Welcome Back to Boston Hanley Ramirez and Welcome Panda

Yes, this printing plate is mine.  I bought a bunch of Hanley Ramirez cards when he was in Boston's minor league system.  I was pretty excited about the guy.  Then he was traded.  While I love that Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell were instrumental in helping Boston win the World Series in 2007, I was disappointed that it cost them Hanley Ramirez.  It was worth it, it was just disappointing, especially when Ramirez was winning the Rookie of the Year in 2006 and neither Beckett nor Lowell were playing particularly well.  It paid off in 2007.  Now, Hanley is back and I am excited to see what he can do.  Hopefully he stays healthy.

Boston also signed Pablo Sandoval.  I advocated acquiring him several years ago, so I am happy they got him.  Sandoval will play third base and may eventually replace David Ortiz at DH.  Ramirez looks to be moving to left field.

Varitek Pickups

Jason Varitek has a bit of a tenuous hold on the title of Largest Player in My Collection.  Nomar Garciaparra has been showing up in a bunch of sets lately and is only trailing Varitek by about 20 cards.  Since Varitek does not appear in any sets, it would not be difficult for Nomar to catch up.  But the most serious threat is actually from non-Red Sox player Sandy Alomar Jr. who has skyrocketed to just below Nomar at this point.  And since I have been much more actively seeking Alomar cards, it is likely that he will take over some time soon.

On one of my Sandy Alomar binges over at COMC, I decided to add a couple of Jason Varitek cards:

1.  2009 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection Teammate Timelines Jason Varitek/Jonathan Papelbon.  Okay, so Papelbon appears here too.  Still, this only cost a couple of bucks and it is a double jersey card of two very important members of the 2007 World Champions.

2.  2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars Clover Blue Jason Varitek.  I love the camo chest protector.  Nice touch.  This is a nice, rarer card.  I used to love to get cards like this for my Varitek collection.

So that means I have 875 cards of Jason Varitek.  There are still cards I need out there, but it is unlikely that Varitek will remain in first place.  Too bad.  He had a good run.

2014 Topps Update Blaster Pt. 2

My second blaster produced some more Red Sox cards, including two brand-new players to my Red Sox collection and a couple cards of a great young player:

1.  Joe Kelly.  Tough to believe but Joe Kelly pitched a great game AGAINST the Red Sox in the 2013 World Series.  He is one of the few definite pitchers for the 2015 rotation.

2.  Mookie Betts.  The MLB debut card features Betts in Yankee Stadium.

3.  Mookie Betts.  THIS one is the image variation, one of my best pulls of the year for my Red Sox collection.

4.  Yoenis Cespedes.  I was excited about the Cespedes trade.  Unfortunately it appears short-lived as Cespedes may be traded this winter.

Stadium Club Break Results from Nachos Grande

I recently participated in the Stadium Club break over at Nachos Grande.  I had hoped for an autograph, since there would be six of them.  Unfortunately no luck with that one, but some nice photos and an Ortiz insert would be coming my way:

1.  2014 Stadium Club Mookie Betts.  Betts is one of the only rookies Boston called up who actually met expectations.  With the two new signings the Red Sox made, Betts's future is in doubt a little bit.  He will be in the mix for the right field/utility spot, or he could be traded.  Let's hope it is the former.

2.  2014 Stadium Club Koji Uehara.  Happier times.  This is after the last out of the World Series.

3.  2014 Stadium Club Luminous David Ortiz.  The best card from the lot is this die-cut insert of Big Papi.

4.  2008 Upper Deck Supreme Blue Josh Beckett.  Chris threw in some random cards as well.  This was the only one I did not have.

5.  2014 Stadium Club David Ortiz.  I love this card.  The selfie with Barack Obama after winning the World Series was a great moment and captured wonderfully here.

Thanks Chris!

Topps Update Blaster Pt. 1

I have picked up a couple of 2014 Topps Update Blasters recently and have had some good luck.  At least for number of Red Sox cards pulled.  This is counter to my luck the rest of the year in packs.  I like opening packs because of the risk, but this has been a frustrating year overall.

