Living Set: Mo Vaughn

It is so cool to see so many Mo Vaughn cards being made lately.  I said recently I have been feeling kind of nostalgic about Mo Vaughn, an early favorite player of mine.  Vaughn was a rookie the year I started watching baseball, so I kind of felt like I grew up watching him.  Plus, he was SUCH a great hitter during his time in Boston.  I had difficulties seeing Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Mike Greenwell leave Boston, but I think the one that really hurt the most was Mo Vaughn.  He is someone who really should have spent his entire career in Boston.  

2023 Stadium Club Blaster Break

I have been watching for Stadium Club for a little while now.  It is always one of my favorite sets of the year due to the incredible photography.  And so, when I saw it on the shelves at Walmart recently, I grabbed it.  There were only 40 cards in the blaster, so I did not have great odds to get many Red Sox cards, but I was going to try anyway.  I ended up pulling two, beating the odds.

1.  Ted Williams.  I'm not 100% sure what the object Williams is holding is.  I think it's a trophy for winning the batting title, but I could be wrong.  Still, it's great to see a Williams photo I have never seen before.  What a great shot.

2.  Rafael Devers.  An interesting shot in a photo studio.  It's another terrific picture.  

I prefer the Williams personally, but the Devers photo is great too.  This is why I love Stadium Club.

It's the Big One

This may be the largest trade I have ever worked out.  I didn't send out a ton of cards, but there were some big modern rookies in the package.  Will it come back and bite me like when I traded my Barry Bonds autograph card in 2000?  Maybe, but I don't really care.  I'm a Red Sox collector.  I barely know what else I have.

1.  Ted Williams.  This is my first Project 2020 card.  I got a handful of the Project 70 cards, but never grabbed one of the previous year's project.  Not really sure why, there are definitely some interesting ones out there.  This is not the most exciting of cards, but I do kind of like the vintage shot of Williams in the background.

2.  J.D. Martinez.  I am probably not going to spend a ton of time talking about each player in this post, particularly with players I have talked a lot about lately.  I do want to point out though that I was about eight feet away from catching Martinez's 100th Red Sox home run in KC.

3.  Niko Kavadas.  There are going to be a lot of prospects in this post.  Kavadas has a lot of power, but not much else going for him.  I would be pretty surprised to see him make the Majors.

4.  Jeter Downs.  Downs will be with the Yankees in Spring Training, which seems appropriate.  He didn't do much in Boston, but did hit his first ML home run off the Yankees, Gerrit Cole if I remember right.

5.  Blaze Jordan.  Jordan in particularly will be in this post a lot.  He really likes like he could turn into a legitimate prospect.  The question is whether he will be traded first.

6.  Blaze Jordan.

7.  Blaze Jordan.

8.  Marcelo Mayer.  Despite some injuries, Mayer is still in the top 20 or so prospects according to pretty much every prospect ranking, sometimes still in the top ten.

9.  Kutter Crawford.  Crawford has kind of gone under the radar a bit, but he had a solid 2023.  If he can take another step forward, he can be a decent back-of-the-rotation starter.  His 113 ERA+ in 129.1 innings was one of the bigger surprises on the team in 2023.

10.  Enrique Hernandez.  He had a horrific 2023, but I will never forget his amazing postseason run in 2021 when he hit eight home runs.

11.  Xander Bogaerts.  I wonder what Bogaerts thinks after signing a mega deal with the Padres.  He made comments at the time about the organization being clearly dedicated to winning, yet they have been shedding salary and losing players at an alarming rate.  Currently, there is only one player on their roster who has played outfield at the Major League level, and that is the displaced shortstop Fernando Tatis, Jr.  I can't view Bogaerts's signing as anything but a mistake for both parties, even if he did have a decent offensive season.

12.  Ted Williams.  I love this card of Williams in his flight uniform.

13.  Enrique Hernandez.

14.  Wade Boggs.  Boggs never finished higher than fourth in an MVP vote.  If he was playing today, with his high slash lines (even though he didn't hit many home runs, he hit a ton of doubles), he likely would have won at least one MVP.

15.  Jarren Duran.  Duran has been the subject of some trade rumors recently, primarily to San Diego.  That makes sense, and I could see him getting moved, but they better get some pitching in the deal.  Duran is a very exciting player, when he's healthy and playing well.  We finally saw some of that last season.

16.  Kyle Schwarber.  Schwarber goes down as one of the greatest Red Sox trade deadline pickups of all time.  Jason Bay and Victor Martinez are probably the best though because they each played a full second season with Boston.

17.  Jarren Duran.

18.  Jarren Duran.

19.  Xander Bogaerts.

20.  Alex Verdugo.  Verdugo's batting average and OPS+ declined each year he was in Boston.  He could still turn into a productive player, but it was probably time to move on, particularly with a bunch of outfield prospects coming up.

