Vintage Red Sox: T206 Frank Arellanes (Thanks ZZ!)

I received an unexpected package from Zippy Zappy himself.   I was completely shocked by what I found when I opened it:

It is one thing to find some prospect cards or other base cards, even the Sega Card-Gen cards when I open these.  This is a whole different level.  I am extremely thankful for Zippy sending me this T206 of Frank Arellanes.  That is an incredibly generous package.

Arellanes spent three seasons in the Majors, all with Boston.  He had a 1.82 ERA in 79 innings (eleven games) in 1908 then followed that up with his best season in 1909.  That year, he went 16-12 with a 2.18 ERA in 45 games (28 starts) and 230.2 innings pitched.  He led the league in games finished (15) and retroactively in saves (eight).  He notched 82 strikeouts and 43 walks.  The next season, his ERA increased to 2.88 in 18 games (100 innings).  He had some conditioning issues which led to a falling-out with the team and he never made it back to the Majors.  He died at just 36 years old in 1918 of pneumonia complications from influenza.

The package also included two other cards:

Craig Breslow did a couple of tours of duty with the Red Sox and was an important lefty out of the bullpen for the 2013 World Champions, though he struggled in the postseason.  He is currently the Red Sox Chief of Baseball Operations for the Red Sox and is undertaking a program for the team to develop its own pitchers.  He has so far organized trades of Chris Sale and Alex Verdugo for a slew of pitching prospects and infielder Vaughn Grissom and signed Lucas Giolito.

This Kaleb Ort card is from his minor league days in the Yankees organization, though the Trenton Thunder were once a Red Sox affiliate (I have cards of Nomar with them).  Ort was picked up in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft in 2021 (same draft that brought Garrett Whitlock).  Ort spent parts of three seasons in Boston and has a record of 2-4 with a 6.27 ERA.  He throws hard so teams are willing to take a chance on him.

Thank you so much Zippy.  I will try to get something out to you soon. 

Small Panini Mailday

Something I would really like to see is for a set dedicated to history that features lesser-known players.  Panini has a chance to do that now that they no longer have a license from the Players Association.  Sometimes I just worry that some players are going to be forgotten.  I love Red Sox history, as is obvious from the types of posts that go up on this blog.  As part of that, I love getting cards of players from all throughout the team's history.  I get a little bored with some of the same players popping up again and again though.  I get that it wouldn't make much sense to do an entire set with obscure past players, but it would be so much more fun.  

Anyway, enough of that.  Let's look at my recent Panini mailday.

Johnny Pesky is one of those players that does appear fairly frequently, but is not one that I ever get tired of seeing.  He was an ambassador for the team for decades and a pretty damn good player in his own right.  If the Hall of Fame ever figures out what to do about players who sacrificed prime years of their careers for service during WWII and others, he could be a player who gets in.  Pesky led the league in hits in each of his first three Major League seasons, which were wrapped around three years spent in military service.  Given that he put up more than 5.0 WAR per season in those years, it is reasonable to assume he would have lost about 15 WAR for military service.  That would give him a much more impressive career total, plus he would have surpassed 2,000 hits.  

This is the Ruby Wave parallel from last year's Prizm, which did feature a number of interesting players.  Fred Lynn, Tim Wakefield, Nomar Garciaparra and several Hall of Famers joined with some prospects and Masataka Yoshida, who managed to appear in Prizm sets as a result of not yet being a member of the Players Association.  You can bet there will be a bunch of Panini cards of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga this year too.

I was very excited about this card.  You don't see too many Lee Smith cards with the Red Sox these days.  Smith, despite now being a Hall of Famer, does not appear in too many sets anyway, but most of his appearances are with the Cubs and Cardinals.  And for good reason.  He made his biggest marks with those two teams.  Still, I love seeing Panini put him on a Red Sox card.  Now, this is actually the second relic of Lee Smith in my Red Sox collection from Panini, but the picture on that card from a few years ago was pretty clearly from his Cardinals tenure.  This really does seem to be from his time in Boston based on the way the uniform looks (even with the air-brushing) and his hair is a pretty big giveaway.  So I am thrilled to add this to my collection.  

2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Pt. 12: Cy Young

NAME: Cy Young

POSITION: Starting Pitcher

WHY IS HE HERE?:  He is on the short list for greatest pitcher in team history, tied for the team record in wins (192).  He threw the team's only perfect game in 1904 and helped the team to the first World Series championship.  He had a 192-112 record with Boston with a 2.00 ERA and won 20+ games in six seasons, including four seasons in a row.  He led the league in wins three seasons in a row and peppered some other league leaderships in there as well. 

WOULD I PUT HIM IN IN 2001?:  Absolutely.

ANY BETTER CHOICES IN 2001?:  The only pitchers really close in stature to Young are Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Lefty Grove, all of whom are in this set.

WOULD I PUT HIM IN NOW?:  Definitely.

ANY BETTER CHOICES NOW?:  No one that would replace Young.  I could see including Josh Beckett and Chris Sale to go along with Young.  But Young is definitely in the set.    

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 29: Hal Rhyne

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right. 

Hal Rhyne began his career as a utility infielder for the Pirates in 1926.  He was a decent enough fielder and his bat was not a complete waste, which was sort of surprising for a utility infielder in those days.  Rhyne bounced around a little bit and eventually found himself in Boston in 1929.  

Rhyne became the starting shortstop for the Red Sox for three years starting in 1929.  The first year was very similar to his rookie season with Pittsburgh, though he had a little more doubles power (he never hit a home run with the Red Sox).  He was still difficult to strike out and walked more often than he went down at the plate.  1930 saw his numbers decline significantly and he was in danger of losing his job.  His line slipped to .203/.269/.264, with an OPS+ of 39.  His glove kept him on the field though.

