Red Sox Awards History: MVP Pt. 3 (The 1930's)

I was reminded earlier that the major awards will be announced this week.  And I remembered that I started something I never finished.  I only got through the 1920's on my MVP award voting discussions.  So, here we are in the 1930's.  The official MVP as it currently exists started in 1931.

THE WINNER 

JIMMIE FOXX

1938

1st, 305 points

.349/.462/.704, 50 home runs, 175 RBIs, 139 runs, 197 hits

Foxx had a monster season in 1938, leading the league in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, RBIs and walks (119).  He hit 50 home runs, a team record that stood until 2005, though he finished second in home runs to Hank Greenberg.  He also led the league in WAR (7.4) and total bases (398).  The Red Sox finished second in the league and Foxx was the primary reason why.  It was the single biggest offensive season by a Red Sox player since Babe Ruth.  

RECEIVING VOTES

DALE ALEXANDER

1932

11th, 10 points

.367/.454/.513, 8 home runs, 60 RBIs, 144 hits

The Red Sox were terrible in 1932, as evidenced by the long series of posts I have been working on.  But Alexander was the biggest bright spot on the team.  He split the season between the Tigers and Red Sox due to a mid-June trade, but he ended up winning the batting title.  That is the primary reason for his placement in the voting.  He was third in the league in on-base percentage and seventh in slugging.  

DOC CRAMER

1938

T-30th, 1 point

.301/.354/.380, 0 home runs, 71 RBIs, 116 runs, 198 hits, 36 doubles, 8 triples

Cramer had next to no power, but was excellent at getting on base.  The center fielder struck out just 19 times, while drawing 51 walks.  He led the league in at-bats (658) and was an All Star in 1938.  He ranked among the league leaders in runs scored (ninth), hits (second) and doubles (sixth).  He was also among the league leaders in several defensive categories for center fielders.  

JOE CRONIN

1937

7th, 19 points

.307/.402/.486, 18 home runs, 110 RBIs, 102 runs, 175 hits, 40 doubles

The Red Sox shortstop/manager was a previous MVP winner in 1930.  He had a big season in 1937, but was only among the league leaders in RBIs (tenth) and some defensive categories.  Even though he was not among the league leaders in many categories, very few shortstops hit like he did, and he got extra credit for also being the manager.  The team had a winning record, even though they finished fifth in the league.  Cronin was an All Star.

1938

7th, 92 points

.325/.428/.536, 17 home runs, 94 RBIs, 98 runs, 172 hits, 51 doubles

Cronin had an even better season in 1938, and this time did rank among the league leaders in several hitting categories, as well as leading the team to a second-place finish in the league.  He was an All Star again and led the league in doubles while finishing in the top ten in average (tenth), on-base percentage (fifth), slugging (tenth) and extra base hits (fourth).  This was Cronin's best season in Boston.  

1939

16th, 15 points

.308/.407/.492, 19 home runs, 107 RBIs, 97 runs, 160 hits

Another great season for the shortstop/manager saw the team finish in second place again and had him in the All Star game for the sixth time.  He was among the league leaders in on-base percentage (tenth), doubles (33, sixth), RBIs (seventh) and walks (87, eighth).  

RICK FERRELL

1933

T-12th, 9 points

.290/.381/.373, 4 home runs, 77 RBIs, 58 runs, 143 hits

Ferrell started the 1933 season with the St. Louis Browns, but after 22 games, he was traded to the Red Sox for someone named Merv Shea and cash, which was probably the biggest reason for the trade.  This was actually not one of Ferrell's strongest seasons, though it is the only year he was in Boston that he received MVP votes.  He led the league in runners caught stealing and appeared in the first ever All Star game.  

WES FERRELL

1934

8th, 16 points

14-5, 3.63 ERA, 67 strikeouts and 49 walks in 181 innings pitched

Rick's brother Wes was a star in his own right, and probably should be in the Hall of Fame.  He did not have a huge season in 1934, which is why it is kind of strange that he received MVP votes.  He was eighth in the league in ERA and fourth in winning percentage (.737).  He led the league in walks per nine innings (2.436).  He was a great hitter for a pitcher and hit .282/.341/.487 with four homers and 17 RBIs.

1935

2nd, 62 points

25-14, 3.52 ERA, 110 strikeouts in 322.1 innings pitched

Ferrell had one of the greatest two-way seasons in history in 1935.  He led the league in wins, starts (38), complete games (31) and innings pitched.  He was seventh in the league in ERA.  As a hitter, he had a line of .347/.427/.533 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs.  Somehow, he was not an All Star.  He led the league in WAR (10.6) as a result of his impressive season on both sides of the ball.

JIMMIE FOXX

1936

11th, 16 points

.338/.440/.631, 41 home runs, 143 RBIs, 130 runs, 198 hits, 13 stolen bases

Foxx had other big seasons for the Red Sox in the 1930's.  His first year in Boston saw him have the most home runs by a Red Sox player ever.  He would only build on that.  Foxx was an All Star and led the league in walks (119) while also finishing third in on-base percentage, third in slugging, tenth in hits, third in home runs and third in RBIs.

1939

2nd, 170 points

.360/.464/.694, 35 home runs, 105 RBIs, 130 runs, 168 hits

An All Star for the fourth season in a row with the Red Sox, Foxx had 15 fewer home runs than he did in 1938, but managed to lead the league in the category, as well as in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.  He was also second in batting average, third in runs, eighth in RBIs and second in total bases (324).  It was not as impressive as his 1938 season, but it was still a huge season.

