Yes the Red Sox Collection is Still My Primary Focus

It is true that I have resurrected my player collection, but the Red Sox remain my primary collection.  It's nice to have something on the side once in awhile.  But it is much easier to add to my Red Sox collection.  Just look here:

1.  2013 Select Mike Napoli.  I bought this along with a bunch of Alomars recently from one seller.  I liked the design of the new Select set, though I would like it better if they had an MLB license.

The next trade knocked off four cards from my wantlist, including one from my Top 10.
2.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Calling the Shots Terry Francona.  Nice to see managers getting a little love.  Francona goes down as one of the best managers in Red Sox history.

3.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Wade Boggs.  Anyone have any more of these?  I need a bunch still for the team set.

4.  1987 Donruss Bob Stanley.  Yes, the Steamer.  I am still missing a few cards from 1987 Donruss.

5.  1975 Topps Luis Tiant.  This is the big one of the day.  A rare action shot for 1975 Topps, which did not have many for the Red Sox.  That's why I wanted it.

My New Blog

I announced earlier I wanted to bring back my Sandy Alomar Jr. collection.  I decided to make that official by starting a new blog devoted entirely to that collection.

Collecting Sandy Alomar Jr.

Go check it out.  Thanks.

Napoli Auto and a Rocket

A couple of quick pickups to show off:

1.  2014 Donruss Signatures Mike Napoli.  My first Napoli auto.  The weirdest thing about this is that it lists Napoli as a catcher.  Napoli did not play a single inning at catcher last year and is not likely to play a single inning there this year.

2.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Nicknames Roger Clemens.  The cartoon character that is bigger than the picture of the player is a bit off-putting.  Still, a nice card of The Rocket.

The New Pickups with Some Heritage Breaks

I have been very busy lately.  I have a two-day custody trial next week.  Believe me, I do not look forward to that.  I would much rather handle a jury trial on a murder case than a custody trial.  Anyway, here are the latest pickups.  No central themes here, just a whole bunch of Red Sox cards:

For the first pickup, we have a forum trade.  I traded a 2014 Topps short printed Yadier Molina for these:

 1.  2011 Topps Gold Mike Cameron.  I was disappointed with Cameron's performance in Boston.  He was supposed to come in and provide veteran leadership and steady defense in center field.  This was when Jacoby Ellsbury was considered a liability.  Unfortunately, Cameron was injured a whole lot.

2.  2014 Topps Red Hot Foil Shane Victorino.  Victorino on the other hand was so much more than he was expected to be last year.  He will likely be the leadoff man and right fielder this year.

3.  2014 Topps Target Red Jon Lester.  Lester is 23 wins from becoming the winningest lefty in Red Sox history.  They just have to lock him up beyond this season because unless he has an exceptional year, it won't happen this year.

4.  1971 Topps Ken Brett.  This is why I made this trade.  Can't go wrong with vintage.  Ken is George's older brother.  He had the raw talent but never really put it all together though he was once the youngest pitcher to ever pitch in a World Series (1967, 19 years old) despite only pitching one game in the regular season.  Brett could also hit a little and had 10 career home runs, despite being a pitcher.

5.  2014 Topps Target Red Matt Thornton.  I have been getting a number of Thornton cards lately, despite no longer being with the team.

6.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Mike Napoli WS.  Napoli is the only player who has not completely shed his beard from last year.  He still looks like a lumberjack.

Up next, I bought four packs of Heritage one day because they did not have any blasters available:

7.  2014 Topps Heritage John Farrell.  My first manager card of Farrell.  I was a little disappointed Boston did not have a manager card last year for Bobby Valentine.  For completion's sake of course.

8.  2014 Topps Heritage Felix Doubront.  Early Spring Training results look favorable for the southpaw.  Hopefully he can finally put it all together this year.

9.  2014 Topps Heritage Xander Bogaerts w/ Jonathan Schoop (Orioles).  The next big star for the Red Sox.

Then I had another forum trade which cost me just a couple of Wal Mart parallels: 

10.  2013 Topps Tribute Dustin Pedroia.  Nice action shot of the follow-through here.  It should be another big year for the second-baseman.

I usually try to avoid buying lately, what with a new car and house and everything, but for $13.00 I got the following 27 cards:

11.  2006 Upper Deck Epic Epic Events.  I liked these inserts.  I don't really understand the purpose of showing him in his then-current Dodgers uniform in the little picture in the bottom.  Nomar was a favorite player for a long time.

12.  2010 Topps Chrome Refractor Marco Scutaro.  Scutaro was a nice, steady player for a few years.  Solid defense and a good bat.

13.  2012 Topps Gold Sparkle Ryan Sweeney.  A bust in Boston, and he even busted his hand punching a water cooler which lead to him not being traded at the trading deadline.  He has found new life with the Cubs.  All he cost was Josh Reddick.  Ouch,

14.  1982 Topps/Coca Cola Jerry Remy.  The Rem Dawg will be returning to the booth this year after a tough year last year.

15.  1982 Topps/Coca Cola Chuck Rainey.  Rainey had a nice rookie year in 1979 but it was downhill after that.

16.  1997 Leaf Fractal Matrix Bronze X-Axis Rudy Pemberton.  Pemberton was a big splash in 1996, hitting .512 with 10 RBIs in 13 games.  He was so impressive that he was handed the starting right field job in 1997, which he promptly lost by hitting .238.

