Bowman Season

Topps brought Bowman back while I was in late elementary school. I really enjoyed the cards outside of the fact that they did not fit very well into plastic sheets.  I did not buy any special sheets or boxes, and it's pretty easy to flip through my 1989 Bowman cards and figure out the ones I actually opened in 1989, versus the ones I have opened later in life. I love them still the same. 

My best memory of the 1989 Bowman set was pulling my first Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card.

Great card.  Really underrated in my opinion. 

In the 30 years since I opened my first pack of Bowman cards, I have generally enjoyed this product.  There were some blah years during the early 1990s where it felt like a second Topps base set, but I even enjoy looking at those cards from time to time.  For example, the time that Topps squeezed a Jamie Moyer Cardinals card into the 1991 set.

Not the finest moment of his career, and not many cards were made of him wearing a Cardinals uniform.  

When Bowman transitioned to being a prospect heavy set in the mid 1990s, I played along and found all of the cool rookie cards.  I watched the Cardinals, and did not know much about Minor Leaguers at that point, but I learned.  If nothing else, I would find cards of the Cardinals prospects.  I have all my favorite Redbirds from the 1990s and early 2000s who had really good Bowman cards.  

Scott Rolen.  

Chris Carpenter.  

Albert Pujols.  

They made Bowman spin offs like Bowman Chrome.  Yep, got those too.  

Another good 1990s Cardinals player.

Eventually, I even picked up the really popular rookie cards, like Vladimir Guerrero that I did not pull out of packs, or buy at the time the Bowman product for the year was released.  

Bowman Autographs.  Huge fan.  

I have always had a soft spot for the 1997 Bowman Lance Berkman card where he is standing by the old pickup track in front of the AstroDome.  Got to fit this card into the post.

Yes, it took money to buy Bowman cards, but they were a reasonably priced pack of cards.  It was a set you could assemble on a budget.  When players did not pan out for whatever reason?  

Who remembers Matt Anderson?  Nobody spent a small fortune on his cards, at least I do not think they did.  Probably not.  

I loved Bowman, but they feel different now.  How does someone go from thorough enjoyment of a baseball card product to annoyance and negative feelings?  I would like to point a finger squarely at the Steven Strasburg craze in 2010 as the starting point. That entire summer was filled with baseball card people going crazy over packs of Bowman cards, Strasburg autographs, and all the different parallel cards.

Can I buy Bowman cards at Wal-Mart and Target?  Normally, the answer is yes, but not the summer that Strasburg rolled around.  I think I ended up buying a box from someone online, but was highly annoyed that it was more expensive than normal.  At some point that summer, I was booted from a Facebook Baseball Card Group for rejecting a trade that involved me taking a Strasburg autograph and giving up autographs of Stan Musial, Ernie Banks, and Yogi Berra.  

I regret nothing.  

I saw Strasburg pitch at USA Baseball when he was at college, seemed like a pretty incredible talent, so I am not sure I could really fault people for being all in on finding his cards.  There has always been that sort of feel with Bowman since the late 1990s, it just seemed to go to the next level with Strasburg. I was hoping it would be a one year phase.  

It was not.  

The craze over Bowman has continued since, in what feels like a now annual event.  There was the Bryce Harper year, something about Kris Bryant, some other people I am not remembering off the top of my head, Wander Franco, and now we are on some kid from the Yankees who has not even played a game stateside.

I am not even going to touch a pack of Bowman cards this year.  

I may not even touch a loose single Bowman card this year.  

To me, there is simply no enjoyment in this product anymore.  I can basically narrow my dislike of Bowman down to two different factors. 

1. Money 

Money for baseball cards is finite in my world, and Bowman has become pricy.  I am not going to screen shot some baseball card stores site for this post, but they are generally selling jumbo boxes in the neighborhood of $400.  That's quite a price hike from what they normally cost.  There are better ways for me to spend my baseball card budget.  

I could buy 20 of those Project 2020 cards.  I should have bought 20 copies of the Bob Gibson card with the pirate hat.  

I recently went through a whole boat load of sets looking for missing cards, finding them on COMC or Sports Lots, and dragging them into my shopping cart.   I could finish off roughly two dozen partial sets in my card closet by buying 140 some cards off of the two sites.  My cost was less than $100 before shipping.  