LEFTY GROVE

1935

14th, 8 points

20-12, 2.70 ERA, 121 strikeouts and 65 walks in 273 innings pitched

When Tom Yawkey acquired the Red Sox, he set about acquiring a number of players who would eventually become Hall of Famers.  The greatest of these was possibly Grove.  His first year in Boston was not great, but his second season saw him named to the All Star Game and leading the league in ERA and WAR (9.4).  He was fourth in the league in wins.

1936

15th, 5 points

17-12, 2.81 ERA, 130 strikeouts and 65 walks in 253.1 innings pitched

Grove's third season with the Red Sox saw him once again named to the All Star Game and leading the league in ERA, WAR (11.2), WHIP (1.192) and shutouts (six).   He was ninth in wins.  

1938

21st, 7 points

14-4, 3.08 ERA, 99 strikeouts and 52 walks in 163.2 innings pitched

After a year off from receiving MVP votes, Grove came back strong in 1938.  He led the league in ERA once again, as well as winning percentage (.778) and strikeout/walk ratio (1.90).  He was an All Star for the fourth time while with the Red Sox.

1939

15th, 17 points

15-4, 2.54 ERA, 81 strikeouts and 58 walks in 191 innings pitched

Grove's final great season was 1939.  He was an All Star for the fifth time with the Red Sox and won the ERA title for fourth time in Boston.  His .789 winning percentage was second in the league.

ROY JOHNSON

1934

T-12th, 8 points

.320/.379/.467, 7 home runs, 119 RBIs, 85 runs, 182 hits, 43 doubles, 10 triples, 11 stolen bases

One of the more underrated hitters of the 1930's, Johnson had a career batting average of .296 and had one of his best seasons in 1934.  It was the only year he received MVP votes as he finished among the league leaders in doubles (sixth), triples (third), RBIs (sixth) and stolen bases (ninth).  

DANNY MACFAYDEN

1931

T-20th, 2 points

16-12, 4.02 ERA, 74 strikeouts and 79 walks in 230.2 innings pitched

MacFayden was one of the better pitchers for the Red Sox during the extremely dark time period between the sale of Babe Ruth and Tom Yawkey taking the reins.  MacFayden led the league in home runs per nine innings (0.2) and was among the league leaders in wins (seventh), shutouts (third) and complete games (ninth).

MARTY MCMANUS

1932

T-27th, 2 points

.235/.317/.374,  5 home runs, 24 RBIs, 39 runs, 71 hits, 19 doubles

Sometimes, the players who receive votes just makes no sense.  McManus was mostly a utility player, splitting his time between second and third base, while also playing a couple games at shortstop and one at first.  He was the team's player/manager, but the 1932 Red Sox were one of the worst teams of all time.  He only played 93 games.  So no, I really do not know what to say about how he got here.

ERIC MCNAIR

1936

T-19th, 1 point

.285/.329/.391, 4 home runs, 74 RBIs, 68 runs, 141 hits, 36 doubles

McNair was mostly known for his defense as a mostly utility infielder, but he had a nice season at the plate in his first year in Boston after being acquired alongside Doc Cramer.  He appeared in 84 games at short, 35 at second and 11 at third.  He was not among the league leaders in any offensive categories, but he was a valuable contributor.

TOM OLIVER

1931

T-20th, 2 points

.276/.307/.353, 0 home runs, 70 RBIs, 52 runs, 162 hits

A defensive specialist in center field, Oliver led the league in assists (17), putouts (433), double plays (four) and fielding percentage (.993).  It's a good thing he was so good defensively, because he was not much of a hitter, clocking a 78 OPS+ in 1931.  He did have 35 doubles and five triples, though he never once homered in his Major League career, which lasted just four seasons.

HAL RHYNE

1931

14th, 10 points

.273/.341/.343, 0 home runs, 51 RBIs, 75 runs, 154 hits, 34 doubles

Oddly for Rhyne, 1931 was spent entirely at shortstop.  He was typically a utility infielder.  He rewarded the team by leading the league at fielding percentage (.963), assists (502) and range factor (5.42).  He also was not a complete zero at the plate in 1931, putting up an OPS+ of 85, which was the highest of his career.

MOOSE SOLTERS

1935

T-9th, 16 points

.319/.356/.498, 18 home runs, 112 RBIs, 94 runs, 201 hits, 45 doubles, 11 stolen bases

That statline is kind of misleading because Solters spent most of the season with the St. Louis Browns.  Solters only played 24 games with the Red Sox at the beginning of the season, hitting .241/.268/.342 with no homers and eight RBIs.  He was traded to the Browns for Oscar "Ski" Melillo. 

JOE VOSMIK

1938

T-21st, 7 points

.324/.384/.446, 9 home runs, 86 RBIs, 121 runs, 201 hits, 37 doubles

Vosmik was acquired in a trade with the Browns (who acquired him from Cleveland in a deal involving Moose Solters) for a package including Bobo Newsom and Buster Mills.  He led the league in hits and was fifth in the league in doubles.  Vosmik was also known as a good defensive left fielder and was the reason that Ted Williams started his Major League career in right field.

