2024 Obligatory Hall of Fame Post

 

On January 24th, we'll find out who gets to join former manager Jim Leyland in next summer's Hall of Fame festivities. I enjoy this time of year, especially as voters reveal their ballots. I actually like reading about these votes, and the thought process each writer makes in choosing who they think is worthy. I wish more writers gave us a inside look at their choices. It's fascinating.

For the past few years, I wrote about who I felt deserved to get elected. I decided to do that again this year as well. Pardon me while I copy and paste from part of my original post from 2018:

I obviously do not have an official vote, but I too have thought about who is worthy and who would make my unofficial ballot. Before I list my choices, a few clarifications into my voting process:

• I'm a "Big Hall" type of guy - I believe that the Hall's main purpose is to reflect the history of the game. I'm not going to cross a guy off just because he's not an inner circle type.
  
• As far as PED users go, I generally don't have a strong opinion. Again, the Hall should reflect this era of the game. To be honest, I have genuine reservations as to how much PED usage affects a player's overall stats. That being said, those guys are placed in the back of the line. As much as I may feel Manny Ramirez deserves to get in, if there are at least 10 other worthy candidates, he won't make my ballot.

I'm going to categorize players into 3 groups - definitely worthy, probably worthy, and maybe worthy. (Real scientific, I know...)

 

I've since added a 4th group, Not Worthy, to at least give a nod of appreciation to those "one and done" ballplayers you won't likely see on next year's ballot. I've also unfortunately forced myself to make a decision on a player who has been a part of the Astros cheating scandal.

 

Definitely Worthy

 

These are the guys I don't have to think hard about. Statistically, they belong, and that's all there is to it. Obviously, because of the PED/cheating issues, it's possible that not all of these guys may make my final ballot.

Carlos Beltrán - The "character clause" gets interesting with Beltran on the ballot. He was the primary scapegoat of the Astros' cheating scandal, due in part to being the only player from that team whose career concluded between that World Series victory and the report getting released. He was never officially punished, so how do the voters view this transgression? For now, I'm lumping Beltran with the PED users as guys who get will get my non-official vote, but not if there are any worthy candidates ahead of him. 

2011 Topps #302 Adrian Beltre

 

Adrian Beltre - I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Beltre's lone year in Boston put him on the path to the Hall of Fame. He solidified it in Texas, but Boston is where it started.

 

Joe Maurer - A three time batting champ is impressive enough, but to do it while as a catcher? Hall Of Fame worthy!

Manny Ramirez - Great player, dumb asshole. He would be a Hall of Fame lock if it weren't for the  PED suspensions and off-field bullshit.

 

Alex Rodriguez - Great player, egotistical asshole. He would be a Hall of Fame lock if it weren't for the  PED suspensions and the ways he tried to weasel around all of it.

Probably Worthy

These players have strong cases, but not airtight. There are usually some reservations. However, if they get elected, I won't have a problem with it.

Todd Helton - There's a significant gap between his home/road splits. Should that matter? I haven't really decided.

Torii Hunter - Statistically, he's not among the elite, but he strikes me as the kind of player whose 9 Gold Gloves, highlight reel catches, and overall love of the game will get him in someday through a veterans' committee.

Andruw Jones - A decade of being one of the most dynamic and electrifying players in baseball might be enough to overcome a legendary drop-off in production.

 

Gary Sheffield - He may not have been the most likable person, but he was a scary hitter at his peak.

1993 Score #534 Gary Sheffield (DT)

Chase Utley - Stat-based voters love him, but outside of those elite peak years he was pretty pedestrian.

Billy Wagner - He was dominant on the field (more so than Trevor Hoffman), but pitching under 1,000 innings in his career is a tough hurdle to jump.

Maybe Worthy

These guys have their supporters, and may have a long stay on the ballots because of them, but I'm not convinced they belong.

Bobby Abreu - Walks are not exciting. He may have been elite at getting on base, but he was never someone I saw play and thought "Now that's a Hall of Famer!"