17.  2009 Topps Update Propaganda Posters Dustin Pedroia.  I had not seen any of these before this one.  I really like this idea.

18.  2013 Topps Update Gold Jake Peavy.  Peavy recovered from an injury when he cut himself fishing with his son.  Smart.

19.  2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Mike Napoli.  I'm hoping for a big year in his second year with Boston.

20.  2011 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Mini Ryan Lavarnway.  I suspect Lavarnway will be traded.  Boston has a lot of young catchers and Lavarnway has been unable to distinguish himself.  

21.  1997 Circa Rave Reggie Jefferson.  This is a nice card, an early low-numbered parallel.  There were only 150 of each.  At the time, they were massively valuable because of their scarcity.  Now 150 is just not a big deal.

22.  2012 Topps Mound Dominance Jon Lester.  I have no idea why it took so long to track down this card.  This commemorates his no hitter against the Royals in 2008.  One year after winning the final game of the 2007 World Series which was the year he returned from a battle with cancer.

23.  2008 Topps Co-Signers Silver Bronze Mike Lowell.  Another cancer survivor.  Lowell had a monster year in 2007, culminating with winning the World Series MVP.

24.  2008 Upper Deck Timeline Jed Lowrie.  Modelled after the 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams set.  I still do not understand why Boston traded both Lowrie and Scutaro before the 2012 season. 

25.  1994 Upper Deck BAT Jimmie Foxx.  A nice card of the Beast.  That action shot gets used a ton.

26.  1987 Donruss Roger Clemens.  The year after he won the All Star MVP, AL Cy Young, and AL MVP.  1986 was a good year for the Rocket.

27.  2006 Topps '52 Debut Flashback.  Interesting premise.  This is basically the same picture from Rocket's 1985 rookie card but on a 1952 Topps design.  Pretty cool.

28.  1996 Pinnacle Starburst Jose Canseco.  Canseco was actually having one of his best seasons ever in 1996 before he missed a lot of time at the end of the season.  Before going on the DL late in July, he was hitting .308/.420/.637 with 28 home runs and 77 RBIs.  He did not come back until the last half of September.   

29.  2008 Upper Deck Timeline David Ortiz.  The base card for Big Papi. 

30.  2008 Topps Co-Signers Silver Blue David Ortiz/Manny Ramirez.  I love these dual-player cards for Co-Signers, especially from 2008.

31.  2012 Topps Wal Mart Blue Mike Aviles.  Aviles had a decent year in 2012 as the starting shortstop, good defensively and had some power.  Not good at getting on base though.

32.  1988 Broder's Classic Superstars Wade Boggs.  If anyone has any information on these Broder's issues, I would like to know about them.  I know I read that they did not have an MLB license at one point so they were illegal.  It's tough to find any information about them.

33.  1988 Broder's Blue Border Series 2 Wade Boggs.

34.  1988 Broder's Big League All Stars Series 1 Wade Boggs.

35.  1988 Broder's Big League All Stars Series 2 Wade Boggs.

36.  2006 Upper Deck Epic Epic Events Johnny Damon.  Oddly this card shows Johnny in his Yankees uniform at the bottom and highlights his two homer night against the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS.  A fond memory for me, even though Damon later defected to the Yankees.

37.  2009 Topps Heritage Chrome Jon Lester.  I always liked these Chrome Heritage parallels, though I don't usually go out of my way to get them.

Next is a card I have been trying to find for a decent price for several months:

38.  2012 Bowman Bowman's Best Die Cut Jackie Bradley Jr.  My first JBJ in awhile.  It is looking less and less likely that he will start the season as the center fielder.  I am not thrilled with that, unless Grady Sizemore has a terrific season, then I might get over it.   But I want JBJ to play.

Finally, yesterday I bought a few more Heritage packs:

39.  2014 Topps Heritage Daniel Nava.  We might see a few more Nava cards this year after his terrific season last year in which he hit .303/.385/.445.

40.  2014 Topps Heritage A.J. Pierzynski.  And my second A.J. card with the Red Sox.

My New (Old) Collection Idea

I'm looking for something new and exciting so I decided to resurrect my old single player collection.  I have kind of kept it going a little bit at a time over the last couple of years but now I thought I would really bring it out.  Anyway, when I was a kid and just getting into baseball, I started a single player collection of Sandy Alomar Jr.  Sure he's retired and he was never really a huge star, at least other than 1990 and 1997.  But that's part of the charm.  So here I am, resurrecting my Sandy Alomar Jr. collection.  If anyone has any, please feel free to email me.

Thanks.

P.S.  Don't worry, the Red Sox are still my major focus.  I just wanted to branch out a bit.

