Appraising the Situation

A while ago, a neighbor of mine mentioned that he decided it was finally time to sell some old baseball cards he had been holding on to. He asked if I’d be willing to look through them and see if any of them were worth anything, and how much he might be able to get. I had two immediate thoughts.

1. Of course I’m willing. Any excuse to flip though baseball cards is valid in my book.

2. No. Your monster box of 1988 Topps and 1992 Fleer isn’t worth anything.

So, you can imagine the range of emotions that came over me when I laid my eyes on this.

Those aren’t 1988 Topps! I recognize those black borders. That Disco theme. Those are 1970’s. And 1971’s. And ‘72’s. And 73’s.

CASUALLY TOSSED IN A PLASTIC BOX!

Breathe!

Inhale. Exhale.

What could be in there? Munson? Fisk? Schmidt?

Dear me, what will I do if I find a Schmidt in the bottom of that box folded in half? Part of me hoped there wouldn’t be anything decent in there. Not sure I could take it.

The first thing I did was see just what I was looking at here. So, I sorted them out into the different years. Once they were all neatly stacked, this is what I had.

There were actually a couple 1968’s and 1969’s in the box. (Nope, neither of them were Ryan or Jackson) A few hundred each of 1970, ’72, and 73. Then, about two or three times that many of the 1971’s. I’ve never seen that much vintage looking at me before. Pretty cool.

So, what was in there? I’m not telling yet. I thought it would be more fun to give each year its moment in the sun. Today, I’ll do the ’68 and ‘69’s since there were only a couple. Thankfully, those couple included these Denny McLains, fresh off his 30+ win season. Not a bad beginning.

Like all the cards, the condition is exactly what you’d expect from cards in that era that had been tossed in a box. Not as many completely destroyed cards as I feared. But, not exactly any corners I worried about cutting myself on. Still, of course, lots of fun.

More to come!

From the Pedro Binder

2001 Topps Post Cereal

Baseball cards. Cereal. It’s the perfect combination. You have to eat breakfast right? So, if you need food, might as well select the form that comes with collectables. In 2001, that meant Post.

There’s nothing about this card that isn’t great. I love the fact that they didn’t just slap a “Post” logo on the front of the 2001 Topps card. Not only does this card look nothing like the 2001 base set, it doesn’t even have a “Post” logo on the front. It has all the necessary names and logos to make it look like a real card. It’s great.

Even the design is wonderful. I know that Topps didn’t send out its best designers for this assignment…if they were even designed by Topps at all. But, it has everything you need. A little bit of color. The player’s name and position, and the team he played for. The information is tucked on the bottom, giving plenty of room for the picture. The two floating logos are small enough to be unobtrusive, even though they are also in color. A very nice presentation.

The picture itself is a good one. Nothing special, certainly. But, sometimes that’s exactly what is called for. Pedro just getting ready to make a batter look silly.

Considering what some companies do to their mainstream sets, it’s nice to see that a card Topps cranked out for someone else is still so fantastic.

And I just had to eat some cereal to get it.

I’m glad I don’t have a deadline

I had it working through my mind. With the Bruins losing last night, the eyes of New England would turn squarely on the Red Sox. There would be nowhere for them to hide. They needed to step up, and play like we know they can.

Then, the Bruins scored four more goals. And won.

Thankfully I didn’t have to make a deadline. I could simply scrap the idea, and move on. I’m glad I didn’t have to have a post half-written by then. I’m glad it was just something I was thinking of.

But, I guess it really doesn’t change things.

The Sox still need to step it up. Assuming, of course, that baseball is the sort of sport that you can step up in. Which, it isn’t. But, you get the idea.

What has gone wrong recently? Hard to say. It’s not like you can point to one thing. Some of the starting pitching had been poor. But, some has been downright stellar. Some of the hitters are going through some rough patches. Some aren’t.

I hate to keep harping on it. But, it’s just what happens. When you put it all together, you win. When you don’t you lose. You just need to score more runs than the other team in order to win. Hopefully, you do.

