Huge Catch-Up Post

I am way behind.  Maybe I will throw everything together at once.  Let's do something a bit different and do a count for how many of each player are in this huge post.  It probably will not be a surprise who wins.

1.  Brayan Bello.  Card #1.  Bello imploded in his postseason start last year and was the subject of trade rumors all winter.  He had a good year last year and remains a break-out candidate, but it is becoming increasingly likely that this is just who he is.

2.  Nick Pivetta.  Card #1.  Pivetta had a nice season for San Diego last year.  I always thought he was capable of that.

3.  Marcelo Mayer.  Card #1.  Mayer could win either the second base or third base spot with a strong spring.

4.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #1 (of likely many).  I went through a brief phase recently of trying to get each of the animal patterns for 2023 Leaf Exotic.  This is the clown fish pattern.  You know, Nemo.

5.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #2.  This was a quick one-for-one trade on the TCDB forum.

6.  Xander Bogaerts.  Card #1.  Bogaerts looks like one of the worst contracts going right now.  He still has an outside shot at building to a Hall of Fame career though.  He should have never been allowed to leave Boston.

7.  Dustin Pedroia.  Card #1.  Speaking of outside shots at the Hall of Fame.  I was pleasantly surprised by Pedroia's gains this year.  It's going to take awhile, but he could get in some day.

8.  Pedro Martinez.  Card #1.  Pedro is of course, already in.

9.  Tris Speaker.  Card #1.  So is Speaker.

10.  Triston Casas.  Card #1.  I have no idea what Boston is going to do with Casas this year.  They never traded an outfielder, so they still have Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela in the outfield and DH, plus Masataka Yoshida.  And now Willson Contreras at first base.

11.  Walker Buehler.  Card #1.  Man, what a disaster Buehler was in Boston.  That was just frustrating.  I like the guy, but he did very little in Boston.  A 5.45 ERA is just not getting it done.

12.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #3.  Still the only guy with multiple cards.  So far.

13.  John Schreiber.  Card #1.  I was disappointed when Boston traded Schreiber.  At least he finally has a card with the Red Sox.

14.  Dom DiMaggio.  Card #1.  At one point, there was some talk about him getting elected to the Hall via the Veterans Committee.  Unfortunately, they never seemed to have the right mix of voting members to do so, not like the all the Giants players elected in the 60's and 70's.

15.  Jose Peraza.  Card #1.  Like Buehler, Peraza was a one-year wonder for a reason, he was very bad in Boston.  He had a 64 OPS+.  That is simply awful.

16.  Connor Wong.  Card #1.  I still get Wong cards on occasion, but his year was so bad last year that I have lost a lot of enthusiasm for it.  It came out that he was dealing with injuries all year long, so let's see if he rebounds this year before I decide whether to move on entirely, not that I would ever get rid of my cards of him.

17.  Mookie Betts.  Card #1.  These cards came from a Topps Update blaster.  Mookie is, to date, the last Red Sox player to win MVP.  He had a phenomenal 2018 season in which he won the batting title and became Boston's second 30/30 man.

18.  Kristian Campbell.  Card #1.  Another player seemingly left out in the cold.  He was so good early last season that he was rewarded with a big contract, then he struggled and was sent back to the minors.  I have no idea where he starts this season.

19.  Walker Buehler.  Card #2.  Finally, a player besides Ceddanne Rafaela gets a second card.

20.  Marcelo Mayer.  Card #2.  

21.  Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer.  Card #2 for Campbell, Card #3 for Mayer.  Mayer has tied Rafaela.  For now.

22.  Kristian Campbell.  Card #3.  And now there is a three-man race.  For now.

23.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #4.  Just when there was a bit of a race, it looks like here is where Rafaela pulls way ahead.  I considered focusing on Prizm parallels for a bit too.

24.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #5.

25.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #6.  This is the Zebra Prizm card.  I love this one.

26.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #7.

27.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #8.  I love the red, white and blue of this card.

28.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #9.

29.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #10.  I squeezed the A&G mini in here.

30.  Kristian Campbell.  Card #4.  He's not giving in yet.

31.  Franklin Arias.  Card #1.  Arias is really high on some top prospect lists.  Keith Law has him at #12.  He's still pretty low in the minors for me to get that excited about him yet, but he looks pretty good.