My Fantasy Team

I started doing the fantasy baseball team last year in a league with 18 other attorneys.  Yeah, it's a lot of people.  So anyway, here is my team:

C - Matt Wieters (6th Round)

1B - Nick Swisher (12th Round)

2B - Brian Dozier (10th Round)

SS - Asdrubal Cabrera (15th Round)

3B - Miguel Cabrera (1st Round)

OF - Justin Upton (2nd Round)

OF - Wil Myers (4th Round)

OF - Michael Bourn (11th Round)

U - Xander Bogaerts (8th Round)

P - Madison Bumgarner (3rd Round)

P- Homer Bailey (5th Round)

P - Mike Minor (7th Round)

P - R.A. Dickey (9th Round)

P - John Lackey (14th Round)

RP - Steve Cishek (13th Round)

RP - Casey Janssen (17th Round)

Reserve:

C - Alex Avila (18th Round)

1B/OF - Chris Carter (16th Round)

2B - Marco Scutaro (21st Round)

2B - Nick Franklin (23rd Round)

OF - Jackie Bradley Jr. (22nd Round)

OF - Mike Carp (25th Round)

P - Mike Leake (20th Round)

RP - Edward Mujica (19th Round)

RP - Brad Ziegler (24th Round)

A Thorn(ton) in My Side

Just one card to show off today.  Last night I had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some random items and decided to pick up a rack pack of Topps.  I have not been thrilled with my pack breaks much this year.  Not a lot of Red Sox to show for them, and even fewer inserts/parallels.  I figured at five bucks it would not be a total loss if I didn't get anything.  Toward the bottom of my new stack though, I pulled this:

1.  2014 Topps Green Matt Thornton.  Now that's what I like to see.  These parallels come one per rack pack, so they are not exactly rare, but it's nice to finally pull something for the Red Sox.  Thornton of course did not make the World Series roster last year and will be with the Yankees this year, but it's nice to see Topps putting in some middle relievers in the flagship set.

The Return of Donruss

When I was first getting into baseball cards, Donruss was my favorite brand.  I do not really know why that was at this time.  I am sure I had my reasons.  The 1989 set was my personal favorite.  Again, don't ask for reasons.  I was little.  Donruss has had kind of a shaky history in the hobby.  During the 1980's through the mid 1990's it was very active, but disappeared in 1999.  Then it returned in 2001, kept going until 2005 and was gone again.  Panini has resurrected the brand recently and this is the first season we have an actual Donruss set since 2005.  It also marks the return of Diamond Kings.  Of course being a Panini brand, Donruss does not have an MLB license, which is unfortunate.

Anyway, I got a trade worked out recently where I got a bunch of the 2014 Donruss singles.  Behold:

1.  2014 Donruss Nomar Garciaparra.  Panini has been putting a bunch of retired players in their sets, so it is no surprise that Nomar gets a card here.  He will first become eligible for the Hall of Fame next year and has a borderline case.

2.  2014 Donruss David Ortiz.  Hurry up and extend him already.

3.  2014 Donruss Team MVPs Dustin Pedroia.  I love this one.  They used a variation of the 1989 design for this card.  Great-looking card.

4.  2014 Donruss A.J. Pierzynski.  My first A.J. card even though this is a Texas uniform that the logo was air-brushed out of.  I am a little wary of A.J. as catcher this year, though it is just for one season so it can't be too bad.

5.  2014 Donruss Shane Victorino.  Likely going to be the leadoff hitter this year.

6.  2014 Donruss Jon Lester.  Hurry up and extend him already.

7.  2014 Donruss Dustin Pedroia.  One player with no contract concerns thanks to his deal last year.

8.  2014 Donruss Mike Napoli.  I am looking forward to seeing what Napoli will do this year.  He was arguably the best defensive first baseman in the league last year and had a decent year with the stick too.

Just a note:  I know I owe some people some packages.  Things have been hectic trying to get some civil trials out of the way recently.  I will get stuff out soon.

Cards from a (Snowed In) Baseball Dad

Jack warned me it may be a little bit before he could get these out because he was dealing with blizzard conditions.  I totally understand that.  I figured I would know if he survived by if I got the cards.  Luckily Jack appears to be okay.

1.  2014 Topps Gold Will Middlebrooks FS.  My first gold parallel of the new year.  Do you realize I do not have a single team set of gold cards ever?  Weird.

2.  2014 Topps Clay Buchholz.

3.  2014 Topps Joel Hanrahan.  This is one of my favorite pictures on a Red Sox card this year so far, along with Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes (which incidentally I still don't have).

4.  2014 Topps Jon Lester WS.  Lester is one of the best postseason pitchers of all time.  Look it up.

5.  2014 Topps Jon Lester.

6.  2014 Topps Shane Victorino.  I now have three versions of this one.  Never get tired of the shot.

Thanks Jack!

Update Post With Some $30.00/Week Stuff

One of these days I will get back to posting a little more regularly, and possibly even to posting about other things than my maildays.  Things have been busy at work.  I'm preparing for a trial right now which could settle on Monday.  Maybe.  There have been a few trades trickling in, mostly through the forum, but now and then through other means.

Here are the recent pickups:

The gold cards all came in one trade:

1.  2011 Topps Gold Jed Lowrie.  Boston has had a bad track record with trading for closers lately.  Jed Lowrie is the first such mistake as they traded him to the Astros for Mark Melancon.  Melancon struggled in Boston before being traded while Lowrie finally broke through as an every day player.  He still has trouble staying healthy, but he is a solid player when he is.

2.  2012 Topps Gold Daniel Bard.  Bard will be attempting to resurrect his career with the Rangers next season.  It's been a rocky road since Boston tried to stretch him out into a starter.  Such a shame.

