A Sox team set of 2005 Topps Retired refractors

My collecting habits don't typically including going after team sets, but it is neat to realize you've knocked off an entire team from a set you're working on. And here's a post to make Red Sox fans a little jealous, as I've now got refractor autos (#/25) of all Boston cards in 2005 Topps Retired.

The top card in the team set is Yaz. Snagged this one a year or two back, and so it's a repeat on the blog, but worth another look.

Jim Lonborg is another one I've had for a while. I think I've actually picked up a dupe since.. as sort of an ace-in-the-hole in case I need to bring out the big guns for a trade with a Sox fan.

This Johnny Pesky is a new one. He's a name you don't hear about too much these days, but he would've likely won the Rookie of the Year award had it existed in 1942, and put together an impressive career. Led the AL in hits 3 times, batted .307 lifetime, while missing 3 years of his prime serving in World War II. After his playing days, he continued working in baseball for decades, with stints as manager, coach, and broadcaster.

After obtaining the Pesky, I noticed-- with thanks to TCDB-- that I was only Grady Little away from the Boston team set, so I said "F' it" and pulled the trigger on this overpriced one that had been sitting on eBay for years.

So there's the team set!

Wade Boggs is featured as a Yankee in the set, FYI. I don't have that one yet.
I do have a couple other "honorable mentions" though, on the other Sox...

2005 Retired features Fisk on the Pale Hose, after having a Boston card in the '03 and '04 incarnations of the set. Daryl Boston never played for the Red Sox, which is a shame with such a fitting last name. Dig the nutty pants uniform numbers on both of these!

My White Sox team set is far from complete, as there are a couple big ones I'm missing: Tom Seaver and Bo Jackson. Also Harold Baines is no pushover-- Hell, he's in the Hall of Fame!

I've got 35 refractor autos from this set now (out of 115).. with another on the way. 2005 Retired isn't as high priority as 2004 Retired for me, but I still like to pick them up when I find them for a decent price. What can I say? I just love these shiny beauties!

Retired Refractor Review: Red Sox Royalty

It's Easter, so that's as good a time as any to post some lovely pastel rainbow-looking cards. My Topps Retired refractors are among the top jewels of my collection. As a theme to tie them together, the three guys I'm featuring today all first made a name for themselves in Boston, though not all of these are Red Sox cards.

This is a cool shot of Carlton Fisk, apparently shouting to second base or perhaps giving direction to a cutoff man. Those 80s White Sox uniforms with the number on the pants are pretty funky.

That's a long time behind the dish. I didn't realize Fisk had such quick legs for a catcher, swiping 128 bases in his career and leading the league in triples during his ROY campaign in 1972.

Here's a nice posed shot of Fred Lynn from his days as an Angel. I always love picking up 2003 Topps Retired refractors when I can find them for a good price. They don't seem to pop up as often as their 2005 counterparts.

Freddy put up great numbers during his Red Sox days, but leveled off a bit once he moved on to California and later Baltimore. I know it sounds like a joke everytime I say it, but I think of him first and foremost as a Padre, since 1990 happened to be the year I first really got into baseball as a kid in San Diego.

(Update: I've since sold the Fred Lynn for twice what I paid for it. Sorry to see it go, but couldn't pass up that deal.)

This Jim Lonborg card is another instance of a seller screw-up lending itself to a good deal. The listing neglected to mention that this was a refractor parallel, or that it was serial numbered out of 25. But I could tell by the rainbow sheen in the photo that it was definitely a refractor, so I was able to score it for the opening bid. Not that it would have been considerably more expensive had the seller properly listed it, but I bet he could have easily gotten a few bucks more, perhaps even twice as much if a couple BoSox fans got into a bidding war over it.

In a happy coincidence, I'm posting this on Jim's birthday. As the red stats indicate, he was at his best in 1967, helping the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox reach the World Series. As the sentence on the back states, he did very well in his first two WS starts, but then they put him back out there on short rest for Game 7 and well, you know how that ended for Boston. He won the Cy that year, and had a few more solid seasons in his career, but was never quite as dominant.

A fun fact about Lonborg is that he's the real baseball player in the "Sam Malone pitching" photo hanging in the bar on the show Cheers.

Good enough excuse to revisit the fun TTM return last year from the great Wade Boggs.

That's gonna do it for today. Happy Easter, everybody!

Pose Masters: Mike Fiore, the scoop pose king

Mike Fiore's major league career wasn't all that impressive. He secured his place in baseball lore, albeit it a footnote, when he hit the first home run ever in Kansas City Royals history. But where his skill really shone was hit ability to make a scoop pose for his baseball card photos. It's only fitting that Fiore is the initial subject of Pose Masters, a new reoccurring(?) feature here at BCB celebrating athletes whose skills on the diamond extended to when they were standing in front of a photographer getting a shot for a forthcoming baseball card.