1931 was Rhyne's best season and actually saw him get some minor MVP consideration.  His bat rebounded in a fairly big way and he hit .273/.341/.343 with 75 runs scored, 154 hits, 34 doubles and 51 RBIs.  He also led the league in assists (502) and fielding percentage (.963) while being among the league leaders in several other fielding categories.

Rhyne struggled in 1932 though and eventually lost his job to Rabbit Warstler (who I will get to eventually).  He hit just .227/.310/.333 and played in just 71 games.  After the season, Rhyne was shipped out along with Ed Durham and sent to the other Sox for a package include Bob "Fats" Fothergill, Johnny Hodapp, Greg Mulleavy and Bob Seeds.  That was not a great deal for either team, though Durham and Hodapp each did well for their new teams in the one year they were both there.  Rhyne played in just 39 games with Chicago, and that was it for his Major League career.

Quick Wong Update

I have not been getting quite as many Wong cards lately, but that is primarily because I have not been finding as many as I need.  I guess that's what happens when you have more than 500.  Still, there are a few.

2022 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Fuchsia Atomic Refractor.  I was pretty excited to find this.  I had previously bought a card listed as Fuchsia that turned out to be Red.  You see, both are serial-numbered to 100.  And it's very hard to tell them apart.  But this does appear to be the one I needed.

2023 Topps Chrome Update Sapphire Edition Gold.  And putting me at 504 cards is the Gold parallel from Sapphire.  This is a very cool-looking card.  I think I like it better than the 1/1.  

Connor Wong will be in Topps Series 1 this year in a few weeks.  Looks like things will pick up again soon.  In the meantime, I have a bunch of other Red Sox coming in and probably some more Wong cards.

Bill James Hall of Fame Predictions

I recently finished reading Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?, a book by Bill James in which he dives into the history of the Hall of Fame and looking at some of the selections and omissions.  There was quite a bit of interesting information in the book, even though it is very much out of date.  The book was written in 1995, so several of the players discussed as omissions (George Davis, Joe Gordon, Bid McPhee, Richie Ashburn, etc.) are now in.  

Some of the most controversial work in the book is lengthy sections on why Don Drysdale and Phil Rizzuto do not belong in the Hall of Fame.  That's James's opinion of course.  I used Don Drysdale (and Catfish Hunter) in my discussion about why Luis Tiant belongs in the Hall of Fame.  James seems to agree with my assessment on Tiant.

What I want to discuss in this post though is one page in which James makes his predictions about players to be elected in the future.  So, let's look at that page and determine how he did in his predictions.  I will give one point for each correct player and an additional point if he gets the year right.  There are 100 points possible.  But, I will deduct a point if a player gets in who James did not predict.  And then I will name the players who were actually voted in by the writers for each year.  I won't do the VC or Eras Committees as James was not predicting those.

1995: Mike Schmidt and Jim Rice

Schmidt: 2 points.  Nice job, but this was pretty obvious.

Rice: 1 point.  Rice was on the ballot for the full 15 years.  He was finally elected by the BBWAA in 2009.

Actual inductees: Schmidt.

1996: Don Sutton and Pete Rose

Sutton: 1 point.  Sutton actually took until 1998, his fifth year on the ballot.

Rose: 0 points.  James was aware of the betting scandal, but he believed that it was all hot air and conducted illegally.  He thought Rose would either be reinstated or the writers would vote him in anyway, neither of which happened.

Actual inductees: None.

1997: Steve Garvey and Phil Niekro

Garvey: 0 points.  I kind of understand because Garvey was considered a likely Hall of Famer during his playing career.  He failed to gain election by the BBWAA and has not had much luck in the other voting.

Niekro: 2 points.  It was Niekro's fifth year on the ballot, but he made it in finally.

Actual inductees: Niekro.

1998: Gary Carter and Al Oliver

Carter: 1 point.  Carter took a weirdly long time to get election for as good a catcher as he was.  He was elected in 2003, his sixth year on the ballot.

Oliver: 0 points.  Despite a .300+ career average, Oliver has never had much luck in the Hall voting.  He dropped off the ballot after his first appearance in 1991.  I am not sure what James was thinking because Oliver would not have even been eligible for the VC until 2011.

Actual inductees: Sutton.

1999: Nolan Ryan and George Brett

Ryan: 2 points.  This one was also kind of obvious.  

Brett: 2 points.  So was this one.

Actual inductees: Ryan, Brett, Robin Yount.  

2000: Robin Yount and Carlton Fisk

Yount: 1 point.  James did not predict that three players would be inducted in 1999.

Fisk: 2 points.  James was right that Fisk would have to wait until his second year on the ballot.

Actual inductees: Fisk, Tony Perez.  James did not have Perez making it at all. -1 point.

2001: Andre Dawson and Dave Winfield

Dawson: 1 point.  Dawson was not elected until 2010, his ninth year on the ballot.

Winfield: 2 points.  Winfield made it in on his first year on the ballot.  

Actual inductees: Winfield, Kirby Puckett.

2002: Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith

Murray: 1 point.  Murray was not elected until 2003, which was his first year on the ballot.  James had him retiring one year earlier than he did.

Smith: 2 points.  James got this one right.

Actual inductees: Smith.

2003: Dave Parker and Jim Kaat

Parker: 0 points.  Parker is still on the outside looking in.  He spent 15 full years on the ballot and dropped off, never getting higher than 24.5% of the vote.

