In Case I Didn’t Feel Guilty Enough

I received yet another package from Adam at Thoughts and Sox. In my dealings with Adam, I have come to a couple conclusions. One, his generosity apparently knows no bounds. Two, he busts more wax than a team of beekeepers. He once again sent along a shipment of cards that took a good size bite out of my wantlists. I can’t even hope to do justice to the nearly 150 cards Adam sent along in this one post. But. I thought I’d mention a few examples of what he sent along.

The Jon Lester 2009 Topps Heritage is a nice card. It’s a good look at Lester, who never seems to smile. It also celebrates a wonderful event in Lester’s career. Yet another young Red Sox pitcher notched his first career no-hitter. A great card. The 2008 Stadium Club Youkilis card is from a lost set for me. I have always been a big Stadium Club fan. It’s hard not to be. But, I somehow “missed” the 2008 release. Obviously, I knew about it. But, I never really got any of them, or read much about it. It appears that all the cards have about 36 variations…including this “first day” version. The idea being that these cards were from the first day of printing of the set. Sort of stealing an idea from stamp collectors. It doesn’t do much for me, but it’s still a nice idea. The card itself is great. It’s shiny, without gong crazy. The photography is, as usual, fantastic. A very nice addition. The 2009 Topps Bard is another neat card. It’s a great photo. Nicely cropped. Maybe this is a chance for Jere to bring his detective skills out again. Bard is in his home whites…but that’s not Fenway he’s pitching in. I like the tongue though. As if pumping a ball in there at 100 mph is just a fun little activity. The Topps Heritage Billy Wagner is a great reminder of a pretty good move. The Sox acquired him on the cheap, hoping simply to get draft picks when he left town. The fact that he was dominating down the stretch was a fantastic bonus. While this card is nothing special, I do like the overall look of the set. The 2010 Bowman Ellsbury is one of my first cards from this set. It’s another great photo. Nicely cropped so nothing detracts from the action. The card itself is also quite simple. No crazy borders or graphics getting in the way of things. I can’t really say anything bad about it. The 2009 Allen & Ginter Rocco Baldelli is a great card, if for no other reason than to remind us that Baldelli was on the Sox. While I like the design of the A&G cards, I think they start to become too much of a good thing. One simple painting is a change of pace. One hundred simple paintings becomes a rut. The 2009 Bowman Daisuke Matsuzaka is a bit of a difficult card to see. Obviously, it was Matsuzaka’s performance in the WBC that supposedly led to his lost 2009 season. It was really too bad. The Topps Kids Mike Greenwell is a fun card. The set’s idea was to appeal to kids. Naturally, it was really to appeal to collectors who needed yet another Mike Greenwell card to their collection. The set had several design formats, of which this is one of my least favorites. But, it’s a fun way to spice up the collection. The Scott Hatteberg is another fun blast from the past. Remember when it was Hatteberg that was keeping Varitek from getting playing time? As we know, due to Varitek’s emergence, Hatteberg had to go elsewhere to make a name for himself and change positions to star in Moneyball. But he was certainly an up and comer in the Sox organization for a while.

As I said, that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the goodness Adam sent over. As always, I urge you to check out his wantlists to see if you can help him out.

I’ll certainly be doing the same.

Collecting the Sox: Souvenir Cups

When you go to a game at Fenway Park, you have a few beverage options. If you lean towards the soda fountain items, you still have a big decision to make. What size drink do you want? The concession stand will tell you itself. The best value is in getting the souvenir size soda. Not only do you get the most beverage, but you get a collectable plastic cup as well. What more could a Red Sox collector ask for? Not only do you get the drink you were going to get anyway. But, you get a nice Red Sox collectable to go along with it. As you may imagine, that’s the choice I make every time I go to Fenway Park. The cups are colorful. Every year they come up with a new design for the cups. In many years, there are several designs. During the playoffs, they usually come up with a special design just for the postseason. (Does that make it a short printed collectable?) I don’t really like the “magic motion” designs they’ve been using a lot of lately, but that doesn’t detract from the overall appeal of the cups. I also got the souvenir cups in Montreal and Philadelphia when I saw games there. That gives a collectable high marks in my book. When you can get them everywhere, it makes for a great item. In fact, I can only think of one downside to the collectable.