Mark Beuhrle - He was a consistently solid starter, but that's not really Hall worthy.

Bartolo Colon - If you ranked everyone on this ballot based on "fame", Bartolo would be towards the top of the list. No one has come back from a PED suspension to the levels of popularity that Colon has.

Andy Petitte - An average pitcher who had the benefit of pitching for one of the most dominate baseball dynasties in recent history.

Jimmy Rollins - An underrated player, the former MVP is 6th all-time in games played at shortstop.

2008 Upper Deck #605 Jimmy Rollins

Francisco Rodríguez - 4th all-time in saves and the single season leader, but he just wasn't the same when he left the Angels.

 

Omar Vizquel - Without even getting into what a horrible human being he is, he was never a real candidate for me. Outside the Gold Gloves, he was an mediocre ballplayer at best.

Not Worthy

In my opinion, none of these guys have a strong enough case to be elected. 

 

Jose Bautista, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez, Brandon Phillips, Jose Reyes, James Shields, David Wright

These names gave us a lot of great individual seasons and highlight reel moments, but just didn't have the longevity of greatness required.

My Ballot

Here's my unofficial 10 player ballot:

1. Carlos Beltran
   
2. Adrian Beltre
   
3. Todd Helton
   
4. Torii Hunter
   
5. Andruw Jones
   
6. Joe Maurer
   
7. Manny Ramirez
   
8. Alex Rodriguez
   
9. Chase Utley
   
10. Billy Wagner
    

Ramirez, Rodriguez, and Sheffield are held back due to their PED connections, while Beltran gets the same treatment for his involvement in the Astos scandal. That leaves newcomers Beltre and Maurer  from the Definitely Worthy list and 5 guys from the Probably Worthy list. Three spots remaining for the cheaters, which go to Beltran, Ramirez, and Rodriguez. I thought of bumping one of those guys to give Sheffield one last vote on his final ballot, but then he had to go ahead and whine about the 2004 post-season.

So far, Beltre, Maurer, and Helton look like they'll make it, with Sheffield and Wagner also putting up strong numbers. It's looking like we'll have a good sized class this year!

Repack Haiku #340 (Kevin Seitzer)

Rook led league in hits

Overshadowed by young Bo

And Big Mac's power

 

1989 Topps #670 Kevin Seitzer

 

Has anyone had a more underrated rookie season than Kevin Seitzer? While all the headlines were going to his fellow rookie teammate Bo Jackson, he surprisingly led the entire American League in hits with 207. That got him second place in Rookie Of The Year voting, behind Mark McGwire's historic season.

6 Degrees Of Raffy - The Chris Gwynn Connection

It's time for another installment ("aka filler post") of 6 Degrees Of Raffy, where I connect a beloved card from my collection and connect the player depicted on it to current Red Sox superstar Rafael Devers.

 

We start with a randomly generated card from my collection:

Random TCDB Card: 

1991 Score #178 Chris Gwynn

It's been awhile since I've done one of these, and honestly I doubt I'll ever top the last one I did, but here we are with another junk wax era card. Chris Gwynn may be more famous for being Tony's brother, but he was a good enough player in his own right to carve out a 10-year career.

Looking at the Dodgers in the 1991 Score set, there were some obvious future Red Sox on the team in Ramon Martinez and Jose Offerman. Both of those guys had short term stays in Boston, and right before Boston started winning championships. I try to not automatically default to Red Sox players though, so it was off to the Oracle of Baseball feature on Baseball Reference. It didn't take long to find a nice short bridge to Devers.

 

Teammates in the 1991 Score set
#178 Chris Gwynn	#864 Darryl Strawberry (FRAN)

Prior to the 1991 season, the big off-season free agent signing went to Darryl Strawberry, who parlayed a 3rd-place MVP finish in 1990 into what was at the time a lucrative five-year $22.25 million contract with the Dodgers. Strawberry had a great first year in L.A., but unfortunately after that the wheels fell off due to injuries and drug problems.