3.  2012 Topps Gold Erik Bedard.  I was underwhelmed by this trade when it occurred.  Boston gave up four minor leaguers to get him.  Stephen Fife and Tim Federowicz have been the only ones to make the Majors and they have not been real impressive, yet.

4.  2012 Topps Gold Clay Buchholz.  Hopefully he can stay healthy next season.  The rotation needs him.  Especially if he pitches as well as he did in the early part of 2013.

5.  2013 Topps Update Gold Stephen Drew.  He still does not have a job.  I would not mind seeing him back in Boston, but not at the expense of Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks.

6.  2010 Topps Gold John Lackey.  What a great comeback season he had last year.  Hopefully it continues.

The two blues were acquired in another trade.
7.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Will Middlebrooks FS.  Middlebrooks had a rough 2013 but he seems ready to go for 2014.  If he fails, Garin Cecchini is ready for a shot.

8.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Jonny Gomes WS.  Gomes had a number of great moments in 2014, from hitting two walkoff home runs to his three run home run that eventually won Game 4 of the World Series.  He's a great teammate too.

The following four red cards came from Jimmy who contacted me about a trade recently on the blog.  He sent these:

9.  2013 Topps Target Red David Ortiz.  Just give him his contract extension already.  He deserves it.  He is the Red Sox.

10.  2013 Topps Target Red Ryan Dempster.  Dempster shockingly retired earlier this year.

11.  2013 Topps Target Red Jonny Gomes.  Nice to add a couple Gomes cards recently.

12.  2013 Topps Target Red Joel Hanrahan.  Yet another failed closer trade.  Boston gave up on Melancon too early and he really broke through for the Pirates.  They also lost Stolmy Pimentel in the trade.  Hanrahan save three games and then broke down.  Ouch.

Thanks Jimmy!

Two more packages to go:

The next two cards were picked up from Robert from $30/week Habit.  Robert, I will have something in the mail for you soon.
13.  2014 Topps Before They Were Great Jim Rice.  Nice thick card stock here.  This is a neat card.

14.  2014 Topps Upper Class Dustin Pedroia.  His wrist should be healed so he should have a little more power this year.

Thanks Robert!  After my trial, I will get something together.

The next seven are from another forum trade.
15.  2008 Topps Wal Mart Dick Perez Josh Beckett.  Beckett had some great seasons for Boston, but his salary was too high to keep him around.  I have some fond memories of him, but it was time to move on.

16.  2014 Topps 1989 Mini David Ortiz.  Another Big Papi.

17.  2014 Topps Upper Class Jim Rice.  Couldn't they find another picture here?

18.  2014 Topps All Rookie Cup Team Jim Rice.  See?  Here's another picture.

19.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Junichi Tazawa.  He is finally getting some cards.

20.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Clay Buchholz.  Another Buchholz.  I now have over 100 different cards of Clay.

21.  2013 Topps Emerald Ryan Sweeney.  Sweeney was acquired in yet another bad deal for a closer.  He and Andrew Bailey were picked up for Josh Reddick, who has become a good player, and Miles Head.  Sweeney did very little in his time in Boston.

A Few Trades and a 63 Fleer Tito Francona to Trade

A few trade items have come in that have gradually made me feel a little bit better about 2014 Topps, now that I am getting a few more cards here and there:

1.  2014 Topps Upper Class Wade Boggs.  I have said it several times, Wade Boggs was my first favorite player.  I was heartbroken when he signed with the Yankees.  It was one of the first things that made me hate the Yankees.  I know now that Boston did not really make an effort to retain him, but I was 11 at the time.  I did not really understand that.

2.  2014 Topps 1989 Mini Fred Lynn.  If Lynn had stayed with the Red Sox, would he be in the Hall of Fame now?  I think there is a chance that would have happened.

3.  1995 Leaf Gold Stars Jose Canseco.  I still like getting Canseco cards with the Red Sox.  Canseco was my older brother's first favorite player and he stopped watching baseball shortly after Canseco was traded to the Rangers.

4.  2005 Reflections Blue Edgar Renteria.  I was so disappointed when Renteria turned out to be a bust in Boston.  I liked Renteria from the time he came up with the Marlins and liked watching him with the Cardinals.  I do wonder if he would have done better the next season if he had not been traded.

5.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Shane Victorino.  I love this action shot of The Flyin' Hawaiian.  Looking forward to seeing what he can do this year.

6.  2014 Topps David Ortiz WS.  A shot from the World Series celebration.  Love it.

7.  2014 Topps Power Players Clay Buchholz.  I had some luck in last year's interactive program so I will try again this year.  I would love to get a nice online-only Red Sox piece.

8.  1963 Fleer Bill Monbouquette.  One of the few bright spots in the 1960's for the Red Sox, Monbo was a pretty good pitcher.  I got this as well as the below card and the previous three for a George Brett commemorative patch.  A pretty good trade if you ask me.

Does anyone want this?  Does anyone possibly have the Lou Clinton?  This is Terry's father.  I picked this because there was a big discrepancy between my Brett card and the Monbo earlier and I did not want to pass up a chance to get it.  So I took a card I did not have a lot of interest in that I figured I could flip for something I do want.  I would love to trade it for the 1963 Fleer Lou Clinton first, but then anything from Topps of the same general period.

