Climbing The Ranks With JD Martinez

In February 2018, J.D. Martinez signed a 5-year, $110 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.  A month later, I was able to get his autograph at a Spring Training game in Sarasota, Florida:

 

He became a personal favorite of mine that day, and that contract became one of the best free agent signings in Red Sox history. That first season alone, Martinez hit 43 home runs with a league leading 130 RBI. He was the starting Designated Hitter for the AL All-Star team, won Player of the Month for the month of August, finished 4th in MVP voting, and became the first player in history to win 2 Silver Slugger Awards in one year (OF and DH). Oh, and the Red Sox won the World Series that year too. Needless to say, he was awesome.

 

I'm not a player collector, but I do enjoy the cardboard of some more than others. J.D. Martinez is one of those players. So of course, I was over the moon thrilled to receive a bunch of cards from Johnny (Johnny's Trading Spot) that contained an incredible amount of J.D. Martinez cards.

 

I thought it would be fun to look at my J.D. Martinez collection before/after. According to the TCDB, I had exactly 70 J.D. Martinez cards prior to this gift. 

 

 

Actually, I'm in a 8-way tie for 130th place. (Johnny, if anyone is curious, is listed in 10th place!) I'm only 7 cards away from cracking the Top 100, which I'll do easily enough, but with what Johnny sent I'll be making quite a leap! I decided to show these off in groups of 15.

 

 Group 1

 

Favorite card from this group: 2021 Topps - 1952 Topps Redux 

New cards to my collection: 10

Total J.D. Martinez cards: 80 

 

Just like that, I've moved into a 6-way tie for 87th place with 80 cards. If the other groups have a 2/3 success rate as new cards to my collection, I'll be making some impressive gains!

 

Group 2

 

Favorite card from this group: 2020 Stadium Club

New cards to my collection: 12

Total J.D. Martinez cards: 92

 

 

I'm not even half way through the cards Johnny sent, and I've already leaped 70 spots from 130th to a 3-way tie for 60th. You will notice some of the cards are the same within each group. I didn't bother sorting the cards prior to entering them in. I just took the first 15, put them into the database and moved to the next group. It led to quite a few deja vu moments!

 

Group 3

Favorite card from this group: 2019 Topps High Tek

New cards to my collection: 8

Total J.D. Martinez cards: 100

 

A couple of Diamondback cards, but that's perfectly OK with me! Martinez started out in Houston before famously getting released and being picked up by the Tigers, where he made his first All-Star team. He was a trade deadline deal to Arizona in 2017 before signing with Red Sox that off season.

 

Group 4

Favorite card from this group: 2021 Bowman's Best - Heatwave Die Cut

New cards to my collection: 8

Total J.D. Martinez cards: 108

 

All it took was 8 new cards to find myself firmly within the Top 40! One more group to go:

 

Group 5

Favorite card from this group: 2019 Panini Leather & Lumber - Lumberjacks

New cards to my collection: 15

Total J.D. Martinez cards: 123

 

  

81 J.D. Martinez cards were sent my way, and 53 of them were new to my collection. (That's 65% if you wanted to know the math). Thanks to Johnny, my collection of this player jumped 101 places into a tie for 29th all-time on the TCDB. Not bad, not bad at all! Will I ever get higher up the ladder? Who knows! For now I'm just thankful for the journey! 

 

Thanks again Johnny! You're awesome!

 

Oh, he sent me more than just Martinez! That, however, will be a post for later! 

 

***EDIT: A Blog Revived With An Awesome Contest!***

After a big hiatus (a dozen years!) the blog Red Cardboard is back! To celebrate, he's looking for 100 shares of his post. If he reaches that goal, he'll do a drawing for a 1963 Topps AL batting leaders card! (Red Sox Pete Runnels is of course in the center, but some guy named Mantle also makes an appearance...) So check out the revived blog, give it a follow, and share that contest!

 

 

The Greatest Red Sox Cards Of 2025

This is the 7th year that I have gone through and hand picked my favorite cards from the past year, and this is by far the most difficult time I've had doing so. For me, a great photograph always catches my eye, and this year the majority of the cards have been "Meh". I don't even have a Stadium Club set to fall back on this year for excellent photography.  The inserts, with a few exceptions, are just uninspiring. Still, I pressed on and found some gems. Let's see if you agree.

 

10.  2025 Topps Heritage

#6 Danny Jansen (RB) 

Sometimes a cool historical moment is worthy of making the list, and this abnormal record certainly qualifies. On it's own it's an OK photograph. I appreciate the Fenway backdrop of course, and how often do you see 2 umpires on a baseball card?