Teammates in the 1997 Ultra set
#106 Darryl Strawberry	#103 Mariano Rivera

Strawberry eventually made his way to New York, where he was able to somewhat redeem himself in a part-time role. His arrival coincided with the last great Yankee dynasty. I could have picked any number of guys here - Jeter, Posada, Petitte - but ended up going with the one guy on that team I respected above all others.

Teammates in the 2011 Topps Heritage set
#185 Mariano Rivera	#281 Eduardo Nunez (RC)

 

Mariano played for 19 years, which allowed me to connect him to a young Yankees rookie who would go on to have a key World Series moment of his own.

 

Teammates in the 2019 Topps set
#3 Eduard Nunez (WS)	#228 Rafael Devers

 

Nunez of course hit a pinch-hit 3-run homer in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series. The guy he pitch-hit for? You guessed it, Rafael Devers!

Degrees of Raffy: 4

2023 Year In Review

Every year, I have taken a look at how the past year has impacted my collection, and I thought I should continue again this year and see what changed in 2023! 

2023 Highlights

• The blog reached 6 years, which included my 1,000th post!
  
• I also reached another milestone - 300 haiku! 
• The Time Travel Trading Project continues to grow. I started the year with 624 cards in the stack. After 61 trades, the stack is now at a whopping 797 cards. (This is even after I had "retired" 38 cards from the project! My trade partners have fed this beast with their generosity, and I am thankful!)
  
• I added two more cards to my Golden Sox Project which puts me at 13 of the 35 cards, or just over 1/3 of the way. I'll keep plugging away at this, but unless prices come way down on the Rafael Devers ASR card, I may not get this complete anytime soon. 
• My goal of acquiring the Topps base card of every Red Sox from 1975 onward is coming along well, I'm under 200 cards needed now, which is impressive since I wasn't collecting for about 25 years of that time. The list should go even faster now that I bought the most valuable of those cards - the 1983 Wade Boggs rookie card.
  
• I finished what is now the oldest complete set in my collection - The 1978 Topps set!

• In addition to that set, I completed/acquired 7 others inserts/sets this year (1987 Fleer - World Series, 1988 Fleer - All-Star Team, 1988 Fleer - Team Stickers, plus 4 other sets that I'll be showing off soon)

2023 Diamond Jesters Blog Stats

Number of posts: 148 (4 less than last year, still in range with what I have been putting out yearly)
Month with the most posts: 14 posts in March and October
Top 5 viewed posts:  Spam-bots aside, I had 37 posts hit the 100 view mark, which seems pretty good to me.

1. Time Travel Trading Update #73 (258) 
2. Random Thoughts And Musings For The Blog's 6th Anniversary (190)
3. Time Travel Trading Update #75 (190)    
4. 2023 World Series Tale Of The Tape (187)
5. Time Travel Trading Update #76 (186) 

Most commented posts: Random Thoughts And Musings For The Blog's 6th Anniversary - 31 comments (Granted, almost half of those were responses to comments from me, but still the 16 that you all wrote still led the field)
Followers: 70 (Who says blogs aren't cool anymore? 4 new followers since last year...)

My Collection

(Stats courtesy of the Trading Card Database)

 

Total number of cards: 45,343 (Just over 1,500 new cards acquired this year, about 500 less  than last year!)

Cards from 2023 sets: 316 (The dip in the amount of new cards continues, thanks to a nice combination of sets getting pushed back, those sets not being available locally, and my general unimpressed feelings about said sets)

Red Sox cards: 6,583 (Exactly 1,000 cards from last year's total - I couldn't plan that if I tried!)

Autographed cards: 44 (11 new this year: Alan Embree, Jeff Gray, Luis Mendoza, Joe Morgan, Ike Delock, Jim Marshall, Carl Pavano, Jason Varitek, Mike Maddux, Rich Gedman, Rico Petrocelli) 

 

Graded cards: 1 (No new cards this year)

Relic cards: 23 (4 new this year: Curt Schilling, Nomar Garciaparra/Pedro Martinez, Hideo Nomo, Johnny Damon)

 

All in all, 2023 was a great year! Here's hoping for an even better 2024!

