1981 Boston Red Sox

1981 Boston Red Sox   

The 1980 Red Sox finished 5th in the AL East, but had a record over .500.  This fact shows how competitive the AL East was during this time period as only two teams in the East finished with records belwo .500, and one of them was 2 games under at the end of the season.  Boston has the largest roster to date, with 41 different players suiting up (24 position players and 17 pitchers).  Lets see each of the card companies did in featuring cards of the players.  Any players shown with other teams will count in the team % as they are considered checklisted.

Topps

26 Different player cards + 3 "Future Stars"  Reid Nichols, Keith MacWhorter, and Bruce Hurst + Stan Papi (Tigers) + Jack Brohamer (Indians) - Tom Poquette (DNP in 1980) for a total of 31 players.  (76%)

Interesting in that Poquette did not play in 1980 and yet had a card in the set.  Only notable omission is Gary Hancock, a utility player who appeared in 46 games.

Fleer

20 Player cards +manager + Papi + Brohamer + and extra Yaz  (54%)

Better job by Fleer than Detroit, but still quite a few omissions.  Missing are Dave Rader (backup C, 50 games), Andy Allenson, John Tudor, Chuck Rainey, Win Remmerswaal (was the name to large to put on the card?), and Skip Lockwood.   

Donruss

23 players +Papi + extra Yaz.  Counted Butch Hopson, but his team name reads Angels (traded 12/10/80)  (59%)

Donruss did better than Fleer and they included John Tudor.  However they missed Brohamer, Rainey, Bill Campbell, and Hancock. 

Topps benefited by having a larger checklist of players (only company to have Bruce Hurst), Fleer had the only Gary Hancock, and Donruss did not do to bad.  Interesting note as Donruss changed the team name on Butch Hopson to reflect the trade but did not change the team name on any of the other parties involved in the trade (Rick Burleson, Mark Clear, Carney Lansford and Rick Miller)

Player selection grade:  Topps - A; Fleer - B; Donruss - B


Rankings by Team

Topps

Yankees (87%)
Tigers (85%)
Brewers (82%)
Orioles (79%)
Red Sox (76%)

Fleer

Yankees (85%)
Orioles (74%)
Tigers (71%)
Brewers (67%)
Red Sox (54%)

Donruss

Orioles (71%)
Tigers (71%)
Brewers (70%)
Yankees (64%)
Red Sox (59%)