A Swing and a Trade Post

A few months ago I got a note from Swing and a Pop-Up saying he had some Red Sox dupes that I could probably use more than he could. I'm always willing to get new Red Sox cards, so I graciously accepted and a swap was made. I couldn't believe the generous pile that arrived at my door! Let's check out just some of the highlights.

The "Trading Places" card is funny to me. I don't remember that subset being all inclusive. So, the fact that they decided to make a card celebrating Mark Loretta changing teams seems like an interesting choice. The UD Masterpieces is another oddity. The whole idea of the set, I thought, was to make the cards look like classical paintings. The added inset seems out of place, even if I understand that they wanted to show off the ankle.

Jay Payton looks scared, to me.

Rickey Henderson was 43 years old with the Red Sox in 2002. He only saw limited action, but I remember being blown away by how he terrorized pitchers on the base paths. When he was on first, you could just feel the game change. I can't even imagine what that would have been like in his prime when he was stealing 100 bases a year. He should have been MVP every year. Sort of like Pedro. Always fun to get a card of his I don't have.

Nomar too. I know he has a TON of cards out there, but I have a ton of Nomar and Pedro cards in my collection so it always surprises me to find ones I don't have.

Look! Two more! I don't know if I've ever seen 2001 Opening Day before. That logo isn't exactly subtle.

More Nomars!

These are the Opening Days I'm used to seeing. The small logo making them basic duplicates of the base Topps sets. Can you even tell which one of the four isn't Opening Day?

Papi was supposed to be a utility guy and ended up a legend. Ball was supposed to be a legend...but wasn't.

A picture of Will Middlebrooks diving on a 2013 card. That, of course, reminds me of the terrible interference call on Will during the 2013 World Series. I don't like being reminded of that.

What did I JUST say?

That's better. Hard to remember a more dominant pitching performance than Beckett during the 2007 postseason. (Well, other than Pedro during every stretch of his career.) 

Always enjoyed the Bowman Platinum brand, even when it features Ryan Kalish.

A couple more Sox stars.

Love that Lester card.

And, of course, the Pedro card.

Not sure if there was a more overrated player during his tenure. For some reason Boston fans prefer dirt to talent. I may never understand that.

This set basically escaped me. So glad to be able to add some to the binder.

Way back to the early years of Topps Gold.

Even a little earlier.

Lots of pitchers. Some good, some not so good.

So, there are the highlights of an incredible shipment. I can't thank SAAP enough for sending them along.

Hopefully more Red Sox swings lead to line drives.

A Grande Trade Post!

Back in October, I posted about a blaster of Topps Allen & Ginter that I had the pleasure of opening. One of the cards caught the eye of Chris over at Nachos Grande. He recognized it as one he needed, and I was happy to send it over to him along with a few other cards I had for him. He was kind enough to send a package of greatness back in return. I thought it would be fun to look at some of them here.

I hope you agree!

Here we go...

The 1981 Donruss design is starting to grow on me. Instead of being "plain and boring", it's starting to become "classic". The coloring I'm also finding appealing. Whatever the reason, I welcome this change in my opinion.

This Parnell is from the Archives set back when they were actual reprints. While it's not a real 1953, it's still a great addition to the collection. Coming off a less stellar 1952 season, Parnell was a 20-game winner in 1953.

Always nice to be reminded that Dawson was a Red Sox for a while there.

A nice collection of 1995 Score here showing different stages of Red Sox stardom. Frankie Rodriguez was supposed to be the next big thing...right until he wasn't. He went from untouchable in the minors, to being traded to the Twins during the '95 season. Mo Vaughn would, of course, win the MVP in 1995. Roger followed a 9-7 1994 season with a 10-5 1995. After a 10-13 1996 season he was allowed to sign with Toronto to finish out the twilight of his career.

In 1997, Reggie Jefferson was coming off a career year, and competing for a batting title. Well, perhaps "competing" is a stretch. For much of the season, he was among the league leaders...but didn't have enough at-bats to qualify for the title. He wasn't playing regularly enough to get the at-bats he needed. In fact, at one point late in the season he was hit by a pitch that bounced in the dirt first. He didn't attempt to take his base, and the ump didn't seem to realize it hit him. There was always the assumption that Jefferson ignored the HBP because he need the at-bat more. As it happened, Jefferson ended up finishing 8th in the batting race that year, about 30 points behind Frank Thomas.

He also included these cards featuring Red Sox greats Cecil Fielder and Jeff Fassero. Wait...that's not right...

That's better. The other sides of those cards feature actual Sox legends Mo Vaughn and...well...Jeff Suppan. 

Another couple prospects that never really panned out. Trust me, people were excited about Veras and Asadoorian at one point.

People were also excited about this guy. For a long time. Love the way the Gold Label really shows it off. Kudos to Chris for finding a Nomar card I didn't have...that's not easy to do.

And he did it again! Topps Total was a fun brand. A nice clean design.

Chris was nice enough to point out that this card is a SP. Which is good, since there's no way I would have known otherwise. This trade was a big deal at the time. It's also a feature in Moneyball since Billy Beane tried to insert himself into the trade as a way to get Kevin Youkilis from the Sox. It didn't work.

