A few weeks ago I wrote about a 2000 SP Authentic Barry Zito rookie card that bore the serial number of Zito’s jersey.

Well, that’s not the only former Cy Young Award Winner whose serial numbered rookie card that I own with the number matching the jersey.

I present the 2000 Finest Refractor Johan Santana serial numbered 0057/1000. And before you say it, I’ll acknowledge it — yes, this IS a parallel. Someone surely has the 0057/3000, which is the true rookie card.

Some of you may not remember how good Johan was during the mid 2000s. He routinely led the Twins to the top of the AL Central and eventually wound up in New York where he twirled the only Mets no-hitter in franchise history — a fact that remains true despite whatever umbrage you take with the official scorer.

For years the only Johan rookie I owned was a 2000 Fleer Tradition update, primarily because Johan rookies were so expensive. His Finest rookie (/3000) is his best, and the refractor version always fetched a tidy premium.

Well, Johan’s been widely forgotten in the hobby. So when this one popped up on COMC.com, I had to snatch it up, especially because of the serial number. One day I’ll haven’t stabbed by BGS.

This entry was posted on September 6, 2014 at 9:33 am and is filed under Newspaperman with tags baseball, baseball cards, Johan Santana, Topps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.