When you think of Bowman sets from the early 2000s, what comes to mind? Black borders were a must. Tons of hype for a bunch of prospects that may or may not (ding, ding, ding) have made a significant impact in the Major Leagues. This post is about the 2002 Bowman set, but it could really be about all the Bowman sets between 2002 and 2006.
There is a theme for this post. Let's try this meme.
Base Set
The set has a black border because it is a Bowman set from the early 2000s. You were expecting something different. Tisk, tisk. I usually use the first card in the set, but it appears that I am missing my Adam Dunn card. I have this set marked complete, so I did a little investigating to see where the card went.
The story of where the card was is more interesting than the second card in the set. I scanned this one when I started writing the post, just in case Adam Dunn was gone.
The veteran cards in the set all have a red border to distinguish them from the prospect cards which have a blue border. The pictures on the card are mundane. The Roger Clemens card has him batting, otherwise, they are not interesting.
The backs of the Bowman cards have changed little over the years. These write-ups aren't exactly 1988 Score and the descriptions of the players are generous. I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I read that "fluid shortstop" part.
Remember that time Jeter dove into the stands at Yankee Stadium and smashed some old women and his face into one of the seats?
There is nothing fluid about this catch.
Derek Jeter getting an overly generous biography from a baseball card writer.
A Lengthy Side Story About The Adam Dunn Card
Over the pandemic, my 10-year-old spent a lot of time reading about baseball. As a two-teacher household, it was hard to work with him while we were teaching our classes online. My wife and I frequently told him to find a book to read for a short time when he got stuck. He also dabbled in baseball videos on YouTube.
He is one of those people who can read a book and can recite every fact back to you that he read. While he generally sticks to topics like stadiums, Hall of Famers, Cardinals, and Durham Bulls players, we went through a phase last summer when he got really into reading and watching videos about players with odd careers.
If you have never read anything about Adam Dunn, he's a weird player. There is a Dorktown video about the weirdness of his career. This is the preview screen for the video on YouTube.
I could see where the video has appeal to the average 10-year-old.
Anyway, he also killed time during the pandemic by looking through my old scorecards, ticket stubs, and baseball cards. He'd ask me frequently about taking cards from my collection, most of which I was indifferent about.
Apparently, the 2002 Bowman Adam Dunn card was one of them.
"You can scan my card" is the line I got when I asked him about the card. I tried trading back for the card, but he is currently demanding a Ji-Man Choi autograph. That's a little steep for an Adam Dunn base card.
Luckily, I am on vacation, so writing an extra side story in this post doesn't really matter.
The World's Most Smudged Autographs
In the early days of this blog, I actually worked on finishing off a set of 2002 Bowman autographs. I had pulled several out of packs back in the day, decided it would be an easy project. There are very few cards on the checklist, no real big names.
It would have been really easy, but 90% of the 2002 Bowman autographed cards are smudged.
One-time Durham Bull and drug test failer, Wilson Betemit with smudges.
Art Howe's favorite first baseman who would not take a walk, Carlos Pena.
My favorite card in the set belongs to former Cardinal outfielder Ryan Ludick.
I spent some time, that I am never getting back, trying to find these autographs in good condition. There are several of these cards that I have multiple copies of due to trying to upgrade. No matter how hard you look, they are all smudged.
Big mistake.
Topps having quality control issues......
Best Non-Cardinal/Non-Durham Bull Card
I like looking through old Bowman sets to see the prospects that did not make it almost as much as those who became something in the Majors. This Ronald Acuna card makes me feel old. He was a career Minor Leaguer with the Mets who got a baseball card in the 2002 Bowman set. Little bit different player than his son, Ronald Acuna Jr.
Ronald Sr. had a career-high of 8 home runs playing for the Mets two A-Ball teams in the Florida State League and South Atlantic League. While he lacked power, Ronald stole 20 bases almost every season he played in the Minors and had several years where he crossed 30. Ronald Sr. also has a card in the 2002 Bowman's Best set.
I cannot find anything about what happened to Ronald Sr. after he stopped playing baseball outside of a ton of photos of him at Braves games (New Balance sweatshirt).
