Box Break: 2009 Bowman DPP (x2)

Bowman is an extremely feast or famine product, and unfortunately, I was left quite hungry after these two boxes. It's possible that some of these lesser prospects will turn into starts later on, but I wouldn't exactly bet the house on it. Here are the goods:

Brett Wallach RC X-Fractor #1/199: An eBay one-of-one! I love x-fractors and was a little puzzled that Topps left them out of Bowman in 2010, although it does look like the will be inserted in Topps Chrome. Wallach went 6-4 on the year with a 4.25 ERA and 116 K's in 114 innings between the Dodgers and Cubs Single-A affiliates.

Tobias Streich RC Blue Refractor #99/99: Another eBay one-of-one! The blue refractors in this product are sharp, although strangely enough the hue of blue changed between Bowman Chrome and Bowman Draft. Streich was a 5th round pick but certainly didn't look like one in 2010, hitting just .150 in over 200 AB's. Not holding my breath on this one.

Jeff Manship Gold Refractor RC #12/50: It's always nice to pull something golf, even if it isn't of a top prospect. Manship (great last name) spent the second half of the season in Minnesota, posting a 2-1 record with a 5.28 ERA in 29 innings. Any Twinkies fans out there?

Tony Sanchez RC Auto: Sanchez is a big part of the Pirates youth movement and was having a great season in the minors (.314-4 HR's-35 RBI's) before breaking his jaw. Not one of the best autos in the set, but certainly not the worst.

A.J. Pollock RC Refractor Auto #/500: A.J. "the Beast" Pollock was a first round pick out of Notre Dame who missed all of 2010 with an arm injury but is still considered a solid prospect for the D-Backs. The refractor autos from this set are great looking in person, and the Mojo Hand was able to pry it away from me for an Austin Collie RC Auto. Love Pollock's signature.

Brad Boxberger RC Blue Refractor Auto #/150: The "hit" of my two boxes, Brad Boxberger was not the Reds pitching prospect I was hoping to pull from this box (looking for Mike Leake). Boxberger looks like he might be converted to a relief pitcher after struggling between Single and Double-A in 2010 (110 K's in 91 innings, but a 4.91 ERA and 1.46 WHIP). He's still just 22, so there is still plenty of time for him to develop as a pitcher.

Overall Thoughts: I had a great first box of this product (Jared Mitchell Gold Refractor Auto) but my luck came to a screeching halt with these two boxes. It's a fun break, but would be better with more than just the few refractors in each box. I'm planning to just stick to singles from now on. Thanks for looking and let me know if you are interested in anything.

eBay Grab Bag: Mariners and More

2007 Bowman Draft Michael Saunders Future Game Jersey: When Ken Griffey Jr. retired, Michael Saunders became my favorite Mariner. He's shown signs of improvement at the plate this season and I hope that he can grab the left field role full-time next season. It's always nice to see a home-grown guy succeed.

2009 SP Authentic Michael Saunders Silver RC #33/59: See above.

2008 UD Heroes Felix Hernandez Jersey #56/125: A jersey card of King Felix for $3 with shipping? Sign me up! He's got a shot at the Cy Young this year, but baseball voters are idiots so they'll probably choose A.J. Burnett.

2009 Bowman Draft Luca Panerati Red Refractor #2/5: Though I normally can't stand WBC cards, I got this red refractor for only 5 bucks, so I figured why the heck not? Panerati is a native of Italy currently in the Cincinnati Reds system. He's only 20-years-old so you just never know what might happen. For five bucks, I was willing to gamble.

2007 Just Stars Michael Saunders Auto #/100: It's Sunday and I'm trying to watch football. I've got nothing interesting to add. Sorry.

2009 UD Signature Stars Michael Saunders RC Auto: Though it's a sticker auto, you can barely tell as it fits nicely into the design of the card. I haven't seen too many of these on eBay, and with Upper Deck's demise in baseball, it's crazy too assume that this card is relatively short printed. Now if Saunders would only start hitting...

Box Break: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks (Dos Autos)

This is the second box that I bought from Atlanta Sports Cards with the money I made from the Jason Heyward Aflac Auto (I promise that's the last time I mention it for a while--although, I did sell for $500 so I feel I am allowed to gloat a little). After the stirring success I had with a box of 2008 Bowman Draft, I felt it was only fair that I gave the '09 variety a chance to shine. Well, my good luck continued with a great box, including two rookie autos and a bevy of refractors and numbered parallels. Here are the best cards from my box of 2009 Bowman Draft Picks:

Mike Minor Refractor Auto #494/500: Mike "Spike" Minor is one of the best strikeout pitchers in the minor leagues, with 101 punch outs in just 80 innings. Another in a long string of talented Atlanta pitching prospects, Minor was the #7 overall pick out of Vanderbilt last year after a storied college career. I would have been plenty happy if this was the only auto I pulled from the box, but...

Jared Mitchell Gold Refractor Auto #33/50: I was hoping to pull a colored refractor out of this box and was thrilled when I opened a pack and saw the golden edge shining on one of the cards. I was ecstatic when I realized that the gold refractor was also an autograph of White Sox top prospect Jared Mitchell. A two-sport star at LSU, Chicago envisions Mitchell as their leadoff man of the future. I'm not quite patient enough to wait for that to happen, so I went ahead and sold this card for twice what I paid for the box. Yeah, I'm on a bit of a roll. Let's hope it continues on to 2010 A & G.

