2016 MLB Draft
Collecting Game-used: A colorful Copa de la Diversión cap
Second verse, same as the first -- well this time with a little less Lava.
It's apparently National Hat Day today, so I figured I'd get this Collecting Game-used series back on track (I missed doing one last month) with another game-used cap from down on the farm and this time it's from a specialty game and a player who actually did play in a pair of big-league games last year after spending the summer for the Columbus Clippers. If you don't recognize the logo, this one's from a game where they were the Veleros de Columbus during MiLB's Copa de la Diversión games.
As I noted last time, sometimes, unraveling the mystery is part of the fun with gamers ... and that mystery part doesn't happen as often with MLB stuff where it's as if everything that's used can get an MLB Authentication sticker and have a place in a database forever before it hits a collection or gets chopped up to live inside a baseball card. But down on the farm? It can be a different story. Sure, stuff gets documented and sold with a team letter or certificate often -- especially at the end of a season when the players are gone (and might not come back) -- but not everything.
Most of my items in this series are MLB or other things that are ironclad in their documentation or I have been able to photo-match the item exactly to a photo, video or event. This time? Not so much (though I admittedly ran out of time to really dig), but it did have some features and some mystery that worked out for a bargain price and it turned out to be another player who got a taste of the major leagues this past season and has played in The Show for a few years.
Keep reading to see the details this time.
First Buzz: 2016 Bowman Draft baseball cards
What: 2016 Bowman Draft baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 7
Box basics: Three autographs per 12-pack box (eight boxes per case). For Super-jumbos, there will be five packs of 120 cards in each box with a total of five autos (six boxes per case).What's buzz-worthy: One of the hobby's heavyweights returns is back for another year with nearly 400 cards per box and "better autograph value, revamped MLB Draft content and additional autograph Refractors."
See a gallery and more ... below.
Potential No. 1 pick A.J. Puk appears on plenty of cards before MLB Draft
With the MLB Draft set for Thursday night, we'll soon have a new crop of prospects attached to their professional teams and new players that collectors can now focus upon.
Thanks to various high school all-star sets and USA Baseball releases from Panini America, many of the players who'll be tabbed for future greatness already have cardboard.
That includes potential No. 1 overall pick A.J. Puk, a 6-foot-7 left-handed pitcher for the Florida Gators who was previously drafted in the 35th round by the Detroit Tigers out of high school back in 2013.
3 Item(s)