Kaat: 1 point.  Kaat was only recently elected by an Eras Committee.  He also spent 15 years on the ballot.

Actual inductees: Murray, Carter.

2004: Dennis Eckersley and Ted Simmons

Eckersley: 2 points.  Nice job here.

Simmons: 1 point.  Like Kaat, Simmons was unable to be elected by the BBWAA and waited until 2020 when he was elected by an Eras Committee.  Unlike Kaat, Simmons dropped off the BBWAA ballot after his first year.  Again, James should have known this because it happened in 1994.

Actual inductees: Eckersley, Paul Molitor.

2005: Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr.

Boggs: 2 points.  Again, nice prediction by James.

Ripken: 1 point.  Ripken was elected in 2007 on his first year on the ballot.  He played a couple more years than James thought he would.

Actual inductees: Boggs, Ryne Sandberg.

2006: Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor

Henderson: 1 point.  I'm guessing James did not expect Henderson to play almost forever.  Henderson was elected in his first year on the ballot in 2009.

Molitor: 1 point.  As mentioned, Molitor was elected in 2004.  

Actual inductees: None.

2007: Tony Gwynn and Roger Clemens

Gwynn: 2 points.  Very impressive prediction.

Clemens: 0 points.  Obviously James could not have predicted the Steroid Era which was just getting under way when the book was written and all of the Hall fallout.

Actual inductees: Gwynn, Ripken.

2008: Kirby Puckett and Dale Murphy

Puckett: 1 point.  Puckett retired suddenly as a result of glaucoma.  I'm guessing James thought he would stick around longer than he did, and there is no reason to believe that would not have been the case at the time.

Murphy: 0 points.  During his playing career, Murphy was thought of as a future Hall of Famer, there was even some thought he would make it in as early as 1999.  But he is still waiting.

Actual inductees: Rich Gossage. 

2009: Jack Morris and Lee Smith

Morris: 1 point.  Morris couldn't make it in through the BBWAA and was elected on his first opportunity by an Eras Committee.

Smith: 1 point.  Same as Morris.  Smith already held the all-time saves record by the time the book was written, so I get thinking he should be elected.

Actual inductees: Henderson, Rice.

2010: Tim Raines and Ryne Sandberg

Raines: 1 point.  Raines was finally elected in 2017, his tenth year on the ballot.

Sandberg: 1 point.  As mentioned, Sandberg was elected in 2005.  

Actual inductees: Dawson.

2011: Barry Bonds and Joe Carter

Bonds: 0 points.  Like I said with Clemens, there was no reason to believe Bonds would get caught up in a PED scandal as of 1995.

Carter: 0 points.  Carter was much more famous than he was good.  He dropped off the ballot after his first year, failing to get five percent of the vote, in 2004.

Actual inductees: Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven.  James did not have Blyleven getting in.  -1 point.

2012: Brett Butler and David Cone

Butler: 0 points.  He dropped off after his first ballot in 2003.  I'm a little surprised James had him getting in. 

Cone: 0 points.  Cone also dropped off after his first ballot in 2009.  I do think Cone should be re-visited.

Actual inductees: Barry Larkin.  James did not have him getting in.  -1 point.   

2013: Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker

Trammell: 1 point.  Trammell also had to wait for an Eras Committee.

Whitaker: 0 points.  Whitaker is still on the outside looking in, dropped after the first ballot, and he is one of the biggest Hall of Fame snubs.  It was a nice idea to have the long-time double play partners in the same year, but it didn't happen.

Actual inductees: None.

2014: Goose Gossage and Don Mattingly

Gossage: 1 point.  Gossage was actually elected in 2008.

Mattingly: 0 points.  Another player who was thought to be a Hall of Famer during his career, he retired before he could hit any major milestones.  He has not been treated much better by the Eras Committees.

Actual inductees: Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas.  James did not have Glavine.  -1 point.

2015: Jack McDowell and Greg Maddux

McDowell: 0 points.  Wow, this is easily James's biggest reach.  He dropped off after his first ballot in 2008.

Maddux: 1 point.  Maddux made it in 2014.

Actual inductees: Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz.  Hard to hold these against him as none of them were big stars yet in 1995, but still.  -4 points.

2016: Fred McGriff and Dwight Gooden

McGriff: 1 point.  McGriff had to wait until his first time eligible by an Eras Committee.

Gooden: 0 points.  Gooden could never truly get back to his dominance in the mid 1980's.  He was one-and-done.

Actual inductees: Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza.  -1 for Piazza, which is a little surprising given his first couple years.

2017: Frank Thomas and Ruben Sierra

Thomas: 1 point.  Thomas was elected in 2014.

Sierra: 0 points.  Sierra was mostly a role player in the second half of his career and failed to get a single vote in his one year on the ballot.

Actual inductees: Jeff Bagwell, Raines, Ivan Rodriguez.  -1 for Rodriguez, though it's not shocking since he did not become a good hitter until the mid 90's.

2018: Ken Griffey Jr. and Roberto Alomar

Griffey: 1 point.  Griffey was inducted in 2016.

Alomar: 1 point.  Alomar was inducted in 2011.

Actual inductees: Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome.  -3.  I am not deducting for all four because Guerrero had not even started his career in 1995.  Maybe it's still too harsh. 

2019: Jeff Bagwell and Juan Gonzalez

Bagwell: 1 point.  Bagwell was elected in 2017.

Gonzalez: 0 points.  Gonzalez had a rough second half of his career and was one-and-done.

Actual inductees: Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera.  He did not predict any of these, but only Martinez and Mussina were active before 1995, so -2 points.