Fiore, a first-baseman, has 3 solo cards: Topps 1970-1972. His best year (his only decent year, in fact) was his rookie campaign of 1969 with the expansion Royals, when he batted .274 with 12 tatters, one of which was that fateful 1st Royal jack, leading off the 2nd inning of the 5th game of the season, against the A's on April 13th.

Unfortunately for Fiore, the dreams he must've entertained of becoming Mr. Royal, beloved by all of Kansas, not just their eponymous city, would go unfulfilled, paving the way for George Brett to claim the title years later. He bounced around with a few more teams, first as an underperforming bench player, then toiling for several more years in AAA.

But he leaves us with a legacy of scooping baseball card photos that is unmatched! He really knew what he was doing, and the camera ate it up! You gotta wonder if the photographer suggested the pose each time or what. I'd like to believe Fiore came up with it himself.

Topps photographer: "OK, Mike: say cheese."

Mike Fiore: "I got this! Check out this bad-ass pose of me scooping out a low throw from short! Boo-yah!"

Topps photographer: "... ok. [click] We're good here."

Mike Fiore: ":)"


It's not like he was known for his excellent defense. In his only year with 100+ games, 1969, he committed 10 errors at first-base in just 91 games at the position, 3rd most in the league. (He also added another error in 13 games playing the outfield.)

Coach: "Fiore, here comes the throw.. get your glove up!"

Mike Fiore: "Screw that, coach! Mike Fiore is all about the scoop. THE SCOOOOP! [ball flies just over his shoulder] oops."

Today, Mike Fiore might be relegated to the answer of a KC Royals trivia question, but for fans of vintage baseball cards, he will forever be fondly remembered as a true pose master.

(Artist re-creation of the full-photo used on Mike Fiore's rookie card. There's little doubt in my mind that this is the pose he struck. A true professional from day one.)

Happy Card! :) 1966 Topps Carl Yastrzemski

This is the first installment of a series I just now thought of for a neat addition to the blog. Happy Card!™ posts will feature a selected card displaying a ballplayer with a big, heartwarming smile. I for one love those cards, and I don't think I'm alone in this. I'm sure lots of collectors peruse their cards and can't help but crack a grin when they come across a picture of a genuinely happy man enjoying life.

Here's a great example of the power of a Happy Card:

See? One of these cards is iconic, beloved, and valuable; the other, just blah.  It's no coincidence that the "good" card features a fresh-faced smile, while the guy in the "bad" card looks confused and irritated. (Don't even get me started on his 1989 Fleer card!) Sure, there are other factors in the Upper Deck card being more sought-after, but you gotta believe that winning smile plays a big part in the card's appeal.

Ok, with the introduction out of the way, let's move on to the main post. I suggest playing this YouTube clip as the soundtrack for your reading.

For our inaugural Happy Card subject (um, forget about Junior up there), I've chosen a very favorite card of mine. 1966 Topps #70 Carl Yastrzemski

Hot damn! Have you ever seen a grown man display such unbridled joy anywhere, much less on a baseball card?

The year 1966 brought us happy songs such as "Good Vibrations" and "Yellow Submarine" on the radio. Happy TV viewers enjoyed watching the debuts of Star Trek and Adam West as Batman.

And Topps gave this happy little treasure to the world. Here's Yaz taking a healthy swing on a glorious midsummer morning (or thereabouts). You probably know about his career, so I don't need to type up several paragraphs riffling off stats and factoids. 1966 was smack dab in the middle of his prime years. The following year he would achieve likely his most notable feat, winning the triple crown. His Red Sox would win the pennant that year, too. His incredible HOF career stretched 23 years (with a whopping 18 All-Star selections), all with Boston.

Don't quote me on it, but I think Yaz might hold the record for most Topps cards issued during a career (well, in the pre-parallel age, at least). And the vast majority of them feature a stoic, stern-faced warrior doing his damnedest to lead his team to victory. (Although the Sox of course were never able to win it all during his tenure, he batted a fierce .369 in the postseason.)

Here's a retrospective of his main Topps cards:

See? Besides the 1966 card, only in his '81 card (and maybe his painted rookie picture) does he seem to be enjoying himself at all.

But for one year, at least, Carl Yastrzemski's card was happy as a hound dog in a whorehouse. And that picture, that card, will last for all eternity: A bright beacon of hope in uncertain times.

Let's enjoy it again, shall we?

That is one happy card. :)