2021 Topps Stadium Club Blaster!

It's time for another blaster! Another 2021 Stadium Club one. Yes, I know we just did one of these a couple weeks ago, but there are different cards in this one. So that makes it ok, right?

Let's see how this one went!

The box. Interesting that for a set that is centered on the photography, the box design is simply an elegant photograph. Wonder if that was intentional.

Some packs thrown about.

I remembered the master photo this time! Glad this Adell RC didn't find its way into the recycling.

Great classic looking reprint type 1991 card of Boggs. This design will alway mean "Stadium Club" to me.

And, a current design on this Rafael Devers card. Although, it's the sepia version. A nice looking card.

So, two Red Sox cards. Nothing too extraordinary though. Still always a fun box to open.

How did your box go?

2021 Topps Stadium Club Blaster!

It's time for another blaster! Another 2021 Stadium Club one. I know we just did one of these, but I apparently was able to grab a few at once, making more for me to open!

Let's see how this one went!

Another box.

More packs, with the exact same picture as the box.

At this point in my last box, I talked about the weird Master Photo card Topps slipped into the box. This time? I honestly forgot about it, and didn't remember the white card carefully snuck into the white box before it made it to recycling. Hope it wasn't a valuable one. Are there valuable ones?

Not a Red Sox card. But...a couple Red Sox cameos. I wonder what the end result of this picture is. Everyone seems to be looking intently...even if Vazquez seems a bit more laid back. 

Here's a Red Sox card. A nice shot of Chris Sale about to make a batter look foolish.

Another non Red Sox card with a Red Sox cameo. This one has a nice old shot featuring two future Hall of Famers. I'm going to guess Ripken is safe. Any ideas?

So, not the greatest box in the world. One Red Sox card, and two cards of people doing well against the Red Sox. That's no fun. 

How did you box do?

2020 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster!

It's time to open another blaster! Well, actually, it's time to tell you about another blaster I already opened! This time we'll go with 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter. These packs are always fun because they offer a lot of variety. How'd I do? Let's see!

Here are the highlights...

You know, this here is the box.

And the box has eight packs, that all look the same.

Right away, some of that variety I spoke of. It's not in every blaster that you can get a card of "The Swamp". I don't know if that's a bad thing.

More variety. This time a shot of a building. Eh.

Ooh, a rock! Not even "The Rock". Just, a rock. 

A former Red Sox! I can't decide how I feel when Topps puts old players with obscure teams. On the one hand, Rays fans might like to get another card of Boggs in their uniform. On the other hand...are there Rays fans? Sometimes it seems like Topps is showing off..."We know Boggs used to be a Ray and Sandberg used to be on the Phillies. Did you?"

A mini of a colossal. That's funny right there.

Another former Red Sox! This time pictured with a much more standard team.

And, that's it. No actual Red Sox. Weirdly, all the base cards I got were of real-life baseball players. That's not supposed to happen. So, no fun and no Red Sox. 

Not sure if it could have gone worse.

How did yours go?

I’m With the Nerds

When I discussed the MVP race in the American League recently, and the qualifications for both Mookie Betts and JD Martinez, I left out one section of the argument.

The “Nerd Stats”.

The EEIdiots were lamenting the fact that JD Martinez should easily win the MVP, but that he may not even finish in the top three after the nerds get done looking at their computers. They thought it was a damn shame that fewer people make their votes based on the way a player plays, and instead rely on what the nerd numbers say.

Which is, of course, idiotic.

The whole basic premise of that argument is that you don’t need a computer to tell if a player is good or not. Which is nonsense for many reasons. First, you don’t need a computer for any of these newfangled statistics. Even WAR, or FIP, or VORP. All you need is a decent calculator. Of course, that’s not much different. A computer is really just a bunch of calculators. But, the point is that the stats just require some math to get to. So?