So how did he do?  Of the 100 possible points, he scored 44, but lost 15 points due to failing to predict some players, so a score of 29.  I don't know that I would have done any better, so this was pretty good.  I was probably too harsh with some of the deductions.  Based on the stats available, players like Pedro Martinez, Trevor Hoffman, Ivan Rodriguez, Jim Thome and Chipper Jones would have been very difficult to predict in 1995.  

Red Sox Awards History: Chalmers Award (MVP Pt. 1)

I am likely going to be breaking up the MVP Awards History topic into several posts.  I could just do the winners, but that is not as much fun as showing all of the vote-getters.  But then if I do that, the post will be WAY too long and no one will read it.  So, I might just do it by decades.  So, off we go.

The Chalmers Award was a precursor to the MVP Award issued from 1911 through 1914.  It was voted on by one writer from each city with an MLB team.  

THE WINNER

TRIS SPEAKER

1912

1st, 59 points

.383/.464/.567, 10 home runs, 90 RBIs, 136 runs, 222 hits, 52 stolen bases

In what was perhaps Speaker's greatest year in a Hall of Fame career (WAR supports this, his 10.1 was a career high), Speaker led the league in home runs, doubles (53) and on-base percentage.  He was also third in batting average, sixth in slugging, second in runs, third in hits, fifth in RBIs and fourth in stolen bases.  He was also an outstanding defensive center fielder, who led the league in assists, double plays and fielding percentage.  He helped lead the Red Sox to one of their greatest seasons, a record of 105-47-2 and their second World Championship.

RECEIVING VOTES

BILL CARRIGAN

1912

T-18th, 3 points

.263/.359/.297, 70 hits, 24 RBIs, 34 runs

I guess Carrigan is getting points for being tough behind the plate for a team that won 105 games and the World Series.  His stats certainly do not warrant much consideration as he played in just 87 games and had an OPS+ of 85.  He did finish fourth in putouts, third in runners caught stealing and first in fielding percentage (.970).

HARRY HOOPER

1913

T-24th, 1 point

.288/.359/.399, four home runs, 40 RBIs, 100 runs, 169 hits, 26 stolen bases

Like Tris Speaker, Hooper is a Hall of Fame outfielder for the Red Sox from the Deadball Era.  He was not generally a great hitter, but he was among the top ten in runs (seventh), hits (tenth), doubles (34, eighth), home runs (eighth) and stolen bases (eighth).  Defense was primarily Hooper's strength and he led the league in putouts, double plays and fielding percentage (.966) as a right fielder.

1914

T-20th, 4 points

.258/.336/.364, one home run, 41 RBIs, 85 runs, 137 hits, 19 stolen bases

Hooper's numbers dipped a little in 1914, but he still finished in the top five in runs scored (fifth), doubles (23, eighth) and triples (15, fifth).  He also had another terrific season in the field, leading the league in putouts and placing in the top five in assists (second), double plays (second) and fielding percentage (fourth).

LARRY GARDNER

1912

T-14th, 4 points

.315/.383/.449, three home runs, 86 RBIs, 88 runs scored, 163 hits, 25 stolen bases

Gardner is a somewhat underrated player.  He had a very impressive career and is close to a borderline Hall of Famer, which I may look at some day.  This was the only year he received any MVP consideration, which is surprising.  He finished ninth in average, ninth in OBP, seventh in slugging, eighth in RBIs and was coming into his own as a defensive third-baseman.

HUB "DUTCH" LEONARD

1914

T-16th, 6 points

19-5, 0.96 ERA, 176 strikeouts in 224.2 innings pitched

Leonard's 1914 season is notable historically for producing the all-time lowest ERA by a qualified starting pitcher.  It easily led the league, as did his 0.886 WHIP, 5.6 hits per nine and 7.1 strikeouts per nine.  Leonard was also fourth in wins, second in winning percentage, fifth in saves (three), third in strikeouts and second in shutouts (seven).  Leonard had emerged as Boston's best pitcher in 1914.  

DUFFY LEWIS

1914

T-20th, 4 points

.278/.357/.398, two home runs, 79 RBIs, 53 runs, 142 hits, 22 stolen bases

The left fielder in Boston's terrific outfield of the first half of the 1910's, Lewis tied Hooper in the award voting.  Lewis is sort of the forgotten man in that outfield as he was not as good a hitter or fielder as the other two, but he generally held his own.  Lewis finished second in doubles (37) and sixth in RBIs.  

EVERETT SCOTT

1914

T-14th, 7 points

.239/.286/.301, two home runs, 37 RBIs, 66 runs, 129 hits, nine stolen bases

Scott tied for seventh in the award vote with Ty Cobb, which was probably bragging rights for Scott.  Scott was a rookie in 1914 and took over shortstop from Heinie Wagner.  He was not a good hitter in 1914 (76 OPS+), or ever in his career, but his value came from his defense.  He was fifth in putouts, fifth in assists, fourth in double plays and third in fielding percentage (.949).  Scott would eventually go on to produce an impressive errorless streak and have the record for consecutive games played before Lou Gehrig.

TRIS SPEAKER

1911

T-6th, 16 points

.334/.418/.502, eight home runs, 70 RBIs, 88 runs, 167 hits, 25 stolen bases

Ty Cobb won the award in the first year it was given.  Speaker was ninth in average, fifth in OBP, sixth in slugging and second in home runs (it was the Deadball Era).  It was actually not one of Speaker's better years, but he was such a great player that he was going to get votes.