21.  Rafael Devers.  Of course there will be Raffy cards in this post.  Quite a few in fact.

22.  Nomar Garciaparra.  If the Hall of Fame starts looking closer at peak years, Nomar has a legitimate shot at making it in.  He was clearly one of the greatest players in the game from 1997 through 2003, which is a good length of time.  What kills him is that he provided very little value after 2003.

23.  Babe Ruth.  I still love finding Ruth cards with the Red Sox.

24.  Jim Rice.  Panini has done a nice job of including former players in their sets in 2023, not that Rice was a completely out-of-the-box pick, but it's fun to get cards of retired players.

25.  Nomar Garciaparra.

26.  Triston Casas.  I'm anticipating a big year from Casas.  30-35 home runs seems like a likely possibility.

27.  Rafael Devers.

28.  Chris Sale.

29.  Chris Sale.

30.  Trevor Story.  Another player I am expecting big things from.  Story has taken on a leadership role with the infielders this offseason, and that is something that is great to see.

31.  Masataka Yoshida.  And another player I think will have a big season.  I predict he will contend for the batting title.

32.  Alex Verdugo.

33.  Enmanuel Valdez.  It is difficult to see where he fits in, if only he could play even a little defense.  His bat is very impressive.

34.  Reese McGuire.  McGuire will be back as the backup catcher in 2024.  I thought he might get non-tendered, but that did not happen.

35.  Triston Casas.

36.  Alex Verdugo.

37.  Josh Taylor.  Taylor was great when he was healthy for Boston.  He had a 3.04 ERA in 2019 and 3.40 in 2021.  But he was hurt so often that he was tough to rely on.  He was traded for Adalberto Mondesi prior to 2023, a trade that did not work out for anyone as Taylor had an ERA of 8.15 with the Royals and Mondesi never played for Boston.

38.  Kevin Pillar.  Pillar had a nice partial season with Boston in 2020, hitting .274/.325/.470 in 30 games before being traded to the Rockies.  He is mostly a backup outfielder now.

39.  Pedro Martinez.  Since there was no All Star Game in 2020, Topps honored past performances.  Martinez was the 1999 All Star Game MVP.  

40.  David Ortiz.  

41.  David Ortiz.  Here is a card honoring Ortiz's 2010 Home Run Derby victory.

42.  Andrew Benintendi.  Benintendi really looked like the real deal through the first half of the 2018 season.  His numbers just collapsed after that and he never got back while with the Red Sox.

43.  Mookie Betts.  Apparently Betts is moving to second full-time in 2024.  He came up as a second-baseman and got moved to the outfield due to Dustin Pedroia, then it seemed a shame to waste his athleticism at second.  We will see if he can make the late-career move back, but he's so good, he should be fine.

44.  Roger Clemens.  Clemens was the All Star Game MVP in 1986.

45.  David Ortiz.

46.  Michael Chavis.

47.  Pedro Martinez.

48.  Roger Clemens.

49.  Ted Williams.

50.  Team Card.  I never know quite what to do with these cards.  Do I consider them cards of the players focused on in the photo?  Or just general team cards?  This one is particularly interesting because the man holding his right hand up is 2020 manager Ron Roenicke, who otherwise did not have a card with the Red Sox and was included in my No Red Sox cards post for that year.  I will at least consider it a Roenicke card.

51.  Ted Williams.

52.  Xander Bogaerts.

53.  Pedro Martinez.

54.  Kyle Schwarber.

55.  Xander Bogaerts.

56.  Xander Bogaerts.

57.  Kyle Schwarber.

58.  Xander Bogaerts.

59.  Connor Seabold.  Strange how trades work out sometimes.  When Boston traded Brandon Workman to the Phillies in 2020, they got two pitchers, one of whom, Seabold, was a legitimate prospect.  The other was a mostly failed starter on his third organization, Nick Pivetta.  Yet, it is Pivetta who has been a workhorse pitcher for Boston and Seabold was DFA'd and pitched, poorly, with the Rockies in 2023.

60.  Babe Ruth.

61.  Pedro Martinez.

62.  Pedro Martinez.

63.  David Ortiz.

64.  Trevor Story.

65.  Mikey Romero.  Romero was Boston's first round pick in 2022.  I was sort of underwhelmed by this pick at the time and he has not played particularly well.  Luckily, they saved some money on this pick and used it toward their next pick, Roman Anthony.

66.  Masataka Yoshida.

67.  Enrique Hernandez.

68.  Pedro Martinez.

69.  Masataka Yoshida.

70.  Narciso Crook.  I am still shocked he has made it in to so many sets as a Red Sox player, since he has never played a game with them.

71.  Trevor Story.

72.  Masataka Yoshida.

73.  Eduardo Rodriguez.  We have come to perhaps my favorite card from this trade.  This is one of the rare black parallels.  I do not even have the Connor Wong from this set.