32.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #11.  Another Prizm parallel.

33.  David Price.  Card #1.  I still think he should have been the World Series MVP in 2018.

34.  J.D. Martinez.  Card #1.  This trade was great because it contained four of these cards that were only available in National Trading Card Day packs at Fenway.  I like in Nebraska so I couldn't exactly run over and get them.

35.  Willy Mota.  Card #1.  It also included this card which was only available in special complete sets from Topps along with four other rookie cards.  Mota never made the Majors.

36.  Steve Pearce.  Card #1.  I don't mean to disparage what Pearce did in the World Series when I say Price should have won it, Pearce was awesome.  

37.  David Price.  Card #2.

38.  Chris Sale.  Card #1.  Man, that Chris Sale trade looks awful.  Boston never got anything out of Vaughn Grissom and then traded him to the Angels for a prospect over the winter.  

39.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #12.  Will anyone even come close?

40.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #13.

41.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #14.

42.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #15.

43.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #16.

44.  Danny Janzen.  Card #1.  Yet another card celebrating his unique achievement of playing in the same game with both teams.

45.  Kutter Crawford.  Card #1.  Crawford is another player seemingly left behind.  He was decent in 2024, but missed all of 2025 with injuries, and now has to find playing time.

46.  Tris Speaker.  Card #2.

47.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #17.  He's running away with it.

48.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #18.

49.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #19.

50.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #20.

51.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #21.

52.  Masataka Yoshida.  Card #1.  I like Yoshida.  I hope he finds a way to get some playing time.  When he was finally healthy last season, he hit really well.  

53.  Caleb Hamilton.  Card #1.  Hamilton played four games with Boston, without a hit.

54.  Bobby Doerr.  Card #1.  A Hall of Famer who got in via the Veterans Committee for the Red Sox.

55.  Chris Sale.  Card #2.

56.  Trevor Story.  Card #1.  Story had a weird issue on defense late in the season that took him out of the running for Gold Glove.  It seemed more mental than anything, almost like the yips.

57.  Brayan Bello.  Card #2.

58.  Marcus Wilson.  Card #1.  Wilson never played for the Red Sox.  He was the return they got when Blake Swihart was traded to Arizona.  He appeared in a handful of games for the Mariners.

59.  Alex Verdugo.  Card #1.

60.  Alex Verdugo.  Card #2.

61.  Alex Verdugo.  Card #3.  Verdugo is making a push..

62.  Jeter Downs.  Card #1.  I think this trader was making fun of me sending Verdugo and Downs.  I just needed Connor Wong to complete the trifecta of the Mookie Betts trade.

63.  Luis Tiant.  Card #1.  A player that should be elected to the Hall of Fame.

64.  Nomar Garciaparra.  Card #1.  I am curious to see how he would do if he was on an Eras Committee ballot.

65.  J.D. Martinez.  Card #2.

66.  Connor Seabold.  Card #1.  Wrong Connor.

67.  Masataka Yoshida.  Card #2.

68.  Bobby Doerr.  Card #2.

69.  Bobby Doerr.  Card #3.  I have no idea what these cards are, they are kind of ugly.

70.  Cy Young.  Card #1.

71.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #22.  At this point, the interesting race is for second place.

72.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #23.

73.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #24.

74.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #25.

75.  Ted Williams.  Card #1.  Williams was an advocate for Dom DiMaggio getting in to the Hall, but he never had the right votes to do so.

76.  David Ortiz.  Card #1.  This is seriously the first Big Papi in this post?

77.  Wade Boggs.  Card #1.

78.  Jarren Duran.  Card #1.  A lot of weird players appearing for the first time finally.

79.  Masataka Yoshida.  Card #3.  Puts him in a big tie for third.

80.  Alex Bregman.  Card #1.  I have a lot of thoughts about what happened with Bregman, most of them not good.  I might get into that at some point in the future.  Boston screwed up, but I was never a huge fan of Bregman in the first place.

81.  Tanner Houck.  Card #1.  He was just an All Star in 2024, now his future looks really murky.

82.  Marcelo Mayer.  Card #4.  Moving into a tie for second with Kristian Campbell.

83.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #26.  A rare appearance in a trade.

84.  Garrett Crochet.  Card #1.  Crochet is kind of weirdly underrepresented in my collection right now.  I expect that to change very soon.

