2013 Bowman Platinum

The theme of this pack of cards is "What's the Point?" I picked it up inside a $7.99 Fairfield repack box on Friday after work. The reason I was at Target was to pick up a birthday present for my daughter to give to a kid whose party was today. However, my daughter put herself in a horrible mood right before the party and didn't want to go. Long story short, we walked into the party, dropped off the gift, turned around, and headed home. To reiterate, "What's the Point?"


Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:

BPP77 Matt Davidson

TP-JB Javier Baez
What's the point of inserts in a set like this?

40 Stephen Strasburg
Really, what's the point of this?

BPP19 Byron Buxton
My Twins fan brother-in-law has actually traveled to see Buxton play in the minors. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Buxton will eventually play a huge part in knocking the Twins out of the playoffs as a member of the New York Yankees at some point in the future. Again, what's the point?

2014 Bowman Draft

I picked up a few packs of these Bowman Draft cards on the miraculous trip I made to my local card shop the weekend before last.

Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:
DP111 Troy Stokes

DP20 Cole Tucker

DP130 Jared Walker

CTP-82 Mac Williamson

CTP-29 Gabriel Guerrero Blue Refractor (232/399)

DP39 Jacob Gatewood

TP-19 Jose Berrios


Two Brewers (who will undoubtedly someday help the St. Louis Fucking Cardinals reach the World Series) and a blue refractor? I'll take it!

2008 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects

I think this is the last of my old cheapie packs.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
BDP12 Chris Carter
BDP27 Evan Longoria

BDPP92 Jake Arrieta
BDPP82 Wellington Castillo
BDPP83 Mat Camel Chrome

BDP16 Nick Evans Chrome Refractor

BDP21 Micah Hoffpauir Gold


That was a pack with a little bit of everything, ain'a? A Gamel I didn't have yet, a refractor, and a superstar. I still like the '07 iteration of this product a little more, but this wasn't too shabby.

2008 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects

Last night we got into "Turn that shit off" mode rather early. I flipped off the game, slipped in a disc of Sopranos season 6.2, and declared loudly, "At least I don't have to put up with this shit for another eight months." Baseball season has now officially begun, even though the misery that counts doesn't begin for almost three months. An old pack awaits.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
BDP24 Elliot Johnson

BDP14 Chris Davis
BDPP105 Wilkin Ramirez

BDPP106 Ryan Mattheus
BDP21 Micah Hoffpauir Chrome
BDPP85 Jason Donald Chrome

BDPP56 Anthony Capra Gold

Meh.

2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

These cards are the latest in my discounted Target finds.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
BDP43 Clayton Richard

BDP15 Blake DeWitt

BDPP89 Elvis Andrus

BDPP102 Clayton Richard (Ummmm... how can he be in both? The answer: Clayton Richard Hot Pack. Odds - 1:20,000)

BDPP66 Carlos Carrasco Chrome

BDPP75 Dexter Fowler Chrome

BDP40 Michael Hollimon Gold

Like that annoying girl we all knew in high school, this pack is crying out for you to give it a grade.
My assessment: C-
It was a fairly average pack with a few guys who are starting big leaguers by now, but the Clayton Richard onslaught knocks it down a peg or two for all but the most die-hard of White Sox fans.

2009 Bowman Chrome

I guess I just refuse to let this blog die. (Should the words "with dignity" end that last sentence?)

First of all, let me state that this pack of cards has been sitting, opened, on my shelf, for probably at least six months, if not more. At the present, these cards are now curled up like a bag of Fritos Scoops. You know, the big ones that enable America's plumpening in the ass and mid-section regions. And the thighs of you womenfolk.

Secondly, I can state with authority that I remember some of the circumstances surrounding my purchase of this pack of cards. Only when I looked at my receipt did I realize that I had bought a JUMBO pack, not the regular pack. I cry foul on this one. Since when does a JUMBO pack contain five cards? Mother fuck. I'm still having flashbacks, and soon the state is going to have to pick up the tab for some serious PTSD medication.

What I need right now is someone roughly the height, build, and hairiness of Robin Williams to firmly embrace me while repeatedly assuring me, "It's not your fault. It's not your fault." Then I'm going to turn on the shower and sit there for an hour while the blood slowly leaks out of my violated asshole, which is now the size of a pickle jar. Then a cab driver will ridicule me about the "back door delivery" I wasn't expecting. (If you can identify both film references in this paragraph, flaunt your prowess in the comments. Now.)

