2000 Bowman Draft

Milton Bradley
2000 Bowman Draft #15
Category: Expos Star
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: I honestly don’t know what to say about Milton at this point. I’ve covered a few cards from his 2000 year, and he didn’t stick around in Montreal for very long before they gave up on him, anyway. I did find myself surprised surfing his minor league numbers and finding that he once stole 30 bases. It seems so crazy, given how his wheels are these days.
Rating: 5/10 – I like Bradley, and I like the 2000 design, but this thing is just dirt-simple, generic “Baseball Card”.

 Tomas De La Rosa
2000 Bowman Draft #74
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: IF
Bio/Summary: This is not the first time I’ve seen De La Rosa and Bradley together. I guess the only real connection is that they were coming up through the system at the same time. Their numbers were as different as could be: Bradley was a burgeoning power-hitting outfielder with decent speed and a good OBP, while De La Rosa was the model slap-hitting SS. I guess it’s not surprising that one of them didn’t last. De La Rosa left baseball in 2007.
Rating: 4/10 – Bleh. Another dirt-common Spring Training shot. 

 Giovanni (Yovanny) Lara
2000 Bowman Draft #47
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: P
Bio/Summary: So weird that they call him Giovanni here. I could find no record of a Giovanni Lara, only a Yovanny. Obviously this was the name he went by; so why go with something else? I don’t know. Yovanny only pitched in the majors in 2000, putting up a 76 ERA+ in 6 games. He seems to have disappeared from baseball after that. Odd.
Rating: 4/10 – Snore. Spring Training.

 Thomas Mitchell
2000 Bowman Draft #110
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Another player who was hard to find. Why do people have issues with Bowman and their prospects again? Heh. Not only did he never make the majors, he failed to make an impact at pretty much every level he played at (I’m serious too – check out his stats – they’re horrific). He’s only in this blog as a historical oddity, like many of the failed prospects.
Rating: 3/10 – Who? Blah.

Grady Sizemore 

2000 Bowman Draft #109
Category: Former Expo
Position: OF
Bio/Summary: Damn you Omar Minaya. Damn you. I’m guessing we all know what happened here, so I’m more interested in seeing Grady’s production as an Expos farmhand. Yup, it makes you cry. As a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast Rookie League, he put up a .293/.380/.376 line. Okay, sure, the slugging was down a bit, but he was SEVENTEEN. That’s as much promise as you can get from a rookie leaguer. At 19, he was .258/.351/.348, right before he was dealt. The next season he broke out, and it was all over from there. Sigh.
Rating: 6/10 – Historical context is not the only reason this gets the highest rating. Even with Grady’s goofy expression, the photograph is a little better, showing a little more of the field. Still not going to destroy the world or anything.

Not Yet a National: Adam Carr (auto)

First off, thanks to John from Pursuit of 80s for sending this card in the trade!

Adam Carr
2008 Bowman Signs of the Future #AC

Position: P
Bio/Summary: Adam Carr was a hot name a few summers ago, and yet I barely hear from him these days. I suppose bombing out badly in 08 (6+ ERAs at two levels? Really?), he’s kind of fallen off the radar, and he seems to be back in Single-A this season. I’m guessing he’s not going to make the big league club any time soon, if ever. Too bad.

How Did I Get It?: Got it in a trade with John from Pursuit of 80s(ness). Woot! Thanks! It’s a nice little relic of that period.

Did You Know?: Carr was a utility infielder at OSU and was named to the all-Big 12 first team.

Carr at OSU.

Rating: 7/10 – Yeah, yeah, small photo of the player, sticker autograph…by all rights it should be down near the bottom of autographs, but the white stripes with the background give it a clean, professional appearance that I like a lot.

Nationals Auto: Jordan Zimmermann

Jordan Zimmermann
2007 TRISTAR Prospects Plus Farm Hands Autographs #JZ
Category: Nationals Lynchpin
Position: P
Bio/Summary: I’m not quite ready to call Jordan a star, but I think the progress he’s shown this year has indicated some movement in that direction. His stats so far (2-3, 5.37 ERA, 81 OPS+) all are about what I’d expect from a 23-year-old who got the call on a lousy team. He’s not going to be rookie of the year material, but I think he could be a solid #2 pitcher in a few years, and I’m going to cheer him on all that way.
How Did I Get It?: Obscure eBay auction. Got lucky on this one.
Did You Know?: According to Jason, a trading partner of mine:

“I live near Eau Claire, WI, which has a summer collegiate team in the Northwoods League.  One of our early stars was Jordan Zimmerman.  When he debuted for the Nationals, he became the first alumnus to make the majors.”

Cool info. Thanks, Jason!

Rating: 8/10 – The card looks much better in person – I had to lighten it quite a bit so all of the details were available. I don’t just like the card because it’s a Zim auto (though that helps), but because it shows him in the Vermont uniform. Nice.

Memory Lane #13: Rondell White 1992 UD Minors

Ohh, 1992 Upper Deck Minors. The memories you gave me over the years. I first discovered a scraggly little box of these shortly after launch in an antiques market back home, and nearly lost it. I had to calm myself down as I scooped the packs out: Van Poppel! Delgado! Blosser! Young! So many of the young players that I wanted cards of (and would be better covered on my sister site). I spent every bit of my allowance that I had on hand grabbing these packs, and I managed to pull this card, along with a whole bunch of others. My friends pulled some of my most-coveted prospects, though, and so I had to hit the trade market with them. Unfortunately, the cards weren’t in Beckett yet, so we had to make up our own values. I’m pretty sure I got fleeced along the way, but what are you going to do?

 

Interestingly, this card has a continuing story years later. I’ve mentioned that I got back into collecting in 2003. I got a chance to live one of my fondest childhood dreams: I bought a sealed box of 1992 Upper Deck Minors, and tore through it as soon as it arrived. Now, I’ve found that time has diminished some of these boxes, but not the 92 UD Minors; that whole thing was like a revelation, as if I’d stepped into a time machine and come back out as a  16-year old nerd. I got a lot of cards that I’ll be featuring on I Was a Teenage Prospector, but this one…well, besides being representative of the Expos, it also shows a great action shot of a player that I thought was a future superstar.

 

Oh, and an insanely big helmet.

I Return

Ugh, what a nasty week. It started with debilitating back pain, then a stomach bug that just wouldn’t go away. Thankfully, I saw the doctor yesterday and am back among the land of the living. Folks who I’m trading with: I’ll be sending out your packages tomorrow…with my spare time I really dug through my cards and found some fun stuff. I hope you like it.

In the meantime, time to update…