Best Cardinal Card
This was such an easy pick for me. The second I picked out this box from the stack, I knew the Cardinals card that I was going to pick for this post.
So Taguchi was the first Japanese player signed by the Cardinals. He was initially somewhat of a disappointment and ended up spending parts of his first seasons in the U.S. playing with the Cardinals Triple-A team. In the end, he was a fourth outfielder for the Cardinals, but he was one of those lovable bench players.
The back of his card was actually fairly accurate. He was a spray hitter and superb defensive player. The Cardinals ended up pairing him up with outfielders like Chris Duncan and Reggie Sanders, who could hit but had limitations on defense. Frequently Duncan or Sanders would start the game, Taguchi would come in late as a defensive sub.
While he was really known for his defense, I think his best moment in the Majors was his go-ahead home run off of Billy Wagner in Game 2 of the 2006 National League Championship Series. The Cardinals lost the first game of the NLCS and were tied with the Mets late in Game 2. I am sure that if the Mets win the game, go up 2-0, the series turns out differently.
This is the home run.
Taguchi ended up on the Phillies after his contract ran out with the Cardinals and he managed to pick up a second World Series ring with the team in 2008.
Best Durham Bulls Card
I chose a former Durham Bulls player pictured as a Blue Jays prospect. Rich Thompson was a decade away from playing with the Bulls when this card was produced. However, if you followed Triple-A baseball a while back, it was pretty hard not to know the name Rich Thompson. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2000 out of James Madison University and was in Triple-A by the next season. Such a quick riser would surely make it to the Majors, right?
Here is his well-earned 2002 Bowman card that was likely made due to his rapid climb through the Minors. Topps also put him in their base set as a prospect and in T-206.
He disappeared from major baseball card products after 2002, but he continued to play in Triple-A.
Right up on the back of the card seems fair.
So, here is what happened to Rich Thompson:
+He played a total of 13 years in the Minors, he appeared for a Triple-A team in 12 of those seasons.
+He played for the Triple-A teams of the Blue Jays, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Rays.
+He twice made the Majors. Once in 2004 with the Royals where he played in 6 games, but only got 1 at-bat. He did not have a hit. The Rays called him up in 2012 where he had 2 hits in 22 at-bats. His career batting average is under .100 and he has more stolen bases (7) than hits (2). Rich Thompson still made it, that counts for something.
+His final two seasons in professional baseball were spent with the Durham Bulls. He was excellent on the 2012 team, hence the call-up to the Rays. Thompson had a rough year in 2013 and retired after breaking his foot while fielding a ball.
Some years Rich Thompson was on your team, some years Rich Thompson was not on your team. He was a scrappy player who was easy to support. Further, while the Minor League records can be a little sketchy at times, I would have to think that his 300 career steals at the Triple-A level would have to be pretty far up the list. Overall, he has almost 500 steals in the Minors. Again, that has to be far up the all-time leader's list.
Thompson is still loved around the Minors almost a decade after he retired. The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Phillies Triple-A team, has given away multiple bobbleheads of Thompson and I have also heard there are pictures of him hanging in the front office of the team.
How Does It Compare?
This set is not really all that interesting, so it has to rank in the bottom half of the list. This is post #14, so I will start at 2017 Topps Minor League Heritage and work down the list.
-Both 2017 Topps Heritage Minors and 2002 Bowman are prospect-driven sets. While I am not a huge fan of the 1968 Topps design, a boring border with interesting cards is better than a boring border and uninteresting cards.
-1995 Emotion XL is at least interesting and has good photography, even if some of the labels slapped on the players are really stupid. Better than over glossed Derek Jeter bios.
-1988 Donruss, while I don't love the borders, it's still more interesting than the 2002 Bowman set. Plus, that set has a Tom Glavine rookie, which is better than any prospect card in the 2002 Bowman set. Let's go down another spot.
-2000 UD Ionix. Now, we are talking about the right neighborhood. Predictable short checklist with the same 2 or 3 players on each team getting cards. Ionix has better autographs and some nicer high-end touches, but there is something nice about having the larger checklist of 2002 Bowman where you get cards of the players I put into this post.
I am going with 10th place on my list.
12. 2000 Topps
10. 2002 Bowman
9. 1988 Donruss