Monster Card of the Week - Field the Game

I wasn't planning on doing another "just plain cool" card of the week for a little while, but this card just came in the mail and I felt compelled to share. In 2001 Fleer issued a set commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Red Sox organization. As a Red Sox fan, it is one of the best sets out there. I'm sure Yankee fans feel otherwise, but then I don't care for Upper Deck's Yankee Stadium Legacy set, so I'd say we're even. One of the harder to get inserts from the Red Sox 100th set is called Field the Game. The cards feature game used pieces of Fenway Park. I don't know how rare they are - they're not serial numbered and there always seem to be a few available on Ebay. But they always seem to sell for fairly high prices which is why I have had such a hard time acquiring one until now (I'm pretty thrifty when it comes to Ebay). I seem to recall seeing somewhere that they were an exchange card so that may play into the rarity factor.


The particular card I now proudly own features a piece of a game used base. There are other variations that include pieces of the on-deck circle as well as the Green Monster itself. I have only seen a few copies of the Monster variation and all of them that I have tracked have sold for more than I usually like to spend on one card. The card design itself has a classic, nostalgic feeling with a photo of Fenway Park being the main focus. I could do with a little less of the scrollwork and borders within borders though. The piece of the base is interesting. It has a stippled texture to it that I have never seen on a base before. Now lets have a look at the back.

At first glance, the back has the standard "Congratulations" text that is customary on all game used cards. But hold on a minute...

The text on the back specifies exactly when this game used artifact was used! Not only that, but they tell me who the opponent was too. Now that's something you don't see on many game used cards these days. Well done Fleer. Knowing exactly when this relic was used certainly adds another layer of charm to the card. I will definitely have to keep an eye out for the Green Monster variation (for obvious reasons).

Here's the box score from when this particular base saw actual Major League action:

Tuesday, April 24, 2001
Boston 9, Minnesota 4

MINNESOTA            ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Hocking ss            5  0  0  0   0  1   2  .161
Rivas 2b              4  1  1  1   0  1   0  .209
Lawton rf             3  2  2  1   1  0   0  .250
Koskie 3b             4  1  1  0   0  1   1  .348
Ortiz dh              4  0  1  1   0  1   1  .379
Hunter cf             4  0  1  1   0  1   0  .235
Mientkiewicz 1b       3  0  1  0   1  1   1  .362
Jones lf              4  0  1  0   0  0   2  .242
Pierzynski c          4  0  0  0   0  2   3  .293

Totals               35  4  8  4   2  8  10

BATTING: 2B - Mientkiewicz (5, Crawford). HR - Rivas (2, 1st
inning off Crawford 0 on, 1 out); Lawton (2, 7th inning off
Wakefield 0 on, 2 out). RBI - Rivas (7), Ortiz (16), Hunter (3),
Lawton (6). 2-out RBI - Lawton. Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - Jones 1, Hocking 1, Pierzynski 1.  Team LOB - 6.

BASERUNNING: SB - Hunter (1, 2nd base off Wakefield/Hatteberg). 

BOSTON               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Stynes 2b             5  3  3  0   0  0   0  .357
Offerman 1b           4  1  2  0   1  0   1  .318
Everett cf            4  1  2  5   1  1   2  .316
Ramirez dh            5  0  3  1   0  0   1  .429
Bichette lf           3  1  1  1   1  1   4  .263
Nixon pr-rf           1  0  0  0   0  1   2  .211
Hatteberg c           4  0  0  0   0  0   5  .182
Hillenbrand 3b        4  0  0  0   0  1   3  .321
Lansing ss            3  1  1  0   0  0   0  .235
Grebeck ss            1  1  1  0   0  0   0  .069
Lewis rf-lf           4  1  1  1   0  1   1  .212

Totals               38  9 14  8   3  5  19

BATTING: 2B - Offerman (6, Romero); Grebeck (1, Miller); Lewis
(2, Miller). HR - Everett (3, 2nd inning off Redman 3 on, 2 out);
Bichette (1, 5th inning off Romero 0 on, 2 out). RBI - Everett 5 (14),
Bichette (2), Lewis (4), Ramirez (22). 2-out RBI - Everett 4,
Bichette, Ramirez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
Hatteberg 2, Hillenbrand 2, Nixon 1.  Team LOB - 8.

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   Minnesota      - 300 000 100  --  4
   Boston         - 140 010 12X  --  9

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MINNESOTA          ip      h  r er bb so hr    era
Redman (L, 1-2)     1 2/3  7  5  5  1  2  1   5.75
Romero              4 2/3  4  2  2  1  2  1   8.56
Guardado              2/3  0  0  0  0  0  0   9.53
Miller              1      3  2  2  1  1  0   9.82

BOSTON             ip      h  r er bb so hr    era
Crawford (W, 2-0)   5      6  3  3  2  3  1   2.55
Wakefield (S, 2)    4      2  1  1  0  5  1   1.80

WP - Redman 2. IBB - Bichette (by Romero).  Pitches-strikes:
Crawford 94-60; Wakefield 51-35; Redman 49-31; Romero 57-38;
Guardado 5-3; Miller 19-12.  Ground balls-fly balls: Crawford 7-5;
Wakefield 3-4; Redman 2-1; Romero 9-3; Guardado 0-2; Miller 2-0.
Batters faced: Crawford 23; Wakefield 14; Redman 13; Romero 19;
Guardado 2; Miller 7. 

UMPIRES: HP--Dana Demuth. 1B--Charlie Reliford. 2B--Kerwin Danley.
3B--Greg Gibson. T--2:49. Att--32,557. Weather: 75 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 10 mph, left to right.