Pack of the Day 34: 2013 Bowman Chrome Value Pack and a Mostly Unrelated Story

I opened up a Value Pack of 2013 Bowman Chrome. Three packs of Bowman Chrome and three bonus retail-exclusive Green Refractors.

I'll present the cards in the order they were opened. First up are the Green Refractors. Nothing too exciting here. Josh Willingham, a prospect I've never heard of, and the Braves catcher I don't harbor any ill feelings toward.

Next up is Pack #1. I hate that you only get three cards per pack in this product. I don't know that I will be buying much more of it because I don't intend to build the set and I don't like getting only three cards in a pack. Even regular Chrome gives you four cards in a pack.

Dexter Fowler in his running away from a monster picture that has been used a few times this year in other products and Jacoby Ellsbury, who is a good player but I haven't formed any strong opinions about him either way.

Hey, isn't there supposed to be another card in that pack? Yup, it's an autograph from Eduardo Rodriguez, who only has four elements in his signature that could be considered letters, but manages to use the whole card. I guess the whited-out spot at the bottom of the picture wasn't a good enough clue as to where the signature goes? I'm pretty sure I've seen this guy's card on another blog with the same commentary attached to it. Still, it's an autograph from a retail pack, so that counts for something. I don't know anything about this guy. Hopefully he's a decent player.

Pack #2 gives us a base CC Sabathia and a Padres prospect named Jeremy Baltz, whoever that is. Sabathia didn't have a very good season.

This pack also yielded a Ben Revere Refractor, with a guest appearance by the letter C and the letter R. By way of trivia, my Fantasy Baseball team this year was named Ben Revere's Ride. And yes, he did spend a little bit of time on my roster, going 28/68 (.412) with 6 runs, 0 home runs, 7 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. My 2nd-place finish was somewhat tainted by the presence of Everth Cabrera, who had about 1/4 of my team's total stolen bases before being suspended for PED use. The bulk of my other steals came from Ian Desmond, who I picked up after Cabrera was suspended, and Leonys Martin.

Pack #3 saved the mediocrest for last, with three base cards. Bumgarner has the unfortunate Bowman logo placement thing going on, as it appears that there is a little Giant on his pants. Tom Murphy is excited, and Ben Revere doesn't want us to forget about him.

The autograph really saves this group of cards, in spite of the quality and placement of the scrawl. Those Green Refractors are a deep green that makes me think of Christmas ornaments. I just can't effectively deal with the three cards per pack thing. 

I nearly forgot to add my mostly unrelated story. On the day that I went out and bought these cards, I also stopped at a gas station convenience store to pick up some soda. I know it seems like I wear my Marshawn Lynch jersey nearly every day because it's been mentioned on the blog a few times, but I do have and wear other clothes. Anyway, I was wearing my Marshawn Lynch jersey. So while I was at the counter paying for my stuff I see someone come into the store in my peripheral vision. Then I feel a big slap on my back and the guy yells, "Beast Mode!" which is Marshawn Lynch's nickname. I am not all that keen on physical contact anyway, especially from random strangers, so I just kind of ignored the dude. So he brings his purchases up to the counter and continues trying to engage me in conversation, like, "Hey man, come on, Beast Mode! Yeah! Seahawks!" I gave a rather non-committal, "Yeah!" and went on my way after collecting my receipt and my items. I guess we both kind of came off poorly in each others' eyes, as I was the recipient of unwanted physical and social contact and he was offended by my lack of reciprocal engagement in a common fandom. If you ever run into me in the real world, please don't slap me on the back or grab my shoulder, especially if I am not expecting you to do so.