85.  Dwight Evans.  Card #1.  Another guy I would like to see get in to the Hall of Fame, and he should be in.

86.  Nomar Garciaparra.  Card #2.

87.  Kristian Campbell.  Card #5.  He moves back into sole possession of second place.

88.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #27.  I kept trying to trade for this card and finally gave up and bought it.

89.  Alex Bregman.  Card #2.

90.  Marcelo Mayer.  Card #5.  Moving back into a tie for second place.

91.  Mickey Gasper.  Card #1.  My first Gasper card, he played in a handful of games without a hit for Boston in 2024, played a bit more with the Twins last year, was released and is back in the Red Sox organization this year.

92.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Card #28.

93.  Chase Shugart.  Card #1.  Also, my first Shugart card.  He had a 4.15 ERA in six games for Boston in 2024 and had a nice year for the Pirates last year.

94.  Hirokazu Sawamura.  Card #1.  I always like Sawamura.  I wish he had stuck around longer.

95.  Alex Verdugo.  Card #4.  Still hanging in the race.

96.  Ted Williams.  Card #2.

97.  Trevor Story.  Card #2.

98.  J.D. Martinez.  Card #3.  Little surprised he's not higher given how often he appears in my trade packages.

99.  Chris Sale.  Card #3.  Same here.

100.  Luis Guerrero.  Card #1.  He was traded to Tampa Bay this offseason for a utility player.  Watch him become their closer.

101.  Kristian Campbell.  Card #6.  Back in sole possession of second place.

102.  Masataka Yoshida.  Card #4.  Don't sleep on him yet.

103.  Blake Loubier.  Card #1.  I don't even know who this is.

104.  Bobby Dalbec.  Card #1.

105.  Pedro Martinez.  Card #2.  

106.  Brandon Walter.  Card #1.

107.  Rafael Devers.  Card #1.  Weird that this is his first appearance, but I definitely started limiting his cards after he was traded away.  I hate that trade more and more now.  I will get into that later.

108.  Nick Pivetta.  Card #2.

109.  Bobby Dalbec.  Card #2.

110.  Rafael Devers.  Card #2.  Making a late push.

111.  Rafael Devers.  Card #3.

112.   Masataka Yoshida.  Card #5.

113.  Rafael Devers/Wade Boggs.  Card #4 for Devers, #2 for Boggs.  Yes, Boggs is on the back.

114.  Triston Casas.  Card #2.

115.  Masataka Yoshida.  Card #6.  Tied with Campbell for second place.

116.  J.D. Martinez.  Card #4.

117.  Jose Iglesias.  Card #2.

118.  Enrique Hernandez.  Card #1.  One of the heroes of the 2021 season.

119.  Ryan Weber.  Card #1.  I'm going to have to remember Weber for the Immaculate Grid.  Braves, Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Brewers and Yankees.

120.  Alex Verdugo.  Card #5.

121.  Masataka Yoshida.  Card #7.  Taking the lead.  This is a blaster of 2026 Topps, my first.

122.  Garrett Crochet.  Card #2.

123.  David Ortiz.  Card #2.  Pulled an insert.  I love the 1991 design because those were my first packs.

124.  Kristian Campbell.  Card #7.  Tied again.

125.  Lucas Giolito.  Card #1.  

And that's it.

So, in first place was obviously Ceddanne Rafaela, who didn't appear in the last five scans, but had such a commanding lead no one was coming close.  He finished at 28.  Masataka Yoshida and Kristian Campbell tied for second place with seven, and neither of them is assured a spot on the roster coming into the season.  Marcelo Mayer and Alex Verdugo, of all people, tied for third at five cards each.  That was not as exciting as I had hoped it would be.  

But at least I am now caught up.

Two Topps Update Blasters

I had been searching for a little while and finally saw Update in stores.  I was a little disappointed with the checklist for this year's set because there were no random, weird players in it for the Red Sox.  No guy like Carlos Peguero or Kelly Johnson.  I was kind of hoping Abraham Toro would be that player, or Blake Sabol or Sean Newcomb.  Alas, there was no one like that this year.

1.  Alex Bregman.  Bregman is making a late surge in my collection.  He is currently a free agent after opting out of the last two years of his deal.  I am hoping for him to re-sign as he was an impressive defensive third-baseman and hit well, particularly prior to his injury.  He was also an All Star.  If he doesn't re-sign, Boston better do something big to appease the fans.  The front office favored Bregman over fan favorite Rafael Devers, leading to his trade.

