A Few Trades and a 63 Fleer Tito Francona to Trade

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2014 Topps is Frustrating Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks Ryan!


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

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

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

11.  1996 Leaf Mike Greenwell.  Another Gator sighting.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks Jeff!

A Fantastic Catch Plus Some Random Stuff

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

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

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

2.  2004 Upper Deck Famous Quotes Carl Yastzemski.

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

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

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

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

And now for the tradebait:

My First JBJ Auto and 2014 Topps Blaster

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

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

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

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

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

A Whole Bunch of JBJ Additions

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

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

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

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

4.  2011 Playoff Contenders Prospect Ticket Jackie Bradley Jr.

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

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

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

8.  2013 Bowman Chrome Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.

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

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

A forum trade to show off:

11.  2013 Bowman Platinum Prospects Purple Allen Webster.

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

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

Great Scott! (And Xander?)

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

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

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

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

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

3.  2013 Bowman Top 100 Xander Bogaerts.

Weekend Updates

Is it baseball season yet?

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

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

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

The Hall of Fame Post

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Stuff With Some Vintage Oddballs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks Mark!  Or Harry!

Prizm Blaster

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

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

Christmas Packages from Community Gum, Cardboard Habit, and More

My mail box was full of packages on Christmas Eve.  Since I do not expect any cards on Christmas, these were kind of like my presents:

Up first is a smaller trade that I worked out on the forums for some odds and ends:

1.  2012 Bowman Blue Kevin Youkilis.  Youkilis recently signed a contract with the Rakutan Golden Eagles of Japan.  I always liked Youk and this card has a good closeup of his unusual batting stance.

2.  2012 Bowman International David Ortiz.  What group of Red Sox cards is complete without Big Papi?  If he has another couple of good seasons in him, I think his Hall of Fame chances will increase dramatically.

3.  2013 Topps 1971 Mini Nomar Garciaparra.  It is probably not surprising that Nomar was my favorite player starting in 1997.  He was an incredible talent and could do just about anything on the field.  Unfortunately injuries decimated his career.  I still think he should be considered for the Hall of Fame, he was one of the best players in the game from 1997 to 2003.

4.  2013 Bowman Chrome Jacoby Ellsbury.  He's a Yankee now.  I still get his Red Sox cards, but I am disappointed he went to the Yankees of all teams.  I will always remember his 2011 season, his straight steal of home against the Yankees and his 70 stolen base season of 2009.

5.  2013 Bowman Chrome Sapphire Rookie Reprint Ted Williams.  Finally a Red Sox card from this ongoing insert set.  The art left something to be desired.  But hey, it's the Splendid Splinter, the greatest Redd Sox player of all time.

I have been picking up the occasional card off of Ebay lately still: 

6.  2013 Bowman Draft Picks Silver Ice Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  Most of my Ebay buys have been Jackie Bradley Jr.

Up next is my first trade with Community Gum.  He had a tradebait post awhile back and showed off a couple of Red Sox cards from the 2012 Topps Golden Giveaway Die Cut set.  These were only available through the online Golden Giveaway codes.  I used a lot of these codes, but only ever got the stupid online coins.  I always wanted one of the cards but never managed to get one.  Now I have two.  I traded a bunch of cards for his player collections for these:

7.  2012 Topps Golden Giveaway Die Cut Jon Lester.  Boston needs to lock him up for the long term.  His postseason numbers are incredible.

8.  2012 Topps Golden Giveaway Die Cut Dustin Pedroia.  If his career keeps going the way it has, he will be a Hall of Famer as well.

Thanks Jon!  You helped me knock off one of my big wants.

Next is another Ebay item:

9.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Silver Wave Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  So far, the rarest card in my mini Bradley player collection, numbered out of 25.

Next is another terrific trade I made with Cardboard Habit.  I noticed on a tradebait post a couple of cards that I really wanted and set something up.  I still owe him some cards which will be sent out very soon:

10.  2013 Topps Allen & Ginter Autograph Felix Doubront.  This is the major card I wanted.  Doubront is one of my favorite current players and this is a great-looking card.

