Some time late last season, 2011 Bowman Chrome baseball was released. And as usual, I bought a fair share. I failed to pull any of the super high dollar cards, but I did get a few cards I liked, like the green XFractor Brett Lawrie and the 2001 Bowman Chrome Throwbacks Bryce Harper.
Well, when I pulled the cards from the packs, they looked absolutely perfect. The Harper was pulled the same day that a major case buster pulled one and posted a picture of it. His copy was horribly miscut. I decided that day to have mine graded.
And so I did … along with my Brett Lawrie and nine other random cards.
Well, both the Lawrie and Harper came back Gem Mint 9.5. I was stoked about the Lawrie because traditionally XFractors are tough to get in top shape. The sub grades on both are stunning.
But this was like three months ago.
I haven’t written about this grading batch, so the other night I prepared to write about them and decided to do a quick population on both.
Here is the “stunning” statistic:
As of Jan. 20, 2012, I had the ONLY cop of these cards that have been graded Gem Mint. And to that point, these are the ONLY copies to even have been submitted for grading by Beckett Grading Services.
Really?
Wonder why this is the case.
Lawrie is a top prospect who has a pretty decent following in the hobby. This is a version of his first Bowman Chrome card.
And Bryce Harper is still a top draw in this hobby. It would see that ANY of his cards would be submitted for grading.
**Note, there has been one additional Harper graded gem mint.
It’s been a long time since Bay Area football has been this good.
For about a decade, football fans in the San Francisco Bay Area have been subjected to sub-par football on both sides of the Bay in the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders.
Raiders fans have been Raider fans. Every year calling their shot that they will return to the Super Bowl and each year they fall short of even making the playoffs. Good drama for sure, but still horrible ball.
And the Niners? People hated Alex Smith. They wanted him gone. He was no Joe Montana. Or Steve Young. Or even Jeff Garcia. Hell, he was barely one rung above Jim Drukenmiller.
But then things changed.
The Niners hired Jim Harbaugh. They began to win. Alex Smith stopped throwing dumb passes for pick sixes. And the defense started knocking fools out.
And suddenly everyone is wearing the red and gold with pride again.
It’s interesting to see what winning can do to a fanbase, no matter how serious the fans are.
But even though it has been 10 years since San Francisco has even made it to the playoffs, this feeling is not something I have forgotten.
THIS is how things were when I was growing up here.
I’ll say this right now: I don’t call myself a Niner fan. I don’t pretend to be. I don’t go around puffing my chest out saying “I have been there from the beginning.”
When time came to choose favorite teams when I was 10 or so, I chose the Buffalo Bills. I loved Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. I loved their status as perennial Super Bowl contenders who always got their asses handed to them when it was crunch time.
Hell, I even had a bitch-ass physical education teacher — a huge Cowboys fans — make fun of me in front of the entire locker room while I wore a Bills hat a day after the Cowboys defeated the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII. He proceeded to say “Bills, huh? You know what “BILLS” stands for right? Boy ILove Losing Super Bowls. HAHAHA”
Dude, I was 12.
Jerk.
Anyway. While I claimed the Bills as my team, I distinctly remember the atmosphere here when the Niners were king. Kids, parents and even teachers were into football. In elementary school we actually spent an entire class making posters in favor of the Niners as they prepared to play the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. Of course they won.
And years before that, I remember having my first ever Big Mac with a Coke. Joe Montana was on the cup, and Ronnie Lott was on my first true trading card, which hailed from a set given away at McDonald’s.
The Niners were EVERYWHERE. Proof that football is a big deal here … when the teams are winning.
And from an outsider prospective, they call this Bandwagon Fanaticism.
There’s probably some truth in that. But what you have to realize is that lots of people my age (31) grew up here in an era when the Niners were second to none. Whether they were true fans or not, the people here always ended up cheering for San Francisco anyway.
And as the Niners prepare to take on the New York Giants in the biggest 49ers game in probably 16 years, they are all cheering for them again. Even Raiders fans, who probably wouldn’t admit it you asked them.
I leave you with this. A gem from the 1980s. A song I heard A LOT when I was a kid but completely forgot until earlier this year when my wife — who is not a sports fan — started singing it one day after we watched a game.
I was clicking around my favorite site on the ‘Net the other day and came across one of the coolest cards I’ve seen in a long time. I figured it was nice enough to share with all of you.
Check out this 2006-07 Topps Full Court Dennis Rodman Photographer’s Proof card.
I don’t do much in basketball, so this five-year-old card is new to me.
Great job by the photographer capturing Rodman in mid-air, parallel with the court. Very Cool card.
I dig through the shelves and racks at thrift stores, garage sales and the like looking for something that I can keep for myself or flip for something awesome for my baseball card collection.
One day this summer I discovered a game-used jersey belonging to Hall of Fame Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver.
I tweeted a picture of the uniform, and a few months later, I was asked to write a piece for Beckett Sports Card Monthly documenting the incident, and this extension of my hobby.
The magazine hit my local hobby shop shelves on Tuesday and should be in your stores now.
Whether you decide to buy the magazine or just read it is up to you, but I do encourage you to pick up the magazine and give the article a read. It’ll give you a taste of what kind of success I’ve had thrift store hunting.
Many people see second-hand stores as a place where poor people shop. I see them as bearers of history and sometimes treasure.
You can see additional Thrift Treasures posts HERE.
Just traded for a 1974 @toppscards Jim Crawford rookie! Who else but me is excited? Who wants some of DeeBo?! #collect4 hours ago
@Jared_Thatcher i have a wade Boggs die cut and 65 other cards still on the site. Seeking more rookies or die cuts. 4 hours ago
@Jared_Thatcher i trade for a bunch of rookies & have these die cuts coming: Ripken, Hosmer, Rickey Henderson, Lincecum & Bautista black /60 4 hours ago
Some time late last season, 2011 Bowman Chrome baseball was released. And as usual, I bought a fair share. I failed to pull any of the super high dollar cards, but I did get a few cards I liked, like the green XFractor Brett Lawrie and the 2001 Bowman Chrome Throwbacks Bryce Harper.
Lawrie is a top prospect who has a pretty decent following in the hobby. This is a version of his first Bowman Chrome card.
And Bryce Harper is still a top draw in this hobby. It would see that ANY of his cards would be submitted for grading.