Here are the pulls from the first blaster:

 

1.  Brock Holt:  Holt was one of the few bright spots for Boston this year, helping to infuse a spark into the offense when he was called up.  Here he is bunting.

2.  Koji Uehara AS.  Uehara was one of just two All Stars for Boston this season.  He struggled down the stretch but will be back next season.

3.  Jonathan Herrera.  Herrera was acquired to be the utility infielder this season in a trade with Colorado that cost Franklin Morales.  Unfortunately, he could not hit at all.

4.  Jackie Bradley Jr.  Speaking of players that couldn't hit.  Bradley is exasperating because he is SOOOO good defensively.  He has always hit in the minors so hopefully he will come around, but it is looking less and less likely that it will be for Boston.

5.  Rubby De La Rosa.  One of the big pickups in the big trade with the Dodgers, De La Rosa is looking like a potential closer candidate in the future.

Stamps from Mark

Mark Hoyle continues to surprise me by sending me random packages of stuff.  Just recently he sent me this collection of 1983 Boston Herald stamps:

1.  Rich Gedman.  Geddy looks wasted in this shot.  He had a few great seasons from 1984-1986.

2.  Bruce Hurst.  One of the great, underrated pitchers of the 1980's.

3.  Luis Aponte.  I know next to nothing about Aponte other than that he was a middle reliever.

4.  Bob Ojeda.  Ojeda was one of many very good pitchers Boston developed in the 1980's.  Unfortunately two of the better ones, Ojeda and John Tudor, were traded away.

5.  Dick Radatz.  The Monster was one of the first great closers.

6.  Cy Young.  Of course, Young was one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived.

7.  Joe Cronin.  Cronin went from Hall of Fame baseball player to pennant-winning manager to general manager to American League president in his career.

8.  Jimmie Foxx.  The Beast was a pretty good mentor for Ted Williams and hit 50 home runs for the Red Sox in 1938.

9.  Marty Barrett.  The 1986 ALCS MVP.

10.  Dwight Evans.  I still think Dewey belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Thanks Mark!

Panini Hometown Heroes

I was thrilled when Panini released the Hometown Heroes set.  It was a set similar to the Fan Favorites sets from Topps, though without the intriguing designs.  Player selection was incredibly interesting with a lot of players who had not appeared in sets for years.  But it was hard getting cards.  I picked up a few random cards here and there but there were a lot that I still needed.  Until just recently when I worked out a deal for the rest of the base cards I needed, plus one parallel.

1.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Fred Lynn.  Lynn of course was the first player to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP the same season, which he did in 1975.  He was a terrific player for several seasons but declined after leaving the Red Sox.

2.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia is putting together a Hall of Fame-worthy career and won the Rookie of the Year in 2007 and the MVP in 2008.

3.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Jim Rice.  Rice won the MVP in 1978 and is a Hall of Famer.

4.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Nomar Garciaparra.  Nomar will be eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time this year.  He won the Rookie of the Year in 1997.

5.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Johnny Damon.  Nice to see new Damon cards with the Red Sox.

6.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Ellis Burks.  Burks was one of my early favorites.  He won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in 1990.

7.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Mike Greenwell.  Greenwell finished second in the AL MVP vote in 1988 to Jose Canseco.

8.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Pedro Martinez.  Pedro should get elected to the Hall in January.

9.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes David Ortiz.  Like Pedroia, Ortiz is one of the few still-active players in this set.  Ortiz is 34 home runs shy of 500.

10.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Kevin Youkilis.  Youk was actually still active in 2013 but he was definitely a fan favorite with the Red Sox.

11.  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Zip Code Carlton Fisk.  I still need to get the parallels for Jason Varitek.  This is my first parallel from this set.

Zippy Zapped Again

I received another package of cards from my personal favorite Yankees blogger Zippy Zappy.  He always loads up the prospects in his random packages, and this one was no different:

1.  2013 New York-Penn League Top Prospects Manuel Margot.  Margot had a breakout season this year at the age of 20.  He provides a lot of speed and a little pop. 

