite some time.

05/04: Rangers 5 Red Sox 1 (20-10); 05/05: Rangers 4 Red Sox 3 (20-11)

Boston's offense took the weekend off apparently.

In Saturday's game Boston managed seven hits but only one run.  John Lackey was decent, but not good enough as the offense could not solve Alexi Ogando.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JUNICHI TAZAWA: 1 inning, 1 hit, 3 strikeouts

David Ortiz and David Ross hit home runs in the first two innings of Sunday's game but Jon Lester could not hold the lead and the offense was done after that, striking out 14 times against Yu Darvish.  Former Sox Adrian Beltre drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth off of Clayton Mortenson.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

DAVID ORTIZ 1 for 3, 2 run home run

Unknown Heroes Pt. 29: Craig Breslow

What I like about Craig Breslow is not so much his success.  In fact he has not really played with Boston very long.  He made it into only 13 games in 2006 and then 23 after being re-acquired last year, and has yet to return from the disabled list this year.  No, what I like about Breslow is his intelligence.  There have been Ivy League players in the Majors before, but Breslow's academic success is very impressive.

Breslow attended Yale.  He has degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry.  He has formed a non-profit organization to help children with cancer.  He is an incredibly intelligent individual.  I am very smart myself.  I am a lawyer, I was accepted into every law school I applied to, and I have never had any real trouble finding a job.  Breslow makes me look pretty ordinary.  His intelligence makes him a very intriguing player.

Breslow has been an impressive player as well.  He has had two stints with the Red Sox.  In 2006 he pitched 12 innings, striking out 12 and having an 0-2 record with a 3.75 ERA.  I am not quite sure why he did not stick.  But he went on to have some nice seasons for the Twins and Athletics.

He was traded back to the Red Sox in 2012 and struck out 19 in 20 innings as a lefty out of the bullpen.  He was 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA.  He has been hurt so far this year but should make it back to displace Andrew Miller as the main southpaw in the bullpen.

My Ideal Set

As much as I enjoy inserts, relics, and autographs, they are not often what I strive for when I am opening packs.  I know my chances are usually slim that I will pull any relics or autos at all, much less autos and relics of the Red Sox.  I have pulled a few in my lifetime, but not many.  So those pulls are bonuses rather than cards I ever expect to get.  I do significantly better with Red Sox inserts.

But the real reason I collect is to get the Red Sox cards.  And I do enjoy getting the star players, but let's face it, the stars are in every single set.  I love getting the lesser-known players.  The backups, the middle relievers, the players who spent a brief time with the team.  I love getting cards of players who just do not have a lot of cards.

Topps's flagship brand is decent at providing a diversity of players, particularly with the Update set.  This year Vicente Padilla and Ryan Sweeney were both included in the basic set, neither player had many cards last year at all.  Update has provided cards of Casey Kotchman, Franklin Morales, Kevin Jarvis, and many other Red Sox cards of players who had none previously and none afterwards.  But as good as Topps is, it is not as diverse as Topps Total, Upper Deck 40 Man, and Pacific Online from years past.

Those are my ideal sets.  Each one had a large number of cards for each team, including some subsets to include more cards of star players as well as featuring a diverse group of players.  Topps Total had a large number of rookie cards, rivaling Bowman, the Home of the Rookie Card.  Those are sets that I really miss and I hope Topps can bring back Total, but there has not been a set since 2005.

One-Year Wonder Pt. 18: Takashi Saito

Every once in awhile, the Red Sox pick up a veteran player for a year, or just the stretch run that was a star at one point that I become fascinated with. It's a player that is basically only a role player at that point in their career, but may show flashes of their old brilliance. It's so unusual to see them as a member of the Red Sox, that I try to find as many of their cards as possible. This series will be about some of those players.

In 2009 Boston had four Japanese pitchers on their staff.  Holdovers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima were joined by rookie Junichi Tazawa and veteran free agent Takashi Saito.  Saito arguably had the best year of the four.  The former Dodgers closer joined the Red Sox on a one-year contract and provided a reliable arm out of the bullpen.

