Thursday, March 2, 2017

Buyback Franken-set: A Six-Pack of Sox

My buyback franken-set project forges on, and today I've got a six-pack of Red Sox buybacks to evaluate for inclusion in the binder...

1968 Topps #346 - Jerry Adair

Jerry Adair was traded to Boston in the summer of their infamous 1967 season, and would play with the Red Sox for the remainder of 1967 and all of 1968 before the Royals took him in the 1968 expansion draft.  Jerry didn't possess a ton of power but still swung a good stick, and actually garnered MVP votes in more than one season over the course of his career.  Best of all for me, this is a new number for my franken-set!

1967 Topps #429 - Garry Roggenburk

Garry Roggenburk was actually picked up by Boston late in the 1966 season.  After just one game in September of 1966 he didn't pitch in the Majors again until 1968, and I'm not entirely sure why.  Garry finished off his career with the Seattle Pilots, which is kind of cool, but this is a pretty ugly card.  There's some type of mystery substance/smudge on Roggenburk's face, and as I've stated countless times hat-less players are a pet peeve of mine.

Dick Lange's '74 Topps release is already occupying slot 429...

...and I'm sticking with Lange.

1974 Topps #113 - Dick Drago

Next up is another pretty boring photograph.  I have a feeling this one was taken from this particular low angle to make airbrushing a breeze (Drago was with the Royals for the '73 season).  I've already got Dick's 1975 card in the binder, but if this '74 release wants to join along it will have to get past Pete Redfern:

Honestly, I've just been waiting for a chance to bump this one...

...see ya Pete!

1973 Topps #143 - John Curtis

John Curtis pitched with the Red Sox from 1970 through 1973, in a mix of starting and relief roles.  His time in Boston seems to have been uneventful for the most part, but he did manage to last 15 years at the MLB level, retiring after the 1984 season.  He ended up with a sub-.500 record and an ERA just shy of 4.00 over the course of his career.

Unfortunately for John Curtis I've already got this sweet Jerry Grote in the franken-set at #143.


1978 Topps #155 - Butch Hobson

Butch Hobson played a few seasons with Boston in the latter half of the '70s, and would go on to manage their AAA affiliate after retiring.  In the early to mid-'90s he actually served as manager of the Boston Red Sox as well.  He's actually still involved in the game to this day, and is currently managing for a class A affiliate of the Diamondbacks.  #155 is new as far as my franken-set goes, Butch makes the binder uncontested!

1977 Topps #309 - Red Sox Team

Last card for today is a nice one, particularly because it features the great Don Zimmer.  The '77 Red Sox were a force to be reckoned with in terms of offensive firepower, and they rode those strong bats to a 97-win season.  Unfortunately this was only good enough for a tie for second in the division thanks to a powerhouse Yankees team that won 100 games.  Speaking of those great late-'70s Yankees teams, here's the card that this one will be competing against for a spot in the set:

Cliff Johnson only made the binder earlier this week...

...but he doesn't stand a chance against a 97-win Sox club managed by Zimmer!

A nice even split of these six cards with two new numbers, two conflict winners and two losers.  I'll take those odds at this point in the project.

Franken-set Progress:  327/792 (41%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  116
Total Buybacks in Collection:  443

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've discovered a new enjoyment in these posts: Rooting on buybacks I'd sent you. Yay, 1974 Dick Lange!

It's like "Survivor: Buyback"...

Mark Hoyle said...

Lots of Bosox there

shoeboxlegends said...

Hah nice I hadn't thought of the angle of readers rooting for buybacks they've sent me, I like it!

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