Sports Card Tour 2018 - Boston

The Collector's Sports Card Tour 2018 will make 50 stops across North America but this one might be my favorite - today, we're in Boston.

Boston's four pro sports teams have a combined 37 championships, more than any U.S. city except their arch-rival New York (a much bigger city, with more teams and more money.)

Boston sports fans have had plenty to cheer about - especially over the past 15 years. Yes, they can be obnoxious and even racist, which is embarrassing for those of us that just want to rep our team, sing Tessie or Dirty Water after a victory, and head home sober.

The last time I was at Fenway Park was in 2012. Before the game my friend Brandon and I spent a beautiful summer day in Boston.. but about an hour before first pitch it began to rain. The Red Sox and Tigers managed to squeeze in five innings before the umpires called a rain delay. Bran and I watched Summer Olympics highlights on the jumbotron for a while before he had an idea - Let's go check out the Green Monster seats.

We made our way through the packed concourse until we found the stairs to the seats above the Green Monster. The rain was coming down pretty hard and it didn't look like the game would resume for a while - if at all (it didn't.) We thought it would be okay if we could sneak a quick view from the Monster seats, take a selfie or two, and be on our way - but before we could even pull out a camera the usher ushered us out of there. It's a rain delay! The tarp's on the field. We can't stay for ten seconds? Not cool, man.

Red Sox cards are the beating heart of my collection. I have four binders full of base cards and a three-row storage box full of inserts, rookies, and other hits. Blogger trades have added hundreds of new cards to my collection over the past year or so.

Having so many Sox cards makes it tough for me to decide what to show off here; I don't want this to be a baseball-only post - and I don't want to take up too much of your time - so let's take a look at the other Boston-area teams and come back to the Sox at the end.

I still don't have a favorite NBA team, but I'm kind of hoping that the Celtics can end LeBron James' 7-year streak of Finals appearances. They might be even better next year, once Gordon Hayward returns from that horrific leg injury.

Nearly all of the 100 or so Celtics cards in my collection are base cards, aside from these three and a pair of 2015-16 Donruss inserts. While researching a Basketball Hall of Fame post I wasn't able to finish, I learned that Chauncey Billups had a much better career than I'd realized. That inspired me to pick up his Topps Chrome rookie card on COMC, for a best offer of $1.75.

I'm worried it will turn yellow once I get it; a lot of the others have.

Did you know that, of the four Boston-area sports teams, the Patriots have the fewest titles in The Town? Sure doesn't feel that way. I don't have many Patriots cards (because I can't stand them) and half of my 'hits' are Drew Bledsoe cards. For some reason I remember talking to my friends in the 7th grade about the Patriots drafting Drew. This was right around the time they changed their uniform and hired Bill Parcells. We could tell the team was turning it around.

When Bledsoe was breaking records for passing attempts and leading the Pats to their second Super Bowl this 1993 SP Foil RC was red-hot. There was a guy in my town who sold sports cards and all sorts of things basically from the trunk of his car (he was kind of a gypsy.) He set aside a Bledsoe RC for me, called to make sure I wanted it, and came to my door one night with the card. I have no idea how or why I paid $75 for it as a 16 year-old, but I was very excited. (I was even more excited when my Packers beat the Pats in the big game.)

A lot of my friends back home were Bruins fans; I was the only Whalers fan I knew until the team moved. Even my wife liked the B's back in the day. Late in the 1991-92 season, her dad bought two tickets to a Bruins-Devils game at the Meadowlands. That just so happened to be Martin Brodeur's NHL debut. And she was there because she liked Cam Neely.

My (mom's) neighbor Darin is a lifelong Bruins fan. When I was 17 and I had a shaggy mop of dyed blond hair, he said I looked like the Bruins' #1 draft pick, Joe Thornton.

I've had this on-card auto in my collection for so long I forgot how I acquired it. Maybe I pulled it out of a pack.

Are you ready for some vintage Red Sox? Here are some ungraded gems I purchased on COMC:

Some high-grade Sox I purchased from 4 Sharp Corners:

And the crown jewel of my collection - these two Ted Williams cards:

The '56 Topps Ted is for my set build; it's the second most I've ever paid for a single card. Had to sell a lot of Upper Deck hockey sets for that one!


My Final Thoughts essay was going to be about J.D. Martinez, but I'll skip it since I've scanned and discussed so many cards.


Red Sox card I'd like to own: All of them. I want them all. Send them to me.

Patriots card I'd like to own: I thought I needed a Randy Moss Patriots card, but I have two. Maybe a 1985 Topps Tony Eason RC. I seem to have faint memories of that card from my childhood.

Celtics card I'd like to own: A Larry Bird relic. Or a Kevin McHale relic. Or a card of the Big Three, if one exists.

Bruins card I'd like to own: I need a high-quality copy of the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee Ray Bourque card for my set, but it's very hard to find one with 50/50 centering.


Favorite Red Sox player: Dustin Pedroia is my favorite player in all of baseball.

Favorite Patriots player: He's a block-headed frat boy on the most detestable team in sports, but God darn it I like Rob Gronkowski. 

 

 
Favorite Celtics player: I'm pulling for Gordon Hayward to make a full recovery.

Favorite Bruins player: Charlie McAvoy is not only the best defensive prospect in hockey, he shares my wife's maiden name.

There is also a Red Sox minor leaguer named Kevin McAvoy.


Next tour stop: Brooklyn. Thanks for reading this. Have a great weekend!



~