Overall Thoughts: With a strong rookie class (Mike Minor, Mike Trout, Mike Leake, Bobby Borchering, Drew Stanton, etc.) and a chance at multiple autos per box, 2009 Bowman Draft Picks is a great box to break for aspiring prospectors. The boxes have risen in price from around $55 to $75, so if you can find a box at the low end of that spectrum I would encourage you to go for it. Of course, I might be a little biased...

Pack Attack: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks (Retail Hit)

Although I've had pretty good luck with 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects of the hobby variety it's retail counterpart has provided me nothing but heartache. I had sworn off the product altogether after pulling nothing of substance, but on a recent trip to Target I discovered just enough cash in my wallet for one pack, and went back to the well one last time hoping for a miracle. The box had about half of the packs remaining so I figured if there was anything inside at one time, it was long gone. I opened the pack in my car (not while driving) with zero expectations, so I was quite pleased when I saw this (in addition to a Mat Latos refractor):

Buster Posey Prospect Auto: The Giants' young catcher is tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A and this card is actually more valuable than most of the chrome rookie autos in the set. Although I don't buy cards to make money, it's nice to come out ahead once and a while. This baby is up on eBay as we speak to keep my habit alive.

Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects Packs a Punch

I made a trip to the other side of Washington on a long weekend to catch a couple of Mariners games (they're awful) and spend time with some friends from college. Since there are zero card shops within three hours of me I went a little crazy when I found one in Olympia. I got four packs of Topps Unique (which yielded bupkus), four packs of SP Authentic (same story) and last but certainly not least, 12 packs of 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects. Here's what those packs yielded:

Eric Arnett Rookie Auto: Well, I guess I should be excited about an autograph, even if the player and signature both leave something to be desired. Arnett was a first round pick, so I suppose he must bring something to the table. I'll hold onto this one and see if he breaks out in the next few seasons because it fetches about $3 on eBay right now. I figured that this was the only hit of the box, but thankfully I was wrong, because in the last of the 12 packs I pulled...

Tony Sanchez X-Fractor Rookie Auto #114/225: Shazow!! A beautiful on-card rookie autograph of the #4 overall pick in last years draft, Tony Sanchez. He's one of the better prospects in the set and is tearing the cover off the ball at high class A so far in 2010. The x-fractoring looks great in person and I was very happy with this pull as it saved me from a complete disaster at the card shop.

Instead of stopping while I was ahead (and by that I mean not totally behind) I stopped by a gas station on the way home that carries hobby packs. I got one pack of SP Authentic (nothing--and I'm done buying these forever) and two dusty packs of 2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects. The first pack had nothing noteworthy and at that point I was cursing myself for spending money I didn't have on rookies who would never sniff the big leagues. I opened the last pack, fully expecting more disappointment, but was greated by a friendly face. I saw the shine of the refractor and was happy to at least pull something worth a buck or two. Here it is:

Gordon Beckham Refractor Auto Rookie #393/500: Great googely moogely! My jaw literally dropped when I pulled this gorgeous card out of the last pack of the trip. As far as I know, Beckham was the best possible card to pull from this set, and the fact that it's the refractor version is just icing on the cake. I wished I had pulled this last summer, but once Gordon starts hitting again this will be one of the centerpieces of my collection. A great way to end the trip and make me forget about the Mariners struggles.


Thanks for looking! None are for trade at the current time. Have a great Thursday!

Box Break: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects (Blaster)

So much for avoiding blasters in 2010. In my defense, I was feeling under the weather and there is no better panacea than a box of baseball cards. I'm not usually much of a prospector, but 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects seems to be providing pretty good value (the only real caveat being the overdone WBC cards) with two purple refractors in each box and a decent shot at an autograph. I opened the box and let each of my twin brothers take turns picking a pack for me to open. One of the brothers picked all four packs that had an insert, the other brother picked none (needless to say, I won't be to taking him to Vegas with me). It was a decent box, but the real fun was sharing it with my brothers. Here's what I got:

Drew Sutton Purple Refractor: The purple refractors are exclusive to retail packs and look great in person. They are a nice addition at 1 in 4 packs to a product that until this year had terrible odds for pulling anything other than base cards from packs.

Ryan Perry Blue Base Card #31/399: A sharp looking parallel to the base cards, these fall 1 in every 45 packs and feature a nice blue border (cerulean? sky blue? I think we need to consult resident crayon expert Night Owl). It helps that Perry is a known commodity.

Miguel Cabrera WBC Purple Refractor: At least this WBC card is of a good player. Earth to Topps, no one wants these cards. No one! Cabrera should drop about 50 pounds this offseason if he sticks to the strict guidelines of the Lendale White "no tequila" diet.

Bud Norris X-Fractor #180/199: I think I'll hold onto this card because Mr. Norris and I both share a fairly uncommon (at least since the 1950's) first name. He's a pretty good prospect for the Astros and I beat the odds on this card at 1 in 92 packs.

Seiichi Uchikawa Blue Refractor #84/99: Nevermind that this card was more difficult to pull from a pack (1:180) than a chrome auto, I was thrilled to add another Seiichi Uchikawa card to my collection. Who wouldn't want that completely non-creepy smile staring back at them from a binder of cards? D'oh!

Overall Impressions: Despite the overabundance of WBC cards and no autograph, this blaster was still fun to open and featured plenty of color to make things exciting. Other notable chrome cards included Aroldis Chapman, Derek Jeter WBC, Phillipe Aumont and a Chris Tillman RC. There's one blaster left at Target that I am planning to split with my lucky brother (while having the unlucky brother divide the packs between us for a no-holds barred "pack wars"). I'll make to update you on any big pulls. Have a great weekend!