How do things look for this road trip? We’ll have to see. Obviously, being down two closers is rough. But, they have had some time to plan for it. They have had a few days to figure out who they have, and what they can do. They also had a much needed off day yesterday. If the pen is rested, it will allow everyone to be more effective.

Can the Sox beat the Rays, Twins, and ChiSox? Sure. Will they? Probably. Minnesota sure handed it to the Sox in Fenway. But, they’re not a superior team. Have to assume that some of that will come back to earth a bit.

What’s the rule I always look for? Win half your games on the road. So, can they go 5-4 on this trip? Certainly.

Can’t wait to see them try.

I Scored!

May 9 1999

Mother’s Day

After Pedro vs. Mo, and Juan Pena’s debut the previous two games, this game had more of a bleh feel to it.

Mark Portugal got the start for the Sox. He ended up pitching very well, making it into the eighth inning. He gave up a scant two runs during that time. Was it enough?

The Red Sox offense in those days wasn’t exactly a juggernaut. But, they were able to score just enough runs to squeak it out.

Looking at the line-up for the Sox, I notice one thing right away. I had way too much trouble with the entry for the future captain. I managed to spell Jason Varitek’s name incorrectly in two places before correcting it at some point. In my defense, we’re talking about “47” Varitek, and not “33” Varitek. My how things change. I also notice that someone got ejected in the fourth inning. I honestly don’t have any idea what the story is there. Since I originally thought it was the manager, but then changed it to a player not in the game, I’m assuming that someone was arguing something from the dugout, and got rung from there.

The player of the game for the Sox? I have no earthly idea. Trot Nixon had three hits. All singles, and did nothing with them. I’ll hand it to Nomar Garciaparra, almost by default. He did hit a game tying homerun right after the Angels had taken the lead. That’s a nice way to answer.

How about the goat? I have to give it to Jose Offerman. He went hitless in four at-bats. Sure, he managed to drive in a run. But, getting strikeouts from your lead-off hitter in his first two trips to the plate doesn’t help the team. Although, Reggie Jefferson certainly wasn’t helping the cause with his o-fer in the sixth spot.

So, there you have it. Not the most thrilling of games. But, a nice way to spend a Mother’s Day. Solid pitching combined with adequate hitting to produce the win.

And the scorecard shows how it happened.

Now is the Perfect Time to Panic!

If, you know, you’re a complete moron!

I liked April a lot more than I’ve been liking May. How about anyone else? But, I’m curious. When did being tied for the lead in the division in mid-May qualify as a problem? Isn’t this more than we all hoped for at this point? So, what’s the issue?

I know, they’ve lost a lot of games lately. But, we all knew they were going to lose games, right? They weren’t winning them all. They weren’t even going to keep their 120-win pace they were on for a while. Right now, they’re on pace for 97 wins, after the poor showing against the Twins. Honestly, that’s probably unrealistic. But, it’s certainly more reasonable.

What people have to keep remembering is that ending a season with a .600 winning percentage does not mean you win six out of every ten games. It doesn’t mean you win three out of every five. It just averages out to that over a long season. Maybe you lose one, win four in a row, lose three in a row, then win two. Or, lump the losses into an even longer streak. But, then win in greater bunches after that. People seem to think that if the team is expected to finish with a .550 winning percentage, then that’s what they’re going to have the rest of the way. This is why people got so uptight with slow starts. Starting off 0-6 doesn’t mean you’re in a hole. It just means your losses bunched up at the beginning. That’s all that happened with the Sox. Their losses just bunched up this last week. They’ll get some bunches of wins at some point. It’s just the way seasons work.

Not with this bullpen! What happened to all the depth?

Yeah, that’s the other one I’m hearing. What happened to the bullpen that was so dominant? It’s still there. It’s just in a down patch. What happened to the depth? They’re using it right now. Depth means that your two closers can be on the DL, but you still have two guys who can close games for you. That’s why you had the depth. So, you can withstand an injury or two. This week has just been a bit more extreme than others. The two injuries stacked up on each other, and wore out some of the other members. It’ll get back. Lackey actually did a great job last night of at least going long enough to let some guys get some rest. That will breed more rest. If a guy’s not tired, he’ll pitch longer, so the other guy can rest, and it will all build on each other from there. What if there’s another injury? Yeah, that would be annoying. Chances are it won’t happen. If it does? Nothing you can do about it anyway. The injured players will be back at some point.