2014 Topps is Frustrating Me

For some reason I have not been doing very well with packs.  I have opened up quite a bit of 2014 Topps with very little to show for it Red Sox-wise.  And so I have been trying to do as much as I can with trading, which has also been slow.  So here I am, a long way away from the team set in base and very little to show in the way of parallels and inserts so far.  

1.  2014 Topps Red Hot Foil Mike Napoli WS.  What a beard.  Amazing.  Napoli appeared at Spring Training still sporting that thing.  This one I got in a pack just as I was waiting to receive it in a trade.  <Facepalm>.

2.  2014 Topps Matt Thornton.  Thornton did not make the World Series roster and will be suiting up with the Yankees in 2014.  I am glad to see him make this set though.  This one was pulled in a pack too.

3.  2014 Topps Silk Shane Victorino.  I bought this on Ebay.  What a great picture of Shane going into the stands for a catch.  Great card.

4.  2012 Topps Gold Sparkle John Lackey.  And this is the other card I got in the trade that gave me the Napoli double.  I will be interested to see if Lackey pitches well again in 2014.

5.  2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Joel Hanrahan.  Unfortunately the Hanrahan trade did not work out, but I really like this picture.  This is my first Wal Mart blue from a pack.

6.  2014 Topps Mike Carp.  Carp was a terrific bench player last year.  He is likely trade bait now.

7.  2014 Topps Yellow Jon Lester.  A one for one trade landed me this nice card of Boston's ace.  They need to lock him up to an extension soon.

8.  2014 Topps Mike Napoli WS.  A pack pull, along with the next two.

9.  2014 Topps Jake Peavy.  We need a card of Jake with his new duckboat that he bought after the World Series parade.

10.  2014 Topps Dustin Pedroia.  And no set of Red Sox cards would be complete without a Laser Show.

"O" No: A Trade with an Orioles Collector and some 2x3 Heroes

Blah blah, not posting nearly often enough blah blah blah.

Okay, so I worked out a trade with Ryan from "O" No: Another Orioles Blog.  He expressed some interest in some Orioles cards from 2014 Topps that I had pulled and said he could throw together a nice package.  He certainly did.  From his package, I got eight new cards, and some great ones too:

1.  2007 Upper Deck 1989 Carlton Fisk.  A terrific-looking insert of Pudge holding his Rookie of the Year award.

2.  2001 Topps Golden Greats Ted Williams.  Nice Splendid Splinter here.  I love getting cards of Williams.

3.  1998 Sports Illustrated Carlton Fisk Magnificent Moments.  Yet another card commemorating his game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.  A great moment that I was not yet alive to see.

4.  2011 Topps Heritage Black Adrian Beltre.  Beltre is one of my favorite One Season Wonders for the Red Sox.  He was signed as a free agent, had a great year, Boston decided to trade for Adrian Gonzalez, and Beltre was gone.  It kind of sucks that he only had one year, but what a year it was: All Star and Silver Slugger.

5.  1996 Fleer Mike Greenwell.  Greenwell was one of my first favorite players.

6.  2001 Bowman Carl Everett.  Holy crap, a Jurassic Carl sighting!

7.  2011 Bowman Josh Beckett.  The last card I needed to finish this team set.

8.  2012 Bowman Draft Picks Prospects Brian Johnson.  Johnson is a decent pitching prospect for the Red Sox right now.

Thanks Ryan!


And next, I received a ton of stuff from Jeff over at 2x3 Heroes as part of his 'Tis the Season giveaway.  I snagged the Red Sox, Indians, and Astros, and got a bunch of doubles from Panini as well.  Here are the new Red Sox cards, my favorites obviously:

9.  2007 Ultra Retail Curt Schilling.  Schill was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Here's hoping to a speedy and complete recovery and to his eventual selection to Cooperstown.

10.  2012 Panini Prizm David Ortiz.  The big man has yet to slow down.  Let's keep him in Boston for the rest of his career.

11.  1996 Leaf Mike Greenwell.  Another Gator sighting.

12.  2007 Tristar Prospects Plus Will Middlebrooks.  A very early card of Jenny Dell's boyfriend.

13.  2005 Topps Opening Day Pedro Martinez.  One of the last cards depicting Pedro with the Red Sox while active.

14.  2006 Upper Deck Craig Breslow RC.  Many probably don't remember that Breslow pitched for Boston in 2006 before establishing himself as a reliable reliever.  This is his second tour of duty with the Red Sox.

15.  1971 Topps Bob Montgomery/Doug Griffin.  Monty was a backup catcher for Pudge for a long time while Griffin was a Gold Glove-winning second baseman.  Great vintage card.

16.  2010 Topps Allen & Ginter This Day in History Kevin Youkilis.  I love cards that show Youk's unique batting stance.

17.  2000 Fleer Tradition Carl Everett.  Another Jurassic Carl!  

18.  2007 Upper Deck David Ortiz.  A nice celebration shot.

19.  2005 UD All Star Classics Curt Schilling.  Schill had one All Star season with Boston.

20.  2010 Upper Deck Spectrum Kevin Youkilis.  Unfortunately this scan did not come out well.  The card is bright green and really cool.

And now the cards from the doubles:
21.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Roger Clemens.  The Rocket was another early favorite player of mine.

22.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Carlton Fisk.  Another nice Pudge card...

23.  2013 Panini Golden Age Carlton Fisk.  ...And another one.  This one finished up my team set from this set.

