Cards I Love Part 12 - 2003 Bowman Chrome Delmon Young

Thanksgiving weekend of 2005, I packed up my Toyota Camry, and moved myself to Durham, North Carolina.  I was in my late 20s, was in need of a change of scenery, and had a chance to take on a new teaching job in a new place.  The move also gave me a new baseball team to watch.

The first few months living in North Carolina were filled with basketball season, which is serious business in these parts.  It was rather eventful too, but luckily I was just a neutral observer at this point. 

Baseball season started in April, and my first Durham Bulls game ended in a walk-off grand slam by shortstop prospect B.J. Upton.  It was an incredible game, and I was immediately a fan of the Rays Triple A team. 

The Bulls were loaded with talent, and the games were fun to watch. B.J. Upton, Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes, Darnell McDonald, Sean Burroughs, Ben Zobrist, Jason Hammel, Edwin Jackson, J.P. Howell, and James Shields all played for the Bulls the first year I followed the team.  There were at least another dozen players who appeared in the Majors beyond my list of names above.  Kevin Witt, the team's first baseman, added to the season by winning the International League MVP with 36 home runs and 99 RBIs in just 128 games. 

Somehow that much talent ended the season 14 games under .500.  The Bulls were one of the worst teams in the league.  Beyond all the talent, the Bulls were filled with all sorts of characters and disfunction.  B.J. Upton got a DUI hanging out in Chapel Hill, Elijah Dukes was Elijah Dukes, and Delmon Young threw a bat at an umpire after striking out and arguing the call. 

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As a baseball card collector, I was determined to collect a few of these players.  They were not really that bad, right?  Surely, they would figure it out at some point.  I decided that I was going to collect Delmon Young cards.  He was the top rated prospect in all of baseball, and he looked the part while watching him.  Delmon was not going to let me down, so I picked up a copy of his 2003 Bowman Chrome autograph.  

It was my first great Durham Bulls card in my collection.  I loved this card, and was determined to make it work out.  Delmon Young was going to be a great player.  He was called up to the Majors at the end of the 2006 season, and made his Major League debut against the White Sox.  

Freddy Garcia promptly drilled him in the ribs during his first at-bat, but that was fine since Delmon took him yard later in the game.  Delmon Young was going to be a great player, it was going to work out.  

Delmon spent a decade in the Majors shuffling from team to team.  He said a lot of stupid stuff, burned a lot of bridges, and he hit like he was a Hall of Famer during the playoffs.  Delmon won the 2012 ALCS MVP Award, and had several other playoffs series with video game like numbers.  He was clutch.  

That was Delmon's career.  Every October he hit, but between April and September a lot of other stuff happened that was cringe worthy.  

I do love my 2003 Bowman Chrome Delmon Young autograph, but I think of the card as the beginning of my Durham Bulls card collection, rather than a card I own because of the player pictured on the front.  After all, even after he retired Delmon is still doing a lot of interesting stuff.

I should also point out that while the Bulls teams I have watched since the first year have not always had the same caliber, nor quantity of talent as that first team I watched, the nine division titles, four International League titles, and two Triple A Championships have more than made up for the disfunction.  Good thing I got this Delmon Young card, and started my Bulls collection.