74.  Rafael Devers.

75.  Andrew Benintendi.

76.  Xander Bogaerts.

77.  Michael Chavis.

78.  Rafael Devers.

79.  Shane Drohan.  Drohan had pitched reasonably well until 2023.  He was selected by the White Sox in the Rule V Draft, but I would be kind of surprised if he doesn't get returned at some point.  It's possible, they never got Thad Ward back.

80.  Jay Groome.  The opposite of Mikey Romero, I was very high on this selection.  Groome was one of the best pitchers in that draft, but injuries have wrecked his career.  He was traded to the Padres in 2022 in the Eric Hosmer deal and continued to struggle.

81.  Gilberto Jimenez.  Jimenez has a lot of tools, but has yet to harness them.  He's still just 23, but has yet to make Double-A.

82.  Triston Casas.

83.  Jarren Duran.

84.  Jeter Downs.

85.  Babe Ruth.

86.  Xander Bogaerts.

87.  David Price.  Price had been saddled with the reputation of being a poor postseason pitcher.  That reputation was solidified early in his Red Sox tenure.  But then, in the ALCS, he figured something out in his mechanics and was basically unhittable since.  In the World Series he was 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in three games, throwing 13.2 innings and striking out ten while walking six.

88.  Rafael Devers.

89.  J.D. Martinez.

90.  Eduardo Nunez.  Nunez had a huge pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series that sealed the win for Boston.

91.  Jackie Bradley Jr.  JBJ was the ALCS MVP in 2018 with two key home runs, driving in nine runs.

92.  Jackie Bradley Jr.

93.  J.D. Martinez.

94.  Team Card.

95.  Xander Bogaerts.

96.  David Price.  This is apparently called a Topps Clear Travel card?  I have no idea what that is.

97.  J.D. Martinez.

98.  Xander Bogaerts.

99.  J.D. Martinez.

100.  David Ortiz.

101.  Mookie Betts.

102.  Chris Sale.

103.  Shane Drohan.

104.  Shane Drohan.

105.  Jay Groome.

106.  Gilberto Jimenez.

107.  Triston Casas.  

108.  Jarren Duran.

109.  Nick Yorke.  I was skeptical about Yorke's first-round selection in 2020, but he has been mostly decent when he's been healthy.  He could make the Majors this year, or be traded.

110.  Jeter Downs.

111.  Michael Chavis.

112.  David Ortiz.

113.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Yaz is the owner of Boston's all-time best season by WAR.  His incredible Triple Crown season had a WAR of 12.4 helped out by his terrific defense.

114.  Michael Chavis.

115.  Mookie Betts.

116.  Chris Sale.

117.  J.D. Martinez.

118.  Anderson Espinoza.  Espinoza was Boston's top pitching prospect when he was traded in 2016 for Drew Pomeranz.  It was not a well-received move, but Pomeranz had a very good 2017 season and Espinoza suffered major injury setbacks.  He finally made the Majors in 2022 with the Cubs, but only pitched in seven games.

119.  Sam Travis.  I had high hopes for Travis.  He did play in 111 games with Boston and hit seven home runs, but I thought he would be a decent first-baseman.  

120.  Xander Bogaerts.

121.  Nick Yorke.

122.  Xander Bogaerts.

123.  Chris Sale.

124.  Tanner Houck.  Houck could be in line to be the closer if Boston ends up trading Kenley Jansen.  I think he could do it, he seems to thrive on high-stakes and has the mentality of Jonathan Papelbon.

125.  Noah Song.  Song is an interesting story.  He was a highly-regarded draftee, but due to Navy commitment, he was unable to pitch for a few years even in the minors.  He finally was switched to reserve status to begin his professional baseball career and was selected by the Phillies in the Rule V Draft in 2022.  But, because he had been away so long, the Phillies could not justify a ML roster spot for him and had to return him.  Song is now 26 and is a question mark going forward, but Boston has him again.

126.  Triston Casas.

127.  Xander Bogaerts.

128.  Bryan Mata.  Mata is out of options this season, so he has to make the Red Sox roster or get traded.  He was once a promising pitching prospect, but has struggled with control.  I think it is more likely he will be traded.

129.  Masataka Yoshida.

130.  Triston Casas.  This is another of my favorite cards from this package.  These Bowman Spotlight cards are really cool.

131.  Nick Yorke.

132.  Marcelo Mayer.

133.  Bobby Dalbec.

134.  Bobby Dalbec.

135.  Blaze Jordan.

136.  Marcelo Mayer.

137.  Marcelo Mayer.

138.  Roniel Raudes.  I really liked Raudes.  He showed some amazing control early on in the minors.  He made it to High-A, but then stalled.  He's still just 25, so some team could take a flyer on him.

