A Couple of Quintanas

Something that I feel I talk a lot about on this blog is how I was a big fan of Carlos Quintana when I first started watching baseball.  He was the first kind of obscure player of whom I was inexplicably a big fan.  Guys like Felix Doubront and Tzu-Wei Lin have joined him over the years.  I still grab cards when I can find them, though there are not too many left.  Last year, I picked up two off of Ebay on the same day.

Buybacks have been one was to expand this collection.  This is a Bowman buyback from his 1991 card.  That was not the most exciting set in the world.  Kind of boring design.  No action photos.

This one is a bit more interesting.  One of those unlicensed photo cards from the 1980's, commonly referred to as Broder's.  

On a somewhat related note, I kind of had this fascination with contributing to the SABR bio project by writing the bio on Quintana.  Unfortunately, someone beat me to it recently.  I was sort of devastated by that.  I had been harboring this idea for a few years now, but just had not gotten going on it.  I should have done it.  My biggest hangup was trying to find out what he was doing now.  How that was going to happen.  I will have to pick someone else to write about I guess.

1991 Topps #206 Carlos Quintana

In this series, I look at my first team set: 1991 Topps.  This was the set I started my baseball card collection with.

This was my first Carlos Quintana card.  I have mentioned before on this blog that I have always been a big fan of Quintana and this was the beginning of that.  

Quintana had been a top prospect for the Red Sox for a couple of years coming in to the 1990 season.  He had been an outfielder in the minors but he soon became the starting first-baseman in 1990.  The team began the season with Billy Jo Robidoux and Bill Buckner in the fold, but Quintana quickly played his way in to the first base mix and eventually took over.

This was his first full season in the Major Leagues at the age of 24.  He played in 149 games with a batting line of .287/.354/.383 with seven home runs and 67 RBIs.  He was not the prototypical power-hitting first-baseman, but Quintana was a decent contact hitter and he got on base at a decent clip.  

In addition, Quintana was a decent defensive player, ranking in the top five in multiple defensive categories, including leading the league in assists.

Season in Review: 1991

1991 was the first season I watched baseball.  I was 10.  I do not remember watching too many games that season.  More than anything, I just collected cards.  The Red Sox finished in second place in the A.L. East that season.  Joe Morgan managed the team in his final season as the team's manager.

FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS:
Wade Boggs: 
Boggs was my first favorite player.  He was far and away the team's best hitter, even though he did not have a lot of power.  In 1991, he hit .332/..421/.460 with eight home runs and 51 RBIs and 42 doubles.  Boggs finished second in the batting race that year and made the All Star team.

Ellis Burks:
Burks was the best pure athlete on the team in 1991.  Coming off a season in which he won the Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger, Burks slumped quite a bit in 1991.  He hit only .251/.314/.422 with 14 home runs, 56 RBIs, and six stolen bases.  Far cries from his previous seasons.  The talent was still there, he just did not play well.

Roger Clemens:
Clemens was without a doubt the best and most popular player on the team by this point in his career.  Clemens won his third Cy Young award in 1991 by going 18-10 with a 2.62 ERA and 241 strikeouts.  He lead the league in ERA, strikeouts, games started, shutouts, and innings pitched.  He also made the All Star team in 1991.

Mike Greenwell:
Greenwell was no longer the great hitter he was in 1988 and 1989, but he was still pretty decent.  Greenwell hit .300/.350/.419 with nine home runs and 83 RBIs.  He lead the team with 15 stolen bases.  He finished second on the team in most offensive categories.

Carlos Quintana:
Quintana was playing in just his second full season with the Red Sox in 1991 and had already shown himself to be a decent contact hitter and a surprisingly good defensive first baseman.  He hit .295/.375/.412 with 11 home runs and 71 RBIs.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Tony Pena:
Pena was fascinating to watch behind the plate.  He had one of the most bizarre crouches of any catcher I have seen.  Pena was not much of a hitter, but he was a good defensive catcher and won the Gold Glove in 1991.  Pena lead the league in a number of defensive categories in 1991.

Jeff Reardon:
I have long been a fan of closers and that the case from the start as Reardon was the closer for the Red Sox in 1991.  He had his tenth season in a row of 20+ saves and saved 40+ games for his third team.  Reardon saved 40 games, setting a team record that would last several seasons.  He also made the All Star team.