So, I don’t know what people expected at the end of April. Did they expect 120 wins? Do they think the Sox will need 120 wins? Did they thing the bullpen was going to shutout everyone the rest of the way? Did they think Buchholz was going to keep his 1.11 ERA?

If they did, they have problems. People and teams are what they are. All the little highs and lows will even themselves out at the end. Barring sweeping season ending injuries, the numbers will speak for themselves.

Just be patient.

From the Pedro Binder

2002 UD MVP

Wow. Wow. Wow. That’s all I can say. OK. Maybe I can say one more thing.

Bleh!

Is there a lot going on with this card, or what? They’ve pretty much thrown everything at it. Once again, the name of the card brand is the most important thing. There it is, bigger than life, right in the middle of the card. Amazingly, they actually allow Pedro’s picture to obscure the “m”. The MVP is floating in a starburst effect, which dissolves into a cloud effect at the edges. If that wasn’t enough? There are floating statistics all over the card. I will say, that’s not a terrible idea. To have Pedro’s statistics right there on the front is easier that turning the card over.

Wait, those aren’t Pedro’s stats. Unless he stole 31 bases one year. Those aren’t even pitching stats! So, the card is full of noise just for the sake of noise?

At the very least, the color scheme does allow the picture to pop. Somehow despite the busyness, the photo is able to escape just long enough to be seen. So, let’s look at that photo.

Really? That the best you have?

First of all, the picture doesn’t even fit on the card. They had to trim off his foot, and fingertips. And, what about that face? I know that’s what Pedro looks like when he releases a pitch, but I’m not sure I need to be reminded of it all the time.

Once again I have to think of the people complaining about the lack of innovation from Topps now that they have an exclusive. You’re really missing the innovation that came up with this card? There was plenty of competition in 2002, and UD still put out this garbage.

Sometimes it’s not worth opening the binder.

Sweep in the Heart of Texas

Whenever a team has a weekend like the Sox had, everyone starts looking for answers to questions that otherwise wouldn’t exist. What does this mean? How does this define the team?

Was April a fluke? Did the lack of quality opponents make the Sox look better than they really were? Was this weekend a fluke? Are weaknesses suddenly exposed? Or, is this just the sort of thing that happens as a season goes along?

Naturally, I fall into line with the latter. I posted before that I didn’t buy into the “haven’t beaten a good team” line, since the Sox had faced everyone that matters. They’ve faced everyone in the division, and some decent teams elsewhere. Are we saying, then, that Texas is the only good team out there? If so, I’m ok with that. After all, the Sox only have three more games against them. I’m not going to hold this one series up as an example of the Sox feasting on weak teams.

Did it expose a weakness? Well, I guess it showed that the Sox’s number four starter can’t beat one of the top teams on the road. Not sure that qualifies as a weakness, though. Lackey pitched pretty well, and Lester threw a quality start up against Darvish. Hard to get too worked up about that. The Sox had trouble scoring runs. But, that’s nothing new. We all knew when the roster was put together that they’d have trouble doing that. When you plan on winning lots of 4-3 games, you have to plan on losing lots of those too.

At the end of it, the Sox still have the best record in baseball. They have that despite David Ortiz missing a lot of time, and each of their closers spending some time down with injuries. Of course the Sox will drop off a bit. They won’t win 105 games this year. But, I’d rather be on pace for 105 wins than 105 losses. Look at the rest of May. What do you see on the schedule that scares you? Do you see a lot more of those “good” teams that people are so concerned about the Sox beating? Neither do I.

So, let’s be disappointed that the Sox couldn’t grab at least one of those games. But, let’s not doom them for it either. Sometime you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes you sweep, sometimes you get swept.

You just have to hope to do more of the sweeping.