1999 Bowman Chrome Series 1 Box Break

Ah, old school Bowman Chrome. I love busting this more than the newer stuff. There are more inserts, less parallels, and tougher pulls. It definitely keeps me on my toes. In keeping with the 1999 Bowman theme (madding is currently busting a box of regular Bowman over at Cards on Cards), I busted a box of 1999 Bowman Chrome Series 1. Let’s dive in.

Pack 1:
#157: Danny Klassen Who? As we all know, Bowman Chrome is usually hit or miss with the players. Klassen hasn’t played since 2003.

#134: Jason Tyner (RC)
Bowman Chrome Diamond Aces DA-9: Pat Burrell Believe it or not, Bowman Chrome once had subsets. It’s good to see that 2010 Bowman brought back some inserts. Diamond Aces is one of the two inserts in the set.

Gold #156: Terrence Long Gold! This is one of the gold parallels that are found in 1999 Bowman Chrome. They’re seeded one in every twelve packs.


Pack 2:
#136: Phil Norton (RC)
#204: Chris Enochs
#111: Julio Ramirez
#87: Mike Frank


Pack 3:
#217: Brent Butler
#140: Brad Penny Yeah, I’m laughing too.

#113: Eric Valent (RC)
Refractor #93: Scott Elarton Refractors are shiny, folks. Like the gold parallels, these are inserted one in twelve packs.


Pack 4:
#202: Wade Miller This face is just priceless. Here's a close up for your entertainment.

#118: Jared Sandberg
Troll favorite Jared Sandberg is sporting the old Rays uniforms. The Rays are still leading the Yanks in the standings, and both teams have yet to play a lot of games at home. It looks to be a two-team race for now.

#112: Jake Westbrook
#151: Sean Spencer (RC)


Pack 5:
#81: Seth Etherton (RC)
#83: Manny Aybar
#117: Jason Grilli
Bowman Chrome Diamond Aces Refractor DA-10: Mike Piazza Damn… this card is sexy. Considering the odds of pulling this card (1:84) and Piazza’s dominance during the decade, this would have made any collector pee his pants in 1999. Actually, I kind of peed my pants in 2010.


Pack 6:
#93: Scott Elarton
#150: Scott Schoeneweis My dentist always likes to tell me stories about Schoeneweis because he used to coach him in high school. I would like to respond to these stories if his fingers weren’t shoved in my mouth.

#80: Jason Rakers
Bowman Chrome Scouts’ Choice SC2: Ryan Anderson The other insert in Bowman Chrome. It’s not as aesthetically appealing as Diamond Aces.


Pack 7:
#159: Ron Belliard
#82: Jeff Urban (RC)
#166: John Curtice
International #60: Mike Mussina This is the International parallel that’s pretty fun to pull. If I wasn’t collecting Halladay, I would probably collect Mussina. I always liked him when he pitched for the Yankees, even though he was quite stubborn towards his final years. He has a good shot at the Hall, but if Blyleven isn’t voted in, Moose probably won’t be either. It’s a shame, both pitchers are deserving.


Pack 8:
#167: Clayton Andrews (RC)
#73: Jack Cust Billy Beane screwed Cust over big time. How do you demote a player that not only has a big bat, but has been loyal to the team for years?

#110: Cesar King
International #41: Bernie Williams Bernie and parallels make a great mixed drink. I didn’t notice it until I turned over Bernie’s card and found out the back is written in the native language of the player’s home country.


Pack 9:
#191: Chuck Abbott (RC)
#154: Milton Bradley
#183: Calvin Pickering
International #38: Jeff King What ever happened to Jeff King? Well, nothing ever did. He had two seasons with 25+ homers (they were probably PED invested) and fell of the face of the earth in 1999. This would be his last Bowman Chrome card.


Pack 10:
#123: Michael Barrett
#71: Bruce Chen
#122: Corey Lee
#163: Chad Hermansen


Pack 11:
#125: Mitch Meluskey
#22: Vinny Castilla The cards with veterans on them receive a red border instead of a blue one.

#155: Josh McKinley (RC)
#142: Aramis Ramirez The Pirates trading away a good prospect before reaching his full potential? No way!

Pack 12:
#104: Joe Lawrence
#95: Pat Cline
#177: Chris Jones (RC)
#98: Ruben Mateo


Pack 13:
#161: Ramon Hernandez
#91: Arturo McDowell (RC)
#148: Russ Branyan
Gold #104: Joe Lawrence


Pack 14:
#65: Raul Mondesi
#103: Jack Cressend (RC)
#116: Juan Melo
Refractor #188: Octavio Dotel


Pack 15:
#135: Mark Osborne
#178: Kevin Witt
#96: Ryan Anderson
#77: Adam Everett (RC) One of the few recognizable rookies in Series 1. Series 2 features rookie cards of Alfonso Soriano, Adam Dunn, Carl Crawford, A.J. Burnett, and C.C. Sabathia. Clearly, Series 1 was a cheaper box.


Pack 16:
#72: Adam Kennedy Kennedy is a solid player, and I’m surprised not many teams were interested in him. I would have been quite satisfied if the Yanks signed him to back-up the infield.

#160: Armando Rios
#144: Mamon Tucker (RC)
Bowman Chrome Scouts' Choice: Carlos Beltran Beltran would win the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year, so I guess the scouts got their choice right.


Pack 17:
#27: Andres Galarraga
#5: Cal Ripken Ripken rounding third…

#208: Nate Bump (RC)
#201: Alex Gonzalez


Pack 18:
#152: Odalis Perez
#176: Jeff Yoder
#127: Tony Torcato (RC)
#126: Freddy Garcia


Pack 19:
#162: Jason Conti
#180: Billy Koch
#173: Chip Ambres (RC)
#214: Alex Escobar


Pack 20:
#64: Mark Grace
#46: Jaret Wright How in the world did Jaret Wright receive veteran status? How in the world did he even receive a card in this set?

#206: Marlon Anderson
#102: Rick Elder (RC)


Pack 21:
#94: Vernon Wells
#171: Mario Encarnacion (RC) I originally thought that Mario was related to either Edwin or Juan Encarnancion, but after some research, no family history. Encarnancion’s career was short, playing in only 21 major league games. Unfortunately, the young hitter died from a congenital medical condition in 2005.

#153: Joe Fontenot
#76: Darnell McDonald


Pack 22:
#109: Jason Dewey
#85: Onan Masaoka
#215: Jason LaRue
International Refractors #79: Mark Quinn (RC) I didn’t recognize this card at first. The refractors for the International parallels are pretty good snags, seeded one in every 76 packs.


Pack 23:
#52: Ken Griffey Jr.
Awesome card. Enough said.

#205: Fernando Seguignol
#200: Austin Kearns (RC) Wow, I was a bit excited by this. Kearns is one of the other big rookies in Series 1. He is currently with the Cleveland Indians.

International #101: Ricky Ledee


Pack 24:
#114: Roosevelt Brown
#175: Pat Burrell (RC)Hell yeah! A Pat Burrell rookie card! Oh wait, Burrell sucks.

#124: Lariel Gonzalez
#143: Christian Guzman


Thus ends the adventures of 1999 Bowman Chrome Series 1. Not a bad box, considering what I had to work with (a Pat Burrell rookie, seriously?). Once I finish my 2000 Bowman Chrome set, I’ll probably work on this. Oh, and...