Friday, January 17, 2025

2025 Obligatory Hall Of Fame Post


 
On January 21st, we'll find out who gets to join Dick Allen and Dave Parker 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 will get my non-official vote, but not if there are any worthy candidates ahead of him. 

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.
 
CC Sabathia - A former Cy Young winner with over 250 victories and 3,000 strikeouts should get a plaque.

Ichiro Suzuki - If ever there was a slam-dunk candidate for the hall, Ichiro is it. The only question will be if he gets in unanimously. 
 
2019 Topps Archives
#315 Ichiro (HL, SP)

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.

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.

Dustin Pedroia - The heart and soul of multiple World Series Champion teams, Pedey gave everything he had on the field. He's one of those players you can't help but wonder what they could have done if their career had not been cut short from an on the field injury.
 
2009 Topps - Ring Of Honor
#RH-56 Dustin Pedroia
 
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 for a Hall of Fame player.

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.
 
Felix Hernandez - He kind of strikes me as the pitching counterpart to Andruw Jones: Started off strongly, then just fell off a performance cliff.

2016 Topps #283 Felix Hernandez

Ian Kinsler - Kinsler, Utley and Pedroia were the premier second basemen of their time, and it'll be intereting to watch how voters essentially rank their worthiness.

Brian McCann - Right under our noses, McCann surprisingly ended up as one of the best power-hitting catchers in baseball. His 10 season of at least 20 home runs trails only Piazza, Berra, and Bench.

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.

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.

David Wright - I initially thought Wright wasn't worthy, but if I wonder what Pedroia's candidacy would have looked like without the injuries, than I can do no less for one of the Mets' all-time greats.

Not Worthy

 
In my opinion, none of these guys have a strong enough case to be elected. 
 
Carlos Gonzalez, Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones, Russell Martin, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, Troy Tulowitzki, Ben Zobrist

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. Torii Hunter
  3. Andruw Jones
  4. Dustin Pedroia
  5. Manny Ramirez
  6. Alex Rodriguez
  7. CC Sabathia
  8. Ichiro Suzuki
  9. Chase Utley
  10. Billy Wagner

Ramirez and Rodriguez are held back due to their PED connections, while Beltran gets the same treatment for his involvement in the Astos scandal. That leaves newcomers Suzuki and Sabathia from the Definitely Worthy list and 5 guys from the Probably Worthy list. Three spots remaining, so the trio of Beltran, Ramirez, and Rodriguez make their way on regardless.

Ichiro, Sabathia and Wagner (who is in his final year on the ballot) look like they'll make it, with Beltran and Jones also putting up strong numbers. It's looking like we'll have another good sized class this year!
 

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Repack Haiku #393 (Luis Alicea)

Thirteen year career
Won World Series ring as coach
With Boston Red Sox
 
1989 Score #231 Luis Alicea (RC)
 
Alicea spent 13 years in the Majors, primarily with the Cardinals. He was the first base coach for the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

Monday, January 13, 2025

Santa Oren Strikes Again!

I don't know what I did to end up on Santa Oren's "nice list", but once again I was surprised by an unexpected mailing from the long time blog reader and collector extraordinaire. As is his M.O., he sent a nice full padded envelope full of goodies. Rather than show off everything, I'm going to highlight my 10 favorites:

10. 2021 Topps Gold Label - Class 2 Black

#93 David Ortiz


We'll start things off with this shiny Ortiz, which initially confused me as being a color parallel of a "class" parallel...Gold Label is just so weird. Pretty though!
 

9. 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary lot

 
Speaking of shiny, I'm always appreciative of these Chrome Platinum Anniversary cards, especially when they include cards of Luis Tiant and Roger Clemens. Danny Santana looks so out of place in this group!
 

8. 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter - Relics 

#AGR-JLO Jed Lowrie (MEM)

 
Oren often sends me some fun "hits" and this time is no different. This relic is from Red Sox fan favorite and Athletics' All-Star Jed Lowrie.
 