2.  2014 New York-Penn League Top Prospects Nick Longhi.  Longhi is another very young work-in-progress who should show a lot of power as he matures.

3.  2014 New York-Penn League Top Prospects Sam Travis.  Travis is a bit farther along and his power has already materialized.

4.  2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Pics Garin Cecchini.  Cecchini made a brief appearance in Boston this season and looks poised to make a bigger splash next season.

5.  2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Manuel Margot.

6.  2013 Topps Minors Keury De La Cruz.  De La Cruz had his breakout season in 2012 and followed that up with another solid season in 2014 though he has fallen a bit on the depth chart.

7.  2014 Topps Chrome Orange Refractor Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia just won his fourth Gold Glove Award this week.  Very impressive.

8.  2013 Topps Minors Brian Johnson.  Johnson has proven to be a very impressive control pitcher in the minors, possibly looking at becoming another Doug Fister.

9.  2013 New York-Penn League Ty Buttrey.  Buttrey is another high-ceiling arm in the Red Sox system and looks poised to move quickly next season.

Thanks Kenny!

2014 Donruss Series 2 Pickups

I have been pretty bad about posting lately.  I have several recent packages to catch up on, starting here:

 I was happy to see Donruss back this year, but it would be much better if they had an MLB license.  Anyway, here are some pickups from the second series.

1.  2014 Donruss Career Stat Line Clay Buchholz.  The Stat Line parallel set was something Donruss used in the early 2000's to serial-number cards.  Which is weird and unwieldy because each card possibly has a different print run.

2.  2014 Donruss Grady Sizemore.  This and his Topps Chrome card are likely to be his only cards with the Red Sox.  At least he had some, unlike players like Scott Podsednik, Alex Cole, Matt Stairs, and others.

3.  2014 Donruss Koji Uehara.  It was recently announced that Koji signed a two-year extension with Boston.

4.  2014 Donruss Xander Bogaerts.  Bogaerts had a rough season, but he showed some promise.  Hopefully he can fulfill that next season.

5.  2014 Donruss Clay Buchholz.  Buchholz could still be an effective member of the Red Sox rotation next season, but another year like 2014 may lead to him being shipped out.

6.  2014 Donruss David Ortiz.  Ortiz once again had a terrific season in 2014. 

7.  2014 Donruss Elite Koji Uehara.  I love this card, but an a little annoyed that it is the same shot as is on his Prizm card.  I hate reused photos.

Vintage and an A&G Blaster

A few new cards to add to the old collection late this week.

1.  1962 Topps Chuck Schilling.  No relation to Curt.  I love the 1962 Topps design.  Schilling was a decent middle infielder for Boston in 1961 but his career declined after that.  Still, he has a number of cool base cards.

2.  2014 Topps Allen & Ginter Jon Lester.  I want Boston to resign Lester this offseason.  I don't know how likely that is, but I would love to get him back.

3.  2014 Topps Allen & Ginter Pastime's Pastimes Dustin Pedroia.  Nice insert from a pack.  Pedroia has a lot more hair on his face than his head on this.

The A&G cards came from a blaster.  I have not been buying many packs this year and have not been doing too well from a Red Sox standpoint when I have.  This was a little better.

A Canadian Package and More

I was recently contacted by Stephane, who offered up some Red Sox cards in exchange for some more Canadian-centric cards.  There were actually a few I needed so I agreed to a trade.  The first row here are the cards sent from Stephane:

1.  1990 Fleer Canadian Dwight Evans.  These cards are identical to the regular Fleer set except the back says they were printed in Canada.

2.  1990 Fleer Canadian Carlos Quintana.  This one makes me very happy.  Quintana was an early favorite of mine and adding a new one to my collection is always exciting.

3.  1989 Topps Big Dwight Evans.  I would like these cards more if they weren't so large, but that is the whole point of the set, so nothing much to say there.

Thanks Stephane.  Your cards will be sent out very soon.

The rest of the cards came in a couple of forum trades and are nice 2014 additions.

4.  2014 Finest Green Refractor Dustin Pedroia.  This coloring is almost hallucinogenic.

