2003 Bowman Heritage

Description

2003 Bowman Heritage is a 300-card set released by Topps in December, 2003, although it is only sequentially numbered to 280 due to multiple prints of the retired greats.

This set was designed in the style of what the 1956 Bowman set might have looked like had it been issued. Bowman stopped making and distributing baseball cards in 1955 after Topps purchased Bowman Gum Co. However, the company had a set planned for release in 1956. There were three design types: Single Image, Double Image, and Knothole.

These designs were found in a dark blue presentation folder labeled "1956 Baseball Card Preference Study" and was purchased by famed broadcaster avid baseball card collector Keith Olbermann -- whom Topps commissioned to write an essay that was included on a poster which was packed inside each sealed 2003 Bowman Heritage Hobby box. The folder details an early market research project in which hundreds of children (mostly boys) in five cities were shown seven different designs and asked which they liked best. The top three designs had small quantities printed and were then shown to exactly 324 boys from Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. Three of these test cards were glued to pages within the Preference Study booklet. While the children ultimately selected the double image design, they decided to utilize all three designs for the Bowman Heritage set.

The first 160 cards all feature veteran players on the Single Image design. Cards numbered 161 through 170 feature players who debuted in the 2003 season and each of those players have the Double Image. Cards numbered 171-180 featured retired greats and were issued in all three styles. Cards number 180 through 300 are all Rookie Cards and all those cards are issued in the Knothole design.

Distribution

Hobby: 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99)

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	300	-	?	?
Black-Bordered Facsimile Signature	300	-	one-per-pack	one-per-pack
Rainbow	100	-	one-per-pack	N/A
Gold Rainbow	100	one-of-one	1:4178	N/A
Diamond Cut Relics	55	-	varies	varies
Diamond Cut Relics Red	55	56	1:143	1:143
Diamond Cut Relics Gold	55	one-of-one	1:8193	1:8193
Signs of Greatness	12	-	1:30	1:30
Signs of Greatness Red Ink	12	one-of-one	1:32,141	1:32,141
Delmon Young Autograph	1	-	1:1014	1:1014
Keith Olbermann Autograph	1	-	1:1421	1:1421
Team Topps Blue Chips	5	-	?	?

Checklist

Promos

This three-card set, one from each design, was issued to promote the 2003 Bowman Heritage set.