That's the plan I am going with for the rest of my CoronaCon vacation.   

2. You Don't Know.  I Don't Either.  

Nobody knows what players from this year's Bowman set are going to be good ten years from now, but there are going to be plenty of people who spend a small fortune trying to guess.  That feels like a big waste of money.  

I frequently question whether people who spend a lot of money on Bowman cards actually pay attention to the number of Minor Leaguers who reach the Majors, what happens to them when they get there, and the chances of that player fulfilling their definition of the word great.  I have my doubts.  

Take the Strasburg draft.  The best player in the draft, Mike Trout, did not get taken until the 25th pick right after Randal Grichuk.  Besides Strasburg and Trout, the players with the best career numbers taken in the first round are A.J. Pollock, Mike Minor, and Mike Leake.  That went downhill quickly.  What did Mike Leake cards sell for in 2010? 

Who wants to go back to 2010, and spend a whole bunch of money buying up the Mike Trout cards?  

Bowman story time.  Gather round on the carpet.  Let me tell you about the time when I pulled the best autograph from a Bowman box, which is now borderline worthless, but one of the other autographs that was worthless at the time is really popular and expensive now.  It shouldn't be.  It's a good story.  

Everyone ready?  

In 2014, I went to some sort of half day training in a part of Raleigh that was near my card shop of choice at the time.  I miss Big D's Card Shop, great store. It was Bowman release day, so rather than taking a lunch break, I went and got a pair of Bowman boxes to open.  Food can wait. I opened my packs of cards, and got to hang out and talk to the store owner.  Best thing was that I got the best autograph possible.  

Look at this thing.

Mark Appel was the first overall pick in 2013.  He was going to be a great player.  In reality, I   probably should have scanned it in the card shop, and sold it that day.  I did not.

I was excited. 

I took it home, put it in a penny sleeve and a top loader.  The thing was going to go to from being a really good Bowman autograph to being a great Bowman autograph.  At least, that's what I told myself at the time.  It is still sitting in a box full of autographs.  Bet I might get $5 for this card on a good day.

Who were my other autographs?

Some Reds outfielder who was hitting sub-.250 in the Pioneer League, which is half season A Ball.  Threw this in a box.  Completely forgot about it for awhile.  Everyone has looked at his Minor League numbers, and knows Aquino is 26 and has not played a full season in the Majors?  (whispers) He didn't hit well away from Cincinnati, (whispering and mumbling) and he hit .196/.236/.382 during the last month of the season.  

I got someone to pay and arm and a leg for the card recently.  Glad these prospect collectors pay attention to numbers.  

I am already staying at home, but whenever and wherever Bowman shows up, I will be somewhere else buying cards that make me happy.  Probably some cards that actually have some reason attached to their value.  Hopefully one day we can return to the sane days of Bowman, because I would be happy to enjoy these cards again.  

Two Years. 56 Starts Later. I'm Happy To Only Have A Card

There are times when you hear the news of your team signing or trading for a player and you just know that it is going to turn out really bad.  As a Cardinals fan I have seen it a few times over the years.  Players like.....

Tino Martinez not being able to hit outside of Yankee Stadium.  Lots of double plays and he always got subbed out at the end of games so that Pujols could play first base. Kerry Robinson, or So Taguchi, would come in and play left field.  I always took it as having Kerry Robinson or Taguchi in the field was worth more than Tino batting.  Let's not forget that he cried a bunch about St. Louis not being New York.  Pretty sure Tony LaRussa was not amused.  Tino was traded to the Devil Rays, Cardinals fans rejoiced.

Wiggy.  First, he went to the light blue Carolina school.  Sure, he ended up transferring.  In many cases I can live with people once they leave Chapel Hill, like Diamond DeShields, but I have a hard time viewing Wiggy as a UNC-Asheville grad.  He signed a two year contract, but only last half a year.  Wiggy managed to play in every tiny, or thin aired stadium, in the years leading up to playing in St. Louis.  Orioles, Rockies, and Phillies. Bandbox, altitude, and bandbox.  Wiggy was eventually released.  Cardinals fans rejoiced.