5.  2014 Finest David Ortiz.  I have decided to go on an Ortiz binge here recently.  I am going to be targeting Ortiz cards I do not have.

6.  2014 Topps Allen & Ginter Pastime's Pastimes David Ortiz.  And here is the second one.

Hey Look, a Trade

I pulled off a decent-sized trade where I sent off a bunch of Mariners cards:

1.  2014 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Black Ted Williams.  Getting kind of tired of the same Williams photo all the time.

2.  2014 Topps Chrome Black Refractor Mike Napoli.  Unfortunately injuries slowed him down quite a bit.  He was having a decent year though.

3.  2014 Topps Heritage David Ortiz WS.  Ah, happier times.

4.  2014 Topps Archives 1987 All Star Wade Boggs.  I have mentioned before that Boggs was my first favorite Red Sox player.

5.  2014 Topps Archives Nomar Garciaparra SP.  With the number of cards Nomar has been getting lately, he may take back the top spot in the Red Sox player of whom I have the most cards.  Jason Varitek still leads him for now.

6.  2014 Bowman Inception Prospect Autograph Jon Denney.  Denney is one of many catching prospects in Boston's minor league system, but he may have some difficulty leapfrogging both Christian Vasquez and Blake Swihart.

Crusade Pt. 1

This is part one of a two part post that you can find on my other blog.  A seller on Ebay recently sold a bunch of random 1998 Donruss Crusade insert cards and I picked up a couple.

Here is the one for this blog:

1.  1998 Donruss Crusade Brian Rose.  This was available in the Leaf Rookies and Stars packs as an extended card.  Rose was once supposed to be a terrific pitching prospect for the Red Sox but he never really developed at the Major League level and was eventually dealt away to the Rockies in the deal that brought Rolando Arrojo and Mike Lansing to Boston.

New Parallels

A couple of recent trades lead me to these cards:

1.  2014 Topps Power Players Gold Jonny Gomes WS.  I was not aware of the existence of these cards.  Apparently these were available as prizes in the Power Players game for Topps this year.  I managed to talk someone into trading this one to me.

2.  2014 Topps Chrome Refractor Koji Uehara.  It will be interesting to see if Uehara is back next year.

3.  2014 Topps Chrome Refractor Dustin Pedroia.  Hopefully Pedroia will recover fully and be back to full strength next season.

New Chrome with a Sizemore

When I found out that there was actually a Grady Sizemore Red Sox card in both 2014 Donruss and Topps Chrome, I knew I had to track them down.  Sizemore's time in Boston may have been brief, but as a team collector, I have to track down a card of every player that appears with a Red Sox logo on cardboard.  So here it is complete with a card of slightly better Shane Victorino:

1.  2014 Topps Chrome Shane Victorino.  This is just a terrific action shot in a set full of great photography, but it does not match up to...

2.  2014 Topps Chrome Grady Sizemore.  It is a good thing this is a memorable shot, because Sizemore's time with the Red Sox certainly was not.

Is the Season Over Yet?

Boston is not going anywhere this year.  About the only thing worth watching is the development of the young players and the emergence of Rusney Castillo.  It has been a trying season all year long and I have had some difficulty truly enjoying collecting the Red Sox.  I have been less active in trades and certainly have not been buying much.  But every once in awhile I manage to make an interesting deal.  This one qualifies:

1.  2014 Topps Gold Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  Production from the catcher's position is one of the biggest problems this year.  Saltalamacchia would not have been great, but he would have been better than Pierzynski at least.

2.  2007 Topps Ted Williams .406 #20.

3.  2007 Topps Ted Williams .406 #21.  A couple more of these.  I really wish they would have used different pictures.

4.  2010 Topps Update Gold Daniel Nava.  I like Nava but I suspect he will be squeezed out next year.

5.  2008 Upper Deck Timeline Jed Lowrie.  A card from my wantlist is always appreciated.

6.  2014 Topps Gold Junichi Tazawa.  Tazawa has emerged as a solid middle relief option.  Just don't use him as a closer, or against the Blue Jays.