• PP1 Alex Rodriguez
• PP2 Bo Hart
• PP3 Miguel Cabrera

Base Set

Single Image

• 1 Jorge Posada
• 2 Todd Helton
• 3 Marcus Giles
• 4 Eric Chavez
• 5 Edgar Martinez
• 6 Luis Gonzalez
• 7 Corey Patterson
• 8 Preston Wilson
• 9 Ryan Klesko
• 10 Randy Johnson
• 11 Jose Guillen
• 12 Carlos Lee
• 13 Steve Finley
• 14 A.J. Pierzynski
• 15 Troy Glaus
• 16 Darin Erstad
• 17 Moises Alou
• 18 Torii Hunter
• 19 Marlon Byrd
• 20 Mark Prior
• 21 Shannon Stewart
• 22 Craig Biggio
• 23 Johnny Damon
• 24 Robert Fick
• 25 Jason Giambi
• 26 Fernando Vina
• 27 Aubrey Huff
• 28 Benito Santiago
• 29 Jay Gibbons
• 30 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 31 Rocco Baldelli
• 32 Pat Burrell
• 33 A.J. Burnett
• 34 Omar Vizquel
• 35 Greg Maddux
• 36 Cliff Floyd
• 37 C.C. Sabathia
• 38 Geoff Jenkins
• 39 Ty Wigginton
• 40 Jeff Kent
• 41 Orlando Hudson
• 42 Edgardo Alfonzo
• 43 Greg Myers
• 44 Melvin Mora
• 45 Sammy Sosa
• 46 Russ Ortiz
• 47 Josh Beckett
• 48 David Wells
• 49 Woody Williams
• 50 Alex Rodriguez
• 51 Randy Wolf
• 52 Carlos Beltran
• 53 Austin Kearns
• 54 Trot Nixon
• 55 Ivan Rodriguez
• 56 Shea Hillenbrand
• 57 Roberto Alomar
• 58 John Olerud
• 59 Michael Young
• 60 Garret Anderson
• 61 Mike Lieberthal
• 62 Adam Dunn
• 63 Raul Ibanez
• 64 Kenny Lofton
• 65 Ichiro
• 66 Jarrod Washburn
• 67 Shawn Chacon
• 68 Alex Gonzalez
• 69 Roy Halladay
• 70 Vladimir Guerrero
• 71 Hee Seop Choi
• 72 Jody Gerut
• 73 Ray Durham
• 74 Mark Teixeira
• 75 Hank Blalock
• 76 Jerry Hairston, Jr.
• 77 Erubiel Durazo
• 78 Frank Catalanotto
• 79 Jacque Jones
• 80 Bobby Abreu
• 81 Mike Hampton
• 82 Zach Day
• 83 Jimmy Rollins
• 84 Joel Pineiro
• 85 Brett Myers
• 86 Frank Thomas
• 87 Aramis Ramirez
• 88 Paul Lo Duca
• 89 Dmitri Young
• 90 Brian Giles
• 91 Jose Cruz
• 92 Derek Lowe
• 93 Mark Buehrle
• 94 Wade Miller
• 95 Derek Jeter
• 96 Bret Boone
• 97 Tony Batista
• 98 Sean Casey
• 99 Eric Hinske
• 100 Albert Pujols
• 101 Runelvys Hernandez
• 102 Vernon Wells
• 103 Kerry Wood
• 104 Lance Berkman
• 105 Alfonso Soriano
• 106 Bill Mueller
• 107 Bartolo Colon
• 108 Andy Pettitte
• 109 Rafael Furcal
• 110 Dontrelle Willis
• 111 Carl Crawford
• 112 Scott Rolen
• 113 Chipper Jones
• 114 Magglio Ordonez
• 115 Bernie Williams
• 116 Roy Oswalt
• 117 Kevin Brown
• 118 Cristian Guzman
• 119 Kazuhisa Ishii
• 120 Larry Walker
• 121 Miguel Tejada
• 122 Manny Ramirez
• 123 Mike Mussina
• 124 Mike Lowell
• 125 Scott Podsednik
• 126 Aaron Boone
• 127 Carlos Delgado
• 128 Jose Vidro
• 129 Brad Radke
• 130 Rafael Palmeiro
• 131 Mark Mulder
• 132 Jason Schmidt
• 133 Gary Sheffield
• 134 Richie Sexson
• 135 Barry Zito
• 136 Tom Glavine
• 137 Jim Edmonds
• 138 Andruw Jones
• 139 Pedro Martinez
• 140 Curt Schilling
• 141 Phil Nevin
• 142 Nomar Garciaparra
• 143 Vicente Padilla
• 144 Kevin Millwood
• 145 Shawn Green
• 146 Jeff Bagwell
• 147 Hideo Nomo
• 148 Fred McGriff
• 149 Matt Morris
• 150 Roger Clemens
• 151 Jerome Williams
• 152 Orlando Cabrera
• 153 Tim Hudson
• 154 Mike Sweeney
• 155 Jim Thome
• 156 Rich Aurilia
• 157 Mike Piazza
• 158 Edgar Renteria
• 159 Javy Lopez
• 160 Jamie Moyer

• 171 Willie Mays
• 172 Phil Rizzuto
• 173 Al Kaline
• 174 Warren Spahn
• 175 Jimmy Piersall
• 176 Luis Aparicio
• 177 Whitey Ford
• 178 Harmon Killebrew
• 179 Duke Snider
• 180 Roberto Clemente

Double Image

NOTE: Card #162 is done in the "Knothole" style.

• 161 Miguel Cabrera
• 162 Adam Loewen RC
• 163 Jose Reyes
• 164 Zack Greinke
• 165 Gavin Floyd
• 166 Jeremy Guthrie
• 167 Victor Martinez
• 168 Rich Harden
• 169 Joe Mauer
• 170 Khalil Greene

• 171 Willie Mays
• 172 Phil Rizzuto
• 173 Al Kaline
• 174 Warren Spahn
• 175 Jimmy Piersall
• 176 Luis Aparicio
• 177 Whitey Ford
• 178 Harmon Killebrew
• 179 Duke Snider
• 180 Roberto Clemente

Knothole

• 171 Willie Mays
• 172 Phil Rizzuto
• 173 Al Kaline
• 174 Warren Spahn
• 175 Jimmy Piersall
• 176 Luis Aparicio
• 177 Whitey Ford
• 178 Harmon Killebrew
• 179 Duke Snider
• 180 Roberto Clemente

