Wednesday, August 31, 2016

A Bowman Kind of Trade Package

I received an unexpected trade package last week from Ron B.  I thought I had settled up with him by send a stack of 2016 Finest, but he felt the need to send more Cardinals my way.  All of them were inserts, with most being the Bowman variety.

This was the only card in the package that was not Bowman.  Topps hit a home run with these Chrome inserts.  They remind me of the Topps Gallery Gallery of Heroes inserts from the late 1990s. 

I am too lazy to research when Bowman started to include the Gold parallel in packs, but it was at least 2003 because the Naverson is from Bowman Draft of that year.  The earlier years were thicker cards that seemed to have problems with chipping. 


More Bowman Gold parallels from the past few years.  I sure hope Wong is not going down the same road as Colby Rasmus did with the Cardinals.  Both were first round draft picks that were expected to be key regulars for a long time.  Rasmus lasted about 3 years before being trade.  Wong signed a 5 year deal over the winter, but has seen his playing time dwindle with his low average and Jedd Gyorko hitting home runs every other game.  I still think Wong can be an above average player that hits .280 with 10 home runs and 20 steals if he gets more playing time and builds up his self confidence.

Bowman Heritage has used a variety of inserts over the years.  The Bo Hart is a Box Topper from 2003.  Like its Bowman Gold cousin, Bowman Heritage Mahogany parallels were thicker than the base cards.  The Rolen is from 2005.  The 2007 Heritage Rainbow Foil Eckstein is also a thicker card.  Eckstein was the 2006 World Series MVP, although I would argue Rolen had a better series. 

I am a much bigger fan of the Bowman Ice parallels than the Golds.  The colored parallels look even better.  Unlike Eckstein, I believe Freese was very deserving of his MVP honors in the 2011 World Series.  He just signed a 2 year extension with the Pirates.  I would be nice to see him end his career in St. Louis before it is all said and done. 

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