A Small But Ruthian Set

On one of my recent trips to my local card shop, I was leafing through the Red Sox cards when I came upon this cool oddball:

 

 

Babe Ruth, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox! I love these high quality black and white photos, and it was an easy choice to add it to my stack.

As I was entering it into my collection on the TCDB, I learned a little more about the set. The card is from the 1994 Megacards Ruthian Shots set, and it's a small set consisting of only 5 cards. According to Beckett, the set was given away at card shows when the collector purchased a 1994 Conlon Collection wax box. Looking at the set, I couldn't help but notice that despite it being about Babe Ruth, none of the cards feature him in a Yankee uniform. I don't know why one shows him in Boston, maybe the Yankees organization denied them permission.

I figured that despite this, if my LCS had any more of these cards, they would be among the stack of Yankee cards. Sure enough, when I went back and checked, I found the remaining 4 cards.

 

 

I now have the complete set! I must be slacking, because this little group represents the first set I've completed this year. 

The backs are very informative, and mention Ruth's Yankee years heavily. (You'll notice that Ruth's fishing buddy is Lou Gehrig too - bonus Hall of Fame content!)

Sometimes you'll never know what you'll find!

Repack Haiku #384 (Carlos Rodon/Logan Webb)

Teammates for one year

Both earned Cy Young Award votes

While on third place team

 

2023 Topps - One-Two Punch
#12P-11 Carlos Rodon/Logan Webb

 

Rodon spent one lone season in San Francisco, but he made the most of it by earning an All-Star nod and finishing 6th in Cy Young voting. Webb also had a good year, finishing 11th in voting for the award. Despite having two great starters, the Giants finished 3rd in their division with a .500 record.

The All-Time Red Sox/Dodgers Lineup 2.0

One good thing about the Dodgers winning the first three games of the World Series is that I got to work on this post earlier than expected...

First of all, congrats to the Los Angeles Dodgers for winning the 2024 World Series! I didn't get to watch any of it this year, as Fox is not one of my streaming options. I did watch highlights though (and even some lowlights), so I saw all the good stuff! I now have a soft spot for the Dodgers, as they were the team on hand for both the Red Sox most recent win, and now the Yankees most recent loss. Way to wedge yourself into the rivalry, L.A.!

Speaking of that Dodgers-Red Sox World Series, back when it was going down I did a blog post where I made a lineup comprised of the best players that have donned both uniforms. I've done it for the World Series Championship team and the Red Sox every year since, with the exception of 2020. (Ironically because the Dodgers had won, and it didn't seem worth doing just 2 years after I originally had done them.)

 

Now we're significantly further removed from that 2018 Series, and enough time has passed where I feel an update is appropriate. You're welcome to read the original blog post obviously, but for simplicity sake, here's that lineup from 6 years ago:

Catcher: David Ross

1st Baseman: Adrian Gonzalez

2nd Baseman: Alex Cora

Shortstop: Nomar Garciaparra

3rd Baseman: Adrian Beltre

Left Fielder: Manny Ramirez

Center Fielder: Reggie Smith

Right Fielder: J.D. Drew

Starting Pitcher: Pedro Martinez

Closer: Eric Gagne

Manager: Grady Little

Since the start of the 2019 season, 21 players have joined the list of honored individuals to have suited up for both teams.  From that list, I have determined 3 positions where my all-time team can get upgraded:

 

2nd Baseman: Enrique Hernandez replaces Alex Cora

2022 Topps #90 Enrique Hernandez

2020 Topps #135 Enrique Hernandez

Enrique isn't an All-Star level player, but he's often indispensable. He's had some big postseason moments for both teams! He's got a "leg up" on everyone else! (See what I did there?)

Right Fielder: Mookie Betts replaces J.D. Drew

2019 Topps Big League #200 Mookie Betts

2021 Topps Heritage #168 Mookie Betts (IA)

What more can I say about Mookie? He's a future Hall of Famer, fun to watch, and I'm genuinely happy to see him win his 3rd World Series ring. The scar from that trade won't heal for a long time...

 

Closer: Kenley Jansen replaces Eric Gagne

2024 Topps #267 Kenley Jansen

2022 Topps #396 Kenley Jansen

I could have gone with Craig Kimbrel here, but Jansen just felt like the right call since 14 out of his 15 seasons were played in one of these two uniforms. At 36, he still has something in the tank. He needs just 32 saves to pass Lee Smith for 3rd all-time, and just 53 saves to reach 500. A couple of average seasons should do it, and if he does, he's another Hall of Famer.

Designated Hitter: Added J.D. Martinez

2019 Topps #96 J.D. Martinez (WS)

2023 Topps Archives #106 J.D. Martinez

I realized I never listed a DH on the original post, so let's fix that. It'll give me a chance to add a personal favorite in Martinez. J.D. played a total of 6 seasons between the Red Sox and Dodgers, and the only year he wasn't an All-Star was in 2020 when they didn't play one. One of those types that makes everyone in the lineup around him better.

Congrats again, Dodgers! Hopefully we can do this again in another 6 years (and hopefully the Red Sox will stop trading good players to you - I can't shake the feeling Raffy will end up in Dodgertown on a salary-dump trade...)