1913

4th, 26 points

.363/.441/.533, three home runs, 71 RBIs, 94 runs, 189 hits, 46 stolen bases

The Red Sox fell to fourth in 1913, but Speaker was still one of the top players in the game.  He was third in average, fourth in OBP and second in slugging.  He was also third in hits, ninth in runs scored, ninth in RBIs and fifth in stolen bases.  He remained a terrific defensive center fielder.

1914

.338/.423/.503, four home runs, 90 RBIs, 101 runs, 193 hits, 42 stolen bases

Boston finished second in the league and once again, Speaker was the team's best player.  He led the league in hits, doubles (46) and total bases (287).  Speaker was also in the top ten in average (third), OBP (third), slugging (second), runs scored (second), home runs (fourth), RBIs (third) and stolen bases (third).  He probably should have finished MUCH higher in the MVP vote.  He led position players in WAR, even higher than award winner Eddie Collins of the A's.

HEINIE WAGNER

1912

10th, 12 points

.274/.358/.359, two home runs, 68 RBIs, 75 runs, 138 hits, 21 stolen bases

Wagner was a well-respected, dependable shortstop for the World Champion Red Sox.  He was a slightly above-average hitter (102 OPS+), though he was only in the top ten in one offensive category.  He was ninth in walks (92).  Wagner was a very capable defensive shortstop though and ranked in the top five in the league in putouts, assists, double plays and range factor and was fifth in the league in fielding percentage (.922).

1913

12th, 6 points

.227/.316/.326, two home runs, 34 RBIs, 43 runs, 83 hits, nine stolen bases

Wagner played in just 110 games and his offensive numbers took quite a dive as well.  He was fifth in putouts and fourth in fielding percentage (.937), but there is not much I can really say about this season.  He was still a good defensive shortstop, but no longer adequate with the bat (86 OPS+).

SMOKY JOE WOOD

1912

5th, 22 points

34-5, 1.91 ERA, 258 strikeouts in 344 innings pitched

Wood was the ace pitcher on the 1912 World Champion Red Sox.  His 34 (!) wins led the league and set a mark that has not been broken in team history.  He also led the league in winning percentage (.872), complete games (35) and shutouts (10).  He was also second in the league in both strikeouts and ERA.  Wood was one of the top pitchers in the game in 1912, but injuries would hamper his career from this point on.

2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Pt. 11: Luis Aparicio

NAME: Luis Aparicio

POSITION: Shortstop

WHY IS HE HERE?:  Well, he is a Hall of Famer, and he was an All Star twice.  In 1972 he even received some MVP consideration, but he was only a Red Sox for the last three seasons of his career and he was not much of a hitter to begin with.  Even his defense and baserunning, the primary things he was good at, were not especially impressive in Boston. 

WOULD I PUT HIM IN IN 2001?:  No.  I get the idea that they wanted to have the Hall of Famers, and Aparicio had been a two-time All Star, but he was not particularly good in Boston.  Also, not all Hall of Famers were in the set.  

ANY BETTER CHOICES IN 2001?:  Several.  Looking just at shortstops, there is Freddy Parent (sort of a forgotten early star), Heinie Wagner (who was on the team for a couple championships), Everett Scott (who had the consecutive games streak before Gehrig), and Eddie Bressoud, who was an All Star and had a better season in the 1960's.

WOULD I PUT HIM IN NOW?:  No.

ANY BETTER CHOICES NOW?:  Obviously there's Xander Bogaerts.  I might even put in Orlando Cabrera over Aparicio because of his impact in 2004.  

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 28: Gordon Rhodes

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Naturally, as with almost any player with the surname Rhodes, Gordon's nickname was "Dusty".  Rhodes was a right-handed pitcher from Utah who started his career with the Yankees.  He pitched in New York for the first three seasons of his career and started the 1932 season there, though he never pitched in more than 18 games.  He had his best season in 1931, looking like a potentially good player, and pitching to a 6-3 record with a 3.41 ERA (117 ERA+).  

Rhodes started the 1932 season with the Yankees and was in the midst of a 1-2 season with a 7.88 ERA in ten games (two starts) and 24 innings pitched.  In August he was traded to the Red Sox in a deal for reliever Wilcy Moore.  He finished the 1932 season primarily in Boston's rotation, going 1-8 with a 5.11 ERA (87 ERA+).  He threw 79.1 innings with 22 strikeouts and 31 walks.  His FIP was a much more impressive 4.23, meaning he was somewhat victimized by bad defense, which makes sense as I have been looking into this team.

Rhodes pitched another three seasons with the Red Sox, starting more often than not.  He was actually not too bad in 1933 and 1934, going a combined 24-27 with a 4.29 ERA (106 ERA+) in a high-scoring era and ballpark.  He threw 451 innings, striking out 164 and walking 191.  He was the team's top winner in 1933 (12 wins) and was third in 1934 (again, 12 wins).  He also had two saves in 1934.

1935 was rough for Rhodes and he ended up with a record of 2-10 and a 5.41 ERA (87 ERA+).  In 146.1 innings, he struck out 44 and walked 60.  It was the end of the line for Rhodes in Boston.  After the season, he was packaged in a deal along with a substantial amount of money for future Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx.  It was a hell of a deal for Boston, but did not do much for the A's.  Rhodes pitched one last season, losing a league high 20 games with a 5.74 ERA and was done.

Allen & Ginter and Update Blasters

Recently I was in the mood to open some retail.  I have not been doing much for that for awhile.  I was hoping to find Heritage High Numbers, but that was not available, so I grabbed another blaster of Update and one of Allen & Ginter.  I still needed quite a few singles from each of the sets.

