Red Sox Collection - 1984 Topps Traded

I'm traveling the next few days for work, so you're going to get some relatively short posts that I drafted up last minute before leaving for the trip. Hey, it's better than nothing right? Maybe not. Anyway today's post features a 1984 Topps Traded Red Sox team set.

We'll start right off with the main reason I wanted these cards, Bill Buckner.  This is the first Topps card to feature Buckner with the Red Sox.  He came to the team in a late-May trade that sent Dennis Eckersley to the Cubs, so he's pictured with Chicago on his '84 Topps base card:

As usual, the backs of these Traded cards look ten times better than the cards from the accompanying base set.

Mike Easler came to Boston in the offseason prior to the start of 1984 from the Pirates.  I actually don't have his '84 Topps base card so you'll just have to take my word for it (finishing that set is a goal for 2013...).  He enjoyed a monster season in 1984 with Boston, hitting .313 with 188 hits, 31 doubles, 5 triples, 27 HR and 91 RBI.  All of those numbers would turn out to be career highs, I think it's fair to say Mike was in the zone in 1984.

Rich Gale was signed by the Red Sox prior to the season after being released by the Reds.

It didn't go particularly well for Rich in Boston, as he made just 4 starts and appeared in 13 total games in what would be the final season of his career.

Jackie Gutierrez had been the property of the Red Sox since the team signed him as an amateur free agent back in 1978.  He saw his first action with the club in 1983, but having appeared in only 5 games that year Topps neglected to include him in the 1984 flagship set.  When he played in 151 games for Boston in 1984 though, they appropriately dedicated a card in the Traded set to him.

So there you have it, a 1984 Topps Traded Red Sox team set.  I wasn't really actively searching this team set out, but when one went up on eBay with a starting bid of one cent with shipping of $1.75 I couldn't resist.  My final cost was $.30 plus shipping for $2.05 total.  I'll knock a team set off the want list for less than the cost of most packs any day!  In my opinion it was worth the $2 just to get Buckner's first Topps Red Sox card alone...