• 181 David Martinez RC*
• 182 Felix Pie RC
• 183 Kevin Correia RC
• 184 Brandon Webb RC
• 185 Matt Diaz RC
• 186 Lew Ford RC
• 187 Jeremy Griffiths RC
• 188 Matt Hensley RC
• 189 Danny Garcia RC
• 190 Elizardo Ramirez RC
• 191 Greg Aquino RC
• 192 Felix Sanchez RC
• 193 Kelly Shoppach RC
• 194 Bubba Nelson RC*
• 195 Mike O'Keefe RC*
• 196 Hanley Ramirez RC
• 197 Todd Wellemeyer RC
• 198 Dustin Moseley RC
• 199 Eric Crozier RC
• 200 Ryan Shealy RC
• 201 Jeremy Bonderman RC
• 202 Bo Hart RC
• 203 Dusty Brown RC
• 204 Robby Hammock RC
• 205 Jorge Piedra RC
• 206 Jason Kubel RC
• 207 Stephen Randolph RC
• 208 Andy Sisco RC
• 209 Matt Kata RC
• 210 Robinson Cano RC
• 211 Ben Francisco RC
• 212 Arnie Munoz RC
• 213 Ozzie Chavez RC*
• 214 Beau Kemp RC*
• 215 Travis Wong RC*
• 216 Brian McCann RC
• 217 Aquilino Lopez RC
• 218 Bobby Basham RC*
• 219 Tim Olson RC
• 220 Nathan Panther RC*
• 221 Wil Ledezma RC
• 222 Josh Willingham RC
• 223 David Cash RC*
• 224 Oscar Villarreal RC
• 225 Jeff Duncan RC
• 226 Dan Haren RC
• 227 Michel Hernandez RC
• 228 Matt Murton RC
• 229 Clay Hensley RC
• 230 Tyler Johnson RC
• 231 Tyler Martin RC*
• 232 J.D. Durbin RC
• 233 Shane Victorino RC
• 234 Rajai Davis RC
• 235 Chien-Ming Wang RC
• 236 Travis Ishikawa RC
• 237 Eric Eckenstahler
• 238 Dustin McGowan RC
• 239 Prentice Redman RC
• 240 Haj Turay RC*
• 241 Matt DeMarco RC*
• 242 Lou Palmisano RC*
• 243 Eric Reed RC
• 244 Willie Eyre RC
• 245 Ferdin Tejeda RC*
• 246 Michael Garciaparra RC*
• 247 Michael Hinckley RC
• 248 Branden Florence RC*
• 249 Trent Oeltjen RC
• 250 Mike Neu RC
• 251 Chris Lubanski RC*
• 252 Brandon Wood RC
• 253 Delmon Young RC
• 254 Matt Harrison RC
• 255 Chad Billingsley RC
• 256 Josh Anderson RC
• 257 Brian McFall RC*
• 258 Ryan Wagner RC
• 259 Billy Hogan RC*
• 260 Nate Spears RC
• 261 Ryan Harvey RC*
• 262 Wes Littleton RC
• 263 Xavier Paul RC
• 264 Sean Rodriguez RC
• 265 Brian Finch RC*
• 266 Josh Rainwater RC*
• 267 Brian Snyder RC*
• 268 Eric Duncan RC*
• 269 Rickie Weeks RC
• 270 Tim Battle RC*
• 271 Scott Beerer RC*
• 272 Aaron Hill RC
• 273 Casey Abrams RC*
• 274 Jonathan Fulton RC*
• 275 Todd Jennings RC*
• 276 Jordan Pratt RC*
• 277 Tom Gorzelanny RC
• 278 Matt Lorenzo RC*
• 279 Jarrod Saltalamacchia RC
• 280 Mike Wagner RC*

Parallels

All 300 base cards are available in a one-per-pack Black-Bordered Facsimile Signature parallel.

Rainbow

This Hobby-exclusive partially-parallel the 100 Knothole "Rookie" cards (181-280). A one-of-one Gold Rainbow is also available.

Inserts

Box Toppers

Each sealed Hobby box contains one of eight Box Toppers. Each Box Topper is done in the style of the Knothole base cards, and are often confused as base cards. Each card is sequentially-numbered "X of 8" on the reverse.

