Every now and again I like to slip on my smoking jacket, my fuzzy slippers, and my oil-free archival gloves, pad into my study, take down my oversized oil painting of forgotten uncle Griggs Wigwam Henry, spin open the combination lock on my in-no-way-over-the-top super-secret safe, and go through my collection of cardboard rarities. I'm surprised I've even shared this much with you. Oh well. Behold! Here are a few of my most prized treasures...

Cronin/Bishop/Cissell/Reynolds, 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 #6E
What? No airbrush to make Max Bishop a Red Sock? 

Tom Seaver, 1986 Topps Traded #101
Judging from this card, I'm not sure Tom Seaver is a real person.

Fritz Ostermueller, 1935 Diamond Stars #73
You have to love the baggy sleeve.
 

Carl Yastrzemski, 1967 Topps #355
I've never been a big fan of paper-loss, but this rip somehow adds to the aesthetic. 

Fred Lynn, 1976 Topps #50
You think the pen went to town on the front? You should see the back.
 

Pumpsie Green, 1960 Topps #317
Pumpsie looks like he just heard Tom Yawkey's pre-Reconstruction 
sensibility towards racial equality.

1972 Rookie Stars Red Sox, 1972 Topps #79
I never understood why the Red Sox ditched Cecil Cooper. 

 Dec. 1954, Fisherman Ted Hooks a Big One, 1959 Fleer #54
Wait a second, he caught it with that rod?
 

Dr. K & Super K, 1987 Fleer #640
This has always been one of my favorite cards, though I don't care for either player.

Lately I've been helping myself fall asleep by reciting my personal All-time Red Sox 40-man roster. Here's what I've come up with:

Catcher
Carlton Fisk (1969-1980)
Jason Varitek (1997-2008)

First Base
Jimmie Foxx (1936-1942)
Mo Vaughn (1991-1998)

Second Base
Bobby Doerr (1937-1951)

Shortstop
Johnny Pesky (1942-1952)
Rico Petrocelli (1963-1976)
Nomar Garciaparra (1996-2004)
Joe Cronin (1936-1945)

Third Base
Wade Boggs (1982-1992)
Frank Malzone (1955-1965)

Outfield
Ted Williams (1939-1960)
Carl Yastzremski (1961-1983)
Tris Speaker (1907-1915)
Harry Hooper (1909-1920)
Jim Rice (1974-1989)
Dwight Evans (1972-1990)
Manny Ramirez (2000-2008)

Designated Hitter
David Ortiz (2003-2008)

Starting Pitchers
Babe Ruth (1914-1919)
Roger Clemens (1984-1996)
Pedro Martinez (1998-2004)
Cy Young (1903-1908)
Lefty Grove (1934-1941)
Luis Tiant (1971-1978)
Mel Parnell (1947-1956)
Smoky Joe Wood (1908-1915)
Tim Wakefield (1995-2008)
Bill Lee (1969-1978)
Dutch Leonard (1913-1918)

Relievers
Dick Radatz (1962-1966)
Bob Stanley (1977-1989)
Ellis Kinder (1946-1955)
Jonathan Papelbon (2005-2008)

Wild Card Choices
Trot Nixon (OF)
Jackie Jensen (OF)
Fred Lynn (OF)
Bruce Hurst (P)
Oil Can Boyd (P)
Joe Dobson (P)

Hard to Leave Off
Dustin Pedroia (maybe in a few years)
Reggie Smith
George Scott
Rooster Burleson
Wes Ferrell
Big Bill Dinneen
Ernie Shore
Jim Lonborg

Back in 2003, the popular rumor in Boston was that the Red Sox, White Sox, and Rangers were going to put together a three-team trade that would send Manny Ramirez to Texas, Nomar Garciaparra to Chicago, and Magglio Ordonez and Alex Rodriguez to Boston. Nobody knows for sure what would've happened had that trade gone through, but for a minute or two there I could see A-Rod and Ordonez in Sox uniforms.