Actually in the case of Wiggy I was surprised he never showed up in the International League in the role of crafty old guy on a Triple A team.

Which leads to Mike Leake.  During the 2015 Playoffs the Cardinals lost to the Cubs in the first round.  You knew there was going to be some sort of turnover.  David Price?  Nope.  Johnny Cueto?  Never in St. Louis.  I remember the day clearly.  My wife and I had just worked our last day at school before Winter Break.  We loaded up the car with the little man and started driving towards my in-laws house in Northern Michigan.

Little guy was craving some lunch.....

so we stopped at the Wendy's in Princeton, West Virginia.  The backseat was less crowded in those days.  I looked at my phone at the restaurant and I saw the Mike Leake signing all over Twitter and Facebook.  There were a lot of "he's an innings eater, we need Mike Leake" sorts of conversations taking place.  I was hoping that this was going to be one of those deals where it never quite gets finalized and the player just leverages the Cardinals to get paid somewhere else.  Happens all the time, don't laugh non-Cardinals readers.  

The Cardinals actually signed him.  So disappointed to see this.....

With all bad vibes signings/trades I always have to ask myself how far I want to go on finding cards of that player.  There have been other times in where I have had a bad vibe about players and they have turned out to be fine.  Troy Glaus comes to mind.  I was pretty sure he was going to break at some point, but he did have one good season before it happened.

He's got some pretty sweet baseball cards, but I waited to actually watch him play before taking that dive.  This was my favorite.  It's like a signed trash bag or something.....

which is what I imagined the fences at Anaheim Stadium would have been made out of prior to it being renovated.  The remodel happened after Fleer made this card.

So how deep did I go on Mike Leake?  This deep.....

that's it.  The only reason I got this card was because it was really cheap on COMC and I figured I had to get one autograph since he was on the Cardinals.  Luckily after 56 starts all of us Cardinals fans are free of Mike Leake and his incredibly hittable pitches.  I don't even care if they only got back an A Ball player who is hitting .220.  As a Cardinals fan it was hard to be at work and see the Mike Leake trade flash across my phone during my break.  I contemplated having a five minute celebration in the middle of my class, but my students this year are all college basketball people.  Surprise.  I rejoiced internally at the thought of Mike Leake not starting anymore games for the Cardinals.

Not So Sure About This One....

Coming into this summer there was so much to like about Cardinals prospect Harrison Bader.  The former Florida Gator star was drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft.  During his first summer of Minor League Baseball Bader hit .311/.368/.523 with 11 home runs, 13 doubles, and 17 steals in just 61 games.  

He was on my list of players to find this summer.  He had cards in some Panini products last year which featured him in a college uni, but nothing in a Major League licensed product.  Honestly, I think the U of F cards looked cool, but there were a little bit more expensive than what I was willing to pay, or part with in trade.  

Then Bowman Chrome came out this summer and Harrison Bader appeared.  I was initially pretty excited, but the cards seemed to linger in and around $25 and Bader had on OPS below .700 in 50 Triple games this summer.  I was still interested in his cards, just not at that price.  

Last week I finally found a Harrison Bader card in a trade and was happy with what I gave up for the card......

I am still not sure about Bader given what happened last year in the high minors, but I should also mention that I picked up another Cardinals player's autograph in the trade.  I wasn't really looking forward to having to pay money for this guy's card......

but apparently he is on the Cardinals roster for the next few years.  Since it was practically a throw-in, I am going to go ahead and be alright with this card being in my collection.  Hopefully both players do a little better in 2017 and we can revisit this post and laugh....

Friday Five: Five Cardinals Players I'd Rather Not Have In My Collection

We are winding down on the 2016 baseball season and I have been waiting for a certain Cardinals player to turn around their season.  Do something positive for the team.  I reached a tipping point of sorts today, so I came up with my first Friday Five post in awhile.  These are always fun to write, and tonight, this one is going to help me blow off a little steam about my Cardinals.

Every baseball fan has a player, or players that they wish their team had never ever touched.  The Cardinals are no exception.  While they have been good of late, there have been a few less than stellar signings over the years.  One of them took place this year.  Luckily Jason Heyward and his .630 OPS is not on the team, or there would have been two of them from this year's squad on my list of five.