2.  Marcelo Mayer.  I really do not want to see Mayer get traded.  He is the highest draft pick by Boston since Mike Garman in 1967.  I want to see him become a fixture in Boston.  

3.  Hunter Dobbins.  Dobbins might be the player closest to what I was wanting in this set.  He appeared in just 13 games, making eleven starts.  Among those starts was beating the Yankees twice in a row.  Dobbins made a name for himself with his outspoken dislike of the Yankees.  He was shut down with injury way too soon.  I would love to see him come back strong.

4.  Luis Guerrero.  Guerrero also made it into 13 games and has a blazing fastball.  But he didn't strike out enough batters and walked way too many batters.  Guerrero was traded to the Rays recently in exchange for utility man Tristan Gray.

5.  Kristian Campbell.  Campbell had some growing pains last season.  He is currently playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League.  I have not lost hope that he can develop into a great player at the Major League level either.  

6.  Alex Bregman.  I managed to get all three Stars of MLB insert cards from the Red Sox in just the two blasters.  

Another Holiday Mega Box Break

I grabbed another Mega Box of Topps Holiday because it was the only thing available.  I am hoping to happen across Update one of these days.  Anyway, on to the break:

1.  Triston Casas.  Boston has seemingly been looking into Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber this offseason.  I can't help but think this likely means that Casas's time is coming to an end in Boston.  He showed a lot of promise in 2023 when he hit .263/.3367/.490 with 24 home runs and 65 RBIs.  Unfortunately he missed large chunks of each of the last two seasons and hit just 16 home runs combined.

2.  Marcelo Mayer.  The fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Mayer did reasonably well in his first Major League stint.  In 44 games he hit .228/.272/.402 with four home runs as a 22-year-old rookie.  There is definitely room to grow, but defensively, he is ready now.

3.  Kristian Campbell.  I hold out hope Campbell will still turn into the player he looked like he would as a minor leaguer in 2024.  He hit .223/.319/.345 with six homers and 21 RBIs.  The problem is where does he play?  Boston already has a glut of outfielders and is shopping for a first-baseman.  Mayer has to play somewhere and Story stayed in Boston.  

4.  Triston Casas.  The big hit from the break was a Red Sox card, which is definitely a plus.  This is the Chrome Blue Sparkle and is serial-numbered to 199.

This Week in Pickups

It's not all mail days this week.  After seeing a bunch of raves about Topps Holiday being such a fun break, I picked up a Mega Box as well as one of those ball things.  This was in different days and I will get to those.  The big news is of course the Dodgers winning the World Series.  But I also snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in my jury trial this last week.  But nobody wants to hear about that, so let's see some cards.

Up first is the Mega Box break:

1.  Garrett Crochet.  The best Red Sox card from either of the breaks was this Crochet card, which is the Silver Glitter parallel.  I am expecting Crochet to be the runner-up in the Cy Young vote.  He also had a terrific performance in Game 1 of the ALDS.  

2.  Alex Bregman.  Bregman is a Silver Slugger finalist, but stands next to no chance at it since Jose Ramirez is also a finalist.  Bregman is the biggest free agent decision Boston has.  He has not yet officially opted out, but it is expected.

Here we have a bunch of Rafaela cards, and one Alex Bregman.  As I am writing this, it has been announced that Rafaela won the Gold Glove Award this year.  Absolutely well-deserved.  I want to highlight the Topps T205 cards.  Topps had this set in 2003 and it was one of my favorite sets, so I am thrilled to see it be revived this year instead of T206 which has been done to death.

Up next is a TCDB trade:

1.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  I have tried working out trades for this card a couple times and finally pulled it off.

2.  Wilyer Abreu.  Abreu also won the Gold Glove today.  This is his second.  I was pretty surprised by this because of his time on the IL.

3.  Wilyer Abreu.  There are three Abreu cards in this trade.  He is finally starting to gain some traction in my collection.