Thanks Jeff!

A Fantastic Catch Plus Some Random Stuff

I know, I know.  Very slow to post lately.

I worked out a trade with Weston from Fantastic Catch.  He contacted me to tell me that he had one of my Top Ten Most Wanted cards and wanted to work out a deal.  The cards he sent are the first four in this scan:

1.  2010 Upper Deck Season Biography Jacoby Ellsbury.  Commemorating his straight steal of home against the Yankees, this was one of my favorite Yankees-Red Sox moments.  Some day I should do a post about that.

2.  2004 Upper Deck Famous Quotes Carl Yastzemski.

3.  2013 Topps David Ortiz SP VAR.  This was THE card I wanted from last year.  Just a terrific looking card, with the American flag background.  I remember watching this moment on TV.  A terrific game too.

4.  2010 Upper Deck Season Biography Jon Lester.  I hope Boston extends Lester.  Especially after his postseason performance last year.

5.  2014 Topps Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  I bought a rack pack, this was my only Red Sox pull.

6.  2013 Topps Blue Sparkle Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  My newest JBJ addition.

And now for the tradebait:

My First JBJ Auto and 2014 Topps Blaster

I had been looking forward to 2014 Topps for awhile now.  I have not been buying packs lately because there are so few sets out there where I need a lot of Red Sox, so I had to look forward to the new sets.  I bought a blaster yesterday which went less than ideally:

1.  2013 Select Jackie Bradley Jr. RC AUTO.  I bought this off of Ebay.  It is my first autograph of JBJ.

2.  2014 Topps Super Veteran David Ortiz.  This was in the first pack, so I thought things were going to go well.  Nope.

3.  2014 Topps Junichi Tazawa.  My only base card from the set was one that I was excited about.  It's great to see Tazawa get some cards.  That was it for my Red Sox though.

Here's the tradebait.  Anyone want anything?  Anyone able to help me with my Wantlist?  Hit me up.

A Whole Bunch of JBJ Additions

I have been pretty bad about making posts lately and I apologize.  Mail has been barely trickling in most of the time.  I have not been buying much because I am waiting on the 2014 stuff to start coming out.  But I do have a bunch of new Jackie Bradley Jr. cards to show off:

1.  2013 Topps Chrome Xfractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.

2.  2013 Panini Prizm Red Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.

3.  2013 Panini Prizm Blue Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.

4.  2011 Playoff Contenders Prospect Ticket Jackie Bradley Jr.

5.  2013 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  The first five cards all came from one seller.  The prices were reasonable, so I got a bunch of them.

6.  2013 America's Pastime Future Fabric Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  My first relic card of JBJ.  I have a relic/auto redemption I am waiting on.

7.  2013 Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  One of my new favorites.

8.  2013 Bowman Chrome Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.

9.  2012 Bowman Prospects Purple Jackie Bradley Jr. FY.

10.  2013 Panini Prizm Green Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  Not many variations of this that I still need: just Blue Pulsar, Finite, and Gold.

A forum trade to show off:

11.  2013 Bowman Platinum Prospects Purple Allen Webster.

12.  2013 Panini Prizm Fearless Dustin Pedroia.  I like this card quite a bit.  Not sure why it did not make my want list.

13.  2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Allen Webster RC.  Webster will be given a shot this year, if he does not make it, I can see him being trade bait.

Great Scott! (And Xander?)

Mark came through again with a single-card PWE that held this awesome card:

1.  1977 Hostess George Scott.  Yes that is a horrible airbrush job, but you can't go wrong with a vintage food-issue oddball of Boomer.  Sadly Scott died last year.

Thanks Mark!  I promise I will get something in the mail out to you soon.

After that I received a couple cards of sensation Xander Bogaerts:

2.  2013 Bowman Chrome Cream of the Crop Mini Refractor Xander Bogaerts.  This was the last card from this insert set I needed.

3.  2013 Bowman Top 100 Xander Bogaerts.

Weekend Updates

Is it baseball season yet?

1.  2013 Bowman Sterling Allen Webster RC.  Acquired in a minor forum trade.  Webster has good stuff but needs to learn control.

2.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Blue Wave Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  I love that these are easier to get now than having to mail in for them.

3.  2013 Panini Prizm Orange Die Cut Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  Just an awesome-looking card.  Die cuts are cool.

The Hall of Fame Post

I am, as usual, late to the party.  I usually look forward to the Hall voting, but I have become a bit disillusioned with it in recent years.  Look, I understand that a lot of voters have different views on the whole PED thing than I do.  My view is that if it was not illegal in the game and so many others were doing them, then what is the point in keeping those players out of the Hall?  It was the way things were at the time.  Other than Rafael Palmeiro, none of those players tested positive or were suspended.  Does that make it okay?  No, but then we have some less-than-savory characters in the Hall of Fame already.  Paul Molitor had a major cocaine problem.  Tris Speaker was a member of the KKK.  Ty Cobb was a racist and possibly killed someone.  Obviously the difference is that none of this effected what those players did on the field.  But Gaylord Perry was a cheater, throwing a spitball for his entire career.  And he's in.  So I don't really get the indignation that voters have towards these players and I am starting to think the voting needs to be changed.

