My First Red Sox Cards of the Year!

Well, that’s not exactly 100% accurate. I have bought cards this year, and gotten Red Sox cards. But, I have just opened a pack containing my first 2011 Red Sox card. Exciting, isn’t it?

I know. I know. All the people who read the baseball card blogs are sick and tired of hearing about the 2011 Topps cards. It reminds me a lot of truck day. Everyone waits and builds it up. It’s a day away! It’s today! And, once it happens, you get nothing but coverage until you want to puke. That’s really what happened with the release of 2011 Topps. There was the countdown. After all, it’s yet another sign that summer is almost here. (If you’re scoring at home that means the first sign of summer is the release of the Topps products, truck day, and the day pitchers and catchers report. Along with, you know, the actual first day of summer.) So, the day the cards were released, everyone talked about it. The days they first showed up in Target, everyone showed pictures of all their packs. I’m fairly certain that I had seen every card in the set before I even opened one pack. So, why on earth would I bore everyone with another description of 2011 Topps? Because it’s my blog. You don’t have to read it…although it would be nice if you did.

The very first card I opened in all of 2011 Topps? A Derek Jeter. Yup. That can’t be a good sign. At least it’s a guy I know I can get rid of easily. So, the very first Red Sox card I got from 2011 Topps? The Jon Lester.

Not a bad way to start it off. That’s a great looking card. Well cropped. A great action shot of a power lefty doing his thing. The next Red Sox card I received? The Clay Buchholz.

Yup. No losers for me this year. Let’s start it off with the two studs of the best rotation in baseball. Another great shot showing the scoreboard in the background. The next Red Sox I could take off my wantlist would be Ryan Kalish.

The Kalish card is interesting to me. I assume this picture is taken after one of his grand slams last year. That’s why there are three guys congratulating him. For one thing, look at how little he looks. Apparently 6’1” 205 doesn’t do what it used to. The second thing is the guy on the left. It’s a shot from behind, but I’d swear the guy is laughing. Or at least smiling. But…that’s JD Drew. He smiles? And they managed to catch it on camera? Did the photographer win his Pulitzer yet? The next Sox card was a Toppstown of David Ortiz.

I admit I have no idea why I’d want to visit Toppstown. Maybe they have a nice restaurant there or something. But it’s a nice shiny card to add to a binder. The final Sox card I managed to get was the Scutaro.

This is one of those cards that make team collectors swear up and down. It’s a vintage variation. See the funky looking logo? It’s also on a thicker, poorer cardstock. Is that enough of a difference to make me collect yet another set that looks just like the regular set? Do I need the vintage variation, the chrome set, and the opening day set? Doesn’t that get a little crazy? Oh well. We all know I’m going to collect them all. It’s a sickness.

I like the design this year. I’m generally much more interested in the photography that any other aspects of the cards. So getting all the necessary information out of the way works well for me. I like how the name and logo sweeps just above the bottom of the picture. That allows some of the shot to peek out from underneath. It’s a nice touch.

Now I just need to get the rest of them.