11.  2013 Topps Manufactured Reprint Ted Williams.  This is the 1956 card, I had the 1955.  Another great-looking Williams card to add to my collection.

12.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Blue Refractor.  This one was unexpected, but I am thrilled that it is here.

Thanks Judson!  Your cards will be on the way soon.

Finally, another Ebay win:

13.  2013 Panini Prizm Red Pulsar Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  I actually like the 2013 Prizm set, mostly because of the color parallels.  I still wish they had an MLB license, but this looks pretty nice.  I actually got a lot of six of these, the Bradley is the one I bought it for.

Merry Christmas everyone!

A Big Mailday Post, and a Zippy Zapping

Monday morning saw my post office box overflowing.  And not all of that was letters from other attorneys, police reports for cases, or the other usual crap I get as an attorney.  It held several packages of baseball cards.  My favorite kind of mailday.

Up first is three packages full of Jackie Bradley Jr. cards:

1.  2013 Bowman Top 100 Jackie Bradley Jr.  This one spent a brief time on my Ten Most Wanted list before being picked up for cheap on Ebay.

The next two came in a forum trade in which I gave up some Red Sox doubles.

2.  2013 Pinnacle Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  This was the last card I needed to complete this team set.

3.  2013 Finest Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC. 

The final two came in a lot on Ebay.

4.  2013 Bowman Chrome Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.

5.  2013 Bowman Chrome Xfractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.

The next package was a large trade package from Mark who has been commenting on here sporadically, chock full of vintage Red Sox.  Mark, I really appreciate the package.  I am working on some goodies for you to be sent out here soon.

1.  1989 Baseball Card Magazine Roger Clemens.  Heritage before Heritage.

2.  1990 Baseball Card Magazine Roger Clemens.  Same here.

3.  1984 Ralston/Purina Wade Boggs.  I love oddball cards.  Food issues are my favorites.  This one is pet food but it still qualifies.  The Milk Bone cards in 1992 were some other good ones.  Boggs looks kind of grumpy here.

4.  1975 Topps Mini Tommy Harper.  Hey my first 75 mini.  These are held in particularly high regard by Night Owl.  His fanaticism with them has lead me to want one.

5.  1975 Hostess Bill Lee.  Ah here we go with a food issue.  I would love to get the George Scott from 1977 as well.

6.  1975 Topps Tommy Harper.  Boston's single season stolen base record holder until Jacoby Ellsbury shattered it in 2009.

7.  1973 Topps Rogelio Moret.  An underrated arm for the Red Sox in the early 1970's.  He was 13-2 in 1973 and 14-3 in 1975.

8.  1973 Topps Marty Pattin. Pattin was another decent starter for the Red Sox in the early 1970's.  He was a 17 game winner in 1972.

9.  1972 Topps Sonny Siebert.  Siebert was Boston's leader in WAR in 1971.  Kind of an unusual stat, particularly on a team with Reggie Smith and Carl Yastrzemski.

10.  Unknown Mike Nagy card.  Any help identifying this would be appreciated.  Nagy was terrific in 1969 as a rookie, going 12-2 but struggled after that.

11.  1967 Topps Don McMahon.  Acquired in the trade that sent fan favorite Dick Radatz to Cleveland, McMahon was effective in a partial season in the back end of the Boston bullpen.

12.  1967 Topps Dave Morehead.  Morehead had his 15 minutes of fame in 1965 when he threw a no hitter.  Unfortunately his career never really got off the ground.

13.  1966 Topps Chuck Schilling.  No relation to Curt.  Chuck was a terrific defensive second baseman who could not hit to save his life.  He did have a little pop occasionally though.

14.  1965 Topps Chuck Schilling.

15.  1965 Topps Earl Wilson.  Wilson was the second African American to play for Boston.  He eventually became a reliable starter, throwing a no hitter in 1962.  He also had a lot of power for a pitcher, hitting 35 home runs in his career.

Thanks Mark!