139.  Josh Ockimey.  Another prospect I liked that couldn't make it.  He kind of got stuck in Pawtucket and had some big home run numbers and a decent OBP, but his low batting averages prevented him from making the jump.

140.  Blaze Jordan.

141.  J.D. Martinez.

142.  Rafael Devers.

143.  Alex Verdugo.

144.  J.D. Martinez.

Whew.  That was a long one.  I still have more to come, but that was all in one package and it was large enough as it was.

More Mailday Madness Pt. 3

Still going here.  I just have not had the patience or motivation to get through more than a few packages at a time.  So, here is the third post in a row.  Let's see how far into this we can get.  The first package is full of oddballs and reprints.

1.  Tony Perez.  Perez is one of many Hall of Famers who had a brief stop in Boston.  He spent three seasons in Boston and had his last great season there in 1980.  That season, Perez hit .275/.320/.467 with 25 home runs and 105 RBIs.

2.  Jake Jones.  Jones spent parts of two seasons in Boston in 1947 and 1948 after being acquired in a trade with the White Sox for Rudy York.  He was the primary first-baseman in 1947, but hit just .235/.310/.403 with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs.  After a slow start in 1948, he was replaced by rookie Billy Goodman.

3.  Hal Wagner.  Wagner spent parts of three seasons with the Red Sox and was an All Star in 1946.  That season, he hit .230/.354/.322 with six home runs and 52 RBIs.  How that got him in the All Star Game, I am unable to guess.

4.  Tom Seaver.  There are going to be a lot of Seaver cards coming soon.  This is one of the Broder cards.

5.  George Kell.  Like Perez, Kell is a Hall of Famer who had a brief stop in Boston over the course of three years.  He was an All Star in 1953 when he hit .307/.383/.483 with 73 RBIs and a career-high 12 home runs.  He also had 41 doubles.  

6.  Sammy White.  White spent nine seasons in Boston and was an All Star in 1953 when he hit .273/.318/.435 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs.  It was not his best season, but it was his only All Star season.

1.  Tom Burgmeier.  Burgmeier was an All Star in 1980 with the Red Sox after going 5-4 with a 2.00 ERA in 62 games (99 innings pitched).  He notched 24 saves (fifth in the A.L.), struck out 54 and walked 20.  

2.  Nick Esasky.  Esasky is one of the greatest One-Year Wonder Red Sox in history.  He hit .277/.355/.500 with 30 home runs and 108 RBIs in his only season in Boston.  He signed a big free agent deal with the Braves for the 1990 season, but suffered from vertigo and had to retire early.

3.  David Eckstein.  The very popular diminutive middle infielder came up through the Red Sox minor league system, but never played in Boston.  The Red Sox DFA'd him to make room for Lou Merloni in 2000 when Boston was desperate for third base help.  Merloni had his best season, but Eckstein might have helped a bit more.

4.  Eduardo Rodriguez.  Surprisingly Rodriguez has yet to make an All Star team.

5.  Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia was an All Star in 2008 through 2010 and then in 2013.  I am not sure how he missed the All Star selection in 2011, his best season.  That year, he was a 20/20 man, setting career highs in home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, triples, OBP and walks.  He did win the Gold Glove that year, one of four.

6.  Rafael Devers.  Devers has been an All Star twice so far, in 2021 and 2022.  Third base is something of a stacked position these days.  He certainly had the numbers for selection in 2019 and 2023.

7.  Wade Boggs.  Boggs was an All Star every year from 1985 through 1992 with Boston.  Memorably, he and Bo Jackson hit back-to-back home runs in 1989.

8.   Bobby Dalbec.  I am not sure what Boston is going to do with Dalbec coming into this season.  It is kind of surprising he is still there.

1.  Jonathan Papelbon.  Pap recently hosted the Red Sox fan festival question and answer session in a state of increasing inebriation.  Still, he is a surprisingly funny guy and fun to follow on Twitter.  He was an All Star four times with the Red Sox from 2006 through 2009.

2.  J.D. Martinez.  Martinez was also an All Star four times with the Red Sox, since this seems to be a random theme tonight.  

3.  Chris Sale.  Sale was only an All Star twice with the Red Sox, 2017 and 2018.  He started both games.

4.  Eduardo Rodriguez.

1.  David Ortiz.  Ortiz was a 10-time All Star (2004-2008, 2010-2013 and 2016).  He won the Home Run Derby in 2010 and took part in five of those.  

2.  Alex Verdugo.  It's kind of disappointing that Verdugo is no longer with the team, though I saw it coming.  I'll probably surpass 100 cards of him in the near future.  

3.  Trevor Story.  I am looking forward to seeing if Story can return to his pre-injury form.  I think he could be in for a big year this year.