7.  2012 Topps Archives Gold Jacoby Ellsbury.  It is still nice to add an Ellsbury once in awhile.

8.  2012 Topps Commemorative Retired Number Patch Carlton Fisk.  Unfortunately I already have this one, so I have a double to send off somewhere.

9.  1973 Topps Carlton Fisk.  Nice second year card of Pudge.

Some Completely Random Cards

I am a bit behind, so here is one package which was about as random as things can get.  Behold:

1.  2006 Upper Deck Special FX Red David Riske.  Only my second card of Riske who was acquired in the same trade as Coco Crisp and then dispatched for Javier Lopez.   I previously had a couple of these red cards.

2.  1987 Topps Leaders Bruce Hurst.  Hurst had become a second ace in 1986 to Roger Clemens.  He was an All Star in 1987 and eventually left to join the San Diego Padres.

3.  1995 Flair Frank Rodriguez.  I remember when Rodriguez was Boston's top prospect.  It did not work out well.  He struggled in 1995 and then was traded to Minnesota for Rick Aguilera.

4.  1998 Upper Deck Documentary Jason Varitek. Yay, a new Varitek card.  These have been a little rare lately.  Varitek remains the player of whom I have the most cards.  For now.

5.  1987 Fleer Limited Edition Marty Barrett.  Barrett was coming off of a terrific 1986 postseason in which he won the ALCS MVP and racked up a bunch of hits in the World Series.

6.  2014 Topps Jonny Gomes.  I miss Gomes.  He was a great clubhouse presence.

7.  1995 Flair Wave of the Future Vaughn Eshelman.  Eshelman was a brief flash in the pan in 1995 when he pitched shutout innings in his first start and won his first three.

8.  2008 Upper Deck Documentary Gold Jason Bay.  I liked the Documentary set for the number of cards, but the fact that they were a bunch of the same pictures over and over is kind of a turnoff.

9.  2008 Upper Deck Documentary Gold Jason Varitek.  Another Tek card.  

10.  2008 Upper Deck Documentary All Star Kevin Youkilis.  Youkilis had a terrific season in 2008 and finished third in the MVP race.

11.  2008 Upper Deck Documentary All Star Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia won the MVP in 2008 after the Rookie of the Year in 2007.  For the first time, it is questionable whether he will be back in Boston in 2015.

12.  2014 Topps Gold Shane Victorino.  After a great season in 2013, Victorino only played in 30 games this season.  Boston's outfield is pretty full going into next season, who knows if Victorino will be back?

Mookie!

1.  2014 Bowman Prospects Purple Mookie Betts.  Of all of the rookies to spend time in Boston this year, Mookie has been by far the most productive.  He has been playing in the outfield thus far but will be spending some time at second base this week.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, but it is also possible that he will be traded.  Hopefully not.

An Interesting Vintage and Oddball Trade

Here are the most recent pickups as the Red Sox continue to struggle:

1.  1979 Hostess Dennis Eckersley.  It is kind of lazy that a card with one year of stats with the Red Sox has an airbrushed cap on it.

2.  1957 Topps Pete Daley.  Easily my favorite card from the trade.  Corners are a little soft, but it is 57 years old, which incidentally is my parents' age.

3.  1988 Topps Tiffany Jim Rice.  Rice was starting to go downhill at this point.

4.  1988 Topps Tiffany Dwight Evans.  Evans was still going strong though.

5.  1979 Hostess Dwight Evans.  I love food issue cards.  I wish they still existed.

6.  1979 Hostess Jim Rice.

7.  1976 Hostess Dwight Evans.

The Daley is definitely my favorite, but I do love the oddballs.

Red Sox in Order

Tom from Angels in Order recently contacted me to set up a Red Sox for Angels trade.  Since my blog trades have been pretty sparse these days I jumped at the chance to gain a new trade partner.  He sent me a bunch of Red Sox and I sent him a bunch of Angels.  