EARL WEBB

1931

6th, 22 points

.333/.404/.528, 14 home runs, 103 RBIs, 96 runs, 196 hits, 67 doubles

We are closing in on 100 years since Webb's 1931 season and still, his record of 67 doubles still stands.  He had a terrific season at the plate overall and finished among the league leaders in hits (fifth), total bases (sixth), homers (tenth), average (seventh), OBP (tenth) and slugging (eighth).  It's his doubles record that manages to stand the test of time though.

BILLY WERBER

1934

T-12th, 8 points

.321/.397/.472, 11 home runs, 67 RBIs, 129 runs, 200 hits, 41 doubles, 10 triples, 40 stolen bases

This is one of my favorite under-the-radar seasons to talk about.  Werber was never an All Star, but he had some fantastic seasons, and this was the best one.  The third-baseman led the league in stolen bases and was second in the league in runs scored.  A 200 hit/40 stolen base season is a rarity in Red Sox history, this is one of just two times it has ever happened, Tris Speaker being the other player to accomplish it.

TED WILLIAMS

1939

4th, 126 points

.327/.436/.609, 31 home runs, 145 RBIs, 131 runs, 185 hits, 44 doubles, 11 triples, 107 walks

What makes those numbers completely insane is the fact that those were done by a 20-year-old rookie.  It may be the greatest rookie season in Red Sox history and is only overshadowed by others because the Rookie of the Year award did not exist yet.  Williams led the league in RBIs and total bases (344).  Even more shocking is that the best was yet to come from The Splendid Splinter.

The Platinum Glove is a Ridiculous Award (Mailday Post)

I am going to start this mailday post off with a rant about the Platinum Glove.  Ostensibly, the Platinum Glove is an award for the best defensive player in the league.  That's the idea anyway.  I did not know this coming into this offseason, but apparently the Platinum Glove is determined by a fan vote entirely out of the year's Gold Glove winners.  Which means it's a damn popularity contest.  This year's winners were Bobby Witt Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr.  Easily the two most popular players among the Gold Glove winners.  Witt won it over Ceddanne Rafaela.  Witt was definitely a great defensive player and this is probably not the worst of outcomes, but Rafaela was better.  Tatis though, should not have won over players like Pete Crow-Armstrong or Patrick Bailey.  If Rawlings wants this award to be taken seriously as the singular best defensive player in each league, it needs to remove the fan voting aspect of it, or at the very least diminish it.

With that, we dive into the mailday post.

At last.  After another copy of this card simply disappeared into the ether shortly after leaving Miami, FL and I accidentally bought the Sky Blue parallel to replace it, I have the card I should have gotten.  Still no idea what the hell happened to the first copy.  There has simply been no update since Oct. 1.  But now I have one, so I am not as concerned.

Up next is the first of five TCDB trades, so this will not be just a Rafaela post.

1.  Nick Robertson.  This trade was made up of Rainbow Foil parallels from last year's Topps.  Mostly lesser players.  Robertson was one of the pitchers acquired when Boston traded Enrique Hernandez back to the Dodgers.  He pitched in nine games with a 6.00 ERA, striking out 13 and walking five in 14 innings.  He was then traded to the Cardinals for Tyler O'Neill.

2.  Nick Pivetta.  Pivetta finally had the breakout season I have long thought him capable of.  Unfortunately, it happened with the Padres.  I will always recall his unhinged antics during the 2021 postseason.  He was a lot of fun to watch.  I wish he could have achieved more success in Boston.  

3.  Joe Jacques.  Jacques pitched parts of two seasons with the Red Sox, going 2-1 with a 5.08 ERA.  He most recently pitched with the Diamondbacks.

4.  Chris Murphy.  Murphy has now pitched parts of two seasons with the Red Sox and is still with the team.  In 43 games, he has pitched 82.1 innings with a 4.15 ERA.  He was better this year.  It will be interesting to see if he has an expanded role next season.

5.  Brandon Walter.  I have mentioned before that I always seem to add Murphy and Walter at the same time.  The difference is that Walter is now with the Astros and pitched in nine games with Houston in 2025.  

6.  Kenley Jansen.  Currently holding 476 career saves, Jansen wants to keep going for a few more years.  I am not sure I see that happening.  He did have a 2.59 ERA this season, so at least one more year is certainly possible.

7.  Kutter Crawford.  Crawford is at a crossroads.  He will be 30 years old in 2026.  I still think he can be a valuable pitcher, but he may be better off as a long reliever.

Next is trade number two:

1.  Roman Anthony.  I am so excited to see what Anthony can do in a full Major League season.  In just 71 games, he hit .292/.396/.463 with 18 doubles, eight home runs, 32 RBIs and four stolen bases.  He had 3.1 bWAR, which is very impressive given he played less than half the season.  He is about to explode in my collection.  It's not imminent, but it is definitely coming.

2.  Roman Anthony.  This card gets me up to 11.

3.  David Ortiz.  Ortiz is probably going to make a run for the second-largest player in my Red Sox collection.  He is still a little over a hundred cards fewer than Nomar Garciaparra, but he gets a lot more cards made still.

4.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  It is always fun to add Rafaela cards in trades.

5.  Wilyer Abreu.  Abreu is finally starting to get to a more appropriate number of cards in my collection.  Probably just in time for him to be traded.

