A Day At The Card Show!

It's been almost a year, but I was able to make it to another card show in my little part of the world! Nothing Earth-shattering, but I enjoyed taking my time and checking out all the glorious cardboard. There were probably close to 100 tables, yet only 5 were worthy of my money:

 

Purchase #1

 

I'm the kind of guy that will just walk up and down each isle and figure out where the deals are. The first table to catch my attention had a bunch of cards separated by player at a cost of 5/$1. That's an excellent price to add some Pedros to my collection, rounded out with a few Nomars and Boggs to boot! 

 

Favorite Card: 2001 Fleer Genuine - Pennant Aggression #3 PA Nomar Garciaparra 

 

Purchase #2 

 

This next table I was really exited for, as it had a ton of great cards, with one set of boxes dedicated to serial numbered cards, short-prints, relics, and autographs. More boxes were for other assorted parallels and oddballs. One of my goals for this day was to find some team specific "thank you's" I could send to a few of you out there. I was fortunate enough to find cards for about 3/4 of my list, which have already been mailed out and received. (The hunt as always continues for the others I feel deserve one.)

 

As for myself, I found a Red Sox short-print need:

 

I both love and hate this card. I love whimsical additions to cards. (Part of the reason the Holiday sets can be a lot of fun). At the same time, Rudy Giuliani is not a Red Sox fan and has little connection to the team. This card almost seems like a troll by a Yankee fan. Still, it's a short print I needed, and found within my price range.

 

I also found some other miscellaneous cards, including some vintage Hall of Famers, a fun Coca Cola oddball, and even a card I needed for the 1990 Glossy All-Star set!

 

Favorite card: 1969 Topps #425 Carl Yastrzemski (AS)

 

Purchase #3

 

This was the table I spent the most time on. More dime boxes, but not particularly organized.  They were mostly cards from the past few base and update sets. I took this opportunity to leaf through and find as many missing Red Sox cards as I could. Thanks to my efforts, I have now completed the 2023 and 2025 Topps Update Red Sox team sets, and have just one more card to go for the 2026 base set. 

 

 

The dealer also had some Bowman and Heritage in a quarter box, I picked up a few of those too.

 

I also took a gamble on some small team packs her had for sale. I knew most of them would be cards I already had (and probably just bought too!) but I knew I needed this Anthony insert so I figured why not?

 

 

For two bucks I got 5 cards I needed plus a bunch of extra Sox. Not a bad trade off.

 

 

Favorite card: 2026 Topps #15 Payton Tolle (Even though I already have this card, he's become a favorite and I found myself grabbing an extra copy of his rookie card.) 

 

Purchase #4

 

As my time was winding down, I stopped at one other table with some cards divided by team.  I only picked up these two cards, but they are very eye-catching!

 

Favorite card: 2026 Bowman Chrome - It Came to the League #IT-1 Franklin Arias (A fitting monster card for October!) 

 

Purchase #5

 

 

As I was leaving I decided to take a chance on an over-glorified repack box of Red Sox cards. Sure, it's going to be mostly cards I already have, but it'll be a fun box to open when I'm bored and itching to see some cards. Perhaps I'll do a blog post on it.

 

All in all, not a bad day. Most tables were for the high rollers, and that's OK with me. They also kept the Pokemon/gaming table in their own section, so I didn't have to wiggle my way through them amongst the sports stuff. The only negative I have is that one table was selling custom cards. Now I don't have a problem with custom cards, especially if their made by creative people who have some degree of artistic talent, like a few well known bloggers. No, these were completely AI generated slop, and guy thought they were worth $10-$15 apiece. Sorry, just because you prompted your computer to generate a cartoonish card of Paul Skeenes... Anyway, other than what I fear will be a growing trend in the hobby, it was a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repack Haiku #481 (DJ LeMahieu)

First modern player

To lead each league in batting

Rockies then Yankees

 

2017 Topps Update
#US230 DJ LeMahieu (AS)

LeMahieu won his first batting title in 2016 with the Rockies, leading the National League with a .348 average. Four years later (2020) as a member of the Yankees, he led the American League, batting .364 in the shortened season.