7. 1996 Leaf Signature Series - Autographs Bronze

#NNO Dwayne Hosey

 
The Leaf Signature Series always looks nice, even if it is of a player who only played 52 games in the Majors! Fun fact: After his MLB career ended, he played in Japan and won the 1997 Central League home run title, beating out Japanese legend Hideki Matsui!
 

6. 1999 SP Signature Edition - Autographs

#ShH Shea Hillenbrand (AU)

 
You have my respect if you remembered that Shea Hillenbrand was the starting 3rd baseman for the AL in the 2002 All-Star Game!
 

5. 2023 Topps Archives

#77 Tris Speaker   

 
This card was declared the Greatest Red Sox Card of 2023 by yours truly. Why? Because how many cards out there show a Hall of Famer getting kneed in the groin?
 

4. 2019 Topps Update - Major League Material

#MLM-MC Michael Chavis (MEM)


 The "Ice Horse" was a 1st round draft pick for the Red Sox in 2014. I really like the design of this card with the color fade to black and white. A tipping the cap pose if always a bonus too.
 

 3. 2023 Stadium Club - Autographs

#SCBA-NC Narciso Crook (AU)

 
This is a fun autograph, for no other reason that Crook never played a single game as a member of the Red Sox. Also, he has this card in the Stadium Club set, but not a normal base card.
 

2. 2023 Stadium Club - Blue Foil

#284 David Ortiz (SN50)

 
Beloved Hall of Famer? check. Celebration from a World Series victory? check. Serial numbered to 50 copies? check!
 

1. 2024 Topps Allen & Ginter - Framed Mini Relics

#MFR-DO David Ortiz

 
Safe to say my collection of David Ortiz cards received a nice boost thanks to Oren! This is my 3rd David Ortiz relic, which is surprising since I don't actively hunt down relics. I'm pretty sure each one has been gifted to me somehow.

Thanks again for all the great cards Oren! May 2025 be filled with lots of wonderful cards for your collection!
 





 

Friday, January 10, 2025

Quick Thoughts On The 2025 Topps Design

In case you haven't heard yet, Topps released the design for this year's base set. While it's all still fresh in my head, I figured I'd write down my first thoughts. (Images from Checklist Insider: https://www.checklistinsider.com/2025-topps-series-1-baseball)
 

We'll start with the border. My initial thought was that the dual-color curve reminded me a little of the 2019 Topps design, but bolder. The "path" the streak takes seems odd to me, without any real rhyme or reason to it. I appreciate the use of team colors, but they seem muted somewhat. I'm not sure about the speckled effect within the left color either. Also, I think I like how the border looks horizontally better than vertically. (Although the "Future Stars" design is slightly different)


I like the font choice for the team name, not so much with the player name. I get the feeling the border around the team name, as well as the three lines separating the colors in the path, will get the "neon" treatment we enjoyed in the 2024 set.
 
 
The most noticeable design element is the diamond in the lower right corner. Rather than print the player's position, the design uses a dot on the diamond to show where the player fields. I'm curious to see how designated hitters and multi-position utility guys are shown.

All in all, it's not a bad design. It's not as good as last year's set, but well above most of the other sets we've seen in the past decade or so. I'm looking forward to seeing the checklist next!
 
Oh, and a special shout out to Cardboard Junkie for a much needed laugh with his post!

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Repack Haiku #392 (Luis Medina)

In a five year span
He was drafted seven times
Six different teams
 
1989 Fleer #411 Luis Medina (RC)

I'm just going to leave this here:
  • 1981 MLB June Amateur Draft by the New York Mets in the 33rd round
  • 1982 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase by the New York Mets in the 2nd round
  • 1982 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase by the New York Yankees in the 3rd round
  • 1983 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round
  • 1983 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase by the Oakland Athletics in the 3rd round
  • 1984 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase by the Houston Astros in the 1st round (8th overall!)
  • 1985 MLB June Amateur Draft by the Cleveland Indians in the 9th round
 

Monday, January 6, 2025

2024 Year In Review

Every year, I have taken a look at how the past year has impacted my collection, and I have decided to  continue again this year and see what changed in 2024! 