Trade number three:

1.  David Ortiz.  This card puts me at 792 cards.  

2.  Trevor Story.  Story opted in to his contract for next season.  He had a good year, joining the 20/20 club.  He made a lot of concerning errors down the stretch though.  It will be interesting to see where he plays with Marcelo Mayer in the mix.

3.  Kristian Campbell.  Campbell had a great first month of the season, but then went into a deep funk that he never really got out of, even in the minors.  I am not sure what the team has with him, but I want to see him fit in next season along with Mayer and Anthony.

4.  Mookie Betts.  I missed a bunch of these insert cards from 2019.  I may need to revisit these.

Trade number four will take up two scans:

1.  Mookie Betts.  Here is another of those inserts.  No, this was not intentional, it just worked out this way.

2.  Tommy Pham.  I talked about Pham yesterday, so no need to rehash anything here.

3.  Wilyer Abreu.  My second Abreu this week.

4.  Ted Williams.  It is so nice to see a photo that hasn't been used a million times.

5.  Trevor Story.

6.  Wilyer Abreu.  My third Abreu puts him at 20 cards in my collection.

7.  Rafael Devers.  Devers ended his Red Sox career with 215 home runs.  I still cannot believe he is no longer on the team.  I am still pissed about it.

8.  Carlos Narvaez.  Narvaez had a really nice rookie season, hitting 15 home runs with a line of .241/.306/.419.  

9.  Connor Wong.  I have definitely slowed down on Wong, but I still grab cards occasionally.  I still really like him, I am just trying to mentally prepare for him not to be on the team anymore.  Maybe I will be wrong.  I hope.

10.  Connor Wong.

11.  Rafael Devers.

I did not get a ton of Ceddanne Rafaela cards this week, but he was still more than anyone else.  Here are a couple of 2024 Panini Prizm parallels and a Sapphire Selections insert.

The final TCDB trade is next:

This trade added two Rafaela cards and a Wong.  

And closing things out with a couple more Rafaela cards.  I bought these just after finding out that he was awarded the Gold Glove.  I think he should have won the Platinum Glove, but it did not work out that way.

One Year Wonder: Class of 2022

One way to try to catch up on these is to go each year and cover the players.  I had everyone from 2021 covered (Adam Ottavino, Danny Santana and Kyle Schwarber).  I did previously cover Matt Strahm and Michael Wacha in individual posts, but I thought I would do a post for the remaining players.  I will only cover those for whom cards have been made, so no Yolmer Sanchez, Jake Diekman, Abraham Almonte or Jaylin Davis, all of whom were covered in my Red Sox With No Cards post covering 2022.  That leaves me with two players.  

ERIC HOSMER

Eric Hosmer was once a big star.  He was a major part of the Kansas City Royals team that appeared in back-to-back World Series, winning it all in 2015.  He was a four-time Gold Glover and also won a Silver Slugger and was an All Star in 2016.  He hit over .300 a couple of times, twice hit 25 home runs and had a 100 RBI season.  Then, he signed a huge deal with the Padres and that was a horrendous move for him.  He had a decent power season his second year in San Diego, but by and large his hitting stats took a nosedive.  The Padres attempted to move him in the deal that brought Juan Soto to the Padres, but he exercised his no-trade clause.  He was convinced to waive his rights and approve a trade to the Red Sox, which the Padres sweetened by adding a couple of prospects in return for former top prospect Jay Groome.  Hosmer appeared in just 14 games for the Red Sox, hitting .244/.320/.311 with just three doubles, no homers and four RBIs.  He played for the Cubs in 2023, but his power was still gone and that was it for the former Royals star.  Hosmer does not come close to being in the conversation for All-Time One-Year Wonder first-baseman, which is held by Nick Esasky.

TOMMY PHAM

Pham has had an interesting Major League career.  He was a role player for a few seasons with the Cardinals before a big season in 2017 in which he hit over .300 and had more than 20 home runs.  The next season was similar, but had him traded to the Rays in a deadline deal.  He had another big year in 2019 before being traded to the Padres along with Jake Cronenworth for a package that included Hunter Renfroe.  He had a chaotic stint in San Diego.  He signed with the Reds prior to the 2022 season and was reasonably productive.  He was traded to the Red Sox for a minor leaguer at the deadline.  Pham played in 53 games for Boston, hitting .234/.298/.374.  He had 12 doubles, six homers and drove in 24 runs.  After the season, he was once again a free agent.  Since 2022, he has played for the Mets, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Cardinals, Royals and Pirates.  He is still active at this time, though he is once more a free agent.  Pham also does not come close to being in the conversation for All-Time One-Year Wonder left-fielder, which is held by Cliff Floyd.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 35: Bennie Tate

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. 

Finally, a player who played more than a year or two.  Tate had a ten-year career as a catcher in the Majors, primarily playing for the Washington Senators.  He spent his first seven years in the Capital, generally playing a little less than half the games.  In the 1930 season, he was moved to the White Sox and had a nice season.  

Tate started the 1932 season with the White Sox, but after just four games he was traded to the Red Sox.  Tate was involved in the same deal that brought slugger Smead Jolley along with Johnny Watwood and $7,500.00.  Fellow catcher Charlie Berry and utility man Jack Rothrock went the other way.  

Tate was the primary catcher for the Red Sox the rest of the 1932 season, playing in 81 games with Ed Connolly as the second catcher most of the year.  Tate hit .245/.297/.348 with 12 doubles, five triples, two homers and 26 RBIs.  He drew 20 walks and struck out just six times the entire season, which is crazy.  He was not great at stopping the running game, allowing the most stolen bases in the league in 1932.

