Random Pack Break: 1992 Bowman Baseball Redux

Not long ago I busted a pack of 1992 Bowman Baseball. It should have been two but a slight mix-up from the online dealer I ordered from missed one. No biggie. They sent it along with a small bonus on my next order. So let's see what the pack brings us, shall we:

574 Steve Finley

33 Edgar Martinez - It's rare that the game's all-time great DH is shown holding a glove. I adore the history of the game, but if there's one reason to support the designated hitter, it's Edgar.

1992 Bowman Baseball 33 Edgar Martinez

255 Ramon Martinez - Back in the day, he was one of the most exciting pitchers to watch. Within a couple of years, though, his brother Pedro would steal his thunder.

1992 Bowman Baseball 255 Ramon Martinez

 82 Pedro Martinez - A kid you not, back-to-back brothers. If it weren't for 1991 Upper Deck Final Edition, this card would be a lot more exciting than it is today. Unless you're first name is Mickey, second-year cards don't have the prestige as a rookie. That said, there was a time when this was a $20 card.

1992 Bowman Baseball 82 Pedro Martinez

92 Jerry DiPoto

200 Jeff Bagwell - Another excellent second-year card. So do Pedro and Bags get the Hall call in a few years? Let the debate ensue.

1992 Bowman Baseball 200 Jeff Bagwell

 682 Michael Tucker (Foil)

324 Dave Righetti

532 Manny Ramirez - Anyone heard of this guy, because I just got his rookie card. His glare makes him look a little intimidating though. But, he is standing in front of either a church or some preppy school that was built following a massive brick backlog to look like a church. Prognosis: I think this guy'll do okay.

1992 Bowman Baseball 532 Manny Ramirez

 523 Roberto Munoz

630 Lou Whitake

96 Donovan "Quit Calling Me Super Dave" Osbourne

518 John Doherty

44 Kim Batiste and a pair of brown Franklin batting gloves that didn't stay in fashion very long, even on the one team where it matched the uniforms.

1992 Bowman Baseball 44 Kim Batiste

 704 Checklist

Ah, when the rookie card was simple to understand and make sense of. You either scored like a Manny or you thought what could have been with a decent second-year pull like Bagwell and Pedro. This is what made Bowman relevant in the hobby again. No gimmicks, no short prints, just every rookie they could get. And some retrospectively ugly fashions.

Random Pack Breaks: 1992 Bowman Baseball Jumbo

I still recall going into a card shop in early 1993 and seeing two boxes sitting on the counter, both offering $1 packs: 1992 Bowman Baseball and 1992 Triple Play Baseball. Still feeling that 1991 Bowman Baseball was bad (I'm actually a big fan of the checklist now), I went for the fire-red borders of the kid-friendly Donruss product. A couple months later 1992 Bowman would catch the hobby fire and go-on to be a late-blooming classic of the excess-era.

Fast-forward 17 years and I finally get to bust my pack of 1992 Bowman Baseball. It was a little more than the dollar back then, but on-par with most modern sets. And it was a jumbo pack as well. Let's look for some early-90s fashions.

350. Mike Bordick
282. Greg Perschke
536. Billy Spiers
358. Jason Bere (I'm wondering if the picture on the back is Bere as his alternate dimension zombie self.)

 23. Paul Quantrill, eh!

677. Gregg Olson
451. Johnny "HR" Ruffin "Stuff"

 488. Dave Henderson
221. Alan Newman
267. Paul O'Neill
187. Bruce Hurst
666. Bob Walk (Is he throwing the ball or a fist?)

 

649. Pete Castellano "Foil"
623. Ryan Klesko "Foil"

550. Danny Tartabull
285. Keith Miller
352. David Wells
108. Henry Rodriguez
480. Doc Gooden
681. Willie Randolph blowing a bubble

160. Deion Sanders
239. Victor Cole
469. Steve Sax

No Mike Piazza, no Manny Ramirez, no Chipper Jones' jean shorts, no Cliff "Air Jordan" Floyd, but still a fun pack to bust. The Quantrill will go into my Canadians box and the rest will be set aside while I ponder building a set. I already have a number of the pricier cards somewhere so a starter set would likely be a cheap way to get a long way through at a fraction of the cost.

