Go Red! 2014 Topps Target Red Yoenis Cespedes

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Yoenis Cespedes had a short unmemorable stint with the Red Sox. He was anchored with being the main return in the Jon Lester trade. Perhaps his biggest contribution was being the main chip that brought in future Cy Young award winner Rick Porcello to Boston. 

Pretty average card here. "Batter in mid swing" is a common photo topic. In this case, he's showing a bit more effort than most, at least. Otherwise, it's a rather non-descript card. Which I guess you get every once in a while.

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I'm sure you all remember forever Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2014 Topps Target Red Kelly Johnson

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Kelly Johnson played ten gmes for the Red Sox in 2014. He was acquired from the Yankees at the deadline for Stephen Drew. A month later, he was traded to the Orioles in a four players deal. So, obviously, not a lot to say about his Red Sox career. Glad he was able to get a card out of it, though.

It's a simple card. I'm guessing there weren't a ton of pictures to choose from. I don't actually remember the Red sox wearing the blue and red combo like that. That's nice to see. Otherwise, it's a rather non-descript card. Which I guess you get every once in a while.

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Photo: Jon Adams

I'm sure you all remember Mina Smith from her interview with us. Through her social impact initiative "Love Your Neighbor" she is fundraising for the American Heart Association. I highly recommend you support her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2014 Topps Target Red David Ross

 February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Hard to forget David Ross! Especially for me, since I was in the park as he caught the last strike of the 2013 World Series. He definitely earned that ring on his finger. While his stints in Boston weren't long, they made up for it with that championship.

The card itself...I'm not sure what Ross is doing with his fingers. Is he supposed to be showing "3" of something? Or is that the only way he could figure out to make his fingers work to show off the ring? The picture is fantastic though. Even cropped tight, you can see the giant championship banner behind him on the monster. What a great addition to the team collection.

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Photo: Jon Adams

I'm sure you all remember Mina Smith from her interview with us. Through her social impact initiative "Love Your Neighbor" she is fundraising for the American Heart Association. I highly recommend you support her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2014 Topps Target Red Edward Mujica

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Remember last time when I said I sometimes forget that AJ Pierzynski was on the Sox? Yeah. Edward Mujica was on the Sox for a season plus, coming out of the pen. He actually appeared in 75 games over those two years, so was used a lot. But, in the championship hangover, that season isn't one that sticks out in my memories...for any of the Sox players.

The card itself...I'll keep saying it. I like the Target Red parallels. I love the idea that every player, even Mujica, has a rare card to chase. Something that every collection can add to make it a bit more special. I will also keep saying that I wish the color red they chose didn't clash with the color red in the Sox logo. But, that's still ok. It's a fun card to have in my binder.

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Photo: Jon Adams

I'm sure you all remember Mina Smith from her interview with us. Through her social impact initiative "Love Your Neighbor" she is fundraising for the American Heart Association. I highly recommend you support her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2014 Topps Target Red AJ Pierzynski

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Sometimes forget that Pierzynski was on the Sox. His partial season in 2014 isn't exactly the stuff of legends. Especially since everyone was still in the haze after winning the championship in 2013. But, he served a role batting .250 is 72 games for the Sox that year. Just enough to not be memorable. To me at least.

The card itself...I still say I like the Target Red parallels. It gives something fun to chace in retail packs. It's not ridiculously overwhelming. Just a simple matte red border. Just enough to add some variety ot a collection. I do wish the color red they chose didn't clash with the color red in the Sox logo. But, I guess I can't have everything.

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Photo: Jon Adams

I'm sure you all remember Mina Smith from her interview with us. Through her social impact initiative "Love Your Neighbor" she is fundraising for the American Heart Association. I highly recommend you support her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2014 Topps Red Hot Foil David Ortiz

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Not much to say about Ortiz that hasn't been said. From waiver wire pick-up to the greatest clutch hitter in Red Sox history. In 2014, Ortiz had just led the Sox to yet another title...and "led" he did. His numbers in the World Series was the stuff of legends.