I love the silk collection partial parallel.  I try to pick a few of these up once in awhile but they are in high demand, so it is difficult some times.  I managed to add one recently though:

16.  2010 Topps Silk Collection Victor Martinez.  Martinez was very successful as a Red Sox player in his brief year-and-a-half stint.  Unfortunately his future was not behind the plate so Boston did not keep him around.

Bowman Draft presents a quandary for me.  I love adding Red Sox cards, but I am kind of ambivalent towards adding a bunch of cards of players who will likely never make the Majors.  So I do not usually go out of my way to get cards.  But if I can get them in a trade without giving much up, it works for me:

17.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Drake Britton RC.  I am okay with this one because Britton appeared for the Red Sox and had moderate success at times.  Nice tattoos.

18.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Prospects Joseph Monge.  Just drafted this year out of high school.  He is likely a long way away.

19.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Top Prospects Matt Barnes.  Barnes is no longer Boston's highest rated pitching prospect, which goes to show how deep Boston's minor league system has become.

20.  2013 Bowman Draft Picks Drake Britton RC.  Another Britton.  I am disappointed Brandon Workman did not make an appearance in this set.

21.  2013 Bowman Draft Picks Prospects Bryan Hudson.  Another draft pick from this year and another long shot to make it.

22.   2013 Bowman Draft Picks Top Prospects Matt Barnes.

23.  2013 Bowman Draft Picks Top Prospects Xander Bogaerts.  I am really excited to see Bogaerts in the Majors next season.  He performed well in the postseason.

24.  2013 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Bill Buckner.  Nice Buckner card.  He appeared a lot this year for some reason.

Next is a trade I made for a card off my wantlist:

25.  2013 Topps Manufactured Rookie Patch Wade Boggs.  Oddly Boggs is listed as a first baseman on this card.  Carney Lansford was still on the team when Boggs came up and Boston wanted to get his bat in the lineup regularly.  I like this card a lot.

Finally, one of my favorite trade partners sent me an unsolicited package of cards with some great stuff included:

I have been Zippy Zapped.

26.  1970 Topps Tony Conigliaro.  Incredible.  I love this card.  Conigliaro is such a tragic story.  This card was issued after his successful comeback.  Unfortunately it would not last.

27.  2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks Green Mookie Betts.  Remember this name.  Betts had an incredible season in the minors.  Unfortunately if he is to make it in Boston, he will have to find another position.

28.  1998 Topps Tek Pedro Martinez.  I need to go back and find one player to try for the entire spectrum of Tek patterns.

29.  2013 Bowman Draft Picks Breakouts Garin Cecchini.  Another young player to watch.  Cecchini could find himself the new third baseman if Middlebrooks continues to falter.

Thanks a ton Kenny!  I will have to pay you back some day soon.

One Card Mailday

But it's a good one:

2013 Bowman Chrome Green Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  I have been reading a lot of articles and comments about the Red Sox center field situation.  The front office seems content with Bradley, although there is consideration about adding a bench player in case he falters.  Most notably Boston has moved on from attempting to trade for Matt Kemp.  Good move, in my opinion.  Kemp is expensive and has had a lot of injury problems over the last couple of years, several of which could be nagging injuries.  Commenters are not as positive.  Many just look at the small sample size of his numbers last year at the major league level and would prefer he continue playing at Triple A until he is ready.  The problem with that theory is that players need to advance to continue honing their skills.  Bradley had a decent season in Pawtucket.  Not great, but certainly good enough.  He should be given the chance to play at the Major League level.  He is ready.

Still Going....

I know I have not been posting much.  I am currently set for a number of jury trials and finding the time to post is becoming difficult.  On top of that there is the usual holiday matters to attend to, which Christmas Party to go to, going shopping, decorating the house, blah blah blah.  So yeah, my time is limited lately.  

I figured I would show off the most recent additions to my collection quick.

1.  2013 Topps Heritage Clay Buchholz SP.  I am down to needing just one short print to complete the team set.  I still need Dustin Pedroia, if anyone has that.

2.  2013 Topps Camo Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  This is what I was referring to in the title.  I really wanted one of the camo parallels and came across this on sale with three other Bradley parallels.