Have you ever figured out a batting average without a calculator? Unless the guy has one hit in ten at-bats, I’m going to need a calculator to figure it out. And, that’s about as old timey as a statistic can get. No, with WAR you don’t just get to count the number. It takes some multiplication and division. But, just like batting average, it doesn’t make it less valid.

Because things like home runs, and even pitcher wins still have some value. A person who hits 50 home runs has more power than a guy who hits ten. A pitcher with 20 wins is almost always a better pitcher than a guy who has five. But, they don’t really tell the story. And they certainly don’t tell the story when the numbers are closer to each other.

Take a guy who hits 50 home runs. Is he a better power hitter than a guy who hits 40? 45? That’s depends on a lot of things. How many at-bats did it take to hit those home runs? If a guy hits 50 home runs in 600 at bats, that’s not as good as a guy who hit 40 in 300 at bats. Or, what if the guy who hit 40 home runs also hit 40 doubles, while the guy who hit 50 home runs only had five? Is that a better power hitter? And, that’s only looking at two counting stats. What if a guy has three more home runs, but five more triples, but three fewer doubles, but 50 more singles? Is that a better power hitter? That’s where the slugging percentage comes in. It’s tries to group all the different power numbers into a single stat. I’m not sure if that’s a nerd stat or not. But, it sure as heck requires a calculator. It also shows that there’s nothing wrong with the home run statistic. It just doesn’t show the whole story. If you want to know who the best home run hitter is? You can count home runs. If you want to know the better slugger? You need to get out the calculator.

What if you wanted to look at the better “hitter”? It always bugged me when people would call Wade Boggs the best Red Sox hitter since Ted Williams. Just because he had a high batting average (my calculator told me that), does that make him a great “hitter”? Or, does it make him a great singles hitter? After all, Ted would have a high batting average AND club a bunch of home runs. Isn’t that better? Boggs used to walk a lot. If you used a calculator, you’d know he had a good on base percentage. But, Ted had one of those too…and hit for power. That makes him better, right? That’s where OPS came in. Simply add the slugging percentage to on base percentage. The higher that number, the better hitter you are. Is OPS a perfect stat? Of course not. But, it’s a way to account for all the different aspects of hitting in one number.

And, that’s all the “nerd” stats try to do. They try to incorporate all the different aspects of a player into a number. Because it’s not all cut and dry. Does a player make a lot of plays in the field because he covers a lot of ground? Or it is because a lot of balls are hit to him? Does a player dive a lot because he puts in so much effort? Or, because he was out of position to start with? Does he score runs because he runs the bases well? Or because the guy behind him hits a lot of doubles?

Stats like WAR try to incorporate all of that. How well does a player hit? Or hit for power? Or run? Or field? Or throw? Those are the five tools we’re looking for, right? So, wouldn’t a top player excel in all of those? Wouldn’t you want a way to measure that?

Even if you needed a calculator?

Revised List of 36: The Best Players I've Seen Play in Person

Once again, the awards season has passed. With that, it’s time to revise the list of best players I’ve seen play live. As I’ve said, I make this list based mostly on awards. After all, my grandkids are more likely to ask me if I’ve seen a former MVP than some player who played well for a while (except for David Ortiz, I suppose). Since I’ve pretty much eliminated everyone from my top 36 who hasn’t won a Cy Young or MVP award, I’ll ignore the ROY winners. Which is nice, because I’m not sure I’ve seen either of them play anyway. The two Cy Young winners were Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer. I've seen Porcello once or twice. I know I've seen Scherzer before. Plus, this is his second Cy Young, so that puts him up a notch in quality. For the MVPs, I haven't seen Kris Bryant play yet. But, I have seen Mike Trout. In fact, I'm a little surprised he was't on the list already. Also, looking at the list, I notice someone missing. I don't usually pay much attention to Hall of Fame voting results when it comes to this list. After all, chances are they're already on this list if they're good enough for the Hall of Fame. Not so with Mike Piazza. His measly ROY wasn't enough to keep him on the list. But, his Hall of Fame election gets him back on. So, what about Porcello, Scherzer, or Trout? Looking at the list, everyone has at east an MVP. I think an MVP is better than just a Cy Young, right? That eliminates Porcello and his one Cy Young. Now, the big question. Are two Cy Youngs better than an MVP? Do they make the list? I think I'm going to go with "no". (Do you agree?) It's a tough call, but Scherzer doesn't make the list. That leaves Trout and Piazza to squeeze into spots. So, here’s the new updated list. 

