Frankenset Page #47

The last few days of Red Sox Baseball have proved to be incredibly rocky. Off to a 2-6 start, the worst start in over 2 decades by a reigning World Series Champion, Boston has been outscored 52-33 in their matchups against the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics.

Considering the expectations for this team going into 2019, their first 8 games have been extremely disappointing. Moreover, Boston's opening their season on the west coast, meaning that most of the start times are very late. 

Thus, I've had very few opportunities to watch the Sox this season, and the games that I've been able to watch have ended in losses. Hopefully, a 7:10 game against the Diamondbacks later today will end this shaky start to the 2019 season. 

Rick Porcello will be on the mound for their first interleague game of the season against a Dbacks team in full rebuild mode. Objectively speaking, this should be Boston's turning point. 

It's critical that they win 2 or even all 3 games in Arizona before they travel back home to receive their World Series rings next Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

I'll be watching as much of this decisive matchup as I can later today, praying that the Red Sox offense, pitching, and yes, even the defense, is able to step it up and mimic the club's performance from last season. Otherwise, the Red Sox could be in trouble down the road in 2019.

Moving on, I have the 47th page of my frankenset ready to go before I write one last post on 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen tomorrow. Dating back as far as 1968, this page features cards #415-423.

#415 1995 Bowman Barry Larkin

One of the most popular releases of the entire year, 2019 Bowman is being released in less than 2 weeks for all you prospect chasers out there. I can foresee myself buying a blaster of this product, but that's about it. The base set design never does much for me, and I'm not a huge prospect collector.

Back in 1995, Bowman wasn't nearly the product that it is today. Barry Larkin's action image card, especially as far as 90s cards are concerned, is pretty phenomenal.

#416 1973 Topps Paul Schaal

No matter how appealing the images are, I could never see myself seriously collecting the 1973 Topps set. Despite the wide variety of different pictures, the base set design is extremely boring, one of the most uninteresting Topps designs of the decade, along with '74 and '78. 

Even though the set has its fair share of iconic pictures and cards, the minimal design is pretty hard to look past. I'd rather focus my attention on more interesting Topps sets from the 70s like 1970 and '71.

#417 1980 Topps Craig Chamberlain

In his 1980 Topps card, Royals pitcher Craig Chamberlain is wearing a much different uniform than Paul Schaal had 7 years prior. These powder blue uniforms with white writing were made iconic my George Brett, who downed this team's jersey for his entire 21-year career. 

As far as 1980s Topps sets go, 1980 Topps falls somewhere in the middle. The design nothing to sneeze at, but it can't compare to other 80s Flagship sets, specifically '83 and '84.

#418 2007 Topps Heritage World Series Batting Foes

It took me a while to figure out that this 2007 Topps Heritage card is modeled after a combo card from the original 1958 Topps set. In fact, I happen to have the original World Series Batting Foes card in my collection, featuring Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron.

Both combo cards make logical sense, for the players featured truly did face on another in the previous World Series. In '57, the Braves bested the Yankees in 7 games while, in 2006, the Cardinals defeated the Tigers in 5.

#419 1990 Topps Beau Allred

The rainbow borders of the 1990 Topps set pair nicely with these Indians jersey that feature stripes at the very top. As far as junk wax is concerned, the 1990 Topps set and cards like this aren't too bad. The quality of products decreases as you make your way through the 1990s, especially given the mediocre Flagship sets produced towards the end of the 20th century.

#420 1995 Bowman Andrew Lorraine

This looks to me like the same jersey that Mike Trout wore on his iconic 2011 Topps Update rookie card, a prized piece that I hope to own myself one of these days. It's extremely difficult, especially in the present day, for a base card to possess that much value. 

Guys like Harper and Ohtani have had valuable SP rookies, but there's no real modern card quite like Mike Trout's rookie from 2011 Topps Update.

#421 1968 Topps Ron Taylor

Without a doubt, this 1968 Topps card of Ron Taylor is my favorite card of the entire page and not just because it's from one of my favorite sets of all-time. Even though the "burlap" cards receive somewhat mixed reviews from collectors, I'm personally very fond of the 1968 Topps set. 

In fact, I was ecstatic to see this design replicated so beautifully in 2017 Topps Heritage 2 years ago.

#422 1998 Bowman Mike Vavrek International Parallel

I doubt that Bowman is still making these international parallels in their modern day sets, even though they were produced in the Bowman base set a few years back. In the 2010s version, the background featured a flag from the state or country that the player is from unlike the original parallels which featured a map in the background.

#423 2016 Topps Heritage Fence Busters

The final card of the page is yet another Topps Heritage combo card, this time from 2016 when the 1967 Topps set was replicated. San Francisco Giants players Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt's Fence Busters card is likely an homage to the original Giants Fence Busters from 1967, Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.