Repack Haiku #339 (Jesse Crain)

Time in Majors done

Before first All-Star Game nod

Hurt two weeks prior

 

2004 Topps Traded & Rookies
#T134 Jesse Crain (FY, RC)

 

In his 10th Major League season, Crain had a great first half with the White Sox, pitching 29 straight scoreless innings. He earned his first All-Star game selection, but suffered a right shoulder strain two weeks prior and didn't participate. He never pitched in the Majors again.

Taking Advantage Of Nick's Anniversary Giveaway

If you're a regular reader of sports card blogs, you've probably seen others show off cards they claimed from Nick. Nick's blog, Dime Boxes -- The Low-End Baseball Card Collector's Journey, recently celebrated it's 12th year of existence, making it just a couple of weeks younger than my second child. As he's done in years past, Nick graciously offered up cards for other to claim. Despite being a tad late to the party, there were still a lot of great cards available, and I padded my Red Sox collection with a few:

 

 

I was surprised that 1960 Fleer card was still available! This is also my first opportunity to see the online exclusive black and white cards Topps put out in 2022.

Favorite Card: That black and white Pedroia is just artistically sharp, and a great action photo to boot!

Thanks for the cards Nick!

A Gift From Santa Oren

I see it so often in our little niche of the world, time and time again. From extra cards thrown in trades to blog contests to unexpected mailing, our community of card collectors has proven to be a collective of generous people. Yet, when such graces fall unto me, I can't help but feel humbled and overwhelmed. I feel unworthy of such gifts, and it touches me when others deem me so.

Such was the case with longtime collector and blog reader Oren, who as many of you know is among the most generous people out there. He surprised me with package of cards last month, and it was nothing short of amazing. 

Despite there being a lot of great cards, there were, to me, 10 big highlights:

10. 2023 Topps Update - Red Foil #US119 James Paxton (SN199)

 

Beautifully shiny and red. There's speculation that there is mutual interest in Paxton rejoining the Red Sox. I wouldn't be opposed to it assuming he's not the biggest starting pitcher they acquire this off-season.

9. 1997 Bowman - Certified Autographs Blue Ink #CA60 Carl Pavano (AU)

 

Ah, Carl Pavano! The centerpiece of the trade that brought Pedro Martinez from Montreal to Boston!

8. 1996 Leaf Signature Series - Extended Series Autographs #NNO Mike Maddux (AU, PR5000)

 

OK, so it's not his more famous brother Greg. Still cool though.

7. 2004 UD Rivals - What If #WI-4 Babe Ruth (SN2150)

 

I never realized Peter Gammons was featured on a card like this before. I always enjoyed his writing.

 

6. 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary cards

 

I know a lot of people don't like them, and in truth it's not a set I'd spend my money on, but I do appreciate the Red Sox that have shown up in my possession, especially that Pedro parallel.

 

5. 2020 Topps Archives - Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-RGE Rich Gedman (AU)

 

The Red Sox have a history of good catchers, and a lot of people forget Gedman was a 2-time All-Star

4. 2001 Topps Traded & Rookies - Relics #TTR-HR Hideo Nomo (MEM)

 

I remember watching his first start as a member of the Red Sox, a no-hitter against the Orioles. He also led the league in strikeouts that year, his only in Boston.

 

3. 2005 Topps Updates & Highlights - All-Star Stitches #ASR-JD Johnny Damon (MEM) 

 

My first All-Star Game relic. Damon made the All-Star team in his first and last seasons in Boston (2002, 2005).

2. 1999 Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game - Autographs #NNO Rico Petrocelli (AU) 

 

A member of the 1967 "Impossible Dream" team, he set the record for most home runs by a shortstop (40 - since broken) in 1969. Arguably the greatest shortstop in Red Sox history.