 

 

9. 2025 Topps Finest - Finest Timelines

#FT-19 Ted Williams

Another cool historical moment card. The 1999 All-Star Game, despite an amazing pitching performance by Pedro Martinez, was overshadowed by one of the greatest pre-game ceremonies in all of sports. The All-Century Team brought together arguably the greatest collection of baseball players in one spot, and all of them were in awe of the mighty Ted Williams.

 

 

8. 2025 Topps - Gameday Drip

#GD-12 Jarren Duran

This card is so awful it's amazing. I find the slang term "drip" obnoxious, but it fits here because it looks like Duran is soaked in pastels. Does his grandmother know he cut up her sofa to make that? Seriously though, kudos to Jarren for having the self confidence to pull this off.

 

 

7. 2025 Topps

#577 Trevor Story 

 

The photos for this year's base set have been uninspiring at best. Story's card was the only one that even remotely stood out to me. It benefits from the all-grass background, but it seems it could have been centered/cropped better. Thanks to Johnny's Shadow Shots series, I did notice and appreciate the glove shadow on his chest as well.

 

 

6. 2025 Choice Worchester Red Sox

#13 Jhostynxon Garcia

 

This minor league card has a better jump shot, although not as clear. I like how he's not looking where he's jumping, and starting to tuck in his non-gloved arm (or perhaps preparing to stretch out a la Superman). Garcia has one of the best nicknames ever ("The Password") and I wish him well in Pittsburgh.

 

 

5. 2025 Bowman - Anime

#BA-29 Rafael Devers 

I'm not a huge anime fan, but I have a deep appreciation for it. I grew up on Volton, have watched numerous Studio Ghibli films, and spent many college nights watching Cowboy BeeBop. Even recently, as one of my daughters has gotten into it, I've sat and watched some with her. This card amuses me not only for the anime art style, but for also incorporating an old-style television. (Would any of the younger generation even know what that brown rectangle on the right is supposed to be?)

 

 

4. 2025 Topps Chrome - Ultraviolet All-Stars

#UV-15 Pedro Martinez 

I don't own any of this insert set, but I really want to see what it looks like under a black light! This card reminds me of something I'd have hanging in my dorm room. Groovy!

 

 

3. 2025 Bowman Chrome - It Came To The League

#IT-19 Roman Anthony

Another thing I grew up on were old cheesy movies. MST3K was regular viewing to me, and so I love this homage to to old sci-fi films from the 50's. This card is very well done, and I love the tag line in the upper corner. Very fitting for Roman Anthony, who is poised to be the next great superstar in Boston.

 

 

2. 2025 Topps Update - Most Valuable

#MV-39 Ted Williams 

Sometimes, Topps does a great job recreating subsets. Outside of the Topps logo, it looks almost exactly like the 1961 Topps MVP cards. This Williams card almost looks like it could be a part of that original set. (Ironically, that set started with the MVP winners from 1950, the year before Williams' last award). What really sets this card apart from me is the detail in the head shot. You look at that hat, and you can practically see the texture and know that hats aren't made like that anymore. You look at those crows feet around Williams' eyes and know the man has miles on his speedometer. 

 

 

1. 2025 Topps Chrome - Fanatical

#FAN-2 Rafael Devers 

This card ended up as my favorite, and it has little to do with the player and everything to do with the beautiful chaos surrounding him. The coach in the forefront, speaking to someone off view. The wealth of activity in the media pit. Then of course there are the fans - on one side of Devers, a guy taking a photo on his phone, two brothers/friends standing on the other side, even a face popping through his arm. So much stuff going on in this picture! I love it.

 

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 *** 2023 *** 2024

 

Two Quick Little Thank Yous

A short post today. I just wanted to make sure I properly thanks a couple of bloggers who sent some cardboard kindness my way.

 

The first thank you goes to Greg (Night Owl Cards), who included a freebie in one of our  recent Time Travel Trading swaps.

 

I haven't seen any Topps Heritage locally this year, so this is my first and only card from that particular product.  I'm still holding on to the thinning strand of hope Grissom becomes a serviceable Major League player for Boston.

 

The second thank you goes to Jim (Cards As I See Them), who generously sent me a PWE of  Red Sox cards.

 

With these in the fold, I'm down to just 1 more Red Sox card to complete the 2025 Topps team set (not including a couple of short prints of course). Another Nomar is always welcome too!

 

Thanks Greg and Jim! Kindness and generosity always come back full circle! 

A Little Something Extra

The majority of trade I make nowadays revolve around my Time Travel Trading Project. Occasionally, some cards from those trades aren't a part of the project and end up in my main collection.