Of course the Red Sox and Angels have a nice history together.  Boston was down three games to one in the 1986 ALCS when Dave Henderson single-handedly brought the team back in Game 5 and Boston rolled in Games 6 and 7.  Then Boston swept the Angels in the 2004 ALDS on their way to their first World Series win in 86 years, capped off by David Ortiz's walkoff home run in Game 3.  Boston also swept the Angels in 2007 in the ALDS on their way to another World Series win.  Manny Ramirez hit the game-winning blast in Game 2.  The Angels finally won a game against Boston in the postseason in 2008 but Boston still took that series 3-1.  Then the Angels swept the Red Sox in the 2009 ALDS.  So yeah, tons of history there.

Here are the cards that Tom sent:

1.  2014 Topps Upper Class Jacoby Ellsbury.  Despite his free agent defection to the Damn Yankees, I will always like Ellsbury.  Boston has just not had a lot of speed over the years.

2.  2005 Flair Manny Ramirez.  For some reason I did not have any of the base Flair cards.  I do have a Jason Varitek auto from that set, but no base.

3.  2005 Flair David Ortiz.  He hit two home runs tonight.  His batting average is down but he is still hitting them out.

4.  2005 Flair Curt Schilling.  A big postseason hero for the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007.  It will be interesting to see what cap he wears in Cooperstown if he gets in.

5.  1994 Donruss Jeff Russell.  Tom hit a bunch of my wantlist needs.

6.  1994 Pinnacle John Valentin.  Valentin was an underrated player for a few years in Boston, particularly in 1995 when he could have won the MVP.  I love the double dip shot here.

7.  2004 Leaf Second Edition Derek Lowe.  I have no idea why there was a Second Edition of Leaf in 2004.  There really did not need to be.

8.  1992 Conlon Phil Todt.  Todt was one of the few decent players Boston had in the 1920's.  He was one of the few Red Sox players blessed with power, hitting double digits in home runs three times when no one else in Boston was hitting any.  Todt was almost requested by the Yankees in a trade at one point but Boston management, after being burned so many times in trades with the Yankees said no.  Unfortunately the player offered in trade for Todt was Lou Gehrig.  Dammit.

9.  1988 Starting Lineup Talking Baseball Wade Boggs.  This is my first of these cards.  They are wider than I would like.  They are probably not cards I would seek out, but certainly don't mind adding them to my collection.

10.  1983 Donruss John Tudor.  Tudor was a gifted pitcher coming up with the Red Sox in the early 1980's when they were flush with pitching prospects.  Tudor, Bruce Hurst, Bob Ojeda, Oil Can Boyd, and Roger Clemens all came up within a few years of each other.  That could have been a terrific staff if they had not traded off Tudor and Ojeda.

11.  1983 Donruss Bob Stanley.  The Steamer was the Red Sox relief ace for a long time and held the team single season saves record until Jeff Reardon broke it in 1991 and the career saves record until Jonathan Papelbon broke it.

12.  1987 Donruss Rob Woodward.  There has never been an interesting fact about Rob Woodward.  Ever.  Although this did complete my 1987 Donruss team set.  Yep, Ron Woodward was the last card I needed.  Depressing.

13.  1985 Donruss Rich Gedman.  Gedman was coming off a great season in 1984 when he hit 24 home runs.  He was an All Star in both 1985 and 1986.

14.  1992 Stadium Club Dome Roger Clemens.  Hard to believe I did not have this card.

15.  1992 Stadium Club Dome Wade Boggs.  Same here.

16.  1991 U.S. Playing Card Co. Roger Clemens.  I wish they still made sets like this.  Oddball items showing all of the All Stars each season.

17.  1991 U.S. Playing Card Co. Jeff Reardon.  Another card from the same set.

18.  1992 U.S. Playing Card Co. Rookies Bob Zupcic.  Zupcic had a couple of full seasons in 1992 and 1993 then faded into obscurity.

19.  1992 U.S. Playing Card Co. Rookies Scott Cooper.  Cooper had a terrific throwing arm but made a lot of errors because Mo Vaughn was basically a brick wall at first.

20.  1993 Classic Mo Vaughn.  But at least Mo could hit.

Thanks for the cards Tom!