Seeing Red

At the end of the holiday festivities, I stopped by my LCS for one last mini box of 2018 Bowman's Best. I thoroughly enjoyed my first box break of the product and did very well overall. I didn't want to set my expectations too high, but I was hoping for another big hit out of the 2nd purchase.

However, I'm not going to do an entire recap of the 2nd Bowman's Best purchase like I did for the first. That's because one of the hits was so unbelievable that it deserves its own post. The hit I pulled was downright jaw-dropping, especially out of a prospect-based set like Bowman's Best.

I'll get straight to the point and show off the card which has since become one of the greatest hits I've ever pulled in my life.

Veteran autographs out of Bowman's Best are hard enough to pull. Red refractors are near impossible. I managed both, of Anthony Rizzo no less, in a card that I'd go as far to say is the 2nd greatest pull out of a pack of cards in my entire life.

It was a moment full of excitement and joy as soon as this card came out of the last autograph pack after what had been an average box so far. It's made even better by the fact that the auto is on-card, and the red refractors are numbered out of 10, and mine specifically is 2/10. 

I knew that there were veteran autos in Bowman's Best, but the autograph checklist is around 85% prospects with the last 15% being rookies and veterans. Rizzo has been my favorite Cub for years now, and this isn't my first stellar pull of his. Back in March of 2018, I hit a flip stock parallel, limited to 5 copies, out of Topps Heritage.

I'll have to make a point to get this card graded at some point soon, the sooner the better. Not only was it incredibly unexpected as I was thinking the last auto would be some no-name prospect, but it's one of the lowest numbered cards I've ever pulled, and it's most definitely the lowest numbered autograph.

Rizzo's been a consistent player for years now, one of the most dependable hitters in all of Baseball, in fact. He's had 4 straight seasons of 100 or more RBI and is a career .270 hitter with a .233 average in 2013 still weighing his career stats down a bit. 

He'll be 30 later this year, and if he keeps up what he's been doing, he could end up in Cooperstown one day in the future. Moreover, my player collection of his is within 10 cards of 100, making him one of the most collected players in my collection considering everything I've pulled of him.

Even with all the other veteran autos in the set, I don't think I could've asked for a better name than Rizzo.