1992 Bowman Baseball benefits from a clean design that is dominated by white. The combination of an extensive rookie card checklist and the unique team-specific stats grid made Bowman a unique brand back in the early 90s. It was simply structured and a fun set I looked forward to building for a while. Then it became a brand that was gimmicked all to hell. Topps had a good opportunity to rebrand it with their Minor League license but rather it appears to be the same old stuff with USA Baseball replacing the World Baseball Classic cards from last year.

So here's to nostalgia, a modern classic set and a fun albeit uneventful pack break.

Random Pack Breaks: 2009 Bowman Jumbo

I'm a sucker for the jumbo pack. It's probably because I'm more into building sets than anything else so they offer me a lot of bang at a somewhat reasonable price. When I was in the city last weekend I had very little interest in 2009 Bowman Baseball, but without any Topps Series Two available in my neck of the woods and an opportunity to buy some new packs as opposed to Walmart repack leftovers, I jumped. Here's a jumbo pack with my random thoughts.

174. Collin Balester, Nationals
114. Aaron Rowand, Giants
46. Brian Roberts, Orioles
17. Ted Lilly, Cubs
130. Josh Johnson, Marlins

Five cards in and I'm not overly enthused. Generic pictures, pretty tame players. Let's continue.

213. David Price (sort-of) RC, Rays

I got a Price out of my only purchase of Bowman last year, except that one was had Chrome, Refractor and autograph goodness going for it. Still, I'll take it.

57. Johan Santana, Mets
102. Chris Iannetta, Rockies

Orange 29. Russell Martin, Dodgers (065/250)

It's always nice to get a card of someone you collect. Inserts make it a little sweeter.

The second half of the top-half veterans were nice. Now onto the guys I've never heard of, 90% of whom I'll never hear of beyond this pack. I've put their draft year and round in brackets, not that that's really any indication of the prospect status, although it helps.

BP79. Will Atwood, Nationals (12th round, 2008)
BP47. Jon Mark Owings, Braves (17th round, 2004)
BP45. Wilson Ramos, Twins (Free Agent, 2004)
BP75. Brett Oberholtzer, Braves (8th round, 2008)
BP63. David Genao, Rays (18th round, 2008)
BP40. Cristian Beltre, Diamondbacks (Free Agent, 2006)
BP88. Jose Barajas, Orioles (26th round, 2008)

The guys who were actually drafted average out around the 16th round. I'm not holding my breath that any Mike Piazza-types will emerge from the Prospects portion of the pack.

And now for a little juicing of the World Baseball Classic:

BW7. Gift Ngoepe, South Africa (Pirates) (Free Agent, 2008)
The WBC subsets are starting to grow on me, but only when I get a Canadian.

Gold BP58. Wilin Rosario, Rockies (Free Agent, 2006)
I saw the purpose of the gold parallels when they were decoy cards. Please retire them or switch back to International Foil.

The time has come for some Chrome.

BCP76. Pat McAnaney, Diamondbacks (8th round, 2008)
BCP42. Marc Rzepczynski, Blue Jays (5th round, 2007)
BCP25. Jeremy Hamilton, Phillies (5th round, 2008)
BCW9. Nicholas Weglarz, Canada (Indians) (3rd round, 2005) - another Canadian!
BCP80. Tommy Johnson, Mariners (27th round, 2008)
BCP3. Greg Veloz, Mets (Free Agent, 2006)

Other than the illustrious 27th rounder, the average round of the Chrome Prospects is definitely a little better. Time to finish with a few more vets.

151. Howie Kendrick, Diamondbacks
4. Chase Utley, Phillies
163. Aramis Ramirez, Cubs
88. Zack Greinke, Royals
179. Nick Markakis, Orioles
111. Nelson Cruz, Rangers
124. Nick Swisher and his ball balancing on the end of the bat trick, Yankees
131. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs

Overall, I think the design of 2009 Bowman Baseball is solid but not spectacular. It reminds me of a mix between 2008 and 1997. The black borders are clean and I definitely like that the design of the veterans and prospects are the same rather than the black and white designs from last year. Let's face it, although the numbering may differ, a true set of 2009 Bowman Baseball includes both the base set veterans and the prospects.

Getting two Canadians in the pack was a definite bonus. Interestingly, in getting Greinke, Lilly and Price, half of my starting rotation for my baseball pool were there to represent.