 

For example, Jeff (Wax Pack Wonders - how about a new post for old time's sake?) could have just sent some cards to complete our most recent Time Travel trade. He's a generous guy though, and included a bunch of Red Sox cards for me:

 

 

*Sigh* Raffy... I've gone back and forth about writing a post centered on his insane trade to the Giants. It's hard to compose a piece when you simultaneously agree with the trade (not a team player!) and disagree with the trade (pretty much sinks any chance of reaching the playoffs this year!). What sucks about the trade for me as a Red Sox collector is that this Heritage card makes the 6th different Devers rookie I now own. With that many rookies, I was kind of hoping the guy would go on to be a Red Sox legend. In other news, that Drago means I only need Yaz and Fisk to complete the 1975 Topps Red Sox team set!

 

Another Time Travel Trade I recently completed was with Evan through the TCDB. Along with those Time Travel cards was a swap of cards from outside the project. I was able to whittle down another Red Sox base card need from 1998!

 

 

Finally, I have trade from Gavin (Baseball Card Breakdown).  You won't see the Time Travel Trading card until next month's update, but Gavin included some extra goodies for me. Starting off with a trio of serial numbered cards:

 

 

I always appreciate the gold parallels, but the eye catcher here is that sharp black parallel of (ironically) the man who just traded away Raffy Devers!

 

But wait, there's more! Readers of Gavin's blog know he a custom card mad scientist extraordinaire, and it wouldn't be a gift from Gavin without a couple of his customs!

 

 

Man, those are sweet! If you can't figure out the left card, it's Carlton Fisk and his famous wave from Gavin's latest custom project, glow in the dark silhouettes! I also received one of Gavin's white bordered 1991 Fleer modifications! Dewey looks a lot better surrounded in white instead of bright yellow!

 

My enthusiastic thanks to Jeff, Evan, and Gavin for these great additions to my Red Sox collection! You guys are awesome!

How About A Game Of Catch, Son?

This Sunday is Father's Day. As a father of four, I'm looking forward to a little extra attention on that day. A couple of years ago, I did a Father's Day post listing all of the sons of former major league players currently in the MLB. Since this year's Topps Heritage set included a subset of Father and Sons, and I thought it would be a good excuse to update the list.

 

2025 Topps Heritage
#69 Vladimir/Vladimir Jr. Guerrero (FS)

 

Did you know there are 32 guys who have played a game this year who are second-generation players? That includes two who made their debut this year - Jack Dreyer and Logan Davidson! Also, we have 3 current players who have dads in the Hall of Fame - Vlad Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, and Will Wagner. 

 

2025 Topps Heritage
#66 Matt/Jackson Holliday (FS)

  

The Heritage subset only features 5 father-son combos, featuring the two cards above as well as representatives of the Clemens, Biggio, and Baker families. If Topps wanted to really expand on the concept, they have the following pairs to choose from:

• Clay and Cody Bellinger
• Dante and Bo Bichette
• Craig and Cavan Biggio
• Mike and Daz Cameron
• Roger and Kody Clemens
• Jeff and Griffin Conine
• Mark and Logan Davidson
• Steve and Jack Dreyer
• Mike and Tyler Fitzgerald
• Luis and Luis (Jr.) Garcia
• Vladimir and Vladimir (Jr.) Guerrero
• Bryan and Hunter Harvey
• Charlie and Ke'Bryan Hayes
• Matt and Jackson Holliday
• Kevin and Bryce Jarvis
• Al and Jack Leiter
• Mark and Mark (Jr.) Leiter
• Sandy and Angel Martinez
• Lance and Lance (Jr.) McCullers
• Brian and Hoby Milner
• Stu and Joc Pederson
• Geronimo and Jeremy Pena
• Paul and Cal Quantrill
• Larry and Gavin Sheets
• Steve and Tyler Soderstrom
• Fernando and Fernando (Jr.) Tatis
• Brian and Brice Turang
• Gary and Daulton Varsho
• Billy and Will Wagner
• David and Ryan Weathers
• Jack and Jacob Wilson
• Bobby and Bobby (Jr.) Witt

Plus their are a good number of players who played last year but haven't had a chance to take an MLB at-bat this year, including Dusty Baker's son Darren.

 

2025 Topps Heritage
#70 Dusty/Darren Baker (FS)

 

Of course, I'd also have to mention the legendary grandfather-grandson pairing of Carl and Mike Yastrzemski! (Bonus Happy Father's Day to you grandfathers out there!)

 

2020 Stadium Club #197 Mike Yastrzemski

 

An early Happy Father's Day to those of you with kids. Enjoy your day gentleman!