2024 Highlights

  • The blog has now reached 7 years, and this post here marks my 1,251st post!
  • The Time Travel Trading Project continues to grow. I've completed 59 trades this past year, including my 300th Time Travel Trade! That's just 2 trades less than the year before, so there has been some consistency!
  • My goal of acquiring the Topps base card of every Red Sox from 1975 onward is coming along well, I'm under 140 cards needed now, which is impressive since I wasn't collecting for about 25 years of that time. My unofficial goal for the year is to get that number under 100. Once I do that, I may start adding some other sets in, like Update.
  • I finished just one complete set this year, and it was a small 4-card set that I had never even seen or heard of before I stumbled upon it this year - The 1994 Megacards Ruthian Shots set!
  • That Ruthian Shots set got completed because there is now a card shop just a couple miles from where I work! It's not a "true" card shop as he can't afford to carry new product, but there's planty of loose cards for me to dig through!
  • Without even realizing it, sometime in the past year I officially added the 50,000th card to my collection!

2024 Diamond Jesters Blog Stats


Number of posts: 143 (5 less than last year, still in range with what I have been putting out yearly)
Month with the most posts: 14 posts in July
Top 5 viewed posts:  The Spam-bots were out in full force this year, as I had 52 posts hit the 100 view mark, 15 more than last year. I only had 1 post hit 200 views last year too.
Most commented posts: Blog Bat-Around: 5 Best Pack Pulled Hits - 17 comments (This was a fun post, and I'm glad it got the response it did.)
Followers: 73 (Who says blogs aren't cool anymore? 3 new followers since last year!)

My Collection

(Stats courtesy of the Trading Card Database)

 
Total number of cards: 50,220 (This total does not include unopened products or cards from the Time Travel Trading project)
Cards from 2024 sets: 945 (Over 600 cards more than last year, and a huge majority of it is from an almost completed 2024 base set!)
Red Sox cards: 6,819 (An increase of 236 cards from last year's total - I'll take it!)
Autographed cards: 51 (8 new this year: Mike Greenwell, Dwight Evans, Matt Barnes, Steven Wright, Jordan Beck, Narciso Crook, Dwayne Hosey, and Shea Hillenbrand) 
 

Graded cards: 1 (No new cards this year, not something I actively collect anyway.)
Relic cards: 33 (7 new this year: James Outman, Koji Uehara, Josh Beckett, Tony Gwynn, Jed Lowrie, Michael Chavis, and David Ortiz)

 
All in all, 2024 was a great year! Here's hoping for an even better 2025!

 

Friday, January 3, 2025

Dual-Collection Trades

I believe I've mentioned this before, but on the TCDB I have two separate collections - one for the Time Travel trading Project, and my personal collection. Each collection has it's own For Sale list, but when a member looks at my profile, they have no way of knowing which collection a card they're looking at comes from. This leads to trades where cards come from both collections. I recently made two such trades. In my most recent Time Travel Trading update, I showed off the cards I received for sending out cards from that side of my dual-collection, and today I'd like to show off the cards I'll be adding to my personal collection.
 
Chris, from Hamilton, IL was the member who I traded a bunch of non-sports cards to.  In addition to what I showed last week, I picked up three cards for myself.


That Dennis Lamp card is an O-Pee-Chee, and of the 1991 Studio he had it was easy to pick Big Mo and the iconic Steve Lake card!

A few times I'll have someone offer a trade looking for some vintage cards, and since most of my want list items on the TCDB are newer, they offer the newer cards up as a return. I try my best to explain my Time Traveling Project, and offer up a counter that not only satisfies my project trade parameters, but also hopefully works to get some want list cards as well. That was the case with Joseph (Nashua, NH). We were able to pull off a 4 card trade where I got 2 cards for the Time Travel Trading stack, and 2 for me!
 
 
I was not expecting it to take this long to get last year's Enrique Hernández card, but now that I did I have all the Red Sox cards from the 2023 base set. I also picked up my 2nd 150th Anniversary parallel in the past couple months.

Thanks for the trades Chris and Joseph!