4.  Wilyer Abreu.

5.  Chris Martin.  Martin had a great stint in Boston, not many middle relievers get Cy Young votes, but he did in 2023.

6.  Alex Bregman.  The third Bregman card in this post.

7.  Fred Lynn.  Since we are talking Gold Glove Awards today, Lynn won four in his career, all with the Red Sox.

8.  Aroldis Chapman.  I was no huge fan of Chapman coming into the season, but he really won me over with his electrifying performance this year.  He saved 32 games, went 3-5 with a 1.17 ERA and struck out 85 batters in 61.1 innings.

Another Rafaela card.  This is my first variation of the 2023 Select Youth Explosion autograph.

And here is the Holiday ball break:

1.  Walker Buehler.  One of these days I will catch up on some of the One-Year Wonders.  Buehler qualifies.  Let's just say that things did not work out as hoped with Buehler this year, which was very disappointing.

2.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Yep, got a Rafaela in a pack.  He seems to come to me in packs reasonably often.   What I love about this card is that it is the only card in the team set where the photo has changed from his flagship set release.

3.  Jarren Duran.  I'm probably going to get Duran into my Century Club just in time for him to be traded.

And the next two scans are more TCDB trades.

1.  Mike Myers.  The award for the most random player to appear this year is Myers, with this card appropriately arriving in the mail on Halloween.  Myers was an effective LOOGY for several years and had a 3.44 ERA in 90 games for the Red Sox over two seasons (just 52.1 innings).  He was on the 2004 World Series roster.

2.  Bronson Arroyo.  I love how Panini puts some random retired players in their sets.  Last year was Mike Lowell.  Arroyo is weird because he was a fan favorite player, but spent far more time with the Reds than the Red Sox.  

3.  Tris Speaker.  Nice shot that I have not seen before.

4.  Terry Francona.  Still my favorite manager to get cards of.  Francona will be in the Hall of Fame someday.

5.  Bronson Arroyo.  The most random player to appear more than once in my pickups.  I had fewer than 20 cards coming into the week and I add two at the same time?

6.  Marcelo Mayer.  I am looking forward to seeing what Mayer can do over a full season, but he needs a steady position.  This will be one of the stories of the offseason.

1.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Going back to Gold Gloves, Yaz won seven, obviously all with Boston.  This is the second most in team history.  Dwight Evans won eight.

2.  Roger Clemens.  Seven-time Cy Young winner Clemens should have won at least one more, in 1990.

3.  Ted Williams.  Williams was certainly NOT a Gold Glove winner.

4.  Kutter Crawford.  I would like to see him healthy again next season.  He was good for 180 innings in 2024 and led the league in games started.  There is something to be said for that.

5.  David Ortiz.  Another player who could not be mistaken for a Gold Glover.  I maintain he wasn't as bad at first when he had to play there, and he did make a great play in the 2004 World Series throwing out Jeff Suppan returning to third base in a critical situation.

6.  Babe Ruth.  I still love grabbing Ruth cards that show him with the Red Sox.

That's it for today.  I might be able to start posting more regularly now since I got my laptop back.

2025 Topps Chrome Blaster

I really had the urge to break some packs this weekend and there are not many options where I am.  I picked up a blaster of Topps Chrome out of lack of other options.  I probably should have gone with my gut and grabbed Donruss.  Topps Chrome is way too expensive for what you normally get.  They should probably guarantee an autograph, even if it is just a minor rookie, for $40.00.

Anyway, here are the new Red Sox:

Yep, just the one card.  I did pull the Connor Wong base card, but I already had it.  So, just the base Richard Fitts.  Boston's biggest issue going into the postseason was a lack of depth.  Part of the problem was the extreme number of injuries suffered by the pitching staff.  Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Lucas Giolito and Dustin May were all starting pitchers that were unavailable in the postseason.  Fitts had a 2-4 record with a 5.00 ERA in 11 games, striking out 40 and walking 16.  He could be part of the puzzle next season.

Topps Chrome and Series 2 Blaster Breaks

When I was at Walmart recently I saw they actually had some cards.  Against my better judgment, I grabbed two blasters.  Man, cards are expensive these days.  The Chrome blaster was $40.00.  For that price, they really should guarantee an autograph, even if it is just a minor rookie autograph.  Anyway, here are the results:

1.  Nick Sogard.  My favorite card from the breaks is my only non-base card I pulled for the Red Sox.  I talked about Sogard recently, and there is not much more to say.