3.  2013 Topps Orange Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  I didn't even know there were orange parallels.

4.  2013 Topps Black Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  And the last one is the rarest, though the camo is my favorite.

Slooooow Offseason

With the new season still several months away, and very few new sets coming out during the offseason, it is harder and harder to find new baseball cards.  My next batch all came from Ebay.

I don't care for the online only Topps sets.  For the second year in a row, Topps saw fit to release an updated Heritage set only available in complete set form and only online.  With just four Red Sox cards, I did not want to shell out the $100.00 for the set and take a chance at a decent autograph, particularly since none of the autos were Red Sox.

1.  2013 Topps Heritage High Number Allen Webster RC.  Webster looks like he should be able to help next year.  They need to get something out of the Punto trade.

2.  2013 Topps Pro Debut Allen Webster.  This was a throw-in.

3.  2013 Topps Heritage High Number Koji Uehara.  This is one of the reasons I picked up this team set.  Hopefully next year there will be some more cards of Koji.

4.  2013 Topps Heritage High Number Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  Another reason I wanted this lot.

5.  2013 Topps Heritage High Number Jose Iglesias.  I was surprised this card showed him in a Red Sox uniform.

6.  2013 Finest 93 Finest Jackie Bradley Jr.  Just an awesome-looking insert here.  The refractors are going for insane amounts.

7.  2013 Finest 93 Finest Mike Napoli.  A hit off of my Top 10 finally.

8.  2013 Pinnacle Museum Collection Jackie Bradley Jr. RC.  The JBJ kick is still going...



In news, Boston picked up Edward Mujica from the Cardinals as a free agent.  Mujica is a live right-handed arm out of the bullpen, relatively young, with impeccable control.  A possible Uehara-type in the pen with closing experience.  I like this move.

Wheelings and Dealings

The Hot Stove Season is getting under way and there is some big news.

First the pro-Boston news:
Boston acquires Burke Badenhop from Brewers.  Badenhop is a right-handed reliever that the Brewers under-used for some strange reason last season.  He had some decent numbers but almost all of them came in low-leverage situations.  I am not sure how to feel about this one, but all they gave up was a minor leaguer named Luis Ortega who is quite a ways away.

Boston signs A.J. Pierzynski.  Well they needed a catcher I suppose.  Pierzynski has frequently been labelled a clubhouse cancer though, so I am not sure of this one.  He has some pop and is durable, but will he hurt the chemistry?  I guess we will find out.

Now the bad stuff:
Jarrod Saltalamacchia signs with Marlins.  Probably the prelude to a trade to the Mets next year.  I liked Salty but he was not getting three years in Boston.  Particularly with Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart coming on strong.

Jacoby Ellsbury signs with Yankees.  Seriously?  I came to grips with the likelihood of Ellsbury leaving.  Jackie Bradley Jr. will be the new center fielder, but the Yankees?  Really?  Also, this looks like a pretty likely contract the Yankees will be regretting in a few years.  Seven years with an option for an eighth.  Wow.  And $150 million.  Seems like a recipe for disaster.

Recent Pickups

I have not had much time to post lately.  I have been very busy with work.  Add to that the fact that there have not been a lot of packages coming in lately have made writing posts a bit of a chore.

Nevertheless, here is what I have gotten in lately:

I have one trade package where I got the following two cards:
1.  2013 Topps Chrome Orange Refractor Mike Napoli.  Hopefully Napoli returns next year.  Boston needs him.

2.  2013 Topps Emerald Jackie Bradley Jr.  Still going strong.

And then each of the following came from Ebay:
3.  2013 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr.

4.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Jackie Bradley Jr.

5.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr.

6.  2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Black Wave Refractor Jackie Bradley Jr.  I love this card.  Just a great-looking parallel.

And next is a value pack break of 2013 Bowman Chrome:

7.  2013 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractor Jon Lester.  Numbered out of 199, this is just a great pack pull.  It has been a good year for me getting cards in packs.  This is another good one.

8.  2013 Bowman Chrome Prospects Henry Owens.  Boston's top pitching prospect now.  Owens has the ability to become a number one starter.