Lost Sox Drawer

Lost Sox Drawer

Sunday, October 18, 2015

2010 Topps Heritage Anthony Rizzo


We're going to take a break from our '75 World Series retrospecticus, as the real '75 Series endured an off-day and three straight rainouts. 

Oh, this card breaks my heart. I see this creation and visions of Bart Giamatti's "The Green Fields of the Mind" sling through my head. I see this and I feel like a high schooler dumped at his prom. 

One of the reasons for the Red Sox' post-2007 decline is their lack of long-term thinking. WE-MUST-WIN-NOW!!! This despite three World Series titles, which you think would buy some patience from the Nation. 

And promising young players such as David Murphy, Jose Igleseas, Hanley Ramirez and Justin Masterson are thoughtlessly dumped for the latest shiny object. (Of course, Ramirez and Masterson returned to the Sox after they ceased to be of any use anywhere else.) 

To that list we can add Mr. Rizzo, who was shipped to the Padres as part of the Adrian Gonzalez debacle in 2011 after a decent-but-promising .263/.334/.481 slash at Portland. What's mind-blowing, of course, is that the Padres dumped Rizzo to the Cubs after one year despite a .331/.404/.652 slash in Triple-A. Well, the Padres haven't done much the last few years, either. (Andrew Cashner, who went to the Padres for Rizzo, was 6-16, 4.34 for San Diego this year. Oops.) 

Yeah, I know the Sox have won three World Series titles and I have no right to complain. But it's like looking at the career stats of Ted Williams or Junior Griffey. They're great, but you also wonder what might have been. Think about that when you see Han-Ram butchering the baseball at first base next year at Fenway while Rizzo challenges for a Triple Crown at Wrigley.

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