• 1 Delmon Young
• 2 Rickie Weeks
• 3 Brandon Webb
• 4 Bo Hart
• 5 Felix Pie
• 6 Ryan Harvey
• 7 Eric Duncan
• 8 Aaron Hill

Autographs & Game-Used

Diamond Cuts Relics

Each Diamond Cut Relic is also available in a Red and Gold parallel version. The Reds are serial-numbered to 56 copies, and the Gold are ones-of-one.

The specific odds of finding a Diamond Cuts Relic are as follows.

• BAT: 1:133/packs
• JSY Group A: 1:28/packs
• JSY Group B: 1:936/packs
• JSY Group C: 1:626/packs
• UNI: 1:35/packs

• DC-AJ Andruw Jones JSY A
• DC-AK Austin Kearns JSY A
• DC-AP Albert Pujols BAT
• DC-AR1 Alex Rodriguez JSY A
• DC-AR2 Alex Rodriguez BAT
• DC-AS Alfonso Soriano BAT
• DC-BB Bret Boone JSY A
• DC-BM Brett Myers JSY A
• DC-BW Bernie Williams UNI
• DC-BZ Barry Zito UNI
• DC-CB Craig Biggio UNI
• DC-CF Cliff Floyd UNI
• DC-CG Cristian Guzman JSY A
• DC-CJ1 Chipper Jones BAT
• DC-CJ2 Chipper Jones JSY A
• DC-EC Eric Chavez UNI
• DC-GS Gary Sheffield UNI
• DC-HB Hank Blalock BAT
• DC-HN Hideo Nomo JSY A
• DC-JA Jeremy Affeldt UNI
• DC-JB Jeff Bagwell JSY A
• DC-JE Jim Edmonds UNI
• DC-JG Jason Giambi UNI
• DC-JJ Jason Jennings JSY A
• DC-JL Javy Lopez JSY A
• DC-JLP Josh Phelps JSY C
• DC-JR Jose Reyes JSY A
• DC-JV Javier Vazquez JSY A
• DC-JW Jarrod Washburn UNI
• DC-KI Kazuhiro Sasaki JSY A
• DC-KM Kevin Millwood JSY A
• DC-KW Kerry Wood UNI
• DC-MA Moises Alou JSY C
• DC-MG Mark Grace JSY B
• DC-ML Mike Lowell JSY A
• DC-MM Mark Mulder UNI
• DC-MS Mike Sweeney JSY A
• DC-MT Miguel Tejada UNI
• DC-PL Paul Lo Duca JSY A
• DC-PM Pedro Martinez JSY A
• DC-RC Roberto Clemente BAT
• DC-RH Rickey Henderson BAT
• DC-RP1 Rafael Palmeiro BAT
• DC-RP2 Rafael Palmeiro JSY
• DC-SR1 Scott Rolen BAT
• DC-SR2 Scott Rolen JSY
• DC-SS1 Sammy Sosa BAT
• DC-SS2 Sammy Sosa JSY A
• DC-TA Tony Armas, Jr. JSY A
• DC-TG Troy Glaus UNI
• DC-TH Todd Helton JSY A
• DC-THA Tim Hudson UNI
• DC-TW Ty Wigginton UNI
• DC-VG Vladimir Guererro BAT
• DC-VW Vernon Wells JSY A

Signs of Greatness

Topps had each player sign one, and only one, copy in red ink.

• SG-BF Brian Finch
• SG-BS Brian Snyder
• SG-CB Chad Billingsley
• SG-DW Dontrelle Willis
• SG-FP Felix Pie
• SG-JD Jeff Duncan
• SG-KY Kevin Youkilis
• SG-MM Matt Murton
• SG-RC Robinson Cano
• SG-RH Rich Harden
• SG-RW Rickie Weeks
• SG-TG Tom Gorzelanny

Team Topps Blue Chips Autographs

See 2003 Topps Blue Chips

Delmon Young Autograph

Topps had Delmon Young, the first pick overall in the 2003 MLB Draft, autograph a limited number of his Bowman Heritage base card. This card was available via an exchange card which expired December 31st, 2005.

• 253 Delmon Young

Keith Olbermann Autograph

Topps had broadcaster, and noted card collector, Keith Olbermann autograph some cards for 2003 Bowman Heritage. Olbermann provided Topps with his own personal copies of the 1956 Bowman prototypes on which the designs of the base set are based.

• KOA Keith Olbermann

Bowman Heritage
2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 & 2022