1. Roberto Alomar (HOF)

2. Wade Boggs (HOF)

3. Barry Bonds (MVP)

4. Ryan Braun (ROY, MVP)

5. Miguel Cabrera (MVP, triple crown)

6. Jose Canseco (ROY, MVP)

7. Roger Clemens (MVP, CYA)

8. Josh Donaldson (MVP)

9. Dennis Eckersley (HOF)

10. Jason Giambi (MVP)

11. Tom Glavine (HOF)

12. Juan Gonzalez (MVP)

13. Ken Griffey Jr (All-Century Team)

14. Vladimir Guerrero (MVP)

15. Josh Hamilton (MVP)

16. Bryce Harper (ROY, MVP)

17. Rickey Henderson (HOF)

18. Matt Holliday (MVP)

19. Randy Johnson (HOF)

20. Chipper Jones (MVP)

21. Greg Maddux (HOF)

22. Pedro Martinez (HOF)

23. Andrew McCutchen (MVP)

24. Justin Morneau (MVP)

25. Dustin Pedroia (ROY, MVP)
26. Mike Piazza (HOF)

27. Kirby Puckett (HOF)

28. Albert Pujols (MVP)

29. Jim Rice (HOF)

30. Cal Ripken (HOF)

30. Alex Rodriguez (MVP)

31. Ivan Rodriguez (MVP)

32. John Smoltz (HOF)

33. Ichiro Suzuki (ROY, MVP)

34. Frank Thomas (HOF)
35. Mike Trout (MVP)

36. Mo Vaughn (MVP)

There's my list. Who’s on your list?

Brock Holt Should Get His Number Back

Sometimes it’s hard to be the better person. Sometimes it just drains on you.

I get the feeling it drained on Robert Kraft. He tried to be the better person. He tried to play nice. He tried to take the high road. Then he got pushed off the bridge. The lesser person just kept taking shot after shot at him until finally he had to push back at least a little bit. That’s why he filed the brief yesterday. It was his way of making a point but still keeping the high road. Even though I bet it’s tough for him.

Just like I hope it’s tough for John Henry. Putting on the planned ceremony tonight should be really hard for him.

Because, let me see if I’ve got this straight.

Wade Boggs wanted his number retired. He whined about it every chance he got. He didn’t care that there were team rules about retiring numbers, and he didn’t meet the qualifications. Sure, he played the years. And, the Hall of Fame forced him to wear a Red Sox cap on his plaque when he didn’t want to. But, he didn’t retire with the Sox, so he didn’t meet the requirements. Wade Boggs felt the rules didn’t apply to Wade Boggs. So he threw a hissy fit. Oh, sure the Sox have broken their own rules. A lot. But, it’s one thing for the Sox to decide that Pedro is so special the rules don’t apply to him. It’s another for Wade Boggs himself to kick and scream and insist the rules shouldn’t apply to him. 

For whatever reason, it worked. Like a three year old throwing a tantrum, Boggs kept at it until he got his way. The Sox decided it wasn’t worth it to fight. Or, more likely, they decided that they could use an excuse to sell a few more tickets to a Thursday game in May. They gave in. They were the better person.

To prove it, they went an extra step. Why not make it a two day thing and celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Boggs’s AL Champion Red Sox team. Have a little ceremony. It’ll be fun.

So, what does Boggs do at the ceremony celebrating a Red Sox team that lost the World Series? He wears his World Championship ring he won with another team. A ring he won with the Yankees. 

What a slap in the face.

He finally gets his way, and he goes and rubs their noses in it.