The card itself...is a lot. I'm not usually a fan of mixing horizontal cards into a vertical set. They always just look off. Of course, this picture was just made for a horizontal cropping. But, it still sticks out a bit. Plus the red foil makes an already foil heavy set just completely over the top.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2014 Topps Red Hot Foil Jake Peavy

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Peavy was a midseason pick-up for the Sox during their run to the 2013 World Series. He put up a 4-1 record for the Sox, which was just what they needed as a way to solidify the team down the stretch. He did the same during the playoffs, doing just what the team needed him to do to ear the duckboat parade after the season. He easily became one of the fan favorites after he purchased the duckboat he rode on to keep as a souvenir of the season's success. Can't ask for much more from a player when it comes to adopting a new fan base.

The card itself...lets just say sometimes less is more. It's hard enough to read the names on regular cards since Topps keeps insisting on writing them in foil. Now, the whole card is also shimmery foil? Talk about overdoing it. But, I suppose it does add interest to a collection.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2023 Topps Heritage High Number Kenley Jansen

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Kenley Jansen was an all-star closer for the Red Sox in 2023. It will be interesting to see what his role will be moving forward. Whether it's in a modified closer role, or with another team. It's always hard to take public comments from management at face value. But, it seems like Breslow wouldn't object to the "closer by committee" approach. Whether tht would only apply if Jansen is dealt first remains to be seen. But, either way it will be an interesting season for Jansen. 

The card itself is on the bland side. The blurry player name certainly doesn't help. But, the red is really forced into the design. With all the different colored parallels Topps produces, it's probably hard to make sure every one workes with every individual card design. But, this one misses the mark for me.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2021 Topps Stadium Club Red Foil Chris Sale

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

This is a really nice card of the Red Sox departed former ace. Stadium Club is known for its photography, and this card is no exception. Sale is nicely framed and the ball is captured in flight. That always makes for a fun element in a show. I suppose if I had one minor criticism, it's the cropping of Sale's left hand. They couldn't shift the picture over a millimeter to avoid cutting off the tip of his index finger?  

Of course, after his run with the Sox, Sale has moved to Atlanta. While he wasn't quite everything we hoped he would be during his time in Boston (Not everyone is Pedro, after all) he brought the city another title and closed out the deciding game in style. That's one of those moments that lives with you, and makes any stint with the Sox a successful one.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2014 Topps Update Target Red David Ross

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Clearly another member of the 2013 World Series Championship team. You don't see a lot of cards with players showing off their rings like this. I think it's great that Topps took advantage of having Ross in the Update set to include a picture from 2014 like this one. It's a great departure from the standard baseball card photos. 

Once again, there are like 36 different shades of red on this card, whcih messes with my brain more than I'd like. But even that can't detract from this card celebrating my favorite World Series title.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2013 Topps Target Red Ryan Dempster

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the first one.

Let's talk about this card...

2013 was quite the year for Boston and the Red Sox. It wasn't Dempster's best year stat-wise, but he was able to celebrate a World Series championship when the season ended. He was even able to close out game one of the series at home. Not a bad way to end it.

As for the card itself, while I love the Target red variations in general, the colors are just odd this year. The border is almost crimson, where the Red Sox logo is more of a fire engine red. The sea turtle in the corner appears to be a third shade of red. It's all just a bit "off". But, still a nice memory of my favorite World Series title.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2020 Topps Opening Day Target Red Foil Michael Chavis

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the next one.

Let's talk about this card...

When I talked about the Andrew Benintendi card from this set earlier this month, I mentioned that I never quite knew what happened to Benintendi. To go from such a top prospect to a midling player, I never quite saw what went wrong. That goes double for Chavis. There was so much promise, and it just...didn't come together. In both cases, it seemed the Sox knew something I didn't, and they were right in both cases. Which is too bad, since they were both fun to watch.

