2000 Bowman Chrome Box Break (Black Friday Box #1)

Remember all those boxes I ordered on Black Friday? Yeah, they came about two months ago. The hesitation to bust these bad boys was because I didn’t have enough supplies to store them properly. However, I finally had the funds the get more binders and pages for my cards so I can rip these boxes and sexily display them. Let’s get rocking.

For Card’s Sake likes Chrome. Topps Chrome, Bowman Chrome, funny Chrome reference… you name it. So today we have a box break of, you guessed it, Chrome. But not the dreadful 2010 Topps Chrome. Nope, we got some good old-school crap with 2000 Bowman Chrome. While not as strong a rookie class as 1999 or 2001, 2000 Bowman Chrome has a few big rookies in it (Roy Oswalt, Francisco Rodriguez, Brandon Phillips, Carlos Zambrano). I busted a box of this a long time ago, and I liked the set. So I got another box. And finally, on Black Friday, I pulled the trigger on two more boxes. Here’s the first one.


Each box comes with this nice box topper of an up-and-coming superstar.
Bowman Chrome Oversize #4: Corey Patterson
Or Corey Patterson.

Pack 1:
#73: Ricky Ledee
Not the most original design, but it gets the job done.

#392: Adam Kennedy
#310: Ryan Minor
Rookie Class 2000 RC5: Mark Mulder
The early years of Bowman Chrome came with a nice slew of inserts. This one featured, well, rookies. Duh?


Pack 2:
#290: Carlos Hernandez
#394: Ramon Hernandez
#312: Randy Wolf
Refractor #219: Jeff DaVanon (RC)
Our first refractor out of the box. Unfortunately I already pulled this refractor out of the first box I busted of this product, and when refractors are seeded 1 in every 12 packs, a dupe is not needed.


Pack 3:
#2: Chipper Jones
#287: Gary Majewski (RC)
#158: Brad Baisley (RC)
Retro/Future #161: Chad Harville
Another insert from 2000 BC. Not really a fan, even if it is a slight homage to older Bowman designs. It’s definitely the ugliest insert of the bunch.


Pack 4:
#11: Alex Gonzalez
#389: Tony Schrager (RC)
#369: George Lombard
#196: Kevin Nicholson


Pack 5:
#42: Eric Chavez
#420: DeWayne Wise
#398: Michael Tejada (RC)
#145: Humberto Cota (RC)


Pack 6:
#319: Lyle Overbay (RC)
#329: Carlos Urquiola (RC)
#110: Rafael Palmeiro
Oh boy Raffy. He garnered only 11% of the vote in this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. That’s 9.4% more than I thought he would get. Good for him.

#332: Tim Raines, Jr.
Little Timmy certainly didn’t match the success his father did in the MLB.


Pack 7:
#69: Javy Lopez
#373: Keith Ginter (RC)
#346: Ramon Soler
#262: Gary Matthews, Jr.

Pack 8:
#299: Sun Woo Kim (RC)
#393: Nick Green (RC)
#286: Jerry Hairston, Jr.
Retro/Future #31: John Smoltz
I’ll admit that this design for the Retro/Future subset looks fairly cool. This might be a variation based on cards with veterans on them. I’ll have to look into it.


Pack 9:
#129: Roger Clemens
#362: Octavio Dotel
#220: Rick Ankiel
If you were collecting in 1999 or 2000, Ankiel was all over the place. You really couldn’t escape him. Of all the boxes from those two years I’ve busted, I must have accumulated nearly 15 Ankiel cards.

#166: Bobby Bradley (RC)


Pack 10:
#23: Cliff Floyd
#303: Carlos Zambrano (RC)
Sweeeeet. Big Z is one of the biggest rookies from the set, so it’s a relief to get him out of the way. He’s looking pretty skinny here too. I knocked out Barry Zito’s RC in the first box I ever busted of this stuff, and in the second box I pulled a Roy Oswalt rookie, but it was severely miscut.

#281: Chad Hermansen
Meteoric Rise MR3: Ken Griffey Jr.
This is the only insert set for veteran players, and damn it’s a beautiful one. It’s very bright and it really pops, and the Kid is just icing on the cake.


Pack 11:
#51: Kris Benson
#213: Jason Romano
#276: Mike Colangelo
Retro/Future #305: Robb Quinlan


Pack 12:
#218: Terrence Long
#206: Felipe Lopez
#197: Mo Bruce (RC)
We need mo Bruce!