4.  Chris Sale.

5.  Alex Verdugo.

6.  Rafael Devers.

7.  David Ortiz.

8.  Dustin Pedroia.

9.  Brayan Bello.  Bello is a player that seems to appear a lot in posts lately.

10.  Justin Turner.  Turner's One-Year Wonder post is coming soon.  Is his year enough to unseat one of the All-Time One Year winners?  I guess that depends on if I should consider him a DH or a utility player.  He spent most of his time at DH, but appeared in 41 games at first, ten at second and seven at third.

1.  Rico Petrocelli.  Petrocelli was an All Star twice, in 1967 and 1969.  1969 was the season he hit 40 home runs, a record for A.L. shortstops that held until 1998.  It's sort of surprising Petrocelli received virtually no support in his only year on the Hall of Fame ballot.

2.  Felix Mantilla.  Mantilla was an All Star in 1963, the year after he hit 30 home runs for the only time in his career.  In 1963 he hit .275/.374/.416 with 18 home runs and 92 RBIs.  The RBIs were the only number more than his 1962 season.

3.  Joe Cronin.  Cronin was an All Star five times with Boston and was an original All Star in 1933.  He appeared in 1935, 1937-1939 and 1941.

4.  Mo Vaughn.  Vaughn was an All Star in 1995, 1996 and 1998 for the Red Sox.  First base at that time period was stacked with great hitters.  That's how great Vaughn was that he managed to still make it to the game.

5.  John Smoltz.  Another Hall of Famer with a brief Red Sox stint.  Smoltz started eight games with the Red Sox in his final season before being released and finishing up with the Cardinals.

1.  Connor Wong.  Nope, I have not moved away from my Connor Wong collection.  There just have not been a ton of cards out there lately.

1.  Babe Ruth.  This is an inverted variation short print from the 2023 Topps Archives set.  I snagged this for a pretty good price after turning down a trade for it where the other person wanted way too much for it.

1.  Chris Sale.

2.  Michael Chavis.  Chavis never made it close to matching his numbers from his 2019 rookie season.  He did hit 14 home runs for the Pirates in 2022, but his .654 OPS and 83 OPS+ was not getting it done.

3.  Andrew Benintendi.  Benintendi is another player who has never been able to match his rookie season.  In 2017, he hit .271/.352/.424 with 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases and 90 RBIs.  He has had some good years with average, but his power and speed are almost non-existent at this point.

That's it for now.  The next package is a big one that might need its own post.

More Mailday Madness Pt 2

I got tired of typing last night, so I quit.  Unfortunately, there is still quite a ways to go to get caught up on all of the packages.  So, here we go again.

1.  Jimmie Foxx.  It is widely known that Foxx started his career as a catcher.  What is not so well-known, and why I bought this card, is that he continued to play catcher on occasion well into his career.  In fact, in 1940, when he was 32, he spent about six weeks as the team's number one catcher due to injuries to Gene Desautels.  He played 43 games during that stretch and hit .317/.440/.639 with 14 home runs and 42 RBIs.  

2.  Michael Chavis.  Chavis made an immediate impact when he arrived in the majors in 2019, hitting 18 home runs.  Unfortunately he also struck out 127 times in 382 plate appearances.  His strikeout rate caught up to him and he has been a fringe Major Leaguer ever since.

3.  Darwinzon Hernandez.  Hernandez is another player who was a rookie in 2019.  He had his best season in 2021 when he had a 3.38 ERA in 48 games and 40 innings pitched.  He struck out 54, but walked 31.  His walk rate was eventually his undoing and he has not appeared in the Majors since 2022.

4.  Rafael Devers.  It's beginning to be a requirement that any package include a Devers card.

5.  Trevor Story.  Story has increased in my collection dramatically recently.  

6.  Hunter Renfroe.  At a certain point, you have to wonder about some players.  Renfroe has been in the Majors for eight seasons and has played with six different teams.  He will be with his seventh team in 2024.  There must be a reason for that.

7.  Bobby Dalbec.  Dalbec's career is very similar to Chavis's, with the exception that he has not moved onto a different team yet.  Yet.

8.  Andrew Benintendi.  I like this card because it is similar to a Nomar card that I had in the late 90's, one of the early cards I bought for more than $10.00.  That card though had some die-cut aspects.  This one does not.

9.   Jackie Bradley Jr.  It is hard to believe that JBJ won only one Gold Glove during his career.  I love watching videos of him playing defense.  One of the most impressive defensive outfielders Boston has ever had.  Certainly during my lifetime.

1.  Jeff Frye.  One other nice thing about TCDB has been finding old cards from team sets that I need.  This Frye card is from 1999 Fleer Tradition.  Frye played every position except pitcher and catcher during his time in Boston.

2.  Mike Greenwell.  Greenwell actually did play catcher back in 1987 for a game.  In the ninth inning on July 17, the Red Sox tied the game, but had to pinch-hit for backup catcher Danny Sheaffer, who had earlier replaced Marc Sullivan (that catching platoon was dire).  Greenwell moved behind the plate.  The pitching imploded the next inning and Greenwell made an error on a base-stealing attempt, allowing two stolen bases.  Safe to say Boston avoided using Greenwell behind the plate ever since.