Another Trio Of Tiny TCDB Trades

I'm catching up with three more small 1 or 2 card trades that I've done on the TCDB...

 

Gino from Franklin, TN was another collector that was working on the 2024 Topps set. I had a few extras he needed, and picked up a couple of Heritage cards I needed. Not going to lie, I kind of wish the Red Sox had retained Eovaldi. He's been nothing but solid for Texas.

 

Next up is a trade with Justin from Pembroke, MA. Thanks to this trade, I just need 3 more Red Sox cards from the 1996 Topps set. I'm excited to have this great card of Tim Wakefield throwing his knuckle-ball.

 

Finally, I have a trade with a guy named Mark from Wellington, FL. You'll actually see most of the cards he sent in the next Time Travel Trading Update. In addition to those yet unrevealed cards was a single card that I was particularly interested in acquiring:

 

I've had all but 2 cards from this 20-card 1996 Fleer Boston Red Sox set since 2021. I picked up the Roger Clemens I needed two years ago, but Jose Canseco was always a tough one to find in trade. I finally have him, meaning this set is now complete! (My third one this year! I'm on a hot streak!)

 

Thanks to Gino, Justin, and Mark for the trades!  

***BONUS CONTENT!***

 

One of the web sites I frequent for my fantasy baseball news posted a great article the other day taking a behind the scenes look at one of the more memorable photos from this year's base set. It's worth checking out: What’s Happening On This Baseball Card? Minnesota Twins Take A Selfie (PitcherList)

Top 5 Tribute: Orlando Cepeda

The baseball community lost another Hall of Fame member when the great Orlando Cepeda passed away on June 28th. In honor of the "Baby Bull", I present the top 5 cards in my collection:

 

1974 Topps #83 

 

Cepeda spent just a single year with the Red Sox, but it was a historic one. After the AL instituted the designated hitter rule in December of 1972, the Red Sox called Cepeda and asked him if he'd like to be the DH for their team. He accepted on the spot and became the first Red Sox DH in history. He had a chance to be the first DH in Major league history too, but a wild 1st inning from Luis Tiant gave that title to the Yankee's Ron Blomburg. Cepeda would go on to have a great season for Boston and became the first recipient of the Designated Hitter of the Year Award. He also became the first player in history to hit 20 home runs for 4 different teams.

 

1975 Topps #205 1967 MVPs

(Yastrzemski/Cepeda)  

 

Cepeda had his best year in 1967, winning the NL MVP award and leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series victory over Yastrzemski's Red Sox. Cepeda became just the second NL player to win the award unanimously.

 

2005 UD Past Time

Pennants #60 

 

In addition to his MVP and Designated Hitter Of The Year awards, Orlando Cepeda also won the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year and was an 11 time All-Star. In 1959 he became the first Peurto Rican player to start in an All-Star game.

 

2016 Stadium Club #63

 

This card hits especially hard, with both players passing away in the past month. While Mays was a franchise icon, Cepeda was regarded as the first great "San Francisco" Giant. (Mays of course played when the Giants were still a New York team, and Cepeda's rookie debut occurred during the franchise's first season across the continent.)

 

2016 Topps Heritage

- Baseball Flashbacks #BF-OC

 

In retrospect, it's hard to believe that Cepeda had a long and difficult journey to becoming a Hall of Fame member. For the first 12 years on the ballot (1980-1991) he failed to surpass 50% of the ballots cast, and on his 15th and final ballot, he just missed induction with 73.5% of the vote. He would have to wait an additional 5 years before he was elected by the Hall of Fame Veteran's Committee in 1999. (Even then, his induction was overshadowed by his induction "classmates", the trio of Nolan Ryan, George Brett, and Robin Yount.)

RIP, Mr. Cepeda. You will not be forgotten.

Top 5 Tribute: Willie Mays

In all of the years I've been doing these small tributes to Hall of Fame players that have passed, I haven't had as hard of a time creating one as I have for the late great Willie Mays, who passed away on June 18th. Part of it is due to the fact I technically only have one playing era cards of his, but it's much more than that. How can you summarize this man's life on and off the field in a short little blog post? You can't. I even reread what I wrote for Hank Aaron, hoping for inspiration. Instead I found that a lot of what I wanted to say for Mr. Mays I had already said for Mr. Aaron. Here's my opening paragraph: 

This one hurts. Not that any of the others didn't, each spectacular life was one worth celebrating. But none of the recent string of deaths among the legends of baseball had the sheer impact as the immortal Henry Aaron. He was one of the true giants of the game, an automatic inclusion on the Mount Rushmore of the greatest of the great. His story transcended the game itself, captivating even non-baseball fans. There will never be another Hank Aaron.

