I’ve been Tomahawk Chopped

This week I was able to complete a trade with the fine author of Tomahawk Chopping. He needed some cards to fill his set, and I needed Red Sox cards. It was a perfect match between two fans of onetime Boston franchises. Let’s get right to a sample of the goods.

I like the picture on the 2003 Topps Total card. It’s a great shot of a Manny Ramirez follow though. But, it’s not exactly the classic result you expect. Manny was clearly leaning to reach a pitch, probably low and outside. I would expect that he just grounded a pitch like that to second. But, I look at his eyes, and wonder. They’re definitely looking up and out. Could Manny have possibly crushed a pitch with a swing like that? Manny being Manny, perhaps. Staying with the Manny theme is the 2007 Topps card with the vintage look. Sometimes classic cards look nice. Sometimes they look goofy. I think, in this case, I’ll go with the latter. The 2005 Tim Wakefield card is a nice card too. It has a great picture of the release of a knuckleball. The shot is nicely framed by the design of the card with a border that compliments without detracting. That’s hard to do, but it is done well. The 2004 Strikeout leaders card in a great one too. Anytime you can have a league leader card with multiple Red Sox players on it, that’s a huge plus. Hopefully this year’s rotation can produce a couple clean sweeps in next year’s set. It’s also nice to notice that Pedro led Curt by 24 K’s that year. What’s not to like about the Postseason Highlights card? Sure, calling Schilling the ace is annoying. But, look at that celebration on the bottom. The Sox were on their way to making history. I can never see cards like this enough. The SPx Pedro cards is another example of  late-nineties flair for the sake of flair. Is there a reason for the bronze square in the middle of the card? Other than a place to call out “Power Passion.” If there is going to be foil, or metal, or anything else embedded in a card, please let there be an actual reason for it to be there. But, it’s one of the first cards of Pedro in his Sox uniform, so I guess it’s forgiven. I also like the back of the card. It proudly states in the largest text on the card that this card is number 1489/7000. I wonder if it makes it more valuable that the numbers 1-4-8-9 were the first four numbers retired by the Sox. The 2003 Fleer Tradition card of Johnny Damon is, well, interesting. Not exactly the best shot of a grumpy Damon. I don’t understand the design either. I know its “tradition” but some traditions are meant to end. Speaking of flair for flair’s sake, we come to the Jason Varitek card. Shockingly, it’s from Upper Deck. It’s definitely is flashy and shiny. It’s also embossed, which is nice except for one thing. The back of the card has the exact same image as the front. So, obviously, the embossing doesn’t like up with the picture on the back like it does on the front. So, Varitek has a bumpy “X” going over him. None of that is a problem with the 1991 Score Dream Team card of Wade Boggs. Simply a classic photograph that speaks for itself. Imagine what this card would look like if Upper Deck put it out. Thank goodness.

Of course, this was just a select sample of the bounty of goodness sent over by Tomahawk. I can’t wait for our next trade.

Thanks Tomahawk Chopping!