I Scored!

August 18, 2001

I say this a lot when I look back at old scorecards. Even with the collection of misfits this year, we don’t know how lucky we have it. This card is from the end of the 2001 season. A season in which they would finish second in the division…but still be 13.5 games back. A lost year.

To be fair, the line-up isn’t terrible. There are some recent all-stars floating around in there. But, the rest of it just isn’t enough. Although, it was in this game.

It was really one big inning that took the day for the Sox. They piled it on in the sixth, allowing them to win easily. Unfortunately, by then it was too late for Casey Fossum to see any benefit. He didn’t make it through the fifth, after loading the bases with two outs. Although I didn’t mark it down, I assume the win went to Garces because of his scoreless inning plus. Not to mention putting out the fire in the fifth.

The hero of the game for the Sox? Easily Mike Lansing. His four RBI were the difference. Especially his huge three-run home run in the sixth. It sealed the game for the Sox. The goat? Let’s go with Jose Offerman. While he wasn’t the only player to go hitless on the day, he did it from the lead-off spot. That’s not what you’re looking for.

In the end, it didn’t matter. The Sox prevailed thanks to some timely hitting, and help from the bullpen.

And the scorecard shows how it happened.

From the Pedro Binder

1998 Donruss Silver Press Proof

Yeah, I have no idea what this card is either.

I understand the idea of a press proof. But, why is this one die cut? And covered, and I mean covered, with those Donruss logos? Just makes a jumbled mess of things.

That's too bad, because the rest of it is a pretty nice card. Everything I need is there. Player name, team. No position, but that's OK. Especially since the info is tucked out of the way on the bottom of the card. Even the standard Donruss logo is hidden up top. It allows for the picture of Pedro to be the most important part of the card.

Then they had to ruin it by going a press proofy with it. It's what Donruss was infamous for. Taking a good idea, and throwing it away. At least, in this case, it was just an insert set that they ruined. The base set works pretty well. But, this post isn't talking about the base card.

It's about the awful Press Proof version.

Lost in the Shuffle

So, the Celtics are trading away 40% of their starters. The Bruins lost 40% of their fan base to Dallas. The Patriots are changing their logo, or something else in the news. So, it might be easy to forget that the Sox are in first place.

In the American League! With more wins than anyone else in the game. Wow.

How are they doing it? I’ve given up asking. They’re just scoring more runs than the other team does. Over and over again.

At the beginning of the season I asked what the difference was between the 2013 Sox and the 2012 Giants. I couldn’t really find one then. I still can’t find one now. They’re the same team made up of a bunch of above average players who just happen to be pulling it out.

Hope it keeps going!

List of 36

Red Sox players I’ve enjoyed watching

1. Mike Greenwell

2. Jacoby Ellsbury

3. Nomar Garciaparra

4. Dwight Evans

5. Mo Vaughn

6. Juan Pena

7. Jason Varitek

8. Donnie Sadler

9. Adrian Gonzalez

10. Carl Everett

11. Alex Gonzalez

12. Ellis Burks

13. Freddie Sanchez

14. Damian Jackson

15. Pedro Martinez

16. Daniel Bard

17. Tony Pena

18. Josh Beckett

19. Jonathan Papelbon

20. Coco Crisp

21. Roger Clemens

22. Phil Plantier

23. Pokey Reese

24. Clay Buchholz

25. Kevin Morton

26. Carlos Baerga

27. Carl Crawford

28. Johnny Damon

29. Victor Martinez

30. Bob Zupcic

31. Billy Wagner

32. Rickey Henderson

33. David Ortiz

34. Adrian Beltre

35. Manny Ramirez

36. Tom Gordon

Collecting the Sox: PEZ

First off, a show of hands. Who actually puts the Pez candy in the Pez dispenser before eating it? Isn’t that an awful lot of work to go through to get a sugar high? Just unwrap and eat!

I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone what Pez is. They’ve been around for a while, and have become very collectable, even outside the sports world. No matter what you collect, you can probably find a Pez dispenser to fit into your collection. Pigs, cats, snowmen, Star Wars, anything under the sun. Some people just collect Pez dispensers, no matter what they depict. For Red Sox collectors, this makes one of those crossover collectables that can be a challenge. The more collectors that are looking for an item, the more challenging it usually is to find. That annoying supply and demand thing again. Thankfully for Pez, the supply side of the equation really helps collectors out. They’re not particularly hard to find. Ok, they’re everywhere. That’s what really makes them a good collectable. Plus, they’re really cheap. I find myself getting them a lot as add-ons to gifts. That shirt’s not quite enough? Toss in a Red Sox Pez to complete the thought.

Once you have one, they’re great to display. You can either leave them in the package, or take them out and try to stand them up. That might take a little balance. But, it usually works out pretty well. They don’t take up a lot of room, which is really important. You can fit a rather large collection on a small shelf. That’s a lot easier than something like bats or refrigerators. It also means they can be tucked in anywhere. You don’t need a whole room dedicated to the Red Sox (although that works fine too). Have an extra inch on your desk? Or a corner of your bureau? Perfect spot for a Pez. They’re colorful, and can add a bit of visual interest to a display area. Because of those reasons, it’s not hard to see why something so weird has become a collectable to so many.

Does anyone else have Red Sox Pez?