With 2003 marking the 7th year of the “home of the rookie card,” Bowman Chrome brings it home with a checklist overflowing with top-flight rookie cards and certified autographs of such players as Jose Contreras and Hanley Ramirez.
Riding on the heels of last fall’s Draft Picks and Prospects, the 2003 Bowman Chrome product was unable to claim the majority of the 2002 June Amateur draftees, however; there were a couple of top draftees that for one reason or another weren’t included in the Draft Picks and Prospects edition.
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bryan Bullington is one, for example. His 2003 Bowman Chrome rookie card is actually part of the autograph subset. In addition to Bullington, the autograph checklist boasts some up and coming prospects in Travis Ishikawa and Bobby Basham, as well as a pair of Red Sox prospects – Hanley Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis.
In addition to the certified autographs, the hot list of rookie cards includes Chicago Cubs phenom Felix Pie, Arizona Diamondbacks rookie pitcher Brandon Webb, Los Angeles Dodgers farmhand Franklin Gutierrez and Detroit Tigers youngster Jeremy Bonderman. As a matter of fact, I can go down the checklist and come up with a dozen or so additional prospects that are worth taking a closer look at, but I am pressed for space.
Surprisingly missing from this year’s Bowman Chrome are memorabilia cards, which have become a hobby staple in recent years. I am very pleased with the fact that Topps chose not to partake in the overkill of jersey cards with respect to this specific product. Similar to last year, Topps included a topper in every box of Bowman Chrome. This year, the topper includes an uncased, uncirculated gold refractor (#/170), a redemption card good for an additional uncirculated refractor exclusive only to www.thepit.com, and a Willie Mays Bowman Chrome card, which comes in refractor, x-fractor and autograph form.
This product, as always, is one of the most anticipated every summer and this year’s was certainly no exception.
Bowman Chrome carries a suggested retail price of $2.99 per 4-card pack with each box containing 18 packs.