In-Depth Looksie: 2009 Bowman Chrome or The Set Where the Set Didn't Matter

The Bowman brand has long been about the rookie card. But ever since the MLB Players Association changed the rules for rookie cards, the brand has been in limbo. As a result sales have struggled and the idea of what's a rookie and what's not has been blurred to a point where I know I'm confused.

The long-standing rule was that the first card of a player in a mainstream licensed set was the rookie. So when Ken Griffey Jr. cards came out in the 1989 sets, all his 1989 base cards were rookies. Or something like that. But insert cards couldn't be rookie cards. It sounds a little odd but within a couple weeks of joining the hobby, most anyone could figure it out. The insert "rule" didn't matter much 20 years ago because there weren't many inserts aside from Donruss puzzle pieces and some various rack and jumbo pack exclusives.

The MLB Players Association tried to make discerning a rookie card easier by introducing a rule with its licenses that basically said a player couldn't have a base card until they played a Major League game. I might be off a little, but that's the basic idea. Rookie cards would then be signified by a simple logo. While the idea is sound, in principle, Topps works a little differently because they've been around so long and they sign players to individual contracts.

So what's happened is Topps has continued to insert prospect cards in their Bowman sets as inserts by technicality and numbering but in Major League uniforms on cards that look a lot like the regular base cards. So are the Bowman Prospect cards rookies or not? Therein lies the confusion and one of the major reasons the brand doesn't carry a lot of weight anymore.

But that's not stopping Topps from showcasing the young bucks more prominently than anything else in 2009 Bowman Chrome Baseball. Based on the sell sheet the base set comes across as more of an annoyance than anything else. On the four-page promo flyer, the base set isn't mentioned until page three. Go to the checklist on the back page and you won't find the base set until all the inserts are listed. Gee, I wonder what the focus is here?

It's not that I blame Topps. Bowman has long been about the rookie card. That's what sells the product, even if it isn't as mighty as it once was. But when they stick it to the MLBPA's rules in such a blatant way, it undermines the reasoning in the first place and ultimately hurts the hobby as a whole. The marketplace is already confusing enough. This drives collectors away or causes many to leave prematurely. Upper Deck isn't immune either. They've got pimply high school kids wearing their National duds in pretty much all of their current products (which will likely rise to all now that Strasburg fever has hit).

So if it's prospects and sort-of rookies that you want, here's what's in store for 2009 Bowman Chrome (here's a hint: it looks a lot like 2008 Bowman Chrome from what I can gather).

Base set:
220 cards (190 veterans, 30 rule-abiding rookies)

Base cards are inserted at a rate of two per pack. So five boxes will be the minimum it's going to take to get the set you might be lucky to sell for $25. But wait a sec', Topps doesn't want anyone to care about this part.

Autographed Prospects:
22 cards

Numbered BCP91 through BCP112, none of the prospects featured on the autographs appeared in 2009 Bowman. These mark the first cards they've appeared on in the Major League uniforms. Each autograph card will be hard-signed, so no sticker autographs here. Autographs will fall at a rate of one per box.

Here's the list of autograph signers:

BCP91. Rinku Singh, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP92. Dinesh Kumar Patel, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP93, Randall Delgado, Atlanta Braves
BCP94. Pat Venditte, New York Yankees
BCP95. Zack Putnam, Cleveland Indians
BCP96. Robbie Grossman, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP97. Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves
BCP98. Gift Negope, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP99. Dylan Lindsay, Kansas City Royals
BCP100. Chris Marrero, Washington Nationals
BCP101. Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
BCP102. Chris Johnson, Houston Astros
BCP103. Jefry Marte, New York Mets
BCP104. Ernie Banks, Florida Marlins
BCP105. Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics
BCP106. Juancarlos Sulbaran, Cincinnati Reds
BCP107. Ryan Perry, Detroit Tigers
BCP108. Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
BCP109. Brad Emaus, Toronto Blue Jays
BCP110. Dayan Viciedo, Chicago White Sox
BCP111. Tim Federowicz, Boston Red Sox
BCP112. Allen Craig, St. Louis Cardinals

Prospects:
70 cards (#BCP128 - BCP197)

Like the autographed prospects, none of the regular prospect cards appeared in 2009 Bowman Baseball. Prospect cards will be inserted at a rate of two per pack combined with World Baseball Classic cards.