1932 was Tate's only season in Boston.  He spent the 1933 season and most of 1934 with the Montreal Royals before making it back to the Majors with the Cubs in 1934 for a handful of games.  He played a few more years in the minors after that, but never appeared in the Majors again.

2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Pt. 18: Pete Runnels

NAME:  Pete Runnels

POSITION:  Second base/first base

WHY IS HE HERE?  Runnels spent six years in Boston, winning two batting titles (.320 in 1960 and .326 in 1962).  He finished second to Ted Williams in 1958.  During his time in Boston, Runnels hit .320/.408/.427.  He was an All Star five times.

WOULD I PUT HIM IN IN 2001?:  Probably.

ANY BETTER CHOICES IN 2001?:  All of the better choices are already here.  Dale Alexander is the only Red Sox batting champ to not appear, but Runnels has a better argument than him anyway.

WOULD I PUT HIM IN NOW?:  Maybe.

ANY BETTER CHOICES NOW?:  So, the major key here is batting champions since that is Runnels's primary claim to fame.  The Red Sox batting champs since 2001 are Manny Ramirez, Bill Mueller and Mookie Betts.  Of those, Ramirez and Betts would be obvious selections for inclusion.  Mueller is a little more questionable.  Runnels probably deserves a spot over him.  

Contemporary Era Ballot

So, the Contemporary Era Ballot was released this week and I have to say, I am not happy about it.  For whatever reason, the powers that be are making things extremely difficult for players to be elected starting this year.  There are eight players on this year's ballot and most of them are players that have been on this ballot year after year after year.

So anyway, let's look at this year's candidates:

BARRY BONDS

I don't know what more there is to say about Bonds.  We all know why he should be in and we all know why he is not.  I think it's time to put him in.  

ROGER CLEMENS

Everything I said about Bonds goes for Clemens as well.  There is the added caveat that Clemens is the only player who played for the Red Sox on the ballot, so he is of course my preference to get in this year.  I will talk more about why the fact that Clemens is the only Red Sox player on this ballot is so aggravating.

CARLOS DELGADO

Delgado is one of those players that is a lot better than he is remembered for being.  Part of that was playing in the relative anonymity of Toronto during a time when they were not as good.  He hit 473 home runs in his career as well as driving in 1,512 runs.  His slash line was an impressive .280/.383/.546 but he was kind of lost in the shuffle of the steroid era.  So, is he a Hall of Famer?  I don't really see it, but he was damn good.  I think he is a bit below the standard for Hall of Fame first-basemen.  An interesting sidenote about Delgado is that he was in the Red Sox system at the very end of his career in 2010.  He appeared in five games for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

JEFF KENT

This is the kind of player I could easily see getting elected.  Kent is the record holder for most home runs by a second-baseman.  He had 377 career home runs and was the NL MVP in 2000.  The issue with that distinction is that he was really a second-baseman in name only.  He was not generally a very good defensive second-baseman.  I could see him getting in and have advocated for him in the past.  He peaked at just 46% of the writers' vote though, so it seems like a longshot for him to get in now.

DON MATTINGLY

How many chances is Mattingly going to get?  He has been on this ballot four times in a row.  He has not been elected yet.  He was on the writers' ballot for 15 years, with a high of 28% of the vote and made it to 50% of the vote the last time he was on this ballot.  He is not really all that close to election.  Meanwhile, there are multiple other players who seem to not get anything close to a decent shot.  Nothing would really surprise me regarding his candidacy, but I don't think he is quite there for the Hall of Fame.  He had four or five great seasons, and was mostly ordinary outside of those seasons.  He is well below the standard for Hall of Fame first-basemen.

DALE MURPHY

Murphy also seems to get endless opportunities at election, but is further away than Mattingly.  I get it, he won back-to-back MVP awards and his peak was definitely longer than Mattingly's.  I could see him getting in first, but he is still below the Hall of Fame standard for his position, mostly because after his peak was done, he was mostly awful.  He was a nice, clean-cut guy, I get it, but a line of .265/.346/.469 and 46.5 WAR out of a center fielder is not getting it done.  His highest vote total on the writers' ballot was 23%.

GARY SHEFFIELD

Sheffield's candidacy is kind of a blend of Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.  He was implicated in the same BALCO scandal as Bonds for using PEDs but was largely unscathed by the controversy as a result of claiming ignorance.  He generally performed well in the writers' voting, making it up to 63% of the vote in his final year on the ballot.  He had 509 home runs and a 140 OPS+, but his surly personality did not endear him to many teams.  He played for eight teams in his career, only once for more than four seasons.  

FERNANDO VALENZUELA 

Probably the biggest surprise on the ballot.  I'm not sure his placement here makes much of any sense.  He certainly had an impressive peak and was the first (and so far only) pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award in the same season (1981).  The problem is that he pitched for Tommy Lasorda who tended to completely ruin his pitchers.  Valenzuela was certainly famous enough, pitching for Los Angeles and being Mexican-born, but he was not a pioneer.  There had been Mexican players before.  Valenzuela's career simply does not match up to being a Hall of Famer, he had a record of 173-153 with a 3.54 ERA (104 ERA+).  He notched 2,074 strikeouts.  He only lasted two years on the ballot.  I just do not see it with him.  