3.  Ellis Burks.  Burks only played center field and designated hitter for the Red Sox.  

1.  Chris Sale.  Sale's Red Sox career started so well, but finished so poorly.  It's a shame what happened to him.

2.  Chris Murphy.  Murphy made his Major League debut in 2023, pitching in 20 games and throwing 47.2 innings.  He was 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA, striking out 49 and walking 17.  He could be an interesting depth option going forward.

3.  Allen Webster.  Webster was a highly-touted prospect when Boston acquired him in the infamous Nick Punto trade in 2012.  Unfortunately, he never worked out, going 6-5 with a 6.25 ERA in 19 games.  He was traded to Arizona in the deal that brought Wade Miley to Boston.

4.  Derek Lowe.  Lowe won the series-clinching games in the ALDS, ALCS and World Series in 2004.  

5.  Johnny Damon.  It's a shame that Damon doesn't look back on his time with the Red Sox as fondly as he does with the Yankees.  He was basically the face of the franchise in 2004 leading up to the World Series.  He became a household name with Boston, he was just another player with the Yankees.

6.  J.D. Martinez.  I was having a discussion with another Red Sox fan today about whether Martinez or Manny Ramirez was the better free agent signing.  Both worked out extremely well for the Red Sox.  I would give the edge to Ramirez though because it was longer.

7.  Andrew Benintendi.

8.  David Price.  I still believe Price should have been the World Series MVP in 2018.  He didn't live up to his massive contract, but it was worth it for the 2018 postseason alone.

9.  Tanner Houck.  Houck may find himself the new closer if Kenley Jansen gets traded.

10.  Rick Porcello.  Porcello may be one of the most random Cy Young winners ever.  

11.  Team Card.  This is the World-Series winning 2018 team picture.

12.  Christian Vazquez.  Vazquez's best season was 2019 when he hit .276/.320/.477 with 23 home runs and 72 RBIs.  He also caught 38% of attempted base-stealers, fourth in the league.

13.  Triston Casas.  Casas was the first-round pick of the Red Sox in 2018.

14.  Tyler McDonough.  McDonough was the third-round pick of the Red Sox in 2021.

15.  Blaze Jordan.  Jordan was the third-round pick of the Red Sox in 2020.

16.  Marcelo Mayer.  Mayer was the first-round pick of the Red Sox in 2021.

17.  Enrique Hernandez.  Hernandez made a habit of having great-looking Topps flagship cards.  That trend ended with his kind of boring 2023 card, but this was still great.

18.  J.D. Martinez.

19.  J.D. Martinez.

20.  Jarren Duran.  Duran stole 24 bases in 2023.  I expect him to get close to 40 in 2024.

21.  J.D. Martinez.

22.  Rafael Devers.

23.  Masataka Yoshida.  I am very much looking forward to Yoshida building on his 2023 season.  I think a .300+ average and 15-20 home runs is very much in the realm of possibility.  My boldest prediction for 2024 is that Yoshida will win the batting title.

I guess I am going to quit for tonight.  Still more to come.

More Mailday Madness

Buckle up, this could be a long post.  I have not decided how many packages I am going to put in this post.  I have a long way to go to catch up.  

1.  Fred Lynn.  This package is filled to the brim with oddballs.  This is a 1976 Hostess card of Lynn, one of my favorite oddball sets, next to Kellogg's.  Lynn is one of the few players in this package that is not a Hall of Famer, though there is an argument for his inclusion.

2.  Joe Cronin.  This is a Cramer Baseball Legends card.  I have a few of these as well.  It is kind of an underrated oddball set in my opinion.

3.  Carlton Fisk.  The Star Stickers were kind of an interesting set for the first few years of Fleer.  

4.  Carl Yastrzemski.  This is from the All Star Glossy set from 1983.  Yaz was an All Star for the final time in 1983, also his last season.  He had some great moments in All Star games and was the 1970 game's MVP.

5.  Wade Boggs.  These next three cards are stickers for a book.

6.  Wade Boggs.

7.  Carl Yastrzemski.

8.  Jim Rice.  Here is a card from Quaker.  I missed most of the days when cards were in almost everything.  Those days need to come back.

9.  Wade Boggs.  For instance, this is a Kraft card.

10.  Wade Boggs.  And this one from Kmart.

11.  Roger Clemens.  And this one is a French's mustard card.  I am a bit confused as to how this might have been available.  Were they attached to mustard bottles?  

12.  Wade Boggs.  This is a Donruss Spirit of the Game card.  I had never seen these before.  

13.  Jose Canseco.  For the first several years I was collecting, I used to have a number of players that I collected somewhat passively.  One of the rules I had was that I had to stop collecting them if they went to the Red Sox.  Canseco was the first player I had to stop collecting under that rule.