What, on earth, do I do with all these cups?

Yes, I know, I could simply use them at home to hold my beverages. And, I do do that. But, there’s really a limit to the number of cups I need to drink from. Right now, I have the balance of them stacked in a corner. Not exactly the best displaying technique. What else can I do? I’ve thought about nailing them to the wall. A whole wall of them would make a nice mosaic effect. Or, a couple of them could be used to hang stuffed animals from. One or two Red Sox bears peeking out of the tops of cups could be a nice look. I also thought of using them as brackets to support narrow shelving. Other Red Sox collectables could be displayed on the shelves rather nicely.

Then, there are the larger-scale options. I considered gluing the cups together into a coffee table shape. If I placed a Plexiglas top on it, it could be a useful piece of furniture. I considered, once, cutting the cups into square pieces. If I attached them to a shirt, it would be making a set of Red Sox cup chain mail. I haven’t done that, though. So, I’m still trying to sort through display/use options.

Anyone have any ideas?

Am I Allowed to Feel Sorry for Barry Bonds?

I was able to watch a rebroadcast of Ken Burns’ Bottom of the Tenth Inning on Monday night. It’s probably the best non-Red Sox Red Sox documentary there is out there. But, it also had a healthy dose of Barry Bonds coverage in it. Watching it this second time, I started to feel sorry for the guy. I’m not sure what to do about that.

To start off with, I’m sure the guy is a complete butthead. There are enough people who would know that say so, that I’m inclined to assume it’s true. The unfortunate part for Bonds is that his career shouldn’t need nice guys, but it does. It’s not like Bonds decided to go into sales, or teaching. If he had, the fact that he’s a jerk would have shown an unwise career move. But, he didn’t. He became a ballplayer. His job description is to use a stick to hit a ball, and a glove to catch one. The fact that he’s interviewed by hoards of reporters after every game was a recent unfortunate development. But, that’s not even the part I feel sorry for him about. Even if he didn’t want to talk to people, or be bothered by reporters, he was probably meaner about it than he could have been. That’s still on him a little bit.

No, the reason for my pity is the performance enhancing drugs. When (we assume) Barry was completely clean, he was one heckova ballplayer. He could do it all. He was the very model of a five-tool stud. But, nobody seemed to care. The documentary tells us that Bonds was never interested in the home run record. He wanted to be an all-around star. And, he accomplished that when he amassed 400 career homers and stolen bases. That was quite a feat. But, nobody seemed to care. They were too interested in McGwire and Sosa. How annoying must that have been? You finally accomplish a career mark that should probably be celebrated above all others, and nobody gives a hoot. So, to combat that public perception (we assume) he turned to the same PED’s that helped McGwire and Sosa achieve the marks that had overshadowed Bonds. So, he goes out and sets the new home rune record for a season. When does he do it? About a month after September 11^th. Once again, everyone’s attention is on another story. Once again, his timing couldn’t have been worse.

Nor could it have been worse when it comes to the whole PED scandal. He was one of the first ones “outed”, when everyone still assumed it was isolated. He was blacklisted. McGwire took PED’s too. But, he still got to be celebrated like a national hero before everyone found out. Andy Pettitte used PED’s. But, he’s still celebrated as a great Yankee and (oddly) a member of its “core four.” Bonds? The commissioner doesn’t even want to show up when he sets the all-time home run record? Despite being a feared hitter, Bonds gets dropped by the Giants and not one single team picks him up?

So, was Barry Bonds a jerk? Yup. Did he cheat? Yup.

I still can’t help but feel a little sorry for him though.