SO WHO IS MISSING?

Taking off my Red Sox fandom for a moment, I think the biggest player that is missing is Lou Whitaker.  I simply do not understand why he cannot seem to even make the ballot.  He absolutely should be in the Hall of Fame.  Shortly behind him is Dwight Evans and Curt Schilling.  Again, both players are well-qualified to be Hall of Famers.  And yes, both of them played for the Red Sox, so I have another reason to want them in, but those three players are easily more qualified than almost everyone on this ballot outside of Bonds, Clemens and maybe Sheffield.  I just do not understand what is happening with these ballots.

PREDICTIONS

Well, like I said early on, my preference would be for Bonds and Clemens to finally make it in, if only so we don't have to worry about those guys showing up on these ballots in the future.  Plus, it's hardly a Hall of Fame without the all-time home run leader and a guy on the short list of greatest pitcher of all time.  But a lot of stupid things have happened with this vote since Harold Baines managed to get elected and the stupidest realistic thing I can think of is for Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy to get in (the stupidest thing would be for Valenzuela to get in, but that doesn't seem likely, of course neither did Baines getting in), so I guess that's my prediction.  The new rule going into effect this year is that anyone who does not get five votes cannot appear on the next ballot for this Committee.  If anyone goes more than once without receiving five votes, they are permanently ineligible, which is just ridiculous and insane.

This Week in Pickups

It's not all mail days this week.  After seeing a bunch of raves about Topps Holiday being such a fun break, I picked up a Mega Box as well as one of those ball things.  This was in different days and I will get to those.  The big news is of course the Dodgers winning the World Series.  But I also snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in my jury trial this last week.  But nobody wants to hear about that, so let's see some cards.

Up first is the Mega Box break:

1.  Garrett Crochet.  The best Red Sox card from either of the breaks was this Crochet card, which is the Silver Glitter parallel.  I am expecting Crochet to be the runner-up in the Cy Young vote.  He also had a terrific performance in Game 1 of the ALDS.  

2.  Alex Bregman.  Bregman is a Silver Slugger finalist, but stands next to no chance at it since Jose Ramirez is also a finalist.  Bregman is the biggest free agent decision Boston has.  He has not yet officially opted out, but it is expected.

Here we have a bunch of Rafaela cards, and one Alex Bregman.  As I am writing this, it has been announced that Rafaela won the Gold Glove Award this year.  Absolutely well-deserved.  I want to highlight the Topps T205 cards.  Topps had this set in 2003 and it was one of my favorite sets, so I am thrilled to see it be revived this year instead of T206 which has been done to death.

Up next is a TCDB trade:

1.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  I have tried working out trades for this card a couple times and finally pulled it off.

2.  Wilyer Abreu.  Abreu also won the Gold Glove today.  This is his second.  I was pretty surprised by this because of his time on the IL.

3.  Wilyer Abreu.  There are three Abreu cards in this trade.  He is finally starting to gain some traction in my collection.

4.  Wilyer Abreu.

5.  Chris Martin.  Martin had a great stint in Boston, not many middle relievers get Cy Young votes, but he did in 2023.

6.  Alex Bregman.  The third Bregman card in this post.

7.  Fred Lynn.  Since we are talking Gold Glove Awards today, Lynn won four in his career, all with the Red Sox.

8.  Aroldis Chapman.  I was no huge fan of Chapman coming into the season, but he really won me over with his electrifying performance this year.  He saved 32 games, went 3-5 with a 1.17 ERA and struck out 85 batters in 61.1 innings.

Another Rafaela card.  This is my first variation of the 2023 Select Youth Explosion autograph.

And here is the Holiday ball break:

1.  Walker Buehler.  One of these days I will catch up on some of the One-Year Wonders.  Buehler qualifies.  Let's just say that things did not work out as hoped with Buehler this year, which was very disappointing.

2.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Yep, got a Rafaela in a pack.  He seems to come to me in packs reasonably often.   What I love about this card is that it is the only card in the team set where the photo has changed from his flagship set release.

3.  Jarren Duran.  I'm probably going to get Duran into my Century Club just in time for him to be traded.

And the next two scans are more TCDB trades.

1.  Mike Myers.  The award for the most random player to appear this year is Myers, with this card appropriately arriving in the mail on Halloween.  Myers was an effective LOOGY for several years and had a 3.44 ERA in 90 games for the Red Sox over two seasons (just 52.1 innings).  He was on the 2004 World Series roster.

2.  Bronson Arroyo.  I love how Panini puts some random retired players in their sets.  Last year was Mike Lowell.  Arroyo is weird because he was a fan favorite player, but spent far more time with the Reds than the Red Sox.  

3.  Tris Speaker.  Nice shot that I have not seen before.

4.  Terry Francona.  Still my favorite manager to get cards of.  Francona will be in the Hall of Fame someday.

5.  Bronson Arroyo.  The most random player to appear more than once in my pickups.  I had fewer than 20 cards coming into the week and I add two at the same time?

6.  Marcelo Mayer.  I am looking forward to seeing what Mayer can do over a full season, but he needs a steady position.  This will be one of the stories of the offseason.

1.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Going back to Gold Gloves, Yaz won seven, obviously all with Boston.  This is the second most in team history.  Dwight Evans won eight.