14.  Mo Vaughn.  I have mentioned previously that I am considering a collecting goal for Mo Vaughn.  For some reason I have been feeling nostalgic for Vaughn's career lately.  He was such a great hitter at the time he was in Boston.

15.  Mo Vaughn.

16.  Mo Vaughn.

17.  Mo Vaughn.

18.  Trot Nixon.  Nixon is one of three players I had jerseys of when I was growing up.  It was a gift from my girlfriend at the time.  Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra were the others.

19.  Donnie Sadler.  I had high hopes for Sadler as a prospect but he did not pan out.

20.  Brian Daubach.  Daubach did not appear in nearly enough sets when he was playing.  This was as a result of being one of the replacement players in 1995 while the players were on strike.  Daubach was thus not eligible to be a member of the Players Association and, as most card companies had deals with the Players Association, replacement players were not able to have cards made.  Only Topps had agreements with individual players, which is why they were able to make cards of players like Daubach and Kevin Millar.

21.  Pedro Martinez.  Here is another player I am expecting to get a lot of cards of as I continue to make deals on TCDB.

22.  Narciso Crook.  This is a zero-year card.  Crook did not play in the Majors with Boston this year and is a minor league free agent.

1.  Tommy Pham.  I liked Pham during the brief time he was with Boston in 2022.  There are some rumblings he could be brought back for some right-handed power.  I would be okay with that.

2.  Luis Tiant.  There needs to be a lot more Tiant cards.  Easily one of my favorite players that I never actually got to watch.

3.  Justin Turner.  Unfortunately Turner has left Boston.  Be ready for a One-Year Wonder post.

4.  Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia will be on the Hall of Fame ballot next year.  He has an interesting case.  Had he not gotten injured, he might have a really good case.

5.  Tim Wakefield.  Wakefield might be another player I target this year.  I suspect Boston might retire his number.  

6.  Rafael Devers.  Devers is another player I might do a collecting goal of.  I'm thinking 500 cards.  That might be too much of a reach though.

1.  Bill Lee.  I had to grab this card.  Lee does not appear very often in sets.  This is just a cool card.

2.  Tim Wakefield.  Wakefield appeared several times in Panini sets in 2023.

3.  David Ortiz/Rafael Devers.  Devers is like Ortiz in one aspect, he is a very good hitter in the postseason.  He has hit .303/.382/.573 with eight home runs and 26 RBIs in 26 games.

4.  Triston Casas.  Yet another player for a collecting goal consideration.  It was recently announced the Red Sox would be followed by a Netflix documentary crew.  I really think Casas would be one player who would benefit from that.  He has a very big personality and could be a lot of fun to watch.

5.  Jim Rice.  This is another cool Panini card, particularly since you can't tell there's no MLB license.

6.  Joe Cronin.  I once did a school project on Joe Cronin.  We had to read a biography and do a presentation dressed as that person.  I often combined my school projects with my interest in baseball.  Kevin Millar and Nomar Garciaparra were also subjects.

7.  Johnny Pesky.  I actually love the way Panini has been incorporating past players.  There are several interesting players in this post alone.  Still, I would like to see them branch out even further.

8.  Hirokazu Sawamura.  I liked Sawamura.  When he was on, he was almost unhittable with a slider that the bottom completely dropped out of.  

9.  Trevor Story.  If Story can get back to his pre-injury form, he could have a terrific season.  A 20/20 season is not outside the realm of possibility.

10.  Trevor Story.

11.  Trevor Story.

12.  Garrett Whitlock.  Whitlock has been missing in card sets for awhile.  He has not been nearly as successful as his 2021 rookie season, but he is still an important part of the Red Sox pitching staff.  

13.  Tanner Houck.  Houck and Whitlock will be competing for the fifth starter spot, unless Boston miraculously signs someone soon.

I will call it for tonight.  There is a lot more coming.

Three Packages in One Scan

It was easier to just do all three of these packages together.  They were all individual Ebay items that I bought from different sellers.

1.  Triston Casas.  This is the Black Gold insert.  I was supposed to get this in a trade on TCDB, in fact it was the card that started the trade for me, but the other party, after agreeing to the trade, informed me he did not have it.  So, I went the Ebay route and grabbed it.

2.  Adrian Beltre.  I bought two Beltre cards after his election to the Hall of Fame.  This was the second one.  There are not a ton of them still out there, primarily parallels of cards I already have and some really high-end relics/autos.  That makes sense for a player who was only in Boston for a year.  Still, hopefully there will be some more made in the future.