Saito pitched in 56 games for the Red Sox and had a 2.43 ERA and a 3-3 record.  He struck out 52 in 55.1 innings with 25 walks.  He picked up two saves but he was not needed as a closer because of the presence of Jonathan Papelbon.

I had hoped that Saito would return in 2010 but he got a good offer to go to the Braves as a free agent.  There are not many cards that show Saito with the Red Sox, but I make my best effort to get the ones I see.

Texas Massacre 05/03: Rangers 7 Red Sox 0 (20-9)

Felix Doubront was awful and the offense was not any better.  It seemed every time the Rangers hit the ball it found a hole.  Boston just never had a chance in this one.  Nothing went right.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

NO CARD YET

ALEX WILSON: 2.2 innings, 5 hits, earned run, strikeout, walk

A Fantastic Catch

Weston, better known as Superduperman99, contacted me on one of mu last pack break/tradebait posts to set up a trade for a couple of Cardinals cards.  Weston runs the terrific blog Fantastic Catch.  He became the first person to contact me for a trade, and hopefully not the last.

Anyway he sent me these three cards:

I did not previously have any of the blue framed cards from last year's Gypsy Queen, so this Youkilis is a very welcome addition.  This was the card that I centered the trade around.  Weston was nice enough to send me the two cards flanking Youk as extras.  And hey, I did not even have the Beckett before.  

Thanks a lot Weston!

Silky Mailday 05/02

I love the silk cards.  I do not have a lot of them because they are rare and popular.  Well I figured I would not have a lot of problem getting this one:

Alfredo Aceves came off the worst game of his career and laid the blame on everyone but himself and then promptly got sent down to Pawtucket.  Still, this is a pretty cool card and one I am happy to own.  Whether he ever returns to Boston or not is irrelevant.  I am a team collector so I go for pretty much everything.

Season in Review: 2000

Boston finished in second place in the AL East in 2000 with an 85-77 record.  They missed the postseason for the first time since 1997.  Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez each had terrific seasons but the team lacked other star players.

FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS
Nomar Garciaparra
Nomar had another great year in 2000, winning his second batting title with a .372 mark.  He flirted with the .400 mark until well into the summer.  In addition he hit 21 home runs and drove in 96 runs.  It was a remarkable season for the shortstop.

Pedro Martinez
As good as Pedro was in 1999, he might have been better in 2000.  Martinez went 18-6 with a Major League leading 1.74 ERA and 284 strikeouts in 217 innings.  He was once again a unanimous pick for the AL Cy Young Award.  Martinez was at the height of his career at this point.

Derek Lowe
Lowe was named to his first All Star game in 2000.  He was a closer at the time and went 4-4 with a 2.56 ERA and tied for the league lead with 42 saves.  He had 79 strikeouts against just 22 walks in 91 innings.

Tim Wakefield
The knuckleballer was very versatile in 2000.  He appeared in 51 games, starting 17 and finishing 13.  He went 6-10 with a 5.48 ERA.

Jason Varitek
Jason Varitek slumped a bit in 2000, only hitting .248/.342/.388 with just ten home runs and 65 RBIs.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Trot Nixon
Nixon was decent in 2000, hitting .276/.368/.461 with 12 home runs and 60 RBIs.

Brian Daubach
Daubach settled into the starting first base job in 2000.  His overall numbers took a little bit of a slide but he was still one of the better power hitters on the team.  He hit .248/.315/.448 with 21 home runs and 76 RBIs.

Jose Offerman
Offerman was yet another player whose numbers dipped a little in 2000.  He hit only .255/.354/.359 with nine home runs and 41 RBIs.  For some reason he did not steal a single base in 2000 and was caught eight times.

FAVORITE ACQUISITION
Carl Everett
Jurassic Carl was one of the few hitters to have a good year in 2000.  He appeared in the Home Run Derby and the All Star game.  Everett was acquired in a trade with the Astros for Adam Everett and a pitching prospect.  He hit .300/.373/.587 and lead the team with 34 home runs, 108 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.  Of course his year was notorious later on for the incident he had with an umpire which resulted in a ten game suspension.