Jody Reed:
Reed was a scrappy second baseman with doubles power and a good eye at the plate.  He was a pesky contact hitter who hit .283/.349/.382.  He was a reliable defender at second base and also had his third straight season of more than 40 doubles.

FAVORITE ACQUISITION:
Jack Clark:
Clark was acquired as a free agent from the Padres prior to the year.  He was the Red Sox's best power hitter, leading the team with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs from the designated hitter position.  He hit .249/.374/.466 in 1991 and lead the team with 96 walks.

FAVORITE ROOKIE:
Phil Plantier:
Plantier only made it into 53 games for the Red Sox down the stretch but he played so well that his cards were on fire.  He hit .331/.420/.615/1.034 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs.  Unfortunately he really did not have a position as the Red Sox had reliable starters at all three outfield positions and designated hitter.

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.

One Year Wonder: Rob Deer

Every once in awhile, the Red Sox pick up a veteran player for a year, or just the stretch run that was a star at one point that I become fascinated with. It's a player that is basically only a role player at that point in their career, but may show flashes of their old brilliance. It's so unusual to see them as a member of the Red Sox, that I try to find as many of their cards as possible. This series will be about some of those players.

ROB DEER
Rob Deer was a true all-or-nothing player. He struck out a ton, but he also hit a lot of home runs. He did not have much speed and he did not walk a lot, but when he hit the ball, he hit it real far.

Deer was a member of the Brewers when I first became interested in baseball and later went to the Tigers. He was a particularly interesting player to me in those days because of his all-or-nothing approach. He is also the first big-name player the Red Sox acquired midseason since I started paying attention.

Deer was picked up in a trade from the Tigers in 1993. He played about as well as expected upon arriving in Boston. He hit seven home runs and stuck out 49 times in 143 at bats. He hit a home run in his first plate appearance as a member of the team. He was only 32 at the time, but he was basically washed up. He offered a little extra power out of right field, where Boston had been playing Carlos Quintana and Bob Zupcic, neither of whom had any power.

Deer was let go as a free agent after the year and ended up in Japan. He later returned to the majors with San Diego, but did not have anything left. Despite his performance, I still found myself drawn toward finding Red Sox cards of Rob Deer.

Unknown Heroes Pt. 1: Carlos Quintana

This is the first part in a short series focused on some of my lesser-known favorite Red Sox players.

Carlos Quintana was never a star, he was simply a decent regular. However, early on in my Red Sox fandom, he was one of my favorite players. Maybe it was the name. I don't really know. Quintana was perhaps the first player I really liked who was not a household name. He was not the last though.

Quintana came up through the Red Sox system as an outfielder and got into five games at the end of the 1988 season. He was regarded somewhat highly as a potential good player. In 1989, he played 34 games and then became the team's regular first baseman in 1990. Quintana played first base in the fourth game of the season and held the position for most of the rest of the season.

In 1990, Quintana had a decent offensive season. He did not have a lot of power, with 28 doubles and seven home runs, but he was a decent contact hitter who got on base. He also proved to be a very good defensive first-baseman, leading the league in assists and being fifth in putouts as a first-baseman. He committed a lot of errors, but he was learning a new position and he had great range.

1991 was even better. Quintana was starting to look like a very good up and coming player. His power increased a little as he hit eleven home runs that year. He also increased his batting average from .287 to .295 and his on-base percentage from .354 to .375 by increasing his walks. Quintana again had a great defensive year, once again leading the league in assists and cutting down significantly on the errors. He also achieved his career highlight, driving in six runs with a double and a grand slam home run in the third inning of a game against the Texas Rangers on July 30, 1991, tying a league record.

In 1992, Quintana was injured for the entire season. He broke his left arm and right big toe in a car accident in his native Venezuela while trying to rush his two brothers, who had been shot at a party, to the hospital.

He came back in 1993, but Mo Vaughn had taken over his position and Quintana split his playing time between first base and right field. He was not nearly the same hitter and still was effected by the accident, so he announced his retirement at the end of the season. He was only 27 years old when he retired.