World Baseball Classic:
40 cards (#BCW21 - BCW60)

You didn't think Topps was done with the World Baseball Classic did you? Of course they're not. There's still some players to be mined that will continue to play international ball for a few more years. Chances are one or two of these players might make the jump to the Majors. Consider these for country collectors primarily. I know I'll be tracking down the Canadians at some point.

There's no repeats in the WBC cards from 2009 Bowman (so that means Topps appears to be showing some restraint on the Yu Darvish train). As noted above, WBC and regular prospect cards will fall at a rate of two per pack.

Parallels

Like all Bowman Chrome sets, you'll have the chance to chase a rainbow with the multiple tiers of refractors. All cards in the set (base, prospect, autographed prospect and World Baseball Classic) will come with the following levels of refractors:

Refractor.
X-Fractor: Numbered to 250.
Blue: Numbered to 150.
Gold: Numbered to 50.
Orange: Numbered to 25.
Red: Numbered to 5.
Super-Fractor:  1/1 (Hobby Exclusive)

I do have to say, I like the design of the cards. The lines are very clean, offering a nice balance between border and image. The on-card autographs are also a huge plus.

But still, there's this major annoyance that extends to both Topps and the MLBPA - the damn rookie card rules. Make it matter. While I'm not a big fan of the idea of an exclusive license for 2010, if it ends up at Topps I hope that part of the terms include Topps laying off the prospects for the duration of the contract and a "catch-up period" so that there's eventually no dispute over what a player's true rookie card is.

Random Pack Breaks: 2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

I've got a little to say about this set, but first two packs worth of cards:

Pack One:

 

  

  

 

Pack Two:

 

  

  

 

 How the mighty have fallen. There was a time not too long ago when Bowman Draft Picks was ripped by the case. It offered rookies galore in both basic and shiny chrome finishes as well as rookie autographs. It was a prospectors dream. But when the new rookie rules came along to simplify things, products like this have made it more confusing.

So while half the cards in my 2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects may not carry the ugly rookie card logo, they sure do look like rookies to me: MLB licensing, team logos, Major League  uniforms. They're just numbered a little different and they're missing the Players Association logo. I haven't cracked a Beckett in about five years so I have no idea if they list these as rookies, but when I go to eBay and see them listed as rookies, I don't necessarily disagree. And even if they're not, they certainly seem a step above the minor league issues from Tristar, Razor and Donruss.

Even without the confusion over what is and isn't a rookie card, this set is a bungled mess. Or rather all the sets within the set. When Bowman Draft Picks first launched you had your Bowman cards, Bowman Chrome and the appropriate parallels like Gold and Refractors. It was pretty easy to keep track of. Now you've got all those plus the Prospects, their Chrome counterparts and their parallels.

In my two packs I saw they following sets:

• Bowman
• Bowman Chrome
• Bowman Prospects
• Bowman Chrome Prospects

Yes, by "Beckett definition" the prospects cards are an insert set. But I'm sure most of us can agree that they're the selling point for the Bowman brand now. They're not "rookies" by technicality and corporate jargon. So two me, there's four different sets to build from a seven-card pack. And at least one of those cards appears to be set aside for a parallel. I'm fine with two sets in a single product. But this is a little much. I'm confused and don't know who 90 percent of these guys are and I doubt many of the 'prospects' - who seem to share rounds five through eight in common - will pan out to be much.

I'll be tucking these aside for a rainy day a few years from now to see if any of these guys turned into stars but otherwise my pack buying for Bowman Draft is done. Hopefully Topps will see that the demand is no longer there also (I'm guessing this from the stagnant wax prices on everything Bowman baseball related when compared to the stuff from five years ago prior to the new rookie card rules where prices for Bowman Draft wax has appreciated more than most products.

Although Topps may have an advantage with their ability to make "prospect cards" because of their grandfather clause, but they'd be doing the hobby a favor by sticking to the idea that nobody gets a card - prospect or otherwise - until they play a Major League game. There's only one competitor left and the livelihood of Topps is no longer dependant on Bowman. The hobby would benefit from collectors agreeing on what rookies are and we'd probably end up spending more because we'd be chasing rookie while they were establishing themselves rather than going back and tracking down the cards three to five years after they were issued. It works in hockey so why can't it work here?