1.  David Ortiz.  I still don't get tired of seeing Ortiz in sets.

2.  Cy Young.  This is from the Spotless Spans insert set and covers a hitless innings streak Young threw in 1904.  It's always fun to get players from the Deadball Era, but I would love to see a set come out that really focused on it.

3.  Masataka Yoshida.  I have been pretty good at pulling Yoshida cards so far.  Now granted, there were a lot of them this year.  

4.  Ted Williams.  Another great player that I always enjoy pulling cards of.  This Spotless Spans card celebrates Williams reaching base in 84 consecutive games in 1949.

5.  Richard Bleier.  I was pretty happy to pull this Jack O'Lantern parallel from my Update blaster.

6.  Triston Casas.  Casas is another player I have had some luck pulling lately.  

7.  Caleb Hamilton.  Hamilton is new to my collection with this card.  Hamilton made his Major League debut in 2022 with the Twins.  He was picked up by the Red Sox off of waivers and made it into four Major League games in 2023, spending most of the year in the minors.  He failed to get a hit in six plate appearances, walking once.  He didn't hit much at Worcester either and was granted free agency after the season.

2023 Topps Archives Team Set

I picked up this team set on Ebay recently.  I have not had a chance to try out my luck with the set through packs so I needed every card.  That did deprive me of a chance of seeing if I could pull some Fan Favorites autos, but the Red Sox cards for that were sort of underwhelming this year.  Boston's options were David Ortiz, Fred Lynn and Masataka Yoshida.  Which are fine, but I like it better when Topps unearths some lesser-known players.  Like they did last year with Eddie Bressoud.

Anyway, here are the base cards:

1.  Enmanuel Valdez.  He took a step backwards from his minor league stats in 2022, but Valdez is still just 24 and hit reasonably well in a couple stints in the Majors.  His defense needs some major help though.

2.  Triston Casas.  Had he not started so slow and then gotten hurt for the last few weeks of the season, Casas might have finished higher than third in the Rookie of the Year vote.  He finished the year hitting .263/.367/.490 with 24 home runs and 65 RBIs.  He too needs to work on his defense.

3.  Trevor Story.  Story has played in just 137 games with Boston, hitting .227/.287/.398 with 19 home runs, 80 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.  Those numbers would be acceptable if they were in one season, but that's over two years.  Hopefully he will be healthy in 2024.  His defense has been fantastic though.

4.  Brayan Bello.  Since I just talked about Bello yesterday, I don't need to go back over him today.

5.  Enrique Hernandez.  Hernandez was one of the worst players in the game last season while with Boston and was eventually dealt back to the Dodgers.  That's a shame because he had some great moments in Boston, particularly the 2021 postseason when he was absolutely on fire.

6.  Wade Boggs.  I have talked about Boggs a lot too.  My first favorite player.

7.  Tris Speaker.  I like that some of these older players have different photos being used.  This card highlights Speaker's speed.  He stole 267 bases while with the Red Sox.

8.  Ted Williams.  Another photo that has not been overdone.  This is a Red Sox blog, I've talked about Williams a ton.  The all-time franchise player.

9.  Rafael Devers.  Another player I talk about a lot.

10.  Nomar Garciaparra.  Lately there has been a push for some higher-peak players for the Hall of Fame.  I wonder how long it will be before Nomar starts to get re-examined.

11.  Justin Turner.  Man, Turner was fun to watch last season.  I would love it if Boston brought him back in 2024.  He hit .276/.345/.455 with 23 home runs and 96 RBIs.  

12.  Chris Sale.  Sale was traded to the Braves a couple weeks ago for infielder Vaughn Grissom.  This will be an interesting trade to monitor.  Sale has been disappointing in Boston for about five years now.

13.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Another new photo for a player I have discussed endlessly on this blog.

14.  Alex Verdugo.  Verdugo was also traded, for a package of Yankees pitching prospects.  The big name is Richard Fitts and the one most likely to make an impact this season is Greg Weissert.

15.  Babe Ruth.  Unfortunately, we see this picture a lot.  There have to be some photos that are not overused of the Babe with the Red Sox.

16.  Masataka Yoshida.  I do not put too much stock in trade rumors involving Yoshida.  I think Boston is doing their due diligence in listening to offers, but someone would have to blow them away for Boston to trade him.  Yoshida finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year vote.

Wong Update (500 Cards!) and the Jason Varitek Quest for 1,000: #998

The mailday roundup from January 1, 2024, my first mailday of the year, was full of Connor Wong cards.  There were some other random cards as well, such as the next step toward 1,000 Jason Varitek cards.  But, Varitek is not the only player headed for a major milestone.

 

1.  2022 Topps Chrome Logofractor Future Stars Autograph Orange.  Serial-numbered to 25, this card was graded, but I do not really care to own graded cards for the most part.  I did make an exception for my Play Ball Moe Berg card.  Surprisingly it came cheaper than I have seen other copies of this card.

2.  2022 Donruss Optic Rookie Autographs Navy Blue Cracked Ice.  I now have 19 variations of this same card.  This autograph is serial-numbered to 35.

3.  2023 Topps Heritage 1974 Stamps Carl Yastrzemski/Carlton Fisk/Rafael Devers/Jeter Downs.  Boy, Jeter Downs sticks out like a sore thumb among this group of players, doesn't he?  Yaz and Fisk are Hall of Famers and Devers is a big star.  Downs has done virtually nothing at the Major League level and is joining his fifth organization this year.  

4.  2023 Topps Chrome Update Prism Adam Duvall.  We are still waiting to see if Duvall will be a One-Year Wonder.  He started the 2023 season on fire, but then got hurt and took awhile to get going again.  He ended up hitting .247/.303/.531 with 21 home runs and 58 RBIs.  He played in just 92 games though.  It would have been interesting to see what he could have done with a full season at Fenway Park.