1. 1999 SP Signature Edition - Autographs #JV Jason Varitek (AU)

 

The last man to be named Captain of the Boston Red Sox, he led the team to 2 World Championships.

Awesome cards all-around. Thanks so much Oren!

Repack Haiku #338 (Jose Reyes)

Faced criticism

For preserving batting lead

After bunt base hit

 

2010 Topps National Chicle
#69 Jose Reyes

 

Entering the final day of the 2011 season, Reyes held a 2-point lead over Ryan Braun for the N.L. batting title. After hitting a bunt single, he asked his manager to remove him from the rest of the game in order to protect his lead. The gambit paid off, and Reyes became the first Met to win a batting title. This came 70 years after Ted Williams insisted on playing a double header and potentially jeopardizing his .400 season.

Down The Ebay Rabbit Hole #5 - All That Glitters

Happy New Year! I hope you can look back on 2023 fondly, and that this year will be filled with much joy and good health!

 

It's been awhile since I did one of these, so let's kick off the year with a refresh. I had a prepaid gift card that was set to expire soon (this month actually), so I went on a bit of an eBay spending spree. We've reached the penultimate purchase. (Technically, these were the last cards I bought, but I'm saving the biggest purchase for the last post of this series!)

One side project of mine has slowed to a crawl in recent years. In 2018, I decided to celebrate the Red Sox World Series Championship by acquiring the serial numbered gold parallel of every Red Sox card in the base and update sets. 5 years later and I was just a smidge over 1/3 of the way. Furthermore, I almost went the entire calendar year without adding any new cards. I can't have that, can I? I decided to search for some cheap card, and found a seller that had a few I could bundle together. I also picked up a Rainbow Foil parallel, just for fun.

 

 

Ian Kinsler was a trade deadline pickup necessitated by the unfortunate injury woes of Dustin Pedroia. He wasn't quite the offensive and defensive boost the Sox were hoping for, but he didn't hurt the team either, and that consistency was enough. In the World Series, he went 1-10 with an RBI. 

Which is still better than what Hanley Ramirez did. Hanley was a big off-season acquisition in 2014, and just didn't perform well over the course of his contract. He was released on May 30th of the season having only played 44 games. He still got a ring though!

The Rainbow foil is of course of the Orioles' new closer, Craig Kimbrell. Although he was an All-Star every year he was with the Red Sox, he has a tendency to struggle in the post-season (see this year's NLCS). When the last out of the World Series was made, it wasn't Kimbrell pitching but Chris Sale. Good luck with that Baltimore.

The Golden Sox Project is now over 40% complete, and I'd like to get over 50% by this time next year. As far as completion goes, it'll be tough finding an affordable copy of Dever's ASR ...yikes, I should have snagged one before he signed that massive extension...

The Greatest Red Sox Cards Of 2023

I can't believe I've been doing this for 5 years now! I have to admit though that this year was the toughest one yet. For the first time, I didn't have Stadium Club to provide at least a few worthy contenders. I'm hoping it's just a one-time blip, but at least the door was opened for some more variety. That's a good thing, right? So without further ado, here is my expertly chosen list of greatness:

Honorable Mention: 2023 Tops Now

#144 Fair Or Fowl?

 

This is technically a Red Sox card, at least according to TCDB. Truth be told, if I were to do a list of the worst Red Sox cards of 2023, it would probably win. It's badly cropped, the ducks are just standing still, and it's altogether not that interesting of a card. I like ducks, though, and this is whimsical enough to at least be worthy of a mention.

 

10. 2023 Topps Update - Action Stars

#AS-14 Rafael Devers

 

Most of the time, the last spot on this list is tough to choose because they're are so many great contenders. This year it was tough because so few stood out. I'm not overly fond of the "Insert player in front of generic computer generated background" type cards, but this one at least looks cool. Here's hoping Devers launches a lot of "bombs" next year!