2.  Triston Casas.  Of course, I had to pull either Casas or Devers.

3.  Brayan Bello.  Bello is a guy that will likely increase quickly in my collection.

4.  Kutter Crawford.  Crawford is going to be out the entire season.  That's a shame because he looked like someone who could break through this season.  He will have to wait until next year now.

2025 Bowman Break and a Ceddanne First

After my productive Donruss break, I decided to try my hand at Bowman.  Bowman is not usually one of my favorite sets, as I am less interested in prospects than a lot of other collectors (I like to get cards of players I can see play in the Majors).  I still pick it up once in awhile.

1.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Well, right off the bat it worked out pretty well.  Bowman's base set only includes three Red Sox players, Rafaela being one of them.  I was pretty thrilled to pull him.

2.  D'Angelo Ortiz.  Yes, this is Big Papi's son.  Ortiz was drafted in the 19th round of the 2024 draft out of high school and has the potential to follow in his father's footsteps to play in Boston.  I do not have a real good sense of what kind of prospect he is, I suspect there is definitely some room for growth, but this is definitely not on the level of the kind of prospect Vladimir Guerrero's son was.

3.  Rafael Devers.  Of course I pulled Devers as well.  I have always had decent success getting Devers cards in packs.  Hopefully he is passing the torch to Rafaela here.

And up next is a first for my building Ceddanne Rafaela collection:

This is my first autograph.  As I said in a previous post, I am not going to super-collect him at the level I did with Connor Wong, Tzu-Wei Lin and Jason Varitek, but I am going to build him up in my collection.  Getting that first autograph card is an important step in that.

2025 Donruss Mega Box Break

 After deciding on a new favorite player, I started feeling excited about collecting again.  As such, I sought out some cards at my local stores.  I was actually able to find some stuff, including a Mega Box of 2025 Donruss and a blaster of 2025 Topps Series 2.  I pulled exactly zero Red Sox cards in the Topps blaster.  That was really annoying.  The Donruss box made up for it though.

Up first though is a random card I bought off of Ebay because I really wanted it.

This is the Aqua Speckle Refractor of Danny Jansen's 2025 Topps Heritage Record Breaker card.  This is referring to the fact that Jansen appeared in the same game for both teams.  I discussed this in an earlier Topps Now card post, so I won't get into it again.  But it's an interesting curiosity, so I wanted to grab another card about it.  

Up next is the Donruss box.  Now, Donruss these days is a mix of prospects and retired players.  Unfortunately they stopped doing the Diamond Kings subset.  

1.  David Ortiz.  Ortiz is currently the third-largest player in my Red Sox collection.  He should probably be second because he played so much longer than Nomar Garciaparra.  I think the reason he is not is because it was early in the 2000's that we lost a bunch of companies making cards.  Still, I think he will take over at some point.  He has about 150 cards to go.

2.  Terry Francona.  This is a Liberty parallel.  Francona will go into the Hall of Fame some day, but he is still actively managing the Reds right now.  The question will be which cap he will wear.  I think he is most known for his time in Boston, winning two World Series, including their first since 1918.  But, he managed longer for Cleveland and had quite a bit of success there.

3.  Pedro Martinez.  Martinez is currently the fourth-largest player in my Red Sox collection, but his status is in jeopardy as he has only about a 75-card lead over Connor Wong.  If Wong sticks around in Boston, and he has been playing better lately, my collection could continue.

4.  Franklin Arias.  After the promotions of Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony, Arias is now Boston's top prospect, and a top ten prospect overall.  His name was thrown around a lot in trade rumors.  I could still see him getting traded in the offseason.

5.  Roman Anthony.  I am thrilled Anthony signed an extension.  His power has yet to show in the Majors, but he has been great in the Majors thus far.

6.  Jim Rice.  I would like to see Donruss think outside the box a bit more.  Let's see Rick Burleson or Rico Petrocelli or someone like that in the set.  We see a lot of Jim Rice, which is fine, he is a Hall of Famer after all, but let's see some other guys.

7.  Terry Francona.

8.  Pedro Martinez.

9.  Dustin Pedroia.  I was pleasantly surprised with Pedroia's showing in the Hall of Fame vote this year.  Maybe there is a chance for him to build up into possible election.

10.  Marcelo Mayer.  Mayer is unfortunately injured.  He was doing well, especially defensively before the injury.  Hopefully he will be healthy next season.

