One of the inserts was a very shiny card called "American Pride," which is a set that depicts the Team USA Collegiate National Team. The subject of this card, Bryant Packard, is a junior OFer at East Carolina University.
Upon a bit of googling, turns out Packard is a very impressive player. He hit over .400 last year, ranking sixth in the nation. He followed it up with another performance year this year, leading ECU to a #10 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Packard is currently ranked as the #106 Draft Prospect according to MLB.com, which would put him in consideration for a pick around the 3rd round. Although, you never really know with the Draft and team's strategies in rounds 4-10ish.
Anyhow, I thought it would be cool to try a TTM request to Packard, and sent the card to ECU's baseball facility. He was kind enough to sign and return the card in about 2 weeks time.
Now I just need the Yanks to draft him!
Awesome return. Should be fun to follow his career
ReplyDeleteI'm kinda torn. Part of me wants him to be drafted by the Yankees for your sake, but if he does... I don't want him to be that great. On the other hand... if he gets drafted by the A's, I'd love to see him become a franchise cornerstone who gets enshrined at Cooperstown one day. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's a darn cool return. Still crazy to me that Panini makes cards of guys still in college though!
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised in Greenville graduated from the same high School as pack great all-around guy great player will have a great career
ReplyDeleteThanks for the first hand experience! Seems like a great kid, and I'll be pulling for him.
DeleteBryant is a great kid, and will outwork anyone to make his goals of the majors. And he has the coolest mom that everyone loves. She is THE team mom of the Pirates. Is this the year for Omaha?
ReplyDeleteThanks for comment. I didn't know college teams had "team moms"! That's a fun fact.
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