 

I could have easily swapped out the names, removed the line about the recent string of deaths (Man, September 2020 to January 2021 was rough stretch for us baseball fans...) and chances are no one but me would have noticed. Even 2 of the 5 cards I showed of Aaron featured Mays and were on the short list for this post! It would still have been true though: There will never be another Willie Mays. 

As my small thanks to life of a Giant, both on and off the field, I humbly present the Top 5 Willie Mays cards in my collection:

1973 Topps

#1 All-Time Home Run Leaders

(Ruth/Aaron/Mays)

There was a time when Mays was #2 on the all-time list, and people wondered if it would be him to surpass the immortal Babe Ruth. It was not to be, and for the longest time these three would be the only ones to surpass the 600 home run mark. (Six more have joined that club since - 3 of which under questionable circumstances). 

 

1985 Topps Woolworth

All Time Record Holders

#26 Willie Mays 

The first two bullet points on the back of this card mention his All-Star Game career records of 20 runs and 23 hits. Those are still the records, along with most All-Star Games played (24 - tied with Musial), at bats (75), stolen bases (6), extra-base hits (8 - tied with Musial), total bases (40 - tied with Musial), and triples (3 - tied with Brooks Robinson). To quote Ted Williams: "They invented the  All-Star Game  for Willie Mays." Speaking of Williams...

1993 Ted Williams

#126 Willie Mays (GH)

It was poetic that Mays passed just days before the Giants and Cardinals played games at Rickwood Field, the same field Mays patrolled as a member of the Birmingham Black Barons as a teenager. Mays was the most prominent member left of the old Negro Leagues, and it's a sad reminder that there are not many former players left. According to MLB, all 157 surviving members (including Mays at the time) were invited to the game at Rickwood. MLB has taken big strides to preserve the memory of the Negro League and it's players, and hopefully more will be done in the future.

2015 Topps Heritage - Baseball Flashbacks

#BF-9 Willie Mays

In 1966, Mays became the all-time National League home run hitter, and has since been eclipsed only by his own godson Barry Bonds. He came in 3rd in MVP voting that year, behind Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax. It was the last of 13 straight years that Mays placed in the MVP vote. He only won twice, but arguments have been made that he should have won up to 8 MVP awards!

2016 Topps Archives

#286 Willie Mays

Mays was the last superstar from that Golden Age of baseball. The last of the inner-circle Hall of Famers. He may have been the greatest player of all time. His passing closes the book on a life that continued to impact the history of baseball over 50 years after he last played a game.

R.I.P. Willie Mays, and thank you.

6 Degrees Of Raffy: The Jeremy Hazelbaker 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: 

2016 Topps Update
#US99 Jeremy Hazelbaker (RC)

 

 

Who? I do not recall this guy at all. Turns out he was originally drafted by the Red Sox in 2009, toiled in the minors for 7 years before finally debuting for the Cardinals in 2016. He spent the next year with Arizona, finishing up his time in the Majors with 155 games played.

Having this card pop up will be interesting for two reasons. This is the first time since I've done these that I've randomly been given a card from the same time period that Rafael Devers played. I'm curious to see if this will make it easier or harder to make connections. Also, I don't exactly have a lot of options in the Topps Update set:

 

 

Only 9 players, and none of them exactly were household names. I knew Brandon Moss was a former Red Sox player, but that was back in 2007-08. I didn't want to go backwards that far just to get to the Red Sox. Besides, I at least try to make connections outside of the stalwarts like David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia. Fortunately, I found a nice chain to Raffy thanks to former All-Star Zach Duke.

 

Teammates in the 2016 Topps Update set
#US99 Jeremy Hazelbaker (RC)	#US153 Zach Duke

Duke was an All-Star for the Pirates in 2009.  By the time he made his way to St. Louis, he was well into his career as a journeyman reliever, having played for 5 other teams in between.

Teammates in the 2019 Topps Now Road to Opening Day Cincinnati Reds set
#OD-329 Zach Duke	#OD-318 Jose Peraza

Duke's last stop was in 2019 with Cincinati. The off-season free agent signing made it onto this Reds Topps Now set, but was released midway through the season, making this his only commercially available card with the team. Good enough to pair him their infielder Jose Peraza.

Teammates in the 2021 Topps Heritage set
#238 Jose Peraza	#645 Rafael Devers

 

Peraza joined the Red Sox for the COVID-shortened 2020 season as one of the many hopeful 2nd base replacements for the injured Dustin Pedroia. he only appeared in 34 games for Boston, but that all that was needed for him to get a card in the same set as Raffy!

 

Degrees of Raffy:3