FAVORITE MIDSEASON ACQUISITIONS
Rolando Arrojo
The Red Sox sent Mike Stanley, Jeff Frye, Brian Rose, John Wasdin, and a minor leaguer to the Rockies for Arrojo, Mike Lansing, and Rich Croushore.  Arrojo was the main part of the trade.  He went 5-2 with a 5.05 ERA down the stretch.

Dante Bichette
The former Rockies slugger was acquired from the Reds prior to the August deadline and provided some much-needed punch to the lineup.  He hit .289/.336/.518 with seven home runs in 30 games.

FAVORITE ROOKIE
Tomo Ohka
Ohka was a rare Japanese pitcher who started his professional career in the United States.  He pitched in a few games in 1999 and came back in 2000 to pitch in an additional 13 games.  Ohka was impressive in those games though, going 3-6 with a 3.12 ERA in 69.1 innings.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Wilton Veras
Third base was a big problem for the Red Sox in 2000.  John Valentin was hurt most of the year.  Ed Sprague was acquired to help but provided virtually nothing.  Manny Alexander and Lou Merloni were not meant to be full-time players.  Finally Wilton Veras was rushed to the Majors.  He was one of the team's top prospects but only hit .244/.278/.299 in 49 games.

Jeff Fassero
Another problem for Boston was their lack of a decent number two starter.  Fassero was once a good starter with the Mariners.  Unfortunately he was 37 and often injured by the time he joined Boston.  Fassero went 8-8 with a 4.78 ERA and 97 strikeouts and 50 walks in 130.1 innings.

05/02: Red Sox 3 (20-8) Blue Jays 1

Boston took the rubber game of this three game set in a nail-biter.  Ryan Dempster won his second game and Joel Hanrahan picked up his first save since returning from the disabled list.  There were not a lot of offensive heroics.  Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Carp, and Stephen Drew each drove in a run

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

RYAN DEMPSTER 6 IP, 4 hits, earned run, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks, Win

1991 Topps #247 Jody Reed

In this series, I look at my first team set: 1991 Topps.  This was the set I started my baseball card collection with.

I always loved this photo.  Jody Reed is positioned in an almost diagonal line from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.  It would appear that he is in the middle of a home run trot.  Reed was not really known for his power though.  He hit five home runs in 1990 which was a career high.  He matched it in 1991 but never hit that many again.

Reed came into the 1990 season as the starting shortstop but with Marty Barrett suffering from some knee injuries he stepped in to become the starting second baseman.  Second base seemed to suit Reed a little bit better anyway.  He was a scrappy, small player who played pretty good defense.  Reed did have doubles power as he tied for the league lead in 1990 with 45 doubles.  He also typically walked more than he struck out.  Add those qualities together and you have a prototypical number two hitter.  And that is what Reed was.

This was not my first Jody Reed card, in fact it was my third but it is still one of my favorite photos of him.  It is not unusual to see photos of him in the field, but trotting around the bases is much more rare.

05/01: Red Sox 10 (19-8) Blue Jays 1

Clay Buchholz continued his dominating season allowing just two hits and three walks over seven innings of shut-out ball while striking out eight.  He has been very impressive all year so far.  The bats also had some fun in this one with home runs from Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew, Daniel Nava, and Mike Carp, six home runs in all.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

MIKE NAPOLI 3 for 4, 2 long home runs, double, 3 runs, 4 RBIs

 

04/30 Bullpen Troubles: Blue Jays 9 Red Sox 7 (18-8)

Boston scratched back into it and lead at one point late in the game but the bullpen imploded.  These things happen from time to time.  The important thing is to learn from the mistakes and move on.  Jon Lester had nothing from the beginning of the game but kept them in the game throughout and that allowed Boston to come back and take the lead at one point.  Jonny Gomes and Mike Carp both hit their first home runs with the Red Sox.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

DAVID ORTIZ 2 for 5, 4 RBIs, double, home run