The card itself is, again, fun. The red foil card still works better on Red Sox cards, or obvious reasons. Although, the blue jerseys still don't work quite as well. The photo is again a nice image for the very narrow vertical space allowed on the 2020 Topps cards. I wish his hand wasn't cropped off behind him, but that's probably a little nit picky. Can't have everything I suppose.

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If you are able, I highly recommend you support the American Heart Association's efforts with a donation. You can find the link here.

Support the efforts to Go Red for Women!

Go Red! 2021 Topps Fire Flame Alex Verdugo

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the next one.

Let's talk about this card...

I think we're all hoping for a little more from Verdugo this season. As the major leaguer the Sox got in return in the Mookie Betts trade, we all hoped he would be Mookie's replacement. Of course, a one-to-one replacement was unfair. But, maybe at least an all-star caliber player? Which, he's been pretty close to thus fast. He had an pff year last year, but the first two were definitely solid building blocks. As he enters his age 27 season, hopefully he can take that next jump in a solid lineup.

The card itself is really interesting. As Fire always does, there are several different designs showing up throughout the set. This one, with the green elements, makes the red foil cards look a little too christmasy for my liking. Otherwise it's a nicely cropped shot of Alex in his Boston Strong jerseys. Nothing much to complain about there.

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If you are able, I highly recommend you support the American Heart Association's efforts with a donation. You can find the link here.

Support the efforts to Go Red for Women!

Go Red! 2019 Tops Stadium Club Red Foil Carlton Fisk

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the next one.

Let's talk about this card...

When Fisk left Boston as a 33 year old catcher, I wonder how many people would have guessed he had more than half his career left in front of him. That division of time makes it all the more remarkable that the Red Sox have managed to reclaim him as one of their own. Especially since his home run is no longer the best World Series moment in the last sixty years.

The card itself is really nice. As always, the red foil works well on the Red Sox card. Even with the pullover jerseys, it gives off a classic elegant feel that I enjoy. The image, too, seems to invoke the feel of so much motion for what is basically a posed shot. I can't really say much about it, other than to say I'm glad the text does a great job hiding to let the image speak for itself. Well done.

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If you are able, I highly recommend you support the American Heart Association's efforts with a donation. You can find the link here.

Support the efforts to Go Red for Women!

Go Red! 2020 Topps Opening Day Target Red Foil Andrew Benintendi

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the next one.

Let's talk about this card...

I'll never quite know what happened with Benintendi. Considering he was such a big draft pick, it seemed like the organization was never really in love with him. I always assumed that professional talent evaluators were able to pick up on something I couldn't. But, it seemed like he was a better player than he ever showed. Or got the chance to show.

The card itself is fun. The red foil cards always work better on Red Sox cards, or obvious reasons. The photo in this case is a nice image for the very narrow vertical space allowed on the 2020 Topps cards. I only wish he wasn't wearing the blue jersey. The home whiles would probably work better with the red borders. Can't have everything I suppose.

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If you are able, I highly recommend you support the American Heart Association's efforts with a donation. You can find the link here.

Support the efforts to Go Red for Women!

Go Red! 2012 Topps Heritage Target Red Carl Crawford

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the first one.

Let's talk about this card...

Yup. We all remember this guy. I have yet to decide what actually went wrong with Crawford. Was it just the injuries dragging him to the point he couldn't recover? Was it being unable mentally to handle the pressures of the contract? Was it all of those? Whatever the reason, what looked like a slam dunk signing was completely the opposite. Most people were thrilled to ship Crawford off to LA to hit a reset button.

The card itself isn't much better that Crawford's performance. While I know it probably follows the "heritage" theme, the picture is uninspiring at best. And, oddly, all that red doesn't really work for me. Especially with the blue background on the smaller inset photo. All in all, nothing to get excited about with this card at all.

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If you are able, I highly recommend you support the American Heart Association's efforts with a donation. You can find the link here.

Support the efforts to Go Red for Women!