11.  Dustin Pedroia.

12.  Roman Anthony.  This is my favorite card from the break, the Elite Series insert.  Anthony is likely going to skyrocket in my collection next year.

2025 Topps Series 1 Blaster

There have not been many times I have been able to find cards in my stores this year.  For awhile I wasn't really looking too hard, but it seems like most times I have looked, everything is gone.  This was the first time I was able to find something.

1.  Rafael Devers.  I did manage to pull one of the Stars of MLB insert cards for the Red Sox.  This was a pretty big deal for me at the time, but obviously after Devers was traded away, it is not as big of a deal.

2.  Nick Sogard.  I also pulled a parallel, this one being the Holo Foil version of Nick Sogard.  Sogard could probably hold a utility position in Boston if the first base/second base situation was a little more settled.  As it is, there is no room for him.

3.  I consider this a Jarren Duran card.  

4.  David Hamilton.  Hamilton is part of the issue with the second base situation.  His bat has not been nearly as impressive as it was last season.  He does have 17 stolen bases though.

2024 Topps Series 2 Blaster

I have not been able to get many packs these days.  The stores close to me seem to be perpetually out of stock of everything.  Once in awhile I luck out though.  At some point last year I was able to get a Series 2 blaster that worked out okay.

1.  Liam Hendriks.  Boston has been signing several pitchers coming off injuries as sort of a low-risk/high-reward experiment.  It worked with James Paxton for the most part.  Lately, they tried out Michael Fulmer and Patrick Sandoval, and this guy.  Hendriks was once one of the top closers in baseball.  He did not pitch in 2024, but made it into a few games in 2025.  He has not been terribly successful though and is hurt again.  

2.  Trevor Story.  Story has been enjoying something of a renaissance this season.  His defense has been terrific and he looks on pace for a 20/20 season, if he can stay healthy.  His average is low, but that's normal and he doesn't walk much, but he is doing much better than earlier in the year.

3.  Triston Casas.  Casas is hurt, yet again.  Hopefully he can make a comeback next season, but time may be running out for him.

Heritage Blaster Break

I have not been buying too many packs this year.  There have only been a few blasters.  I just can't find stuff reliably for some reason.  Luckily, I have done okay when I have gotten stuff.  For instance, there is this blaster break:

1.  Carl Yastrzemski.  The MVP series is incomplete.  I don't recall whether the series was complete in the original 1975 set or not, but this kind of drives me crazy.  Granted it would be difficult to have everyone, but I'm kind of disappointed that Dustin Pedroia and Mo Vaughn don't appear in the set.

2.  Fred Lynn.  Another MVP card, of course Lynn won the MVP the year of the original set, so it makes sense he is here.  Lynn was also the very first player to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year the same season.

3.  Wilyer Abreu.  Abreu has been on a tear lately.  Had he not been injured for awhile, he might be making a bigger name for himself in the Rookie of the Year race.  As it is, he is having a very good season but seems to be flying under the radar.  

4.  Rafael Devers.  Devers really seems like he is continuing to get better as he enters his prime seasons.  He has recently boosted his OPS above 1.000.  He may be having his best season of his career so far and is now just three homers shy of 200 for his career.  He is 27 years old and won't turn 28 until after the season.  

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

Today's post is some rando stuff that I've gotten in recently, along with a blaster break.

Up first is a two-card TCDB trade with some boxed oddball cards from the 1980's:

1.  Wade Boggs.  Unfortunately, I was not collecting at the height of the oddball craze in the 1980's when you could walk into Rite-Aid and pick up a special box of cards.  So, I still have to work to find some of these things.  

2.  Mike Greenwell.  Greenwell was once one of the brightest young stars in the game and looked like a superstar for years to come.  After 1988 though he just sort of settled into being a good, occasionally very good, player.  He still hit .303 for his career, which is often overlooked.

Up next is a blaster of 2024 Topps:

1.  Masataka Yoshida.  Yoshida started off the season a little slowly, but has started getting it going in recent days.  

2.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Rafaela signed an extension shockingly.  His defense has been terrific, but there have been some growing pains offensively.  He's a bit of a free swinger, which is a bit problematic.  We will see where that leads.  He will likely settle in at shortstop for this season.

3.  Kenley Jansen.  He has had a couple of rough outings but seems to be stabilizing.  I still think he is going to get traded.

