My Favorite Pack Pulls: Non Game-Used/Autograph Edition

I wanted to start with this one. There is nothing quite like the feeling of finding an elusive Red Sox card in a pack, well at least when it comes to this hobby anyway. There are definitely better feelings out there in the world, but not within this hobby. Anyway, I'm rambling and hopefully my fiancee is not fuming mad right now.The feeling is even better when the card is an insert or a parallel. Those are often my favorite pulls. I have pulled a handful of game-used or autograph cards of the Red Sox, but not nearly as many as inserts and parallels. The game-used and autograph cards will get their own post at a later date. We are here today to talk about the inserts and parallels. Here, in chronological order, are my ten favorite inserts and parallels I have gotten in packs:

1. WADE BOGGS: 1992 DONRUSS DIAMOND KINGS
I have previously mentioned my affinity for Diamond Kings. This was the first year the Diamond Kings were an insert set, and not a part of the base set. This was the very first insert card I ever pulled. It was also in my first pack of 1992 Donruss. I also got the base card of Boggs in the same pack. THAT is a good pack.

2. NOMAR GARCIAPARRA: 1999 HOLOGRFX STARVIEW
This is just a cool looking card. It was also one of the first decently valuable Red Sox cards I had pulled from a pack. The pack only had three cards in it.

3. SANG-HOON LEE/TOMO OHKA: 2000 ULTRA GOLD MEDALLION
I remember being initially disappointed with this. I saw the back first after buying this pack at the same time that I bought a bunch of Red Sox singles, including the Lee/Ohka base card. I thought I was going to pull a double. It turns out this was the parallel version of the card I previously bought. Sigh of relief. The Red Sox efforts at scouting in Asian countries will be a topic soon, I promise.

4. PEDRO MARTINEZ/NOMAR GARCIAPARRA/TROY O'LEARY: 2000 PACIFIC DIAMOND LEADERS
Do I really need to discuss why this card was so cool to pull from a pack?

5. RICH GARCES: 1998 INVINCIBLE GEMS OF THE DIAMOND
I bought packs and packs and one box of this stuff looking for this card in particular. I was a big fan of Rich Garces during his time with the Sox. Look for a post on that too. Anyway, I finally pulled it in the retail box. Oddly, the Gems of the Diamond came four to a pack while the base cards only fell one to a pack.

6. ANASTACIO MARTINEZ: 2002 TOPPS CHROME TRADED REFRACTOR
To date, this is the only Red Sox refractor I have ever pulled from a pack.

7. JOHNNY DAMON: 2003 TOPPS 205 SOVEREIGN GREEN
I really like the Topp 205 sets, particularly the minis. I have pulled several decent minis. This is my favorite because it is a parallel to a parallel.

8. NOMAR GARCIAPARRA: 2004 LEAF SECOND EDITION EXHIBITS 1939-1946 BEST WISHES RIGHT
These were odd cards. There were about 60 variations on this. Still, this is a pretty cool card, and it came from a retail blaster.

9. JAMIE BROWN: 2004 UPPER DECK ETCHINGS FUTURE ETCHINGS
Not really an insert or a parallel. This one gets mentioned because it is the only rookie serial-numbered short print I have pulled in a pack. It was also from an expensive pack that I only bought one of. Getting a good Red Sox pull usually means I do not continue to try my luck.

10. CARL YASTRZEMSKI: 2005 STUDIO THROWBACK THREADS SEPIA
Similar to #8 above. There were lots of variations in this. I pulled it from a hobby box. It is also the lowest serial-numbered Red Sox card I have ever pulled from a pack.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
CARLOS QUINTANA: 1993 PACIFIC JUGADORES CALIENTES
Only an honorable mention because I got it in a blister pack and it was showing on the front of the packaging, so I knew I would be getting it. That takes out a little bit of the surprise.

PEDRO MARTINEZ: 2000 INVINCIBLE ACES OF THE DIAMOND
NOMAR GARCIAPARRA: 2000 INVINCIBLE KINGS OF THE DIAMOND
Two cards from the same pack. There was only one other card in the pack. THAT is a great pack.

10-10-10-10 Seasons in Red Sox History

I was curious about some of the big power/speed seasons in Red Sox history, I will have a post about 20/20 seasons soon (Boston has not had a 30/30 season), so I did some more research. Today however, I was more interested in how many players have had a season in which they had ten or more doubles, triples, home runs, and stolen bases. The triples part is the hard part. You have to have decent power to drive the ball and speed in order to move all the way to third base. So, I formulated a hypothesis as to which players I would see and then did the research.

First Trivia: There are two players that had two such seasons. Who are they?

My hypothesis: I expected to see Nomar Garciaparra, Jackie Jensen, one of the three of Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, or Johnny Pesky, Tris Speaker, and at least one other Dead Ball Era player.

The Results:
Nomar Garciaparra (2003): 37 doubles, 13 triples, 28 home runs, 19 stolen bases.
Johnny Damon (2002): 34 doubles, 11 triples, 14 home runs, 31 stolen bases.
Nomar Garciaparra (1997): 44 doubles, 11 triples, 30 home runs, 22 stolen bases. And it was his rookie year.
Jackie Jensen (1956): 23 doubles, 11 triples, 20 home runs, 11 stolen bases.
Bobby Doerr (1940): 37 doubles, 10 triples, 22 home runs, 10 stolen bases.
Billy Werber (1934): 41 doubles, 10 triples, 11 home runs, 40 stolen bases. Largely forgotten great player in the 1930's.
Tris Speaker (1912): 53 doubles, 12 triples, 10 home runs, 52 stolen bases.
Jake Stahl (1910): 19 doubles, 16 triples, 10 home runs, 22 stolen bases. Ah, the Dead Ball Era.
Buck Freeman (1902): 38 doubles, 19 triples, 11 home runs, 17 stolen bases.
Buck Freeman (1901): 23 doubles, 15 triples, 12 home runs, 17 stolen bases.

Trivia Answer: As you can see both Nomar Garciaparra and Buck Freeman did it twice.

Results: It's pretty rare to see these seasons. Most players do not hit a lot of triples. It's weird that there were four seasons in the first twenty years of the franchise's existence, then after 1956, there was not another one for over forty years. Garciaparra was an incredible player in his rookie season. My hypothesis was correct, although I did not guess that it would be 1956 that Jensen did it. Also, I was surprised that Doerr was the only player who did it. Pesky did not have much power, but I thought he may have hit ten home runs. I am very surprised that DiMaggio did not do it. Four Dead Ball Era players is surprising.