Box Break: 2009 Bowman Chrome (x4)

Tax season is a great time for those of us who don't make much money (cough Bud cough). The government sent me a decent chunk of change for my year of not making much money and I decided the most American thing to do with my new found wealth would be to buy some baseball cards. After much deliberation I settled on a favorite, 2009 Bowman Chrome. A low price, lots of shine and a few decent autos in the checklist...who could ask for more? Here's what I pulled:

Holliday/J. Johnson/A. Jones/Eichorn/Mauer/Doolittle/D. Bard/Parra/A. McCutchen: The regular refractors fall about six per box (there are plenty not pictured--no offense Scott Olson. Actually offense, I really don't like you) and I was happy to pull two PC players (Josh Johnson and Joe Mauer) as well as a handful of decent "RC" logo cards. The prospect cards are numbered to 500 and fall about one per box. Kevin Eichorn looks like a decent prospect (lots of strikeouts) although Todd Doolittle was born in 1982 so I'm not holding my breath on that particular card.

Dan Hudson RC Refractor #230/500: Besides Starlin Castro (who seems to be a case hit in this product) Dan Hudson is the top prospect in 2009 Bowman Chrome (he utterly dominated the NL after being traded to Arizona) and I was thrilled to pull a refractor of his true rookie card. If he continues pitching like he did at the end of last season this will probably be worth more than all of the autographs from this break.

Hermida/Parnell/Wright/Kulik/Sizemore/Youkilis/Takahashi/Beckett X-Fractors #/250: X-Fractors fall about two per box and I pulled a decent crop of players (the Sizemore is just one serial number away from his jersey number) although I would have liked more prospects in the mix. I love these cards and was awfully disappointed that Topps did away with them in 2010--they add quite a bit of value and fun to each box. Hopefully they'll bring them back soon, although for the initial reports, it doesn't look like they'll show up in 2011.

Jermaine Dye/Hanley Ramirez/Kazuo Matsui/Hunter Pence/Jorge Posada Blue Refractors #/150: Blue refractors fall roughly one per box (although Matsui and Ramirez both came in the same pack) and look just terrific in person. I've said it before and I'll say it again: if I had the time and the money, I would definitely attempt to complete this set. In fact, maybe I'll start now...

Hector Correa Orange Refractor #9/25: I was pretty happy to pull an orange refractor until I realized that Hector Correa (who projects as a solid middle reliever) also had a "1st Bowman Chrome Card" in 2008 Bowman Chrome. That makes very little sense to me. I understand the whole "RC" logo thing, but not back-to-back first year cards. Thanks Topps.

Tim Federowicz/Connor Graham/Brett Anderson/Robbie Grossman Autos: I went into the break hoping for an auto of Freddie Freeman, Carlos Santana, Dayan Viciedo or Tommy Hanson. Unfortunately, I was shut out and left with three scrubs and one solid auto (Brett Anderson). Thankfully, there is much more to these boxes than just the autos (something you can't say about Bowman Draft) including the following card:

Tim Lincecum Gold Refractor #20/50: Wow! I was excited when I opened a pack and saw that I had struck gold and downright ecstatic when I realized I had hit a great card of the terrific Tim Lincecum. This card is a real peach in person and even though Tim isn't a Mariner (although he could have been...ehhhh) I think I will keep this one in the PC for a while.

I love this product and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap, shiny break. Thanks for looking!

Box Break: 2008 UD Masterpieces (Nice Hits)

Another box break Bud?!? I know I've been on a wax busting spree lately (which won't likely end with the imminent release of A & G) but I've also had a good run of luck, and every knows you've got to play the hot hand. Besides, I didn't even buy this box, it was given to me by my thoughtful and beautiful girlfriend for our anniversary. She's very supportive of my habit and will even open packs with me on occasion. She picked out a winner with this box too--here's the goods:

Rod Carew Red Framed Parallel: I was really hoping to pull a red framed parallel of Ken Griffey Jr, but with 120 cards in the set, the odds were against me. So, even though I didn't get the Kid, I was more than happy to pull a card of a Hall of Famer and not say, Luke Hochevar (no offense Royals' fans).

Victor Martinez Navy Framed Parallel #30/125: This is the second time I've pulled a numbered Victor Martinez card from a box of Masterpieces. I guess there are worse players to pull, but he's not exactly on my most wanted list. Anyone collect Victor?

Joe Mauer Captured on Canvas Jersey: That's more like it! I'm always happy to pull a jersey card of one of my favorite players and it's even better when it's from one of my favorite sets. Although you can't see it in the scan this card features a small seam on the right of the swatch (eBay one of one?). This card is staying put in the personal collection for a long time.

Hanley Ramirez Strokes of Genius Autograph: With so many duds in the autograph checklist I didn't go into the box with high expectations, so I was certainly surprised to walk away with an on-card autograph of one of the game's best young players (even if he doesn't hustle). That makes it three-for-three for me with good autos out of Masterpieces (Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Kemp and now Hanley Ramirez) so this probably won't be my last box.

Overall Thoughts: This box finished the regular 1-90 base set and added a few of the SP's to the overall set (I'll post my needs soon). I was happy with my hits and definitely beat the odds with the Hanley auto. A great box and a great girlfriend. Who could ask for more?

Cardboard Oddity: 2006 Topps '52 Hanley Ramirez Chrome RC #1305/1952

A few weeks I was browsing my local Shopko and found some 2006 Topps '52 in the power packs bin. I always liked the design of the cards and figured that for $1.59 I might as well take the plunge. I got six packs total and pulled some decent rookies (Melky Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, etc.) and three chrome parallels numbered to 1952 (Tom Gorzelanny RC, Albert Pujols, and the card shown on the left). At first I simply dismissed the card as some rookie that never panned out because I didn't recognize the image, but on my second go-round I realized that the card was supposed to be a rookie of the Marlins sensational shortstop Hanley Ramirez. The back of the card states the following:

"This spectacular rookie batted and ran opponents into submission in 2006, finishing with a .292 batting average, 46 doubles, 11 triples, 17 home runs and 51 stolen bases. The Marlins leadoff whiz reached base in 36 consecutive games at one point, and was better in September--.352 AVG and .623 slugging percentage--than any other month."

Sure enough, those are the numbers from Hanley Ramirez's rookie season in Florida; so I had pulled a numbered rookie of one of the NL's best players. But then who is the player actually featured on the front of the card? How could Topps make the mistake of putting the wrong picture on a card of such a highly touted player as Ramirez? It's not the first time such a thing has happened to Topps (see: Carlos Beltran's RC), and while Florida isn't the biggest baseball market in America, this player doesn't look even remotely like Ramirez. An otherwise great card is ruined by a lazy mistake, but I suppose it did give me a story to tell.

Does anyone know who the player featured on this card is?