Friday, January 11, 2008

Draft Pick World Series: Bowman vs. Tristar - Game 6

It's game six in the Draft Pick World Series, and everything's on the line for Bowman. The MLB licensed, non-ugly foilboard Bowman is clearly the superior set, but they've had a terrible blaster so far with no refractors and two Barry Bonds cards. Why Topps thought it was appropriate to let a veteran try to sneak into a Futures game is beyond me, but it has clearly cost them in the series. Meanwhile TriStar has come out of nowhere with a championship performance so far and has stepped up with not one but TWO autographs out of their blaster. This has been a season for the underdogs however as preseason favorite Donruss Elite Extra sits on the the sideline unbought with their $8 a pack price tag. Can Bowman step it up with the final two games in their home park or will TriStar score the huge upset? Game six will tell, Play Ball!

TriStar:
35 Corey Luebke
94 David Mailman
85 Anthony Rizzo
82 Carmen Angelini
66 Daniel Duffy
49 Beau Mills

Not a great showing by TriStar in game 6. Half the pack is players picked in the 6th round or greater. Beau Mills looks to be the pick of the pack. Beau is the first round selection of the Indians at #13 overall. The big slugger from Lewis & Clark is considered the best hitting player out of college in last year's draft. His pop also played for the 'Spos in the early 80's and is now a coach for the Red Sox. Daniel Duffy is a high school pither picked by the Royals in the 3rd round. Anthony Rizzo is not only a first baseman in the Red Sox organization, but his namesake directed the immortal Duck and Cover safety film. David Mailman is another Sox farmhand while 10th rounder shortstop Carmen Angelini managed to extort a million dollar signing bonus out of the Yankees due to his full scholarship to Rice. Time will tell if he's the heir apparent to Jeter, or a mid level prospect thrown in on a future trade for a high priced veteran. A good omen for this pack is Corey Luebke, a Buckeye pitcher picked by the Padres. Corey had a great debut in the minors and was eventually promoted to High-A ball where he led his team to the championship. Can he do the same for TriStar? Time for Bowman to counter...

Bowman:
BDP17 Jon Knott
BDP18 Joba Chamberlain
BDPP 79 Chrome Chuck Lofgren
BDPP87 Chrome Bryan Anderson
BDPP6 Gold Ed Easley
Checklist
BDPP70 Emiliano Fruto
BDPP50 Sean Doolittle

It's weird how both of these packs had draft picks of players who had famous namesakes. TriStar had the Duck and Cover dude, while both Doolittle and Easley have authors who share their name. Well, mostly share their name... a Google search for Ed will come up with E.D. at any rate. Sean Doolittle is a first baseman from the University of Virginia who didn't do much at Kane County last year. He was a first founder for the A's last year and according to the bio on the back of the card, the Braves took him in 2004 but he didn't sign. Grrrr... Easley is a catcher from Mississippi State picked up by the D-Backs in the draft. The Jon Knott card officially kills any faith I had in the MLB Rookie card logo. Not only do I already have his 2004 Cracker Jack card, but he played nine games with the Padres that year! I guess he is still a rookie under official guidelines since he's only played in 19 MLB games, but come on already. He is also pictured in an Orioles uni, but he's already bounced to the Twins on a minor league contract. Not much in this pack except for that one guy...

JOBA

Not even three more futures cards with the photos all taken from the exact same spot can undermine the power of Joba. Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects officially has a game 6 moment:


The series is all tied, tune in tomorrow for the deciding game 7!

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