6 Degrees Of Raffy: The Joe Cronin Connection

It's time for another installment 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 All-Star and Gold Glover Ceddanne Rafaela!

 

I asked, and you voted! When the TCDB randomly selected a player that last played over 80 years ago (but the card was much more recent) I put it up to a vote as to which direction I should go: I could focus on completing the chain in as few steps as possible by using a player from the set Joe Cronin didn't play with, or I could take a longer route that would likely exceed 6 degrees and use the only other player in the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set that Cronin played with, Ted Williams. You overwhelmingly voted for Williams - it's the journey not the destination, right? As for Williams the player vs. Williams the manager, the vote was evenly split. Turns out it would have taken the same amount of steps either way, so I went with Williams sans his managerial cards. I hope you all enjoy it!

 

We start with the randomly generated card from my collection:

Random TCDB Card: 

2015 Panini Diamond Kings #71 Joe Cronin

Joe Cronin was a player/manager for the Red Sox and became the first former player to be named President of the American League. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956.

Teammates in the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set
#71 Joe Cronin	#129 Ted Williams

The only other Red Sox player in the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set that played around the same time as Cronin was Ted Williams. In addition to being Ted's manager when he first started, Cronin was also his teammate from 1939-1942. (Williams would spend the next 3 years fighting in WWII, but when he came back Cronin was still there managing, which he did until 1947.)

Teammates in the 1960 Jay Publishing Boston Red Sox Picture Pack Set B set
#NNO Ted Williams	#NNO Gary Geiger

Ted Williams played until 1960. What made the next link difficult was that Williams had signed an exclusive deal with Fleer towards the end of his career, which is why he has no Topps base cards from 1959-1961. Fleer didn't have contracts with other players, so all they could really do was produce a Ted Williams career set in 1959. I was able to find this 5x7 team set, which may be a bit of a cheat since they're not really cards per se, but if it's good enough to be listed on the TCDB, it's good enough for me.

Teammates in the 1969 Topps set
#278 Gary Geiger	#35 Joe Morgan

 

Geiger's Wikipedia page is pretty interesting. He got hurt a lot in his career, including a collapsed lung and a bleeding ulcer. He even apparently had false teeth. Still he played long enough to connect us to another Hall of Famer.

Teammates in the 1985 Topps set
#352 Joe Morgan	#706 Rickey Henderson (AS, LL)

 

Morgan spent 22 years in the Majors, last playing in 1984. he got this sunset card from Topps the following year. Fortunately for me, that final stint in Oakland allowed me to use another all-time great early in his career.

Teammates in the 2003 Donruss Studio set
#17 Rickey Henderson	#14 Manny Ramirez

 

Rickey is great for playing 6 degrees with. He's had a 25-year career with 9 different teams. According to ESPN, he played with 671 other ball players. One of which was Manny Ramirez. (Aside: How did I not know about these fantastic 2003 Donruss Studio cards before researching this post? That Fenway backdrop is great!)

 

Teammates in the 2011 Bowman set
#90 Manny Ramirez	#106 David Price

 

Speaking of great cards, Manny got one last great card for someone who only played 5 games as a Ray. Why are you hiding Manny?

 

I should note that Manny's 2011 Topps card has him listed with the White Sox. Also in that group of White Sox was the rookie card of pitcher Chris Sale. If I had used that connection, I could have completed this in one fewer step, as Sale and Rafaela were teammates in 2023. Technically Sale and Manny were never teammates, so instead I used the Rays to connect to another member of the Red Sox highly regarded 2018 rotation.

Teammates in the 2019 Topps set
#314 David Price (WSHL)	#228 Rafael Devers

 

What made that 2018 rotation so highly regarded? Just a World Series Championship! Price in particular was amazing that postseason, and arguably should have been the World Series MVP over Steve Pearce. Dever got a ring that year too!