3.  Ike Delock.  I grabbed some random vintage cards from one seller.  Delock came very close to spending his entire eleven-season career with the Red Sox, except for seven games at the very end with Baltimore.  At his best, he was a versatile and solid pitcher.  His best season was 1958 when he had a 14-8 record with a 3.38 ERA in 31 games (19 starts).  He had two saves that year.  His career high was eleven.  Delock finished 83-72 with a 4.01 ERA with the Red Sox.

4.  Gene Conley.  Conley was famous for two things during his playing career, neither of which helped the Red Sox that much.  He was also an NBA player and he once walked off the team bus and bought tickets to fly to Israel.  He had an eleven-year career with his last three seasons for the Red Sox.  He was a three-time All Star, but none of those came in Boston.

5.  Ike Delock.  Yes, I got two cards of Delock.

6.  Tris Speaker.  Speaker is one of six members of the 3,000 hit club to have played with Boston, and the first to have done so.  Only Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat while playing for Boston.

7.  Josh Winckowski.  Winckowski was the primary return in the Andrew Benintendi trade and finally looks to be justifying that deal.  Last season, he went 4-4 with a 2.88 ERA (158 ERA+) that was somewhat bloated due to overuse later on.  He pitched 84.1 innings, saving three games while striking out 82 and walking 31.  He is a big part of the bullpen coming in to 2024.

8.  Gene Stephens.  Stephens is primarily known for collecting three hits in one inning in a game on June 18, 1953.  The Red Sox beat the Tigers 23-3.  Stephens had his three hits in the seventh inning in which Boston scored 17 runs.  He had two singles and a double.  On the day, he had three hits in six at-bats, driving in three and scoring three times.  He played eight years in Boston hitting .247/.327/.362 with 24 home runs and 149 RBIs.  He was primarily a backup to Ted Williams.  Not to be confused with Vern Stephens.

TCDB Madness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16.  Xander Bogaerts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

23.  Steve Lomasney.  Another Lomasney card.

That's it for today.

Gypsy Queen City Connect Variations Pt. 4

I just picked up the fourth one of these last weekend for a really good price.  It was the least I have spent on one so far, which is strange since Bogaerts is arguably the biggest star of the available variations.  This leaves me with just the Chris Sale, J.D. Martinez and Alex Verdugo cards to track down.  None of the players are still with the team, but that is not going to stop me from tracking the cards down.  Oddly, the Verdugo is the card that seems like it will be the hardest to track down for a reasonable price.

Mailday: January 30, 2024

I don't really have a good title for this post.  This is just a random assortment of cards that I happened to receive on the same day.

Up first is a quick two-card trade.  The first is a black mini parallel from 2022 A&G of Pedro Martinez.  I fully expect that Pedro will be one of those players who will really benefit from my continued trading on TCDB.  There are simply a ton of Pedro cards out there.  According to the stats portion of my wantlist, Martinez has the third-most cards still out there, behind only Rafael Devers (sort of a surprise) and David Ortiz (not at all surprising).  The second card is the gold version of the 2020 team card.  I do consider this a J.D. Martinez card as well, since he is a central focus of the card.

1.  Bobby Dalbec.  Hard to believe, but Dalbec is actually still on the team.  He has slipped a lot on the depth chart, but he is still around.  I am not sure he will ever get back to his form he had down the stretch in 2021.  That year he hit .240/.298/.494 with 25 home runs and 78 RBIs.  He hit just one home run in 21 games in 2023.

2.  Travis Shaw.  Shaw did two tours of duty with the Red Sox, coming up as a rookie in 2015 before being traded to Milwaukee before the 2017 season for Tyler Thornburg and then returning in 2021.  He hit 32 career home runs with the Red Sox in parts of four seasons, primarily as a backup.  

3.  Xander Bogaerts.  Bogaerts is another player I expect to increase quite a bit in my TCDB trading.  His cards were always plentiful.  He ranks as the fourth-largest player on my wantlist.

4.  Jarren Duran.  Duran is a big question mark in 2024.  Is he the player he was in 2022?  2023?  Somewhere in between?  At his best, he is a dynamic offensive force, able to hit for some power and completely disrupt the other team on the base paths.  I would love that kind of player.

5.  Kyle Schwarber.  Schwarber goes down as one of the best deadline deals Boston ever made.  For a low-level pitching prospect they got a hitter who slashed .291/.435/.522 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs in 41 games, then hit three more homers in the postseason.  It's a shame they could not find a way to bring him back the next season.

6.  I am considering this card a Xander Bogaerts card, that appears to be him in the corner there.

7.  Brayan Bello.  Bello is another player I am excited about coming in to 2024.  He could step up and become an ace-level pitcher.   

And finally, an Adrian Beltre relic.  I grabbed a couple of Beltre cards on Ebay recently in celebration of his election to the Hall of Fame.  One thing I really like is how his stint in Boston is getting credit for being the turning point in his career.  He became a Hall of Fame player in Boston even though his plaque will not have a Red Sox hat.  And he is my absolute favorite One Year Wonder.