There have been other players whom I thought would end up on the Sox one way or another (Todd Helton is at the top of that list), but one guy I never saw on the Red Sox was Fred McGriff. Maybe it's because I was raised on the Lou Gorman-led Sox ("What would we do with Willie McGee?"), but the Sox already had Mo Vaughn at first. What would we have done with Fred McGriff?

My grandfather grew up in a small town in South Dakota. His sisters were the switchboard operators for the town, and his father the postman and local semi-pro baseball team manager. He likes to tell the story of how, towards the end of one season, his father lured a star pitcher away from a rival team. And then, instead of pitching him in the big games that followed, kept him on the bench. When asked why he would do that, my grandfather laughs and says that his dad had the luxury of not using the star pitcher--as long as he wasn't pitching for the other team.

And when the A-Rod and Ordonez trades fell through, what did the Yankees do? Did they say "Why do we need A-Rod when we already have Derek Jeter?"

This is one of those little things that we with the Lou Gorman mindset never figure out: having Mo Vaughn at first and Fred McGriff, be it at DH or lounging on the bench, perhaps could've pushed the Sox closer to the pennant. Instead we defensively scoff at even considering the possibility.

Lately i've been thinking of old Red Sox alums. Guys like Jody Reed (he always appeared abnormally sweaty on his cards), Ellis Burks, Glenn Hoffman, and Todd Benzinger. Burks was always my favorite, and it deeply saddened me the day he left as a free agent. But I can see why he left.

Boston's a funny place to watch sports. Maybe I should rephrase that. The dynamic of sport in Boston is funny to follow. Baseball has always been a soap opera here, from Ted Williams feuding with the writers, to Buddy LeRoux failing to send Carlton Fisk his contract, to the seven-year Manny Ramirez trade rumor, every game is analyzed as if it were part of postseason play, every players scrutinized for every at-bat, every throw, and every bullpen session thrown.

And I'm not just talking about the writers or talk radio. I'm talking about every fan. Even those who are not fans knows someone who lives and dies with the fate of the Red Sox. And if it's not the Red Sox, then it's the Bruins. Or the Celtics. Or the Patriots. And don't forget the Revolution. And we haven't even gotten to college sports yet.

Watching games in a pressure-cooker atmosphere is not for the faint of heart, and I can only imagine how the players feel. Every game is the biggest game of the year. At least players can keep an outsider's perspective. They can call their families in other cities around the country (and the world) and share a laugh over the crazed attitudes of rabid New Englanders.

It's not surprising when a player like Manny Ramirez decides he wants out. Especially a player who's lambasted daily by one Dan Shaughnessy (as a side note, Shaughnessy is the only one of his generation of name sportswriters at The Boston Globe not to land a job on a major television network. Jackie MacMullan, Bob Ryan, Will McDonough, and Peter Gammons have all gained (or did gain, in McDonough's case) national prominence as a national network television sports analyst. And yes, I'm counting ESPN as a national network.), he of Curse of the Bambino fame (I believe Shaughnessy also helped coin the now ubiquitous term 'Red Sox Nation').

So it's funny that I've been thinking of those old Red Sox, because as I opened Pack 5, I got a card of Todd Benzinger Incarnate.

Pack 5

Jeremy Bonderman That's a six-syllable name, for those of you counting at home, and the first of two white guys with long last names to start the pack.

Chad Billingsley I hope Chad's first name is really Chaddington. That would make my day.

Carlos Lee So much for the streak of white guys with long names. We'll have to start a new streak, this one of All-Stars named Carlos.

Carlos Guillen Current streak alive at two, which in itself is impressive. I had a 2 in 399 chance of getting an All-Star Carlos. It's too bad I already got Beltran in another pack; I could've pulled the trifecta.

Mini World Leaders: Mirek Topolanek, Czech Republic What kind of card back is this? I don't even get Topolanek's career highlights? Boo!