Speaking of Youkilis, here he is on a card with a great design. Makes for a pretty impressive card. Unlike the Ortiz card, which looks like it was cut and pasted together. Literally. By a kindergartener. 

Wally!

While Wells always had too much Yankees stink on him for my taste, always fun to add a Red Sox relic piece to the collection. Does the "Midsummer Swatches" insert name imply this might be a specific jersey? Let's see...

No, not a specific game. Just a regular old generic Padres game. Wait, what? Why would Upper Deck do that? I mean, obviously I know why. But...why?

And there you have it. Trust me when I tell you that this is a small sample of the pile of goodness sent my way. Every last card was very much appreciated.

Thanks Nachos Grande!

A Fuji Holiday

A couple months ago now, Fuji wrote a post saying he was looking to complete the relic set from 2019 Topps Holiday. I can't say that I blame him. The Topps Holiday brand has turned into a fun set, and the relic design certainly expanded on that. So, while I didn't buy a ton of that product, I checked out his wantlist.

Luckily, not only did I have a card he needed, but it was a Yankees card! I always welcome the chance to get Yankees cards as far as possible from me. Fuji offered a card in exchange, and we were ready. 

Unfortunately, upon double checking, Fuji realized that he didn't actually need the card I have. Being a stand-up guy, though, he offered to send along the card he promised me anyway. Which card was it? I'm glad you asked.

See? I told you they were fun. I especially like how the game used piece is from a red jersey. Not only is it slightly rarer for the Sox to wear those jerseys, but it definitely fits the Holiday theme better. It's like a giant holly berry. (Come to think of it, with Pedroia doing nothing lately other than collect his albatross mistake of a contract, I wonder when he last wore a red jersey.)

I plan on sending Fuji back a return package anyway. Hopefully that won't violate his recent reduction in trade package mailings. After all, this would just even things up, right?

Thanks for the card Fuji!

Happy to Walk the Plank

About a month ago, I was one of the winners of a birthday contest at Bob Walk the Plank. Matt promised me that he was putting something special together to add something to my collection beyond a few new Pedro Martinez cards. When the package arrived, I was blown away with the contents, and his generosity. It has take me too long to chronicle the package with a post, but that's how long it took to adequately document everything!

Matt chose to go in a completely different direction. The package I received was from Gypsy Oak (which was a bit confusing until I saw the "From Matt" written on the back). I was somewhat familiar with their art pieces from seeing them on other blogs and social media. But, nothing prepared me for what would come out of the envelope. Ready to check it out for yourself?

Let's see what's inside!

This is a fun label I could put on my very own beer, if I was the type of collector who actually used things like that. (My unopened jars of salsa would clearly say otherwise.) It's certainly unique, and I love the amount of detail that went into this item featuring XX.

According to the backs, these are a few studio created samples of the Gypsy Oak Baseball Art Cards. They're very similar to standard baseball cards in size and thickness. I love the different style on the Cy Young card. 

I can't find anything like these cards on the Gypsy Oak website. So, I'm not sure what they're called. The back isn't much help, with a paisley playing card type feel to it. But, I'm not going to complain about a great couple cards, especially the one of The Kid. (It's just now really bothering me that I didn't scan these in numerical order left to right.)

Here we have three cards calling themselves Helman Art Stamps. These cards are about the size of a T206, but much thinner stock, and have have perforated edges to really sell the "stamp" feel to them. I also love how the tobacco era design works with the player selection, especially Williams in his San Diego uniform. Imagine the outfield this trio would make with Ted in left, Speaker in center, and Hooper in right. Hall of Famers all of them.

More old time feel with these great cards. They call  themselves Colgan's Chips Base-Ball Pictures. They're again about the size of a T206, but approaching relic card thickness. This makes them very sturdy, and wonderfully attractive. Again the style, size, and player selection makes these cards feel like you stepped back in time. Smoky Joe Wood is a player who has too few cards, so it was great to see him included here. Hard to imagine many pitchers will have a season as good as his was in 1912.

As the front of this card clearly says, this is a wood engraving, and it shows. The picture doesn't do this card justice. Again, we're talking about relic card thickness, but all wood. The engraving is so well done, that I don't mind the guy on the right being included on a Red Sox card.

Here we have an uncut strip of micro cards. Each one is about the size of a quarter. It's a fun collection of Red Sox legends, ranging the century plus of Red Sox baseball from Cy Young to David Ortiz. Of course, I love the addition of the great Pedro Martinez!

Speaking of Pedro, Matt clearly knew of my affinity for the greatest pitcher to ever take the mound. The package included several great Pedro items, including these two cards. They're standard card size, but as thick as a relic card because, well, can't you see the relic? The Dodgers version has a 1992 penny in it. Of course, 1992 was the year Pedro made his Major League debut in Los Angeles. The Boston card has a 2004 penny in it. Pedro did something cool in 2004, you may remember.

Last, but certainly not least, we have these two 4x6 art prints of the one and only Pedro. I love how the two styles are completely different, but still capture the essence of Pedro. Incredible.

Clearly Matt went above and beyond with this prize package. I was thrilled to be able to add so many unique items to my Red Sox collection.

Thanks Matt!