Last year, I was really surprised to see the pitching match-up for a Cardinals and Pirates game featuring James Marvel. I saw that name, honestly I had to go look it up and make sure it was the same person I knew from a few years back.
Way back in the day, James Marvel went to Duke. He did not pitch many games while he was in Durham, and was always overshadowed by Michael Matuella. Matuella was a potential first overall draft pick until arm injuries derailed his career.
Marvel?
He's just one of those college players I never thought I would see play in the Majors. I guess he might have been better than I remembered....
but still surprised that he made it to the Majors.
It was even more surprising to see James Marvel pop up in the Topps Chrome set this year on the autograph checklist. After making the Majors, Marvel only appeared in three games. I can't find any packs or boxes of Chrome in stores, but there are plenty of these autographs floating around on Ebay.
Here is the card....
That's a great photo on the front of the card.
The back of the card mentions that Marvel attended Duke.
Happy to add this one to the collection. A few more Topps Chrome cards later in the week.
Not familiar with Marvel... but nice to see that he's a Bay Area guy.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there is a Duke coach from the Bay Area, or what their connection is, but they seem to get a lot of players from that area. They have also played games out there against Cal and Stanford, which is a long way to travel for a non-conference game in a non-revenue sport.
DeleteLeft you a comment on Twitter, but I had there Mother's Day /50 listed on eBay and ended up selling it to James' father.
ReplyDeleteI saw it. That's awesome that his father is collecting his cards.
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