Team Sets: 1993 Upper Deck

Players Included: Scott Bankhead, Ellis Burks, Ivan Calderon, Roger Clemens, Scott Cooper, Danny Darwin, Andre Dawson, John Dopson, Scott Fletcher, Mike Greenwell, Greg A. Harris, Billy Hatcher, Joe Hesketh, Tim Naehring, Tony Pena, Phil Plantier, Carlos Quintana, Jody Reed, Luis Rivera, Jeff Russell, Ken Ryan, John Valentin, Mo Vaughn, Frank Viola, Bob Zupcic

Best Picture: Luis Rivera. Rivera is show in full flight as he attempts to turn a double play. The ball is already in the air. Now all Luis needs to worry about is staying out of the way of the sliding runner. A great action shot.

Hall of Famers: Andre Dawson

Future Hall of Famers: Roger Clemens

Reason to Buy the Set: Hall-of-Famer Andre Dawson stands out. He wasn’t a long-time Sox or anything. But, he has some hobby draw. Add in Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn, and Frank Viola and you have some decent resumes in the set.

Overall Reaction: This is a set I would have just to have. It’s bleh in almost every respect. The design isn’t particularly striking. The player selection isn’t all that hot. If you want all the Red Sox sets, or all the Upper Deck Red Sox set, you’ll have to grab this set up. Otherwise it doesn’t do anything for me.

Showing Off?

Sometimes I think Red Sox general managers have a recognition issue. They know they have the money to get just about any free agent they want. Sometimes, though, they seem to want to show off a little bit. After all, anyone can be Brian Cashman. Anyone can simply buy the best three free agents in one off-season, and then just replace them when an even better one comes along. Where’s the challenge in that? You don’t make the Hall of Fame just by spending money. No, you make the Hall by making moves nobody else would. You make the Hall by correctly predicting that the injured star will regain his form and help your team. You make the Hall by correctly predicting that the misused slugger just needs some at-bats become great. That’s how you do it.

Dan Duquette was famous for it. He was always filling the roster with reclamation projects. Half the team, it seemed, was someone who used to be good before he got hurt, or could be good. Very few were players who were actually good. Unfortunately for Red Sox fans, Duquette hit it big pretty early on with Tim Wakefield. He predicted correctly that Tim would regain his form and help the club. And, help he did. That gave Duquette more confidence to fill the roster with those types for the rest of his time in Boston. Unfortunately for Boston, Theo did the same thing when he found David Ortiz. He gets to swing and miss at a lot of “chances” due to the success of Ortiz. The problem is, that it sometimes gets to be too much.

I get taking chances. It’s a part of the process. It’s when you fill the roster with chances that it gets a little tricky. Getting John Smoltz on the cheap is a great move. If he works out, you’re set. If he doesn’t, you didn’t waste a lot of money. Same goes for Brad Penny. You don’t spend a lot of money on him, so if it doesn’t work out, you don’t lose much. Individually, those are fine deals. But, when you have both Smoltz and Penny on the same roster, it gets a little murkier. A couple million on one chance, plus a couple million on another chance is suddenly enough money to afford not to take a chance. Instead of hoping one of four guys comes though, you can just get the one guy you know will come through. Isn’t that a better way to build a team?

I know. It’s an odd time for that little discussion. After all, this weekend Theo didn’t really do that when he picked up Andrew Miller from the Marlins. I see Miller as a wash, worst case. So, it’s not really a hope that he’ll pan out enough to help the team. He’ll help the team. The hope is that he ends up “really” helping the team. That’s a difference. Plus, as I noticed with the SF Giants World Championship…you don’t lose talent. The Giants roster was filled with guys that used to be good, or everyone once thought was good. Those players often end up as decent additions to a team. Andrew Miller is a former first-round pick. He was thought of highly enough to be included in a trade for Miguel Cabrera. There must be something there. Plus, he’s still very young. I don’t know what Theo thinks of Miller long term. But, he’s the type of guy who definitely can fill a role now. As for the future? It has some possibilities. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Along with everyone else.