I saw someone comment in a post once about doing a special Steroid Era vote like they did with the Negro Leagues where a committee would get together and vote a number of players in and then not deal with the era again.  I kind of like that idea.  Maybe the plaques would say that these players were voted in by that committee.  I don't know.

So anyway, I think what really killed things for me this year was the Veterans' Committee ballot.  I was not as interested in the BBWAA ballot because I was already annoyed with the Veterans' Committee.  I firmly believe Dwight Evans should be a Hall of Famer.  He was a terrific player who dropped off the Hall ballot after three years.  But he was not even on the ballot this last year.  He was eligible under the new rules to be on.  He should have at least been on the ballot.  I am not bothered by the managers that got in, all three deserve it, but I think Evans deserves to be in.

So I was already annoyed and pessimistic before we got to the vote.  Boston did not have many players with a realistic shot.  But I had grown up watching all of the players on the ballot, so it was interesting enough for me.

MOISES ALOU
I was a huge Alou fan.  He is one of the many players from this ballot that I used to collect when I had a number of minor player collectors.  I mostly remember him from his days with the Expos, Marlins, and Astros.  He was a great hitter, but he is definitely a product of the era.  He is not a Hall of Famer.

JEFF BAGWELL
The fact that he is still not in is a travesty.  Bagwell was one of the greatest first-basemen of all time.  And all the voters have against him is some suspicion.  What a crock.

ARMANDO BENITEZ
I honestly do not understand why he even made it to the ballot.  I remember him as a frequently ineffective reliever with the Mets and Orioles.  He lead the league in saves once.  To be a Hall of Famer as a closer, you have to be among the very best for a long time, and Benitez does not come close to qualifying.  How the hell did he even get one vote?

CRAIG BIGGIO
Biggio was one of my favorite players growing up.  I can not believe he is not in either.  He fell two votes short.  How many players were impact players at catcher, second base, and center field over their career?  And he had over 3,000 hits.  Seriously, he should be in.

BARRY BONDS
I am not going to spend a lot of time here.  He was a Hall of Fame quality player before the steroid suspicions.  He is the all-time home run leader, and he won seven MVPs.  He should be in.

SEAN CASEY
Our first player with Red Sox ties.  A good contact hitter, but little else.  Again, I am surprised he was even on the ballot.

ROGER CLEMENS
Like Bonds, Clemens was a Hall of Famer before the steroid rumors started.  Clemens was perhaps the greatest pitcher of all time.  And he spent much of it with the Red Sox.  Clemens was one of my first favorite players (after Wade Boggs), so I want to see him in, and as a Red Sox.

RAY DURHAM
I remember Durham had a pretty good rookie season for the White Sox and had several decent seasons for Chicago.  His numbers look a little better than I thought they would, but he is not close to a Hall of Famer.

TOM GLAVINE
I always enjoyed watching Tom Glavine for the Braves.  He was my favorite of the Braves aces personally.  His case is all about 300 wins and longevity, otherwise he is not as strong as Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling, two pitchers who received very little support.

ERIC GAGNE
I suspect Gagne would not be on the ballot if it were not for his 2003 season.  He was the best closer in baseball for three seasons, but after that he went downhill quickly.  He spent an ill-fated part of 2007 with Boston.

LUIS GONZALEZ
Gonzo was absolutely terrific in 2001 with the Diamondbacks.  And he had a few other nice seasons as well, but like Alou, he was a product of the times.  Sure his numbers look great, but a lot of players id from this time period.

JACQUE JONES
Here's something else that bothers me, how did Jacque Jones get on the ballot, but Trot Nixon did not?  Jones played ten seasons and had a .277/.326/.448 line with 165 home runs.  Nixon played twelve years and had a .274/.364/.464 line with 137 home runs.  Neither are close to being Hall of Famers, but Nixon should have been on the ballot if Jones was.

TODD JONES
Another player with Red Sox ties, but he did not have any cards from his time with them.  Jones had a great 2000 season when he tied for the league lead in saves but not much else before or after that.

JEFF KENT
Kent should be in.  One of the greatest offensive second basemen of all time and an MVP in 2000.  His case will probably build over time.

PAUL LODUCA
I remember LoDuca having one good season with the Dodgers.  How did he even make the ballot?

GREG MADDUX
Surefire Hall of Famer.  No doubt about it.  He should have been unanimous.

EDGAR MARTINEZ
I always liked Edgar.  I think his case is hurt from the late start, the Mariners were dumb for not getting him in earlier.  He is also hurt by being a DH.  But he should be in.

DON MATTINGLY
Mattingly was already past his prime when I became a fan.  I never liked him, but then he played for the Yankees and seemed vastly overrated to me.  Perhaps because I did not see him at his best.

FRED MCGRIFF
It's amazing what the magic numbers mean.  If McGriff had hit just seven more home runs, he might be in already, maybe.  He was a great player for a long time, but maybe not quite a Hall of Famer.

MARK MCGWIRE
Another steroid case, but another player I believe should be in.

MIKE MUSSINA
I have come around on Mussina.  He was never a true ace with the Yankees, but he was with the Orioles.  He was a great pitcher for a long time.  His case should build over time.

JACK MORRIS
I remember him as a Twin and a Blue Jay.  Like Mattingly, I missed his prime.  But I have looked at the numbers and I do not see him as a Hall of Famer.  The ERA does not do it for me.