1.  Keith Foulke.  This was a one-card deal that got me a jersey relic of Boston's closer for the 2004 season.  That season he was 5-3 with a 2.17 ERA, 79 strikeouts against 15 walks in 83 innings, and saving 32 games.  Unfortunately, he was never again a reliable closer, but he made a big impact in 2004.

1.  Trevor Story.  Unfortunately, one of my big predictions for the year will not come true.  Story suffered a season-ending shoulder injury a couple weeks ago.  I really thought he was going to be healthy this season and turn in a 20/20, Gold Glove season.

2.  Manny Ramirez.  Ramirez is still playing professional baseball in Asia and just hit a home run the other day.  He says he is not officially retired.

3.  Bobby Dalbec.  One of my more negative predictions was that Dalbec would be released by the Red Sox.  That hasn't happened yet, but considering he has just one hit in 32 plate appearances with 18 strikeouts, it probably is not far off.

4.  J.D. Martinez.  Martinez had a bounceback season last year with the Dodgers but has yet to play for the Mets this season.

5.  Alex Verdugo.  I expect his tenure with the Yankees to be short.  I just do not see him enjoying the much more strict clubhouse culture of the Yankees.  He's not playing great right now either.

2024 Topps Series 1 Breaks

My wife drove to Rochester, NY to get a dog one weekend recently and I was bored so I decided to track down some 2024 Topps.  Luckily I did not have to go far.  I ended up grabbing a blaster and one of those jumbo hanger packs.  Here are the Red Sox cards:

1.  David Hamilton.  This is the only card I got in the hanger pack.  Hamilton was one of the prospects acquired when Boston sent Hunter Renfroe to the Brewers for Jackie Bradley Jr.  He made his Major League debut last year and speed is his best tool.  He played in 15 games and stole two bases while hitting .121.  He is going to have to improve on that if he is going to be given another shot in the Majors.

2.  Connor Wong.  Can't complain here.  I got the base card right away.  I have been buying up parallels, but left the base card.  I have not gotten a lot of Wong cards in packs, but there have been a few.

3.  Nick Robertson.  Robertson was one of the players acquired when Boston sent Enrique Hernandez back to the Dodgers.  He appeared in nine games with the Red Sox with a 6.00 ERA, striking out 13 and walking five in 12 innings.  Robertson was traded to the Cardinals after the season as part of the package in exchange for Tyler O'Neill.

4.  Masataka Yoshida.  One player I do not have any trouble pulling cards of is Yoshida.  This is one of the Holiday parallels.  Yoshida is expected to primarily play DH this season.  I love that this card features the City Connect uniform.

Second Stadium Club Blaster

I tried my luck at a second blaster of 2023 Stadium Club recently.   I had decent luck last time, pulling two Red Sox out of 40 cards.  So, I thought, why not try again?  I actually did slightly better this time.

1.  Triston Casas.  This card is amazing.  A shot of Casas at first with a large shot of the stadium in the background, complete with Samuel Adams giant sign.  This is one of my favorite shots in a long time.

2.  Carlton Fisk.  I believe this is a shot from the 1975 Game 6 World Series home run, but it is from a different angle and time.  There are a lot of cards from that home run, but they mostly focus on either him waving the ball fair or jumping up after realizing it was a home run.  Not many from just after hitting it.

3.  Alex Verdugo.  And here is a clubhouse shot of Verdugo.  These are kind of interesting at times.  You get an idea of the player's personality off the field.  Not the most exciting though.

2023 Stadium Club Blaster Break

I have been watching for Stadium Club for a little while now.  It is always one of my favorite sets of the year due to the incredible photography.  And so, when I saw it on the shelves at Walmart recently, I grabbed it.  There were only 40 cards in the blaster, so I did not have great odds to get many Red Sox cards, but I was going to try anyway.  I ended up pulling two, beating the odds.

1.  Ted Williams.  I'm not 100% sure what the object Williams is holding is.  I think it's a trophy for winning the batting title, but I could be wrong.  Still, it's great to see a Williams photo I have never seen before.  What a great shot.

2.  Rafael Devers.  An interesting shot in a photo studio.  It's another terrific picture.  

I prefer the Williams personally, but the Devers photo is great too.  This is why I love Stadium Club.