When you’re a fan of a small market
baseball team
Sigh…yes…we’re
talking about that again.
When
you’re a fan of a small market baseball team, you talk a lot about rebuilding.
About youth movements. The windows of opportunity are…well…small. You probably
pay more attention to the minor league teams than people in larger markets
probably do. You’re always looking for some prospect to break out. To become
the savior. The hero. The next legend…for as long as you get legends in small
markets.
When you’re a fan
of a small market baseball team you hope more.
You wish more.
You
speculate.
As
a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club; I’ve been doing a bit more speculating
with my collecting choices over the last few years than I have been collecting
players with full assurance of their talent and value to the team the future.
That’s not to say I’ve gone the full prospect route. No. But I’m probably
investing more in my Pirates baseball cards than the actual owners and his
organization guys are actually investing in the team. At least right now.
But
I am hedging my collecting bets more on the future than I ever did in the past.
And
a good place to do that is with Bowman.
No,
I’m not breaking my promise to myself and adding another set to collect into
the mess of unfinished sets that I have on my shelf. And I’m not chasing every
prospect out there looking to strike gold. But for the last year I have been
buying Pittsburgh Pirates cards in Bowman. I started with collecting last year’s
Bowman Pirates cards. Then I put the 2021 Bowman Prospects team together. And
just a few weeks ago, these babies arrived for me.
It’s
almost the complete team.
A
prospect by the name of Maikol Escotto has yet to arrive.
I’m
not speculating. Not with the idea that I’m going to be making any money off of
these cards. That’s never been what collecting has been about for me. To be
honest, the prospects appearing on Bowman products are, well, more exciting
than the players appearing of the big-league club’s team sets.
With
exceptions to these guys…of course.
The players appearing on Bowman products come with…promise.
This
guy is already on the big-league club.
And these guys don’t feel too far behind.
And, boy, could the Pirates use this guy behind the plate right now.
But…patience…patience.
Remember
what I said about hope and small market teams?
I
shouldn’t be by now, but I’m always so surprised at how prospect-heavy the
Bowman release is every year. You have to understand that I was right in my
wheelhouse of collecting when Bowman came back in 1989. There were prospects,
yes, but the checklist still catered heavily to the big-league clubs.
Although
this guy was in the set.
When rookies and
prospects became more of Bowman’s bag (I’m going to say 1992 and beyond) I was
done or almost done with collecting. When I got back into collecting in 2019, I
didn’t even mess with Bowman. I kind of considered it a glorified minor-league
set.
But
then somewhere in the middle of a 101-loss season last year.
And
necessity being the mother of invention.
I
began to view Bowman products a bit…differently.
Ok...I
just wanted the cards of players I could be excited for.
Is
that so wrong?
And
Bowman gives you the players to be excited for. The Pirates have four base
cards in this year’s set, and three of them have the RC logo on them.
So, what you get is a team set of excitement. Or potential excitement. The potential of excitement. How does that sound? And what’s more exciting than rookie potential? Am I being sarcastic here? I kid. I like rookie cards as much as an collector. Although Bowman could’ve put Bryan Reynolds in the set. I mean he did start in last year’s All-Star Game. I guess I can’t complain…they didn’t give Tim Anderson a card either.
Excitement for prospects has to go a long way with Bowman because…well…the cards aren’t very interesting looking. There’s usually a bland border that seems interchangeable from each release. Topps does the basic work of putting the players name and position on the card; the team they play for. The backs are also interchangeable from year to year.
I’m not going to lie, but I’ve spent more time looking at the copyright on the back of Bowman cards to determine what year the product was released in than I ever have with Topps base product.
But
there’s just something about the 1st Bowman logo on a card.
Especially
for a player you hope to see in the big-leagues one day.
As
a returning collector (I’ve been back for 3 years now but I’m still going to call
myself that) I do like what Bowman has become. A home for prospect cards. In
1989, it was such a weird anomaly in collecting. An over-sized throwback set
that didn’t fit in sleeves or sheets is what 1989 Bowman was. The first “heritage”
set of its kind. Us kid collectors were either turned-on or off by it
I was the former.
I loved 1989
Bowman baseball cards. Am a big fan of the minimalist approach they took in 1990
and 1991 too. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite in terms of my criticisms of
current Bowman designs. But I felt like old Bowman was looking back, or, in
their initial years (1989-1991) were trying to make a card that looked retro. I’m
not sure what the modus operandi of Bowman designs is now. I’m not sure they
have one other than to get cards of prospects out in the world on a design that
doesn’t totally offend people aesthetic sensibilities.
If that’s the case
Topps succeeds…mostly.
I just know that I’ve
begun to find some enjoyment in the product.
It’s kind of fun,
seeing a player on their 1st Bowman card.
And then a few years later…this.
NEXT FRIDAY: Rookie cards, rookie cards...everywhere rookie cards...I'm tired of rookie cards...so why does the Topps Series 2 checklist bum me out so much?
I'm one of those collectors who enjoy 1989 Bowman too. Pain in the butt to store, but I like the simplicity of the design.
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