Meteoric Rise Refractor MR2: Mark McGwire
People ask why I collect. This is why. Simply put, this is one of the most spectacular cards I’ve ever held. It looks absolutely amazing. I think I’m gonna get it graded. Wow.


Pack 13:
#68: Richie Sexson
When the hell did Richie Sexson play for the Indians?

#261: Rico Washington (RC)
#186: Jon Hamilton (RC)
“Excuse me, Mr. Hamilton! Mr. Hamilton! Can I have your autograph?! Oh, wait, you’re Jon Hamilton? Oh my bad… I thought your name was Josh.”

#295: B.J. Ryan


Pack 14:
#89: Jay Bell
#289: Steve Fish (RC)
Yup. Just Fish.

#235: A.J. Burnett
#301: Rick Guttormson (RC)


Pack 15:
#57: Omar Vizquel
Awesome picture to sum up Vizquel’s awesome career as a slick fielder.

#151: Robbie Morrison (RC)
#357: Mike Bacsik (RC)
Does this guy sound familiar? Bacsik gave up the 756th homerun of Barry Bonds’s career. There’s a nice article about him from 2007.

Refractor #350: Rick Asadoorian (RC)
This would have had collector’s crapping themselves in 2000. It’s still a slick-looking card, despite how Asadoorian’s career turned out to be.


Pack 16:
#38: Bartolo Colon
#185: Craig Dingman (RC)
Dammit Dingman!

#328: Josh Hamilton
“Oh thank goodness I found you, Mr. Hamilton! I was getting autographs from some loser named Jon!”


Pack 17:
#111: Shannon Stewart
#194: Alejandro Diaz (RC)
#347: Brandon Phillips (RC)
Another stellar rookie from the set. I also already had this one, but it can’t hurt to add another.

#376: Mike Lamb


Pack 18:
#52: Albert Belle
#143: Matt Ginter (RC)
#361: J.M. Gold
#171: Enrique Cruz (RC)


Pack 19:
#75: Sean Casey
#416: Adam Eaton
#269: Shawn Gallagher
Bidding for the Call Refractor BC8: Corey Patterson
Yet another insert from Chrome. This subset features up-and-coming stars… like Corey Patterson. The refractor is seeded 1 in 160 packs, so this was a pretty good pull. Despite it being Corey Patterson. Yeah, if you haven’t noticed, Corey Patterson bugs the crap out of me. I really don’t know why, but I guess after years of pulling all of his cards and him bringing absolutely no value to this cards, I got a little ticked. But I completely understand why Cubs fans hate this guy.


Pack 20
#91: Frank Thomas
#384: Jody Gerut
#381: Brett Myers (RC)
Bidding for the Call BC11: Josh Hamilton


Pack 21:
#14: Ben Greive
#405: Brad Penny
This card stood out because of the unique/cool background. Not because of Brad Penny.

#279: Josh Girdley
#189: Brian Falkenborg (RC)


Pack 22:
#85: Tim Salmon
#199: Carl Crawford Okay, so maybe you’re wondering how I feel about the Red Sox signing Crawford. To be honest, it doesn’t bother me. Yeah he’s fast and he’s a decent hitter, but when that contract enters the third and fourth year, Sox fans are gonna get tired of him fast. All those years playing on the turf in Tampa is gonna catch up to his legs (a la Vladimir Guerrero) and his speed, his main offensive asset, will seriously decline, making him a very mediocre-hitting corner outfielder for a big cost. Yikes.

#152: Reggie Taylor
Teen Idols TI7: Brett Myers
Yup. Another insert. But, is Bowman saying that these players are idols and they are in their teens? Or are they idols to baseball players in their teens? Hmmm…


Pack 23:
#86: Billy Koch
#187: Toby Hall
#264: Keith Reed (RC)
Retro/Future #191: Juan Pena


Pack 24:
#12: Luis Gonzalez
#357: Mike Bacsik (RC)
#375: Calvin Pickering
Bidding for the Call BC15: Lyle Overbay


Well, thus ends the first box of the Black Friday haul. I added a lot of new cards to the set, and with one more box to go, I should be pretty close to completing it. What I’m worried about is the veteran cards. I haven’t pulled many and the front of the binder is looking really empty. Let’s hope for more luck in the next box!