9. 2023 Topps

#283 Matt Strahm

 

When I was in college, I had long glorious hair. Like Strahm, it often flew in my face whenever I did anything active.

8. 2023 Topps Heritage - Then and Now

#TAN-10 Luis Tiant/Nathan Eovaldi

 

Two Red Sox post-season heroes for the price of one! Just to give you a glimpse of how baseball has changed: The back off this card reveals El Tiante led the AL with 7 shutouts in 1974. In 2022, Eovald also led the AL in shutouts....with 1...a lead he shared with 6 other pitchers...

7. 2023 Topps Holiday

#H8 Masataka Yoshida (SSP, VAR)

 

Maybe it's the eggnog talking, but I do enjoy these Holiday sets, especially since they've stepped up their game beyond just adding oversized snowflakes. I especially enjoy their short-print, which feature such novelties as candy cane bats and Christmas light necklaces.

6. 2023 Topps Archives

#112 Babe Ruth

 

I'll say this for Ohtani-mania: It has paved the way for more cards of Babe Ruth as a Red Sox. Of course it would have been nice to show him pitching since he's listed as a pitcher, but seeing a younger, dare I say slimmer Babe on cardboard is always nice.

 

5. 2023 Bowman - Bowman Spotlights

#BS-7 Triston Casas

 

In stark contrast to the Devers Action Star card, I love this one for it's sheer simplicity. Take those two logos in the upper corners away, and it'd be perfect. No text, no fancy graphics, just a simple illumination of the player.

 

4. 2023 Topps - All Aces

#AA-5 Pedro Martinez

 

If you have any of this insert and have seen it in hand, you know how much better it is than what a screen shows. Pedro was a true Ace, and provided exciting moments in spades!

 

3. 2023 Topps

#242 Jarren Duran (FS)

 

Earlier this month, Bob over at The Best Bubble had a post showcasing some great cards of players flying through the air. The illusion of Jarren leaping over his "Future Stars" designation makes this a worthy inclusion to any mini-collection of that ilk!

 

2. 2023 Topps Living

#629 Jason Varitek

 

I gotta give artist Angel Aviles credit, this is a great rendering of the former Red Sox captain! The look of determination, the eye black, the shine off his helmet - everything about this card is well done!

 

1.  2023 Topps Archives

#77 Tris Speaker

 

I am 48 years old, and for the most part I conduct myself as a mature, responsible adult. However I can't help but snicker like a 12-year-old boy every time I look at this card. Why? Because Topps captured this on cardboard:

 

 

Tris Speaker, a Hall of Fame legend, is getting kneed in the groin. There ain't no way around it, knee is right there below the belt. I doubt he's wearing a cup. You can't unsee it now. You're welcome. It brings me way too much joy, and for that I deem it the greatest Red Sox card of 2023!

So there you have it! Do you agree with my rankings? Any cards that I might have missed?

Relive The Greatest Red Sox Cards Of:

2019 *** 2020 *** 2021 *** 2022

Repack Haiku #337 (Moises Alou)

Made the All-Star team

For five different ball clubs

Six times overall

 

1991 Donruss #38 Moises Alou (RR)

 

Outside the first team he ever played for (Pirates - only 2 games) and the last team he ever played for (Mets), Alou represented every other franchise he suited up with at an All-Star Game. Not only that, he got a hit as a member of each club:

 

1994 - Expos (1-1, 2B, 1 RBI - Ended the game with a walk-off double!)

1997 - Marlins (1-2)

1998 - Astros (1-3, R)

2001 - Astros (0-1)

2004 - Cubs (1-2)

2005 - Giants  (1-1, 2B, BB, R)

As an All-Star, he batted .500/.546/.700 with 2 R and a game winning RBI - not too shabby!

Merry Christmas!

 

Have a 

It's the best time of the year!

I don't know if there will be

but have a 

 of 

Merry Christmas to all of you out in blogger-land! May your stockings be filled with cardboard! (And yes, I did just repost this from previous years - I'm not lazy, I just have a lot of presents to wrap!)