Collecting Cards (Again): Pharmacy Box Break

Struck out again in my search for 2020 Bowman: three Targets, three decimated card aisles.

So once again, with an itch to open something, I nabbed a $5 pharmacy box from Walgreens.

“Hits?” Oh yeah. Luke Jackson, 2014 Bowman Inception Auto.

I never expect much here. Despite the 1:4 odds for a hit, the bar for these Fairfield repacks is, of course, quite low. So color me surprised that the auto was not only someone that actually broke the majors, but someone that’s still active and relatively young.

Jackson made his debut with the Rangers in 2015. Before the 2017 season, he was traded to the Braves where he’s worked as a reliever the last three seasons. Last year, at age 27, he pitched to a 3.84 ERA and picked up nine wins and 18 saves.

The Pack: 2019 Opening Day

Newest cards: 2019 Topps Heritage
Oldest card: John Verhoeven, 1982 Fleer

Hall of Famers: 3. Goose, Fisk and Puckett.

I’ll get to my Top 3 in a moment, but I found this to be a fairly interesting box. Here are a few also rans:

I wasn’t doing much collecting in the early 2000s so this is definitely the first time I’ve come across these cards.

Also, this Jermaine Dye “Rookie Reflections” card. Dye looked like a star in the making when he debuted as a 22-year-old with the Braves (.282 BA, 12 HRs in 98 games). I was surprised the traded to the Royals the following spring for Michael Tucker and Keith Lockhart.

OK… Three favorites:

#3 Carlos Beltran, 2003 Upper Deck Classic Portraits

Again, from that early-2000s era where I wasn’t collecting. I prefer action shots to yearbook-style headshots, but this is a handsome card of a player that’s misrepresented proportionally with Yankees cards in my own collection.

#2 Jose Canseco, unlicensed 1988 Baseball’s Best

From a 36-card unlicensed set, I’m charmed by this early, borderless Jose Canseco. Those Bash Brothers-era A’s teams seduced quite a few young, impressionable fans (and more so when Rickey Henderson returned). I probably knew more A’s fans growing up in Upstate NY than Mets fans.

#1 Julio Franco, 1989 Score Traded