2.  Roger Clemens.  Seven-time Cy Young winner Clemens should have won at least one more, in 1990.

3.  Ted Williams.  Williams was certainly NOT a Gold Glove winner.

4.  Kutter Crawford.  I would like to see him healthy again next season.  He was good for 180 innings in 2024 and led the league in games started.  There is something to be said for that.

5.  David Ortiz.  Another player who could not be mistaken for a Gold Glover.  I maintain he wasn't as bad at first when he had to play there, and he did make a great play in the 2004 World Series throwing out Jeff Suppan returning to third base in a critical situation.

6.  Babe Ruth.  I still love grabbing Ruth cards that show him with the Red Sox.

That's it for today.  I might be able to start posting more regularly now since I got my laptop back.

Ceddanne Mail

Last week's mail was pretty slow.  Just three packages with five cards.  All of them Ceddanne Rafaela cards.

Most of the cards were autographs too.  Each package contained an auto, the three Topps Inception cards in the second and third row all came together.  I had been watching this lot a few times over and decided I would pull the trigger after receiving my winnings from my fantasy baseball league this year (I finished fifth, but was in the money).  The Finest card in the first row was purchased to replace a card that seemingly disappeared in the mail (the fourth time that has happened lately), but unfortunately I grabbed the Sky Blue, when I should have grabbed the Blue.  So, now I have another one coming.  We are about a week away from Gold Glove announcements.  Hopefully Ceddanne will win it.  He did win the Fielding Bible Award, so I think the Gold Glove is next.  The big question will be the Platinum Glove.

Topps Now Maildays

I am showing off three Topps Now cards I received last week.

Officially this is listed as a team card, but I am going to call it just a Ceddanne Rafaela card.  After all, Rafaela delivered the winning hit that propelled the Red Sox into the postseason, a walkoff triple.  He seems to have a flair for the dramatic.  Unfortunately, it didn't carry over into the postseason.  He has things to work on this offseason, his numbers were better this year, but he seems to have stretches where he completely loses his approach.  He was named a finalist for the Gold Glove in center field and I am looking forward to finding out if he wins, which he should.

Payton Tolle was the team's second-round pick last year.  He made his Major League debut on August 29 against Paul Skenes and the Pirates and struck out eight batters.  His fastball is electric, but he needs to work on his secondary pitches or he will not be a starting pitcher.  

As great as Tolle's debut was, Connelly Early's was better.  Early carved up the A's, striking out 11 and tying a club record for a debut.  The Red Sox won 6-0.  Early was good enough that he pitched the decisive game in the Wild Card series against the Yankees.  Unfortunately, the defense let him down in the fourth inning because he had been pitching well.  Early should be in the rotation next season.

Last Week's Maildays

Yesterday's post was the previous week.  This post is for last week.  I did save three Topps Now cards for a separate post that will go up tomorrow.

Only four Ceddanne Rafaela cards this week.  But they were pretty good ones.  I want to highlight the Bowman Sapphire Yellow in the second row and my first Printing Plate of Rafaela.  So, four more for the week.  Until tomorrow.

The next two scans are for a TCDB trade that did not include a Rafaela card.

1.  Jose Offerman.  This was a throw-in after a different card couldn't be found.  Offerman had a great start in Boston and was having a terrific year in 1999.  He was an All Star that year and hit .294/.391/.435 with 107 runs scored, 37 doubles, a league-leading 11 triples, 18 stolen bases and 96 walks versus 79 strikeouts.  Those are great numbers.  Unfortunately, he declined every year after that.

2.  Jarren Duran.  I really think we have seen the end of Duran's career in Boston.  I could be wrong, but I just think he is the easiest player to justify trading among the outfielders.  I will riot if they trade Ceddanne.

3.  Trevor Story.  Story had a great bounceback season and was a 20/20 guy this year.  He has an opt-out in his contract and it will be interesting to see if he exercises it.  Honestly, if he does, I don't think Boston will try too hard to bring him back.  But I can't see him making more money elsewhere either.  Ultimately, I do not think he will exercise it.

4.  Rafael Devers.  I still can't believe I will not see him in a Red Sox uniform anymore.

5.  Chris Sale.  Sale has resurrected his career in Atlanta and looks to be back on the Hall of Fame track.  

6.  Jarren Duran.

7.  Pedro Martinez.  

8.  Marcelo Mayer.  I want to see what a fully healthy season looks like from him.  Defensively, he is incredibly special.  He definitely has power.  He needs to work on his approach at the plate though.

9.  Xander Bogaerts.

10.  Bobby Doerr.  I think this was the last time we saw Diamond Kings in Donruss.  There is not much point to doing them now since Donruss cannot include current players.  But that was always my favorite subset/parallel.

11.  Tim Wakefield.  I still add Wakefield cards whenever I can.

12.  Carl Yastrzemski. 

13.  Dustin Pedroia.

14.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Celebrating Yaz's membership in the 3,000 hit club.

15.  Justin Turner.  Turner needs a One Year Wonder post soon.

16.  Brayan Bello.  I want to see Bello take that step forward next season into being a number two starter.  He was more good than bad this season, but he struggled down the stretch.

17.  Kenley Jansen.  I am hoping to see Jansen in the Hall of Fame someday too.

And finally, I was Zippy Zapped again:

Nice Clay Buchholz auto.  More the card than the signature as he has a bizarre signature.  This is apparently a redemption replacement autograph.  I am not sure what it was replacing though.  