Teammates in the 2025 Bowman set
#10 Rafael Devers	#53 Ceddanne Rafaela

 

It seems fitting that I officially pass the torch from one Raffy to the other to finish up this chain.

Degrees of Raffy: 8

Even though I said I wasn't going to do every voting choice for this series, I did have to work out each one since I didn't know what the final vote would be. I'll still share the chains with you though. 

If connecting with a modern player had won, this would have been the chain: 

1. Joe Cronin --> 2015 Panini Diamond Kings --> Dustin Pedroia
2. Dustin Pedroia --> 2025 Donruss -->  Marcelo Mayer 
3. Marcelo Mayer --> 2026 Topps Heritage --> Ceddanne Rafaela  

If connecting with Ted Williams (managing cards allowed) had won, this would have been the chain: 

1. Joe Cronin --> 2015 Panini Diamond Kings --> Ted Williams
2. Ted Williams --> 1972 Topps --> Jeff Burroughs
3. Jeff Burroughs --> 1986 Topps --> Dennis Lamp
4. Dennis Lamp -->  1992 Topps --> Ellis Burks
5. Ellis Burks --> 2004 Topps Total --> Tim Wakefield
6. Tim Wakefield --> 2011 Topps --> Dustin Pedroia
7. Dustin Pedroia -->  2020 Topps --> Rafael Devers
8. Rafael Devers --> 2024 Stadium Club --> Ceddanne Rafaela

More Than Manny - A Side Of Rice

Last Monday, I showed off a buffet of Manny Ramirez cards sent to me from blogger and card collector extraordinaire John (Johnny's Trading Spot). This feast of Manny cardboard wasn't all he sent however. Along with the main course, he included a side of Rice! 

 

 

Favorite card from this group: 2023 Panini Chronicles - Zenith #15 Jim Rice

 

Favorite card from this group: 1992 Sportflics Kellogg's Corn Flakes All Stars #8 Jim Rice

 

Favorite card from this group: 1986 Topps #320 Jim Rice

 

That's a lot of Rice! Now, some of you may be wondering why I didn't show off my TCDB ranking and how much it changed as a result of this bundle. Truth is, out of the 32 cards listed here, only a dozen were new to my collection. That wasn't going to move the needle very far I'm afraid. 

 

Dessert Time!

 

Also included were a few extra Red Sox power hitters:

 

 

Those two J.D. Martinez did not improve my standings on TCDB by the way. That 2007 Topps Ted Williams insert set is on a short list of sets I'm thinking of chasing.

 

Thanks for the cards Johnny!

Climbing The Ranks With Manny Ramirez

Johnny (Johnny's Trading Spot) has been culling through his collection and shortening the list of players he collects. He's been generously sending out those cards to other collectors. Back in March, he sent me a whole bunch of cards featuring J.D. Martinez. This time around, I received a package of cards primarily featuring former Red Sox legend Manny Ramirez.

 

As I mentioned before, I'm not specifically a player collector, but I do appreciate some players more than others. Ramirez is a former player I can look back at fondly, but only if I compartmentalize his off the field issues away from the many highlight reel moments he had during games. He should be a Hall of Famer, but too many bad decisions on his part have keep him out. 

 

Just like I did with Martinez, I thought it would be fun to look at my Manny collection before/after. According to the TCDB, I had 72 Manny Ramirez cards prior to this gift. 

 

 

Those 72 cards are close to the same starting point I had with Martinez (70). However, Manny was a mega-star and has over 8,000 more cards than Martinez does. That means my meager 72 cards was only good for 439th place on the TCDB list of collectors. I jumped 101 places after entering in all those J.D. Martinez cards. Will I see a similar jump with Ramirez? Let's find out!  

 

 Group 1

 

Favorite card from this group: 2002 Fleer Focus Jersey Edition #190 Manny Ramirez

New cards to my collection: 8

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 80 

 

OK, a 55 place gain with only 8 new cards! As for my favorite of the bunch, you'll soon see there aren't many cards of Manny fielding a ball. It was not his strongest skill set...

