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.  

My Top 50 On Cardboard- #26 Stephen Strasburg

My Top 50 On Cardbaord
#26
Stephen Strasburg

2010 Bowman Platinum Stephen Strasburg RC 

The summer of 2010, in the world of baseball cards, was all about Stephen Strasburg.  The previous summer the Washington Nationals used the first selection to pick the San Diego State hurler and from there the story writes itself.  Collectors are always drawn towards shiny objects, and Strasburg was the shiniest object that had appeared in the hobby in quite some time.  My opined him a sure fire ace before he even began his career during the spring of 2010.

Strasburg was an extremely polished college pitcher and breezed through the Nationals minor league system in quick order posting an 8-3 record in 17 starts with an ERA of 1.90 and 94 strikeouts in 75 innings.  Strasburg made his debut on June 8th of 2010 and was pretty incredible from the get go.

Strasburg pitched 7 innings, struck out 14 batters, and only yielded four hits.  The much anticipated debut of Strasburg and subsequent craze was unlike anything else I have seen in following the sport and baseball card hobby over the last thirty years.


Hobby Impact-
Topps has never had a problem with production quantities, but at certain points during the summer of 2010 I think the unthinkable might have actually happened.  Collectors had been hearing the Strasburg hype for several summers.  His dominance in the minors drove some of his USA Baseball cards up, and as Topps began putting out Strasburg rookie cards their prices skyrocketed too.  After his debut performance they were pretty much ridiculous.

I believe in the talent of Stephen Strasburg and have no doubt that is a really good pitcher and will continue to be a really good pitcher.  There is a point however where, as a collector, you have to seriously question whether or not a pitcher with less than a year's worth of professional experience was really worth several hundred dollars for an autograph.

I asked myself that question sometime during the summer of 2010 and decided to unload some of the Strasburg cards in my collection which featured Strasburg in a USA Baseball uniform.  I kept a lot of his base rookie cards, especially if they were essential for completing a set.  I actually ended up with a Topps Chrome (that was the year they were extremely curved) and sold that card too.  Here's a look at one of my USA Baseball autographs I owned from the 2008 Upper Deck Timelines set.

2008 Upper Deck Timelines Stephen Strasburg Autograph 

The Strasburg USA Baseball cards (I owned two, only have a scan of one) sold for somewhere in the low triple digits, while his Topps Chrome card and all it's natural curviness sold for almost $150.  Pretty good amount of money for a few rookie cards.  Base Strasburg rookie cards were pretty easy to move too and would often even sell for more than $5.  Pretty impressive for a modern rookie card.  Inserts, short prints, and serial numbered cards could get really ridiculous.

That was 3/4 of the summer of 2010.  Then Strasburg was diagnosed with a tear in his elbow, under went Tommy John, and then there was the debacle of 2011.  Not his fault, more below.  The end result for Strasburg's hobby status is this: He is a really popular and pricey player to collect, but his cards have lost some of their value over the last two summers.

The best example might be his Topps Chrome rookie card which was selling for $150, or thereabouts, during the summer of 2010 and can now be found for $70 to $80. Pretty significant price drop, but again still pricey for a guy who has four years of experience and will be looking for his 30th career win on Opening Day next season.

The fact remains though that the Strasburg rookies are some of the better cards of the best decade and have a chance to be pretty iconic if the career of Stephen Strasburg pans out into anything resembling an above average to excellent pitcher.  I still think he has an excellent chance of making it happen.  Strasburg does not turn 25 until the middle of next summer and it would appear that the Nationals are trying their best to surround their cornerstone pitcher with some good young talent.

The base Strasburg rookie cards are all very affordable at the moment.  If you add to sneak a Strasburg autograph into your collection I would recommend:

2010 Topps 206 Stephen Strasburg Autograph 

The card sells for more than some of the other Strasburg autographed rookies, but it's also not a sticker autograph and looks a little bit nicer than both the Topps Chrome and the Bowman Platinum card.  By more expensive I am talking $20.  If you are going to spend $75 on an autograph, what's $95 to $100.  Nothing.  If you want a nice looking Strasburg rookie with a signature on it, this is a winner.

On The Field Impact-
This is usually the part of the post where I throw a bunch of numbers at you and tell you how great the player in my post is and why you should value you them as a card collector.  Strasburg is a challenge.  According to JAWS he is the 1,127 best starting pitching of all-time.  One of his similar pitchers through age 24 on Baseball Reference is Bob Knepper.  There's nothing wrong with Bob Knepper, but would you pay $75 for an autograph of a Bob Knepper rookie card?

No, the real argument for Stephen Strasburg on the field revolves around the fact that he is still only 24 and there are some very good signs that he is going to be a very good pitcher in the Majors.  Whether or not he's a good enough pitcher to support his card following and prices remains to be seen, but here are a couple of Strasburg factoids that I like to bring up in support of him being an excellent pitcher.

While the Nationals limited Strasburg to only 28 starts during the 2012 season, he posted an ERA right around 3 and managed to win 15 games.  If Strasburg had been available for the NLDS, as a Cardinals fan, I have no doubt that they would have won the series.  During the 2012 season Strasburg posted an ERA+ of 126, which would have placed him in the Top 10 for the National League had he qualified for the league leaders.  He posted nearly identical stats for the Nats during the 2013 season, minus the wins, but he also played on a fairly mediocre team.