5.  2023 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini A&G Jason Varitek.  Varitek card #998 is a mini parallel from Allen & Ginter.  Two more to go.  

6.  2023 Donruss Dom DiMaggio.  At some point we need to try to give players some kind of credit for missing years of their career to military service.  DiMaggio accumulated 33.5 WAR during his 11-year career, but he missed three years of his prime to service in WWII.  The two years bookending that time he put up 5.4 and 4.5 WAR.  He could have easily added on an additional 12-15 WAR to his career numbers.  That would still leave him short on career WAR, but would likely push his peak closer to Hall of Fame numbers.

7.  2022 Topps Chrome Gold Wave Refractor Connor Wong.  With this card, Connor Wong is at 500 cards in my collection.  That seems utterly insane that a player with less than a full season's worth of games is at 500 cards in my collection.  Yet, here we are.

8.  2022 Panini Absolute Rookie Baseball Material Booklet Signatures Black/White Seams.  I kind of love this card with the silver ink on the black leather.  Just a striking signature.

9.  2022 Panini Prizm Red Wave Prizm.  Serial-numbered to 99, this is card #502 in the Connor Wong collection.  This is one I was kind of surprised when I saw.  I thought I would have gotten most of the higher numbered Prizm parallels.

Mailday Roundup 12/30/23

I guess to throw these things together, a mailday roundup works.  I received two packages in the mail right before the end of the year (I am getting very close to catching up).  One of them contained a Wong card, the other contained three random cards.

1.  Topps Chrome Update Blue.  I know, I hate these photos.  I really need to get a scanner.  I had one, but it doesn't seem to work anymore.  Anyway, this is the Blue Refractor from 2023's Update.  It is serial-numbered to 150.  

2.  Topps Big League Trevor Story.  2023's Topps Big League is sort of a mess of a release.  They took kind of a fun, low-end set and tiered the set, making it extremely difficult to build.  This Story card is one of the short-printed cards.  Story is going to be counted on to provide some right-handed pop in 2024 (unless he gets traded first, but that seems unlikely).  He has had difficulties staying on the field since he was signed.

3.  Topps Big League Big Leaguers Rafael Devers.  I'm not sure what is going on with this design.  This is not the insert I wanted most from this set (that would be the 8 Bit Ballers Devers).  But it is a Devers insert, and I will be pushing for 350 cards of him this year.  I didn't make the 300 last year, but I am close.  Had I been collecting more general Red Sox instead of focusing so much on Wong, I would have easily made it.

4.  Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor Brayan Bello.  In February of last year I did a post about Boston's inability to develop their own starting pitchers.  Specifically, I noted that at that time one had to go all the way back to Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester in 2014 to find a Red Sox-developed pitcher who started 20 games in a season.  Bello finally broke that string by starting 28 games with the Red Sox in 2023.  He had a 12-11 record, 4.24 ERA (107 ERA+) with 132 strikeouts and just 45 walks in 157 innings.  Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck also each started more than 20 games, but Bello is the only one who seems assured to stay in the rotation.  

Vintage Red Sox: 1955 Bowman

I can't remember what I was browsing for on Ebay Christmas Day when I came across a seller selling cheap singles from 1955 Bowman.  I always liked the design and decided that since I did not have any cards from the set (which surprised me) and it had been a long time since I bought any vintage Red Sox cards, I would grab a few.  I ended up with three.

1.  Willard Nixon.  This is my fourth Nixon card.  He spent his entire nine-year Major League career with the Red Sox primarily as a starting pitcher.  For his career, he had a record of 69-72 with a 4.39 ERA (98 ERA+), striking out 616 and walking 530 in 1,234 innings pitched.  He was a decent fielder as a pitcher and ranked among league leaders in a few categories, including leading the league in fielding percentage in 1957.  That was probably his best season as he was 12-13 with a 3.68 ERA (108 ERA+, 3.12 FIP) with 96 strikeouts and 56 walks in 191 innings, throwing eleven complete games.  Unfortunately, instead of being a sign of good things to come, his numbers nosedived in 1958 and he was released.  

2.  Billy Goodman.  This is my eighth Billy Goodman card and he is still the only player I have a cut autograph of from SP Legendary Cuts (remember that set?).  Goodman is the best player of the three cards I picked up.  I need to get more cards of him.  He is renowned for winning the A.L. batting title in 1950 (.354) despite not having a regular position.  He played left field and all four infield positions that season.  He also finished second in the MVP vote.  Goodman was a two-time All Star (1949, 1953) and finished his career hitting .300/.376/.378 in a 16-year career with the Red Sox, Orioles, White Sox and Colt .45's (Astros).  He was with the Red Sox from 1947 to 1957 when he was traded to Baltimore for reliever Mike Fornieles, a deal which worked out well for Boston.

3.  Russ Kemmerer.  This is my first card of Kemmerer, so welcome to the collection.  Kemmerer spent parts of the first three seasons in his career with the Red Sox, coming up in 1954 and putting up an impressive 3.82 ERA (109 ERA+, 3.82 FIP) in 19 games with a 5-3 record.  He struck out 37 and walked 41 in 75.1 innings seeing time as both a starter and reliever.  He struggled a bit in 1955 then spent 1956 in the minors before making it back to Boston for one game in 1957 then was traded to Washington along with Milt Bolling and Faye Throneberry for Dean Stone and Bob Chakales.  Kemmerer became an innings eater in Washington, but did not have much success and later pitched for the White Sox and Colt .45's. 