So, I hope John Henry wants to cancel the ceremony tonight. I hope he wants to rip #26 off the wall in put it back on Brock Holt’s back. I hope he wants to remove Boggs from the Red Sox Hall of Fame. He won’t, of course. But, I hope he wants to.

I also hope that to make up for it, everyone in the park boos him mercilessly when he’s introduced. It’s what should happen. He’s getting an honor he didn’t deserve, but wanted. Then he acts like a dink about it. So boo him. Boo him all night.

I’m sure it won’t happen.

But I hope at least everyone wants to.

Card of the Week: 1985 Topps #350

I like the 1985 Topps set. Maybe it’s the first “good” set I remember growing up. I remember the great set that had the rookie cards of Puckett, Clemens, Gooden, McGwire, Hershiser, Saberhagen, and Davis. So, the design always stands out to me. And, it’s a nice design too. Simple geometric shapes. The team name in a box. The team logo in a circle. It’s nice and clean.

The picture of Boggs is great as well. How many times did he strike that pose in his career? He naturally made contact. He’s just trying to figure out where it’s going to go. It doesn’t look like a wall-ball double. But, it’s in play somewhere.

In 1985, Boggs would lead the league with 240 hits. He would hit a career-high .368 that season. I would say that he had an impressive .452 OBP that season. However, Boggs had a higher one in each of the next three seasons. Wowsers.

Team Sets: 1992 Stadium Club

Players Included: Wade Boggs, Tom Bolton, Tom Brunansky, Ellis Burks, Jack Clark, Roger Clemens, Scott Cooper, Danny Darwin, John Dopson, Tony Fossas, Jeff Gray, Mike Greenwell, Greg Harris, Wayne Housie, Josias Manzanillo, John Marzano, Kevin Morton, Jeff Plympton, Carlos Quintana, Luis Rivera, Mo Vaughn

Best Picture: Mike Greenwell. Here we see the leftfielder expertly playing the famed left field wall. Greenwell has gone back as far as he can, and needs to take a leap. I’m noticing two things. He’s not in the right spot. The ball looks to be headed just to his left. He also has his eyes shut tight, so he has no idea. He’s just stuck his glove up there, and is hoping for the best. I’m guessing it was at least a double.

Hall of Famers: Wade Boggs

Future Hall of Famers: Roger Clemens

Reason to Buy the Set: Stadium Club was known for the quality of the cards, and the quality of the photography. This is the cream of the crop when it comes to 1992 team sets.

Overall Reaction: I love the set. I’ve always been a fan of Stadium Club. The full bleed pictures really add a spectacular element to the set. The player selection is on the weak side. But, as a Red Sox fan, you get what you get. The teams in the early nineties were pretty sad. But, they were the Red Sox.

More Thoughts

Once again, I opened the mailbox and found an unexpected bubble mailer inside. It’s always quite exciting to see what wonders lie within. Just like last time, this surprise package was from Adam of Thoughts and Sox. It seems that as I post my wantlists, he’s been finding more and more cards that I need. It’s been fantastic to knock of chunks of my wants like that. What did he send over this time? Here’s a quick sample.

The Boggs and Rice are from commemorative all-star sets inserted into rack packs. The Boggs is from the 1987 set, and the Rice ’86. Since I didn’t buy many of these types of packs, my collection is limited. It’s always nice to add new ones. The Quinones is from the 1986 Topps Traded set. Despite the name of the set, Quinones hadn’t been traded. But, the set also included players making their ML debuts after the main set had hit the printers. That’s where Rey comes in. After three seasons in the Sox system, he got the call in 1986. The rest of the cards are from the 1985 Topps set. This is one of the first sets I remember having any quantity of. I remember buying a lot of “old” packs of 1985 Topps chasing the selecting of rookie cards including Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden, and Mark McGwire. For some reason, though, not many of the ’85 Red Sox remain in my collection…and I never got the Clemens (or McGwire). But, this is a selection of some of the cards from that set. A young Oil Can looks out from behind some great spec’s. Bruce Hurst would have many fine years with the Sox. Jerry Remy looks to be having a pretty good time, years before he would begin his second career. The man who took Remy’s position, Marty Barrett, looks thrilled to be here. Mike Easler came off a fine year for the Sox in 1984, and was looking to do it once again. The Tony Armas is from the All-Star subset of cards. In addition to his regular issue, he appears on this card with special recognition. In the 1984 season, Armas slugged 43 home runs, and drove in 123 runs. That was a monster season. He was well deserving of the all-star nod.