 

Group 2

 

Favorite card from this group: 2003 Bazooka - Comics

New cards to my collection: 10

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 90

 

 

Exactly 55 more places gained! For a player with over 14,000 cards, it's interesting to see how tightly grouped collectors are. I only added 18 new Ramirez cards so far, and I've moved 110 places. It doesn't take much!

 

Group 3

Favorite card from this group: 2003 Ultra

New cards to my collection: 10

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 100

 

Exactly 100 Manny Ramirez cards! If I were a player collector, that sounds like a good arbitrary stopping point. (OK, maybe 99 if I was going to put them all in a binder...)

 

Group 4

Favorite card from this group: 2005 Merrick Mint Colorized Statehood Quarters

New cards to my collection: 7

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 107

 

This batch includes a couple of cards celebrating the Red Sox 2004 postseason run. I bet a lot of  non-Red Sox fans forgot Manny was the MVP of that curse-breaking World Series.

 

Group 5

Favorite card from this group: 2008 Upper Deck

New cards to my collection: 8

Total Manny Ramirez cards: 115

 

 

I received 58 Manny cards, and 43 of them were new to my collection! Those 43 cards allowed me to jump an impressive 206 places. Despite the volatility of  these lists, I doubt I'll crack the Top 100 anytime soon - I'd need another 100 cards to reach the level where the big boys play!

Thanks again Johnny! You're awesome!

The Red Sox Free Agent All-Stars! (2026 Update)

 

Over the weekend, MLB announced the full AL and NL squads for this year's All-Star game. Three Red Sox players made this year's team: starting pitcher Ranger Suarez, closer Ardolis Chapman, and 1st baseman Willson Contreras. Suarez was Boston's big free agent signing over the winter, an unexpected pivot when Boston failed to sign a premium hitter like Pete Alonso or Alex Bregman (neither of whom made the All-Star team I might add).

 

It reminded me of a post I did 3 years ago when closer Kenley Jansen made the All-Star team. His selection led me to wonder how often a free agent signed by the Red Sox made the All-Star team in his first year with Boston. You can't make a better first impression than that! I updated that post just last year when Bregman and Chapman joined the list.

I figured I might as well update the list once again. According to my research, Suarez represents the 13th time the Red Sox have signed a free agent and had that player make the All-Star team in his first year. It's an unusual group of guys, from a future first ballot Hall of Famer to a couple of guys even hardcore Red Sox fans might not remember. 

Bill Campbell, RP, 1977

 

1977 Topps #166 Bill Campbell

 

The first big free agent signing by the Red Sox turned out well. After winning the very first Rolaids Relief Award in 1976 for the Twins, Campbell signed a 5 year contract with Boston. He made his only All-Star team in 1977, and finished the year leading the league in saves and winning the Rolaids Award again.

Erik Hanson, SP, 1995

 

1995 Upper Deck #483 Erik Hanson (TR)

 

Probably the oddest entry in this list, Hanson signed a one-year contract prior to the 1995 season. He made his only All-Star squad en route to a 15-5 season, parlayed that into a multi-year contract with Toronto, and ended up as one of the worst free agent signings in franchise history. 

 

Jose Offerman, 2B, 1999

 

2000 Upper Deck
#61 Jose Offerman (AS)

 

The Red Sox badly needed a second baseman and lead-off hitter. They thought they were getting both when they signed Jose Offerman to a 4-year deal. His first season was actually pretty solid, and he made the All-Star team as a reserve. Wheels completely fell off after that, and he became Jose "Awful-man" to the Boston fandom.

 

Manny Ramirez, OF, 2001

 

2002 Ultra
#206 Manny Ramirez (AS)

 

Arguably the greatest free agent signing in Red Sox history. Not only did Manny make the All-Star team during his first year in Boston, he made the All-Star team every single season of his 8-year contract. Outside of his personality shortcomings and PED usage, he was (statistically) worth every penny.