Thanks again Kenny!

A Week of Ceddanne Maildays

This was actually supposed to be posted last weekend, but I was supposed to start a jury trial on Tuesday and so I was a bit too busy to get anything done.  So here we go.  That week's maildays was made exclusively of Ceddanne Rafaela cards.

The first card is another of those Leaf Exotic cards.  It was listed as another Giraffe parallel, but upon closer examination, I have determined it is more likely to be the Deer parallel.  

I had to add the 1990 design autograph.  That was always a favorite design of mine.  There are also three Bowman parallels from 2023.  I have been getting quite a few of those lately.

Here are the next batch.  I placed an order on COMC to get a few cards, one of which never got delivered from an earlier Ebay purchase.  I did a search for Rafaela aqua cards, so there is going to be a lot of aqua-colored parallels.  That card that never arrived is the middle card in the bottom row.  I also added a couple of the Donruss parallels that I really like.

A couple cards to highlight here are the first card in the middle row, which is the Fuchsia Lunar refractor and is a lot cooler in person.  Then there is the A&G Rip card.  It was already ripped or it would have been a lot more expensive.

So, 25 more Rafaela cards for the collection.  I still maintain I am not super-collecting him, but I think the results are starting to show otherwise.  I have not gone to the extent I did with Connor Wong though.  

R.I.P. Mike Greenwell

This one was pretty sad.  I started watching baseball in 1991.  One of the mainstays of the team at that point was Mike Greenwell.  He instantly became one of my favorite players, behind the big stars like Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens.  He continued with the team for several years and while he was not a big star, his status as the elder statesman of the lineup was a reason that he remained a favorite player.  He was an important player from my early years as a Red Sox fan.

Greenwell was with the team from 1985 through the 1996 season.  He spent his entire Major League career with the Red Sox.  He did attempt to play in Japan in 1997 and tried a comeback in the Majors, but was unsuccessful.  Greenwell was a two-time All Star (1988 and 1989) and won a Silver Slugger (1988).  His best season was in 1988 when he hit .325/.416/.531 with 22 home runs, 119 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.  He finished second in the MVP vote to Jose Canseco.  He was never quite that good again, but he did finish with a line of .303/.368/.463 with 1,400 hits, 130 home runs and 726 RBIs.  After his career, he went into local politics a little bit.  He struggled with cancer recently, ultimately losing that battle last week.   

My condolences go out to his family.  

2025 Topps Chrome Blaster

I really had the urge to break some packs this weekend and there are not many options where I am.  I picked up a blaster of Topps Chrome out of lack of other options.  I probably should have gone with my gut and grabbed Donruss.  Topps Chrome is way too expensive for what you normally get.  They should probably guarantee an autograph, even if it is just a minor rookie, for $40.00.

Anyway, here are the new Red Sox:

Yep, just the one card.  I did pull the Connor Wong base card, but I already had it.  So, just the base Richard Fitts.  Boston's biggest issue going into the postseason was a lack of depth.  Part of the problem was the extreme number of injuries suffered by the pitching staff.  Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Lucas Giolito and Dustin May were all starting pitchers that were unavailable in the postseason.  Fitts had a 2-4 record with a 5.00 ERA in 11 games, striking out 40 and walking 16.  He could be part of the puzzle next season.

Sunday Mailday Plus a Zippy Zapping

This might be how we do these for a little while.  Especially as the vast majority of stuff is Rafaela cards.  This post will include a recent Zippy Zapping though.  

In other news, the Red Sox season is over.  I am not happy about how it ended up.  I am sure I will discuss that at length in future posts.

1.  Bailey Horn.  Topps Chrome this year featured a number of Rookie Autograph cards of players that are appearing on Red Sox cards for the first time.  So, I have a bunch of cards to track down.  Bailey Horn was the first one I grabbed.  Horn was acquired early in the 2024 season to provide a lefty arm out of the bullpen.  The results were mixed.  He appeared in 18 games with a 6.50 ERA, striking out 13 and walking ten in 18 innings, but there were times he looked pretty good.  He had a disastrous game against the Rockies in which he gave up five earned runs in an inning and a third.  His numbers would not have been as bad without that.

Here are the Ceddanne Rafaela cards I received this week.  There are quite a few more coming in.  I grabbed a bunch of cards off of my wantlist after his walkoff hit propelling the Red Sox into the postseason so that they didn't get bought up.  That tends to happen after a big moment.  So, there are some pretty colorful parallels here.  Unfortunately, his performance did not carry over into the postseason apart from one very impressive at-bat in which he drew a walk that led to a rally in the game the Red Sox won.  So, now we wait to find out if he won the Gold Glove, which he should.

And next is the Zippy Zapping:

He came through with a couple of the rare Sega Card-Gen cards of David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez this time.  I needed both of them.  He has been dismantling most of his collection lately, which is always somewhat sad to see.  It's not something I have ever considered really.  Collecting has been a big part of my life for 35 years.  It may fade in and out, but I am glad I have never taken the step where I dismantled a collection.  It's an escape for me.  I have an incredibly difficult job that can be difficult to compartmentalize, but I can lose myself in baseball.  It's the one thing I can truly unplug the stresses of my job from and focus on.  So, I don't know if this is the last thing I will receive from him, but if it is, thanks for everything Kenny!  You certainly didn't have to send anything, but I always appreciate it.