As I mentioned, this was a small look at the selection Adam sent over. The rest are just as wonderful. As always, it was much appreciated.

I love surprises.

T-Shirts

Not too long ago on the radio, the hosts were discussing old t-shirts. They were trying to decide who had the most outdated slogan on a t-shirt. It made me wonder…what’s the most outdated Red Sox shirt I have? Right away, I came up with two contenders. Since I can’t decide which is more out of date, I figured I’d share both of them with you.

The first one is titled “Red Sox Triple Threat” and proudly displays pictures of the players the Red Sox would use to win their games. Which three did they pick? Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, and Phil Plantier. The disturbing part is that it was Plantier that made me buy the shirt. I saw it from across the store, and instantly recognized that squatting batting stance. Really, at the time that wasn’t a bad trio. Boggs was a future Hall-of-Famer. Clemens was at the top of the league as a pitcher. Plantier was clearly an up and coming superstar. Since then? Boggs became a Yankee and rode a horse. Clemens jilted the Sox to move closer to Texas (you know, by moving north), and became a cheating disgrace to the game. Plantier was shipped off to the west coast in short order, and never came close to his projections. But, they were still a Triple Threat.

The other shirt I thought of I have worn more recently, so it probably should be the winner. It clearly states that the Red Sox fans should Believe. After all the Red Sox are armed and dangerous at Fenway Park. This would lead us to have 1993 pennant fever! Wait. 1993? Pennant fever? Let’s look at the records. The Sox finished 1993 at 80-82. Not exactly the record of a contender. In fact, the Sox finished in fifth place in the AL east, 23 games behind the leader. Yup. 23 games. So how did anyone think there should be pennant fever? Well around the all-star break that year the Sox went on a bit of a winning streak. The made up a few games rather quickly. Everyone had dreams of “Morgan Magic II” and got a little bit more excited than they should have. Cue the t-shirts.

So, those are my entries for most outdated Red Sox t-shirt. Does anyone else have any even better? Feel free to share your most outdated t-shirt with us. (keeping it PG would be nice) If you e-mail me a picture of you wearing the shirt, I’ll be sure to include it in a later post. And, for you non-Red Sox fans, you can play along too. What the most outdated t-shirt you have related to your favorite team?

How sad does it get?

List of 36: Best Red Sox Third Basemen of the Past 36 years

1. Wade Boggs 

2. Kevin Youkilis 

3. Rico Petrocelli

4. Mike Lowell 

5. Carney Lansford 

6. Bill Mueller 

7. Scott Cooper 

8. Butch Hobson 

9. Glenn Hoffman 

10. Tim Naehring 

11. John Valentin 

12. Shea Hillenbrand 

13. Freddy Sanchez 

14. Ed Jurak 

15. Jed Lowrie 

16. Wilton Veras 

17. Juan Bell 

18. Carlos Baerga 

19. Luis Ortiz 

20. Mike Benjamin 

21. Lou Merloni 

22. Ed Romero 

23. Bill Selby 

24. Jack Brohamer 

25. Ernest Riles 

26. Chris Donnels 

27. Dick McAuliffe 

28. Bob Heise 

29. John Kennedy 

30. Buddy Hunter 

31. Esteban Beltre 

32. Terry Hughes 

33. Frank Duffy 

34. Jim Tatum 

35. Sean Berry 

36. Gary Gaetti