Redemptions Suck: 2008 Bowman Sterling Edition

Redemption cards rank near the top of things I hate in the hobby. I'm generally an upbeat, optimistic, could-always-be-worse kind of guy, but I still loathe these ugly, text-heavy pieces of cardboard. My disdain runs so deep I think "Redemptions Suck" could pop-up as a recurring antagonist in this wacky old blog-com known as Trader Crack's.

In case you didn't know already, the soon-to-be released 2008 Bowman Sterling Baseball is going to include redemptions for Patch Cards from the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Yes, the same international baseball tournament that happens in March. Yes, March is still a season away - the off-season, that is.

While I'm sure these patch cards could look pretty cool, why put them out now when there's absolutely no excitement for the tournament. It hasn't happened yet, so I have no connection to any of the events that such a card will celebrate. Heck, Team Canada has one player and a manager on their roster thus far.

The World Baseball Classic presents one of the few opportunities for unique jersey in a hobby where game-used cards featuring single-colour and pinstriped swatches are everywhere. I like oddball jerseys such as these and All-Star jersey as you can somewhat connect them to a specific event. By skipping the plain jerseys and going straight for the patches, Topps' timing to drum up interest in their WBC exclusive rights couldn't be worse. There can't be much that's going to be better but they're coming at a time when recognition is low.

So now those who get these redemptions will have to sit on them for more than three months, waiting in limbo to see who they received. By the time the postman delivers them, it's bound to be a matter of, "Oh, yeah. I forgot all about this," or "About friggin' time Topps."

Why not go for basic jersey redemptions or add to the insert set from 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights? I can't see how these redemption cards are going to lead to more sales of product. Not right now, at least. So why waste a unique opportunity three months early?

Random Pack Break: 2008 Bowman Baseball

I used to buy boxes of Bowman baseball to build the set. I fell in love with the rookie card in 1997 and went out of my way to go after the base sets. This wasn't easy living in hockey-crazy Canada but I forked over my bucks and bought a box or two of each series. I even remember Topps offering a guarantee that if you paid five dollars to register your set, they'd buy them back some years later for a guaranteed $125. I didn't bother, although in retrospect it might've been a good idea.

Eventually I moved on from Bowman - partially due to rising costs, partially due to boring designs and partially because I could find other rookies elsewhere. This is my first pack of Bowman Baseball since the new rookie card rules have come into affect so I know they won't get the coveted "RC" notation in Beckett but I still look at them somewhat as rookies or sort of rookies (wasn't the new logo supposed to make it all easier) seeing as how you've got the player in a MLB uniform.

So what's Bowman like in 2008? Let's take a random sampling.

20. Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks
I still have a hard time thinking of this guy as one of the game's best starters.

105. Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies
The same with Holliday, only at the plate instead of the mound.

129. Yunel Escobar, Atlanta Braves

31. Javier Vazquez, Chicago White Sox
One of the last remaining great Expos to be packaged off.

183. Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
Probably the feel-good story of baseball. I just think the picture is kind of interesting.

BP46. Javier Castillo, Chicago White Sox
"Hey, Mom, I just got my first baseball card."
Javier's mom's head shrinks in shame as she realizes her son's shot at fame has forever been tainted by the dreaded smirk and Fonz-esque thumbs up.

BP82. Daniel Cortes, Kansas City Royals
BCP41. Eli Tintor, Minnesota Twins
Eli batted a combined .235 in 2007 in the minors. I wouldn't expect to see him on another baseball card anytime soon.


Autographed Refractor BCP111. David Price, Tampa Bay Rays (388/500)
This pack sucks! I thought I was buying a pack of Bowman, not Bowman Chrome. What's with this rainbow-stuff with autographs right on the card crap? Just kidding. Should I decide not to trade this baby off, I might try my hand at cardboard prospecting and see how this super-hyped pitcher pans out.


Gold 100. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
How often is an ARod card anticlimactic? Not very.


Let's just say I was happy with my pack. I can't say I'm going to rush out and buy a box. I just have to accept the fact that luck was with me this day. If I went with a box, it probably wouldn't come close to the goodness of this single pack (and it would set me back a whole lot more).