Without further delay: Five Cardinals Players I'd Rather Not Have In My Collection

5. Bob Horner - 1988

Horner was a fixture for the Braves infield for much of the late 70s and early 1980s.  After finishing the 1986 season in Atlanta he opted to play a season in Japan with Yakult where he hit .327/.423/.683 with 31 home runs and 73 RBIs in just 93 games.  The Cardinals had lost Jack Clark at the end of the 1987 season to the Yankees, so Horner seemed like a good option to fill his spot at first and give Whitey Herzog his token big bat in the middle of the line up.  Horner lasted just 60 games with the Cardinals and hit a whopping 3 home runs in almost 250 plate appearances.  The 1988 Cardinals ended up trading for a few power hitters in season to compensate picking up Tom Brunansky from the Twins and Pedro Guerrero from the Dodgers.

4. Adam Kennedy Part II

Kennedy was originally a Cardinals prospect and number one draft pick.  The team called him up at the end of the 1999 season and then packaged him up with Kent Bottenfield in a trade with the Angels for Jim Edmonds.  Kennedy was sort of an average player for the Angels for the seven years he was on the team, but he also famously went Reggie Jackson in Game 5 of the 2002 ALCS...



For some reason nobody has yet to figure out, the Cardinals brought him back to the team in 2007 where he clashed with Tony LaRussa, played horribly, and ended up getting run out of town.  In fact, he ended up on the Durham Bulls.  Just an all around bad signing by the team who had the opportunity to retain Ronnie Belliard from the 2006 team.  While Belliard was not exactly an All-Star caliber player, he spent the next three seasons post numbers at, or above, the league average from second baseman and got paid less money than Kennedy.  Painful.

3.  Wiggy (Ty Wigginton) 2013

Wiggy got paid $5 million dollars over two years to be a bat off the bench for the Cardinals.  The problem is that Wiggy only made it 57 at bats into the two year deal.  In those 57 at bats he posted a slash line of .158/.238/.193 for an OPS of .431 and OPS+ of 21.  That's better than Bartolo Colon batting, but just slightly better.  On July 9th, 2013 the Cardinals kicked Wiggy to the curb and Cardinals fans rejoiced.

2. Mike Leake 2016

I had really thought about making Mike Leake first on my list this week since he is the inspiration for this post.  When the Cardinals announced his signing I was at a Wendy's in Princeton, West Virginia stopping to eat lunch on road trip to Michigan.  I remember tweeting out, hoping that something would hit a snag, and Mike Leake would not get a five year 80 million dollar contract from the Cardinals.  Welp, didn't happen.  Mike has an ERA of 4.54 and an ERA+ of 90.  I guess Mike has four more years to do something, but I wouldn't mind if he got lost in the bullpen or left in an airport on a road trip.  A lot of luggage gets lost in Denver, the Cardinals were just there, but apparently Mike made the plane to Chicago.  Sigh.

1. Tino Martinez 2002-2003

The Cardinals had Mark McGwire in 2001 for his last season and it was dreadful, so the team signed Tino Martinez to replace him.  Tino was a winner and there was some sort of personal connection to Tony LaRussa, seemed like a good fit until Tino couldn't hit home runs anymore.  In 2001 Tino hit 34 with the Yankees, 2002 he hit 21, and in 2003 he hit 15.  In the two years Tino played for the Cardinals Albert Pujols played left field, but frequently ended up at first base when LaRussa would keep Albert's bat in the lineup moving him to first, and playing a defensive outfielder as a sub for Tino.

I guess being double switch for Kerry Robinson and So Taguchi was not cool in Tino's book who told a New York sports reporter that St. Louis wasn't as good of a baseball town as St. Louis.  Not going to argue the point, but it's never a good idea to put down the city in which you are employed as a professional athlete.

I will give Tino some plus points, and the possibility of moving to second on this list if Mike Leake stinks all five years of his contract, for his fight with Miguel Batista in 2003.  Batista hit Martinez with a pitch during an at-bat early in the game.  Tino had a few words, went to first, and then was forced out at second later in the inning.  Rather than running back to the dugout, Tino decided it was time to charge the mound.  No video, but there is a picture of the fight.....