30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, May 18, 2012

Back in the 90's, I actually wanted to pull this redemption card.

Believe it or not... there was a time when I actived chased a redemption card. Seriously... back in 1998 I picked up a few packs of 1998 Skybox E-X2001 and in hopes of pulling this redemption card:


That year a twenty-one year old pitcher had taken the hobby by storm and his name was Kerry Wood. While prospectors may have known his name before, on May 6th, 1998... Wood became a household name.


In just his 5th MLB start, he struck out twenty Houston Astros and pitched a one hit shutout.

His 1997 Bowman's Best, Bowman, and Bowman Chrome rookie cards took off. And although I would have loved to owned these, the card I truly wanted was the above redemption card.

E-X2001 was extremely popular, because of the hobby only distribution and a design that blended a holographic foil background and the increasingly popular acetate technology. The added knowledge of a Wood redemption card made this product impossible to find in my area.

So when I found some at my local card shop, I pulled the trigger and picked up a handful of packs. Unfortunately, I completely struck out.

In fact, I'm not even sure how I acquired that redemption card. My guess is that I found it in a 10¢ bin at a card show.

The same thing goes for this card:


It's the card Skybox sent collectors who redeemed their cards. As you can see, it's a pretty awesome looking card. Too bad it's not his rookie card. But it's a cheap, cool card nonetheless.


Thanks for the memories Kerry. I hope you enjoy your retirement. It's pretty cool that you ended your career striking out the final batter you faced.

Happy Friday everyone and sayonara!

2 comments:

Community Gum said...

Behind on my reading, but very nice post. I'll have to hunt down both of those Kerry Wood cards. It's rare that a redemption has a picture on it, so I don't blame you for wanting it. Besides, back then I had the impression they might be worth something if the majority sent them in!
--Jon

Fuji said...

It's funny that you mention your last statement. I've had more than one discussion on that very same topic. Although in this particular case, I'm sure they made so many of these redemption cards that there's plenty of both to go around.