Settling on a pack of '17 Bowman

This past weekend, I was planning on stopping by Dollar Tree to pick up some of those 30-card repacks I've seen. Unfortunately, there were zero baseball cards. This Dollar Tree is historically bad with nearly empty shelves at all times, so I don't know why I excepted they'd have some new cards.

They had a few random packs of gaming cards, as well as a ton of packs from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. I'm a Potter fan and did see this movie on a recent cross-country flight, and I actually thought it was pretty good. However, I don't want cards from the film.

I ended up buying some bubble bath soap for the kids, and decided to walk next door to K-Mart in hopes of finding a few packs or a blaster. I would have been happy with some 2017 Series One given how crazy the RC prices are right now. I also stupidly realized that I don't have the Aaron Judge flagship RC. I sent it out for a TTM autograph in February and never bothered to replace it. Now it'll cost me at least $5, unless anyone here has one for trade.

The only baseball cards they had were a few value packs of 2017 Bowman. These are fat packs with 22 cards. Not wanting to go home empty-handed, I snagged one, hoping for a Blake Rutherford or Gleyber Torres. I didn't get any Yankees. Boo.

Overall, the pack was ok. There were some big name base cards, and a few nice rookies. I don't mind the design that much. The last few years of Bowman all felt very similar, so I like that this is a little different.

The highlight of the pack was a green paper parallel of Cody Sedlock, the Orioles' #2 prospect. It's numbered to 99. I hadn't heard of Sedlock, but seems like he has a decent arm. He's had a bit of a rough start at A+ ball this year with an ERA over 6.

I like these Rookie of the Year inserts a lot. The script is cool, and the Refractor shine looks great. I'm nearly certain that Arcia gave up his rookie status in 2016, as he had 216 plate appearances. So yeah, I think this card is inaccurate, as he cannot be deemed a Rookie of the Year favorite when he is not a rookie.

I can honestly say I watched zero World Baseball Classic. Not one out or at bat. It's not my thing. According to the stats on the back, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo is a very powerful hitter. He hit 44 homers for Yokohama last year. According to the ever reliable wikipedia, he was the MVP of Pool B in the 2017 WBC. I have no idea what that means, but hey, congrats to him.

I know this guy. Apparently, the Yankees selected between Torres and Eloy Jimenez in the Aroldis Chapman trade. I'm glad Torres was the pick, but Jimenez is an elite prospect in his own right. He's tearing up A+ ball right now, and Double A shouldn't be far off. The Cubs have another good one.

I really hope this guys swings and hits bounce balls in the dirt.

I also got a few RCs, including one of the top prospect in baseball, Yoan Moncada. David Dahl had a nice Big League debut last year, but hasn't played yet due to a rib cage injury.

Overall, not bad. I still would have preferred a repack, but at least I got to tear open a pack this weekend and celebrate America.