Topps Chrome Sapphire Update Rare Gems and Wongs

Topps Chrome Sapphire is one of the more unnecessary sets out there.  Yet another parallel of the flagship set, it is admittedly an attractive set, but there just does not need to be so many retreads of the basic set.  But, Connor Wong made it into the Update set, so here I am buying a bunch of singles.

1.  Topps Chrome Update Sapphire Red.  This card is serial-numbered to just five.  I grabbed this one right away because it took a long time to get the 2022 card.

2.  Topps Chrome Update Sapphire Padpardascha.  I don't even know what that word is.  I had not heard of it before.  This is one of the 1/1s.  There is a Superfractor.  This was a bit more than I really wanted to spend, but I had to have it.

3.  Topps Chrome Update Sapphire Orange.  Serial-numbered to 25.  I still need the Orange, Black and Superfractor.

4.  Topps Update Ghost Foil.  This is another of the Halloween-themed Update parallels.  Still a few more of these to grab too.

5.  Panini Immaculate Black Prime.  Serial-numbered to 26 and featuring an autograph and a prime relic patch.

6.  Topps Mini Red.  Serial-numbered to five.  

Last for the day is a few Sapphire base singles.  A seller on Ebay was selling a bunch of these singles for reasonably cheap.  I grabbed three of them.

1.  Rob Refsnyder.  Refsnyder was not nearly as good in 2023 as he was in 2022.  He is under contract through the 2024 season and can still hit lefties, so I expect him back.

2.  Richard Bleier.  I talked about him recently.  He was released during the season, so he is no longer with the team.

3.  Connor Wong.  Of course I had to grab this one.

That's it for today.  I am getting close to catching up.

The Jason Varitek Quest for 1,000: #s 996 and 997 (Plus More)

I had to edit the last Varitek post.  That was actually card #995, not 996.  I lost count because I had already gotten #996 in by that point.

So, starting off is a TCDB trade that I worked out.  It started off as just the Varitek, but I expanded it.

1.  Jason Varitek.  Varitek card #996 is the Allen & Ginter Mini parallel.  Varitek has appeared in A&G a lot over the years, which I can definitely get behind.

2.  Luis Tiant/Nathan Eovaldi.  I had to have this insert.  I am a huge Tiant fan, even though I never saw him pitch live.  And to have him on a card with Nathan Eovaldi is great.  This card celebrates the fact that both pitchers led the league in shutouts in their respective seasons.  Tiant threw seven shutouts in 1974.  Eovaldi threw just one, but tied for the league lead, because starters almost never finish their games anymore.

3.  Kenley Jansen.  Just a base card, but I really liked Jansen this year.  I liked him even more since he achieved his landmark 400th save and was Boston's only All Star.

Up next is a random Connor Wong card:

Panini Chronicles Spectra Rookie Jersey Autographs Neon Pink.  Serial-numbered to 49.  I love the patch here.  I had to put this card in this post because I got it in between Varitek packages.

And finally, card #997, also from a TCDB trade.

Varitek card #997 is the base A&G card and is one of the short-printed cards.  Three to go.

And that's it for now.  More to come obviously.  

Wong Update

I know, two posts in a row.  I'm working on catching up.

1.  Topps Update Memorial Day Camo.  Serial-numbered to 50.

2.  Topps Chrome Update Aqua.  Serial-numbered to 199.

3.  Topps Chrome Update Gold.  Serial-numbered to 50.

4.  Topps Gypsy Queen Mauve.  Serial-numbered to 75.  If you gave me 20 guesses, I don't think I would have come up with that color for "mauve".  

5.  Topps Update Royal Blue.  I think these are retail-exclusive parallels.  Not that they are super rare.

6.  Topps Chrome Update Green Wave.  Serial-numbered to 99.

7.  Panini Capstone Gold.  I found someone on TCDB that had this card available and worked out a quick deal.  I had a small run of TCDB trades recently.  This was the only Wong I acquired though.

8.  Topps Chrome Update Sepia.  For some reason I thought I already had this one, but no.  

Some Wongs and a Couple Throw-ins

Happy New Year's!

I'm still working on catching things up.  Bear with me for a few more posts.  And yes, there will be a lot of Connor Wong cards.

1.  Panini Chronicles Contenders Optic Rookie Ticket Autographs.  I have said before that I am kind of at the point where I am grabbing stuff I missed earlier.  This is not the most exciting of additions, but it is an autograph.  I probably passed this up several times.

2.  Topps Chrome Update Orange.  Serial-numbered to 25.  I am still grabbing whatever new releases are out there.

3.  Topps Chrome Update Yellow Mini Diamonds.  Serial-numbered to 75.  

I have been greatly appreciative of sellers throwing in extra cards over the last year or so.  It seems like there have been a lot more of them.  The seller of the Yellow Mini Diamonds above threw in some other random Red Sox, and I needed a couple of them:

1.  Enmanuel Valdez.  I love the 1988 insert design.  The 1988 Topps set was a very nice-looking set.  This card is Enmanuel Valdez who, along with Wilyer Abreu, was acquired in the deal that sent Christian Vazquez to the Astros.  I am sure I have mentioned that.  Valdez is still in the mix for the second base job, but his chances have diminished since the acquisition of Vaughn Grissom.

2.  J.D. Martinez.  Martinez is still out there as a free agent after having a bit of a bouceback season for the Dodgers last year.  He will go down as one of the greatest free agent signings in team history after hitting .292/.363/.526 with 130 home runs, 171 doubles, 423 RBIs and 399 runs scored.