Thursday, December 31, 2009

What to Expect in 2010

On this last day of 2009, I would like to look ahead, both at how the Red Sox appear to be shaping up for the coming season and what's in store for this Red Sox 1027 blog.

First, the 2010 Red Sox. I like the adjustments they've made this off-season and anticipate a terrific season for them. They've strengthened their starting rotation (and thus overall pitching) immensely, simply with one addition; they've strengthened their defense with two terrific veteran players; and, despite much of the discussions about a "lack of offense or power," in particular in losing Jason Bay, they still appear to have quite a productive lineup. While it is pretty much expected that the top four in the lineup will be Ellsbury, Pedroia, Martinez and Youkilis, here's another take on it, if Terry Francona is in a tinkering mood:

Ellsbury - Scutaro - Martinez - Youkilis - Ortiz - Pedroia - Drew - Cameron - Kotchmann

That would give them a left-right rotation throughout the entire lineup! They also have the flexibility to stack the lineup with lefties or righties depending on the matchup. For instance, if a particular right-handed pitcher has particularly difficult times against lefties, they can go:

Ellsbury - Pedroia - Martinez - Youkilis - Ortiz - Drew - Kotchmann - Hermida - Scutaro

And similarly against left-handers:

Ellsbury - Scutaro - Martinez - Youkilis - Pedroia - Ortiz - Cameron - Drew - Lowell

I do like these possibilities!

Second, what to expect from this blog in 2010. In addition to regular musings as appropriate, the blog will also feature regular columns:

Tuesday's Trivia - This column started a few weeks ago and will continue through the New Year, asking a Red Sox trivia question each Tuesday and providing the answer the following day.
Wednesday's Wish List - With an emphasis on the blog regarding my Red Sox baseball card collection, this column will allow readers to see gaps in my collection and possibly offer trades to help fill their own gaps.

Wednesday's Wish List - Here I will present my wish lists to fill in the considerable gaps in my Red Sox collection.

Friday's Favorite - Each Friday, for the 52 of them in 2010, I will feature my favorite Topps Red Sox card from the last 52 years, beginning with one from 1957 - that, coincindentally, was the first year Topps settled on a consistent-sized set, and all subsequent ones have kept to that size (sure making it easier to fill those 9-sleeve sheets)

Happy New Year!

The Red Sox through Baseball Cards


Welcome to the Red Sox baseball card blog, where we will be celebrating the history of the team and anticipating its future through baseball cards of its players and prospects. I am building up my baseball card collection, which I started as a five-year-old in 1970, and continued throughout the 1970s, stepping away from it for a few years in the early 1980s, followed by a brief return to it in the middle to later part of that decade. Nearly 20 years after having last collected, I've begun again with great enthusiasm, looking mainly to fill in the many gaps since 1970, but also looking to gather as many pre-1970 cards as possible. Thanks for joining me on my journey.

I've begun with one of my favorite Red Sox cards - 1970 George Scott - one of my favorite players, from the year I began collecting. I must admit, I recently bought this card, not having had it within the very modest collection of early 1970s cards from my youth, but it hardly dims my enthusiasm for such a beauty. The profile and smile, especially with so many more typical stern and serious poses by most of the Red Sox through the years, stands in bright contrast, with the player exuding a joy for the game, and contentment and pleasure in his livelihood. I also discovered from this card - one of the joys of collecting; you learn a lot of neat things about players from what's on the back of cards, particularly cards from yesteryear - what a terrific defender Scott was. I remember him more in his second go-round with the Sox, in the late 1970s when I was a bit older, and mostly for his thunderous bat. But this very card instead tipped me off to the many gold gloves he had in fact won. This corrected my blurred image of simply a burly, more DH-like player, with that of a force on defense, one who graced third base and then first base, and played a pivotal role, with his glove as well as his bat, in the Sox' miracle season of 1967. In fact, after researching it further awhile ago, I recall during that research former manger (may have been Dick Williams) saying to the effect that Scott was the best first baseman he'd ever seen. Wow!