 

Johnny Damon, OF, 2002

 

2002 Fleer Tradition Update
#U327 Johnny Damon (AS)

 

Lightning struck twice as for the second straight year, Boston signed an outfielder who became an All-Star. Damon was actually the very first AL player to earn an All-Star nod by the now-defunct "All-Star Final Vote" gimmick  (beating out Jim Thome, Eric Chavez, Magglio Ordonez, and Darin Erstad).

 

Matt Clement, SP, 2005

 

2005 Topps Updates & Highlights
- All-Star Stitches #ASR-MCL
Matt Clement (MEM)

 

Clement was one of a handful of starters the World Champion Red Sox signed in an attempt to replace the departing Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe. He had a great first half of the 2005 season, going 10-2 and being named as a replacement for the injured Roy Halladay. Shortly after the All-Star break, he was struck in the head by a line drive and was never effective again.

 

Hideki Okajima, RP, 2007

 

2007 Topps Updates & Highlights
#UH247 Hideki Okajima (AS)

 

Prior to the 207 season, Boston made international news by signing a star pitcher from Japan. Who would have thought their second, less herald Japanese import would be the one to make the All-Star team? Okajima was fantastic out of the bullpen, and like Damon before him was named the winner of that year's "Final Vote", although he didn't get in the game. Later that year, he became the first Japanese pitcher to pitch in the World Series.

 

Adrian Beltre, 3B, 2010

 

2010 Topps Update
#US-328 Adrian Beltre (AS)

 

There was a time when no one, and I mean no one, thought of Adrian Beltre as a Hall of Fame player. I'm not saying that the one-year pillow contract he signed with the Red Sox in 2010 jump-started his Hall of Fame candidacy, but without that one amazing season in Boston, the Rangers would never have known what he was capable of. Why the Red Sox let him go after that I'll never understand...

 

J.D. Martinez, DH, 2018

 

2019 Topps Heritage
#359 J.D. Martinez (AS)

 

J.D. Martinez was one of the most impactful signings in franchise history. The professional hitter at the heart of one of the greatest Red Sox teams ever, Martinez made the All-Star team every single year of his 5-year contract aside from the 2020 season (when the All-Star Game was cancelled).

 

Kenley Jansen, RP, 2023

 

2024 Topps Pristine
#297 Kenley Jansen

There were many raised eyebrows at his nomination. Stat-wise, he was solid but unspectacular. One could even argue that he was not the most deserving reliever on the team. Yet, his inclusion was merited as the Red Sox lone representative that year. The Red Sox hadn't had a true closer since Craig Kimbrel, and the future Hall of Famer helped turn the Boston bullpen into a strength. 

 

Alex Bregman, 3B, 2025

 

2025 Topps Update - 2025 All-Star Game
#ASG-41 Alex Bregman

 

Bregman was an interesting selection, mainly because he hadn't played in the 6 weeks prior to his selection! It's unusual to have someone who has missed that much time be considered an All-Star. Yet, he was so incredible at the start of the season that even with all that time missed, he was still 2nd among AL 3rd basemen in WAR, and top-6 in HR and RBI. 

 

Aroldis Chapman, RP, 2025

 

2025 Topps Chrome Update - 2025 All-Star Game
#ASGC-50 Aroldis Chapman

Like Jansen before him, Chapman's 1 year contract the previous off-season was one of those minor transactions that wasn't shaking the landscape. Since his last All-Star selection in 2021, he had been on a journeyman's path with stops with 5 different teams. In his two years with Boston, he's turned back the clock with his best seasons since his days in Cincinati! Oh and he recently broke the all-time strikeout record for relievers this year too.

 

Ranger Suarez, SP, 2026

 

2026 Topps #440 Ranger Suarez

 

Although  Suarez has had a solid season so far, many Red Sox fans were surprised he's earned the nod over fellow starter Sonny Gray, who was leading the AL with 10 wins. Suarez was injured and couldn't play the last time he made an All-Start team in 2024, and unfortunately lightning might have struck twice, as he left his last start early with a left groin strain. (Update: He was placed on the 15-day IL yesterday..)