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
122 Alexi Casilla

13 Cliff Lee

BCW48 Some WBC guy from Japan (God, this stupid WBC crap showed up in too many products last year. It created a climate in which I refused to buy a single pack of 2009 Topps Chrome, and I loved 2008 Topps Chrome. When there are four cards in a pack, it is inexcusable to get a WBC card. I am on alert for 2013 already, where the field may be expanded to 24 teams. Expect 50 percent more of this crap should that occur.)

BCP185 Jack McGeary

123 Scott Kazmir

Kick me in the nuts, swiftly.

2009 Bowman Retail

I guess I was just trying to be different when I picked up this pack. Everyone is either still talking about O-Pee-Chee (which I refuse to buy) or Allen & Ginter (which I would practically rob your mother for if given the opportunity), and somewhere in between fell a set like this. Anyway, there was no good reason for me shelling out $2.99 for this pack, but I did it anyway. Enjoy.

69 - Daisuke Matsuzaka (He's been pretty terrible this year, which is kind of surprising. I think he ended up on the DL.)

190 - Kosuke Fukudome

58 - James Shields (The enormous space for the autographs really ruins what is almost a pretty solid card design.)

BP45 - Wilson Ramos - Prospect

BW4 - Michel Enriquez - WBC (Apparently he was a member of Team Cuba)

173 - A.J. Pierzynski Gold (The requisite one-per-pack gold parallel.)

BCW7 - Gift Ngoepe WBC Chrome (There are two promised Chrome cards per pack, and both of mine in this pack happened to be WBC players that I've never heard of. I chose to single out this guy because his first name is Gift.)

BCW18 - Tao Bu WBC Chrome (Yeah, I know. I first read his name outloud as Tae Bo. You did it, too. Don't pretend like you didn't.)

108 - Jermaine Dye

212 - Fernando Perez (RC)

Bowman packs have always intrigued me, for some reason. I like the variety of cards you can get, but I think the sort of unfocused nature of this set (I got 5 base cards out of a 10 card pack, for example) makes it a difficult sell to the average person. I might buy another pack or two down the road. I could certainly think of worse things to spend cash on.

2007 Bowman Chrome

Just think about this before you read on. Someone out there could very well have paid $2.99 for this pack. A dollar per card automatically prices me out of any pack you could throw in front of me, unless there was some sort of guarantee that it would be chock full of shiny Cardinals that I lacked. Since that's not happening, how did I end up with this pack? It was on the front of a repack box, of course. I can honestly never keep any of the Bowman designs straight because I just barely have any of the stuff, so I couldn't really picture this set in my mind when I bought the box. I just went for it. So you could easily make fun of me for spending $11 or however much it was for a repack box comprised mostly of junk, but at least I didn't pay $1 a card, right?

Right?

211 - Jerry Owens (RC) (Owens is a light-hitting outfielder who had a grand total of 16 ABs with the White Sox last season after playing in 93 games his rookie year.)

BC124 - Brandon Hynick Prospects (Hynick is a right-handed starting pitcher who was the #8 prospect in the Rockies system according to Baseball America in 2008. He pitched in AA last year.)

65 - Manny Ramirez (And then there's this guy.)

Well, at least they're shiny.

2008 Bowman Chrome...Sigh

Alright, I'll post a pack of baseball cards. I think I'm up to the madding challenge. This one has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of weeks, though. My wife had her friend stay with us for a weekend, and I was goaded into buying some cards on a trip to Target. Whenever you're coerced into buying cards, the decision-making process becomes compromised, and bad things happen. I give you...Bowman Chrome.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
145 Joba Chamberlain (Coverboy.)

95 Austin Kearns (Got paid $5,000,000 in 2008 to bat .217.)

BCP168 Zach Britton (Got as high as regular-A with the Delmarva Shorebirds last year.)

Here are five things I could have more wisely spent my money on at Target:
5. Three things from the Dollar Spot, the crapstravaganza located just inside the door of most Targets. Lord knows I need a new Spiderman activity book.
4. A package of Easter candy. Easter is a very underrated season for candy. Putting aside the disgusting Peeps, there are a lot of good candies out there that Easter-fy their offerings, many of them involving peanut butter.
3. A St. Patrick's Day greeting card. These were purchased before the 17th, so those things were available a-plenty. SPD might soon overtake Christmas in the card sending arena.
2. Some sort of frozen treat.
1. A bottle of store-brand dishwashing liquid. Not very fun, but at least it can clean your dishes. Apparently, part of the "Joba Rules" called for no washing dishes. Lucky fuck.