Matt Holliday/Oklahoma How many more years before the Mantle comparisons come out? I mean, the fact that Matt Holliday is from Oklahoma pretty much cements that it will happen eventually, right?

Nyjer Morgan The name 'Njer' comes from the Latin 'Nyjerious' or 'to languish on a team that itself belongs in Triple AAA.'

Clayton Kershaw Todd Benzinger is Alive and Well and Pitching in Los Angeles.


•••


Pack 5 Success Rate: 50% (4/8)
Good: Holliday, Guillen, Lee, Topolanek
Bad: Billingsley, Morgan, Bonderman
Ugly: Kershaw



Look for Pack 6 tomorrow!

I know other blogs have beaten me to the punch (as per usual), but frankly this is a little too inane to render analysis (even by Topps's ever-diminishing standards). This being a slow Wednesday morning, let's do so anyway.

If you've read the advertorial, excuse me, story on the AP wire or in yesterday's New York Post, you already know that Topps's gimmick this year has to do with the Red Sox team card: the Topps photo doctors have inserted Rudy Guiliani into the World Series celebration scrum. Clay Luraschi at Topps has already announced the odds of getting one of these cards in a pack (1:70), and didn't correct the Post when it called the card 'gimmicky.' This is an about-face from this time last year, when Topps's official line on 2007's flagship Jeter/Bush/Mantle gimmick card was that it was an 'error in production.'

Last year I heard stories from friends who rushed out to get a copy of the Jeter card, a) because it worth something (I'll get into this regarding the Guiliani card in a moment), b) because it was fun, and c) because it was the biggest (perceived) fluke in Topps's history.

But knowing that Topps is allowing the Guiliani to be called a gimmick and not an error, and already establishing odds of receiving it in a pack, is it setting itself up for a fall? Or worse--indifference from collectors? Sure, it's an SP (short print), but so what? There are a ton of SPs included in sets every year. And if it's a true error card that you want, well, just wait until the product is actually released. Topps and sloppy, uncorrected errors go hand in hand.

The thing about this is that Topps couldn't openly call it an error. That would make it three straight years with a high-profile 'error' (Alex Gordon, 2006; Jeter, 2007; Guiliani, 2008), which some might call a pattern of 'enterprising showmanship' and others (presumably at Upper Deck) might call 'a desperate cry for help.'

Another thing to keep in mind: If memory serves correct, the Jeter card's existence was made known after the 2007 product was released. What makes it interesting is that Topps timed this year's press release, sorry, story--why do I keep confusing the two?--not only to run a day before the official release day for Topps 2008, but to run on Super Tuesday. What makes it unintentionally funny is that it was probably the most publicity Guiliani received yesterday.

The real question in all of this is not if collectors will eat it up (surely they will, as its presence, and high-dollar command on eBay already suggests), but what the card's existence says about the state of Topps. Fake error cards? I would've thought that Eisner would want to distance his new company from that old practice. Apparently he saw the dollars rolling in and that was enough to let it continue. (At least long enough to help finance his Bazooka Joe aspirations.)



From The Baseball Card Blog Archive:

The Trouble with Topps
2007 Topps Review

This trade comes in from David in Vero Beach, Florida.

Giving: Chipper Jones, #27
Getting: Ben Ogilvie, 1973 Topps

You know, the Red Sox have never been a bad team. Sure, they've had bad stretches, but you can't call them historically bad, like you can the Chicago Cubs or the various Seattle teams.

Let's look for a moment at the stretch between their World Series appearances in 1967 and 1975. They developed raw talent into league mainstays with Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans, Cecil Cooper, Sparky Lyle, Bill Lee, and yes, Ben Ogilvie, and traded for other guys like Luis Tiant and Ray Culp and gave them room to flourish.

And while they didn't necessarily make all the right moves in terms of keeping all their good players, they had enough talent that when the front office made a change, there were guys to pick up the slack (Rice, Lynn, Hobson, Burleson, take your pick).