There are a bunch of other things that I could post about the potential greatness of Strasburg, but we've all been hearing it for years.  When I doubt Strasburg, I sit down and watch a Nats game.  I mute Bob Carpenter though.  I suggest you do the same.

Favorite Card-

One of the things missed in the Nationals stockpiling all of the talent during the past few years is the fact that, as the team formerly known as the Expos, they have always struggled to have an identifiable player.  The Expos had good players, but when you think of Andre Dawson is your first thought of him as an Expo?  Tim Raines has always been a yes for me, but Larry Walker is a Rockie, Pedro is a Red Sox, Dawson was a Cub, etc.  

Strasburg, Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon offer the franchise it's first group of star players which it might actually retain and build around to produce a winner.  It's weird.  If you ever watch a Nationals game on television and they start talking about the team's past it's like having a really odd and uncomfortable conversation.  It could just be Bob Carpenter's fault, but I really think it might be hard to bring up history when you are on the wrong side of it.  

Which brings me to my favorite Strasburg card:

2012 Topps Archives Stephen Strasburg

and you are asking why this card?  First, the 1984 Topps set was one of my favorite sets as a kid.  I really liked the design.  Each team within the set has a unique color combination for the player name and team name.  The Expos combination was the purplish name with a pink team name as displayed on the Strasburg card.  It's a little thing, but I always liked the subtle shout out Topps gave the Expos even if the Nationals are a little too embarrassed to do it themselves.  

30 Year Top 50: 2010 Bowman

#33-Looking to buy a set for future?  This is your post.  The 2010 Bowman set mainly revolves around three big cards of players appearing all in only their third professional seasons.  However, this set appears this high in my countdown because of the flashes of brilliance shown by the key rookie players in this set.  Think about that for a second.  Of the hundreds of sets that have been released over the past thirty years I am trying to pick out the best fifty.  This set, three years old, potentially has three rookie cards that are already more important to the hobby of baseball cards than Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio, Joe Mauer, Josh Hamilton, Matt Kemp, Felix Hernandez, Barry Larkin, Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, Tino Martinez, Robin Ventura, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Mussina, and a few others I am sure I am missing from the previous entries in this series of blog posts.  Let's look at each card.

2010 Bowman Buster Posey

This card is the most underrated of the three rookie cards in this set.  Underrated.  In three seasons in the Majors, Posey has won the Rookie of the Year, Two World Series titles, a batting average crown, and will have an MVP award sometimes later this week.  Pretty impressive resume given he has played just three seasons and one of them was lost to a really bad leg injury sustained in a collision blocking the plate.  Posey isn't going to fool anyone into thinking he's a great defensive player, but a quick glance at his Baseball Reference page shows he has similar numbers at 25 to Mike Piazza, Yogi Berra, Gabby Harnett, and Carlton Fisk.  Underrated.  

2010 Bowman Jason Heyward

Of the big three rookies in this set this is the card I am most unsure on.  I figure that at worse Heyward is a solid and productive Major League outfielder.  However, for those who regularly check out the Braves there are definitely some flashes of brilliance which make Braves fans drool.  The first half of his 2010 rookie season was incredible.  Heyward trialed off in the second half of the season, had a down year in 2011, but responded nicely this past season to post career highs in several offensive categories and won a Gold Glove.  It's also easy to forget that Heyward just turned 23 at the end of last season.  Plenty of time for Heyward to grow as a player.  His cards have trailed off in value over the past year, so picking up one or two nice cards and putting them away for a few years may not be bad notion.  

2010 Bowman Stephen Strasburg

I won't call Strasburg's cards underrated, but you should put a few of these away in your collection soon.  Strasburg has pitched parts of three seasons and looked pretty untouchable along the way.  I can't imagine the Nationals will place many restrictions on him next year and I have little reason to doubt he will not be anything less than stellar.  Card really doesn't need much selling.  Awesome player, awesome card.  Buy one, trade for one.  You need one.  

Of course, there are other rookie cards in the set beyond Posey, Heyward, and Strasburg.  Aroldis Chapman, Madison Bumgarner, Dustin Ackley (GTHC), and Austin Jackson also appear.

Like the 2010 Bowman Set?  Not appearing in my Top 50 is the rest of the 2010 Topps baseball card lineup.  I had to pick one and I went with Bowman.  However, if you were going to ask me to point a year to buy up singles, wax, etc.  I would say you cannot go wrong with the potential contained within the 2010 card releases.  Topps did a great job of putting Posey, Strasburg, and Posey cards throughout their products during the 2010 calendar.  Collectors should also check out rookie cards from Mike Stanton, Starlin Castro, Aroldis Chapman, Madison Bumgarner, and Mike Trout.  Here are a few sets you can find some of these players in:

2010 National Chicle Buster Posey

2010 Topps Chrome Mike Stanton 

2010 Topps 206 Stephen Strasburg 

2010 Topps Update Jason Heyward

 2010 Bowman Prospects & Draft Picks

2010 Topps Pro Debut Mike Trout