These Red Sox Brought to You By Tony Burbs

Today's trade package comes courtesy of Tony Burbs of the great blog Wrigley Roster Jenga.  Tony's been on the blogging scene for a while now, but somehow our paths never crossed until towards the end of last year.  When I learned he was starting to collect Chicago Blackhawks cards I sent him a whole bunch, and in return he crafted a sweet return bubble mailer chock full o' Red Sox.

Tony cross-referenced my collection on Zistle before shipping, which means he batted a thousand in terms of the cards being new to my collection.  I'm kind of embarrassed to say I didn't have a copy of the '89 Upper Deck Boggs you see above previously.  Glad Tony rectified that before I had to turn in my Red Sox Team Collector Badge.

There was a huge variety to be found among the goods that Tony sent.  This MLB Showdown game card featuring longtime Sox captain Jason Varitek is a perfect example of just how random this delivery was.

Always happy to add another new card of the greatest player I've ever seen pitch for Boston.

I've nearly completed this past season's Archives team set, but hadn't managed to find a copy of this Ortiz yet.  Haven't even thought about those pesky short-prints, and probably won't bother.

My favorite two players on the current team are young stars Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts.  Any package that adds a new card of either to my collection is automatically a winner.

Like I said, some real variety here.  Seven cards into the post, seven different sets represented.

Here's a nice one from the last true Upper Deck baseball set (in my humble opinion, the 2010 set where they did a half-ass job of hiding logos doesn't count for me).  Upper Deck was releasing some absolutely giant sets around this time; this is card number 953 in the 2009 set.

As I've stated many times, I'm a total sucker for minor league cardboard, so I was very happy to find this Anthony Ranaudo featuring him with the Red Sox AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs in the stack.

Believe it or not, this is my second David Mailman card, though it is the first that was delivered by my actual mailman.  David never made it past A-ball, but he sure has an interesting name.

Che-Hsuan Lin actually got into a handful of games with Boston back in 2012.  This is my first card of his too, another name off of the all-time Red Sox checklist!

Here's another great Portland Sea Dogs card, featuring pitcher Abe Alvarez.  This is from the 2004 Just Prospects set.  Random fact, Abe was called up to start a single game in 2004, and thus received a World Series ring!  He's now retired and serving as a pitching coach in college.

The minor league cards keep on coming, with this 1999 Team Best Dernell Stenson.  This one's a bit on the depressing side, as Dernell was brutally murdered at age 25 while playing in the Arizona Fall League.

On a more positive note, here's a nice Toys 'R' Us purple parallel of Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  These parallels in particular seem to really command a premium, and since I haven't stepped foot in a Toys 'R' Us in probably a decade, I have precious few in my collection.

Will Middlebrooks, what could have been.  I'll still enjoy this nice Gold Sparkle parallel of his rookie card, even if his career has really tanked in the few seasons since it was printed.

These Opening Day Stars 3D cards are just awesome in hand.  I can't believe I never bothered to track down the Red Sox before, but it's not a problem...

...since Tony hooked me up with both of them in this package.  Two of my favorite cards in the entire package for sure.

These 'When They Were Young' inserts are a little strange to me, but it is comical to see that David Ortiz had the swagger that he's known for from a young age, apparently.

This one is from the 2008 Topps Trading Card History insert set.  Interesting seeing Josh on a '64 Topps design...

...but give me the real thing any day!  This one's way up there on the checklist too, number 526 in the set.  My previous highest-numbered card from this set was 352.  Do I care that Lou Clinton has been gently loved over the years?  Not in the least!

Finally, the oldest card Tony set, and another pretty high number.  Ray Webster here is number 452 in the '60 Topps set.  Just awesome.

If you haven't had a chance to check out Tony's blog, now's the perfect time to hop on over there and congratulate him on getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend.  Tony, thanks for the great package of Sox, and sorry that it took me so long to give them their proper appreciation in the form of a post.  I really appreciate you taking the time to pick out and ship me these gems.