HIDEO NOMO
Loved him in 1995 and was a huge fan in 2001 with the Red Sox, but that is pretty much it for Nomo.  He was another player I collected.

RAFAEL PALMEIRO
Palmeiro is the poster boy for the steroids allegations.  Although with him they were not allegations.  He was suspended.  He also had 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.  And now he is off the ballot.

MIKE PIAZZA
The greatest offensive catcher of all time.  He should be in.  Despite what Murray Chass thinks.

TIM RAINES
Raines was another player whose prime I missed.  He was a good player with the White Sox when I became a fan and then became a part-timer for a few years with a bunch of other teams.  For a few years in the 1980's though, he was amazing.  I think he should be in.

KENNY ROGERS
If you look at the numbers, Rogers has as good a better case than you would think.  Still not a Hall of Famer.

CURT SCHILLING
I think it's his wins total that is keeping him out.  His vote total decreased dramatically but he has an excellent case.  He was 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA with 3,116 strikeouts.  He was runner-up for the Cy Young three times and was a terrific postseason pitcher.  He should be in.

RICHIE SEXSON
An all-or-nothing hitter.  Sexson was a big power threat for the Diamondbacks, Mariners, and Brewers.  He had 300 home runs, but was never one of the best players in the league.

LEE SMITH
Smith is a closer that I think should be in.  He was one of the best closers for a very long time and retired with the saves record.  He also spent some time with the Red Sox.

J.T. SNOW
Nice player, great defensive first-baseman.  Not a Hall of Famer.

SAMMY SOSA
600 home runs, one of the great home run races in history in 1998, three plus seasons of 60 home runs.  Should be in.  Steroids likely keeping him out.  Lots of run-on sentences.

FRANK THOMAS
Surefire Hall of Famer.  A massive force in the early 1990's.

MIKE TIMLIN
Middle relievers just don't make the Hall of Fame.  He was a very good one but definitely not Hall of Fame level.

ALAN TRAMMELL
I think Trammell should be in.  He was every bit as good as Cal Ripken and Ozzie Smith, his contemporaries in the 1980's at shortstop.  Another player whose prime I missed.

LARRY WALKER
Walker is interesting because his numbers are terrific.  But he played for the Rockies for a long time, so there is no telling whether his numbers were him, or the park.  It will be interesting to watch.

New Stuff With Some Vintage Oddballs

I have not been posting much lately.  Just not a ton of reason to do so.  I will probably have a post up about the Hall of Fame voting sometime soon.  I am happy for Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas, but disappointed about Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, and others.

My ongoing Jackie Bradley fix was sated by a couple off Ebay:

1.  2013 Bowman Platinum Cracked Ice Sapphire Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  This one came on Friday.  I just need the red one now, I think.

2.  2013 Bowman Draft Picks Blue Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  And my final JBJ card of the day.

The next three came in a trade that finished off the 2013 Panini Prizm team set:

3.  2013 Panini Prizm Allen Webster RC.  I have no idea what uniform he is wearing in this shot.

4.  2013 Panini Prizm Nomar Garciaparra.  I am curious to see what happens when he makes the Hall of Fame ballot.  I maintain that his dominance from 1997 to 2003 should merit consideration, despite his big slide afterwards.

5.  2013 Panini Prizm Pedro Martinez.  On the other hand, Pedro should be a lock.

Finally, I received another nice package from Mark, who I did a trade with earlier.  He sent along some great vintage and oddballs:

6.  1975 Topps Mini Rick Wise.  Wise actually lead the Red Sox in wins in 1975.  This is my second mini from 1975 Topps.

7.  1966 Topps Rub-Offs Dick Radatz.  A great oddball of the Monster, one of the most intimidating relievers in history.

8.  1969 Globe Imprints Ken Harrelson.  The Hawk had a great 1968 season for Boston.  I can't stand him as the White Sox announcer though.

9.  1969 Milton Bradley Rico Petrocelli.  Petro had some great seasons in the late 1960's/early 1970's as a power-hitting shortstop.

10.  1960 Leaf Ted Wills.  Wills was a left-hander who only had a handful of games in any one season he played.  Still, this is my first 1960 Leaf card.  Pretty cool.

11.  1959 Fleer Ted Williams #79.  I love this set, though I only now have two from it.  I need to try get some more.

12.  1969 Topps Tony Conigliaro.  I am so happy about this card.  This makes two great vintage Tony C. cards in the last couple of weeks.

13.  1973 Topps Dwight Evans RC.  But this is the best card from the package.  Dewey's rookie card.  He really should have been on the Veterans' Committee ballot this year.  He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

14.  1959 Topps Frank Malzone.  A terrific third-baseman in the 50's and 60's.

Thanks Mark!  Or Harry!

Prizm Blaster

Two nights ago I had to run to town to get my wife some medicine.  Yes, I spent New Year's Eve driving to town to get medicine.  To cure the irritation at that, I decided to pick up a blaster.  Prizm had been somewhat kind to me and I still needed a few base cards to finish off the team set.  Well all I got was this:

1.  2013 Panini Prizm Alex Wilson RC.  This was one of the remaining base cards I needed and I managed to turn two of the pulls into the remaining cards on the forums, so it worked out well.  Wilson looked like a promising bullpen arm until an injury shortened his year.