#149 Xander Bogaerts - Boston Red Sox

Player: Xander Bogaerts (Baseball Reference) (Wikipedia)

Card Number: 149 (Trading Card Database)

Team: Boston Red Sox

Division: American League East

Position: SS

Jersey Number: 2
RC/Future Stars/Topps Rookie Cup: No

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 25: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the Boston Red Sox bats during a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Fenway Park on June 25, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Game Date: June 25, 2017

Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Stadium: Fenway Park
Home/Away: Home
Game Outcome: Angels 4, Red Sox 2
Win/Loss: Win
Player Game Line: 0-4, 2K
Photographer: Adam Glanzman (Website) (Twitter) (Instagram)
New Team/Photoshopped?: No

Birthdate: October 1, 1992

Birthplace: Oranjestad, Aruba

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

MLB Service Years: 5

Social Media Handles: (Instagram)

Something I learned because of this card: Bogaerts is not only a World Champion as part of the 2013 World Series winning Boston Red Sox. Two years prior, he was part of the Netherlands team that won the 2011 Baseball World Cup, which I learned, is different from the current World Baseball Classic.

This is Bogaert's fifth consecutive year as part of the Opening Day set beginning in 2014. He also had photo variations in 2014 and 2016.

Bogaerts was not a part of Series 1, but did make the cut for the Factory Team set, although with a different photo.

Before Opening Day #BOD-MB Mookie Betts - Boston Red Sox

We're on to the weekend insert portion of the blog! As I mentioned in the Welcome post, I'm going to do some inserts on Fridays and Saturday throughout the year. I didn't really think about some of the card data that I'm collecting changing for some of the insert sets, so I took yesterday to look through them and see if there was a uniform way to track across all inserts.

Actually, each set is different enough that I will end of up collecting data for each set separately. Some things will correlate (team & source photo information for example) while others will not (demographics and opponent information doesn't really apply to Before Opening Day, Mascots or Teams Traditions and Celebrations). With less to track, I'll throw in a little more commentary where I see fit.

Before Opening Day is probably my favorite insert set this year. There are some unique candid photos with players in Spring Training uniforms or workout clothes you don't really see.

Player: Mookie Betts (Baseball Reference) (Wikipedia)

Card Number: BOD-MB (Trading Card Database)

Team: Boston Red Sox

Division: American League East

Position: OF

Jersey Number: 50
RC/Future Stars/Topps Rookie Cup: No

FT. MYERS, FL - MARCH 8: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox plays ping pong in the clubhouse before a team workout on March 8, 2017 at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida . (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Photo Date: March 8, 2017

Photographer: Billie Weiss (Twitter) (Instagram) (Personal Website)
New Team/Photoshopped?: Sweatshirt logo is photshopped out.

League: Grapefruit League

The backs are nice and clean. The Grapefruit League teams in Florida have trees on the back (and front) with blue at the top, while the Cactus League teams in Arizona get a cactus and are red. Nice little touch of detail there.

Tomorrow's post will feature my first statistical post. Once that one is up, I'll randomize off the base set(s) among whoever has followed the blog to that point. I am giving away one full base set for every five followers. We are already at two but let's do some more! Also, remember to go back to the Welcome post and claim a team for a Master team set giveaway if you haven't.