1997 Bowman
Description
1997 Bowman is a 441-card set. For the first time, Bowman Baseball was released in two series (series one numbers 1-221, series two numbers 222-441). This was also the first year of the, now familiar, "Red/Blue" design convention. The 301 top prospects have blue borders while the 140 veteran stars are designated by red borders.
An unannounced Hideki Irabu card (number 221) was added late to the Series One set. Players that were featured for the first time on a Bowman card also carried a blue foil "1st Bowman Card" logo on the card front.
For the second year, Topps offered collectors a cash guarantee on complete sets. To get the guarantee, collectors had to mail in the Guaranteed Certificate Request Form which was found in every three packs of either series along with a $5 registration and processing fee. To redeem the guarantee, collectors had to send a complete set of Bowman regular cards (441 cards in both series) along with the certificate to Topps between August 31 and December 31 in the year 2000. Topps would then send the collector a check for $125.
Rookie Cards in this set include Adrian Beltre, Kerry Wood, Brad Penny, and Eric Chavez in the first series; and Roy Halladay, Aramis Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, Vernon Wells, Jayson Werth, and Lance Berkman in Series Two.
Please note that cards 155 and 158 don't exist. Calvin "Pokey" Reese and George Arias are both numbered 156 (Reese is an uncorrected error - should be numbered 155). Chris Carpenter and Eric Milton are both numbered 159 (Carpenter is an uncorrected error - should be numbered 158).
Distribution
Reviews
Insertion Ratios
| Cards | Total Cards | Numbered To | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 441 | - | ? |
| Internationals | 441 | - | one-per-pack |
| Bowman's Best Preview | 20 | - | 1:12 |
| Bowman's Best Preview Refractor | 20 | - | 1:48 |
| Bowman's Best Preview Atomic Refractor | 20 | - | 1:96 |
| Scout's Honor Roll | 15 | - | 1:12 |
| 1998 ROY Favorites | 15 | - | 1:12 |
| International Best | 20 | - | 1:12 |
| International Best Refractor | 20 | - | 1:48 |
| International Best Atomic Refractor | 20 | - | 1:96 |
| Blue Ink Autograph | 89 | - | 1:96 |
| Black Ink Autograph | 89 | - | 1:503 |
| Gold Ink Autograph | 89 | - | 1:1509 |
| Derek Jeter Blue/Green Ink Autograph | 1 | - | 1:1928
} ChecklistBase SetSeries OneVeterans (Reds)1 Derek Jeter 2 Edgar Renteria 3 Chipper Jones 4 Hideo Nomo 5 Tim Salmon 6 Jason Giambi 7 Robin Ventura 8 Tony Clark 9 Barry Larkin 10 Paul Molitor 11 Bernard Gilkey 12 Jack McDowell 13 Andy Benes 14 Ryan Klesko 15 Mark McGwire 16 Ken Griffey Jr. 17 Robb Nen 18 Cal Ripken 19 John Valentin 20 Ricky Bottalico 21 Mike Lansing 22 Ryne Sandberg 23 Carlos Delgado 24 Craig Biggio 25 Eric Karros 26 Kevin Appier 27 Mariano Rivera 28 Vinny Castilla 29 Juan Gonzalez 30 Al Martin 31 Jeff Cirillo 32 Eddie Murray 33 Ray Lankford 34 Manny Ramirez 35 Roberto Alomar 36 Will Clark 37 Chuck Knoblauch 38 Harold Baines 39 Trevor Hoffman 40 Edgar Martinez 41 Geronimo Berroa 42 Rey Ordonez 43 Mike Stanley 44 Mike Mussina 45 Kevin Brown 46 Dennis Eckersley 47 Henry Rodriguez 48 Tino Martinez 49 Eric Young 50 Bret Boone 51 Raul Mondesi 52 Sammy Sosa 53 John Smoltz 54 Billy Wagner 55 Jeff D'Amico 56 Ken Caminiti 57 Jason Kendall 58 Wade Boggs 59 Andres Galarraga 60 Jeff Brantley 61 Mel Rojas 62 Brian L. Hunter 63 Bobby Bonilla 64 Roger Clemens 65 Jeff Kent 66 Matt Williams 67 Albert Belle 68 Jeff King 69 John Wetteland 70 Deion Sanders Prospects (Blues)71 Bubba Trammell RC 72 Felix Heredia RC 73 Billy Koch 74 Sidney Ponson RC 75 Ricky Ledee RC 76 Brett Tomko 77 Braden Looper RC 78 Damian Jackson 79 Jason Dickson 80 Chad Green RC 81 R.A. Dickey RC 82 Jeff Liefer 83 Matt Wagner 84 Richard Hidalgo 85 Adam Riggs 86 Robert Smith 87 Chad Hermansen RC 88 Felix Martinez 89 J.J. Johnson 90 Todd Dunwoody 91 Katsuhiro Maeda 92 Darin Erstad 93 Elieser Marrero 94 Bartolo Colon 95 Chris Fussell 96 Ugueth Urbina 97 Josh Paul RC 98 Jaime Bluma 99 Seth Greisinger RC 100 Jose Cruz, Jr. RC 101 Todd Dunn 102 Joe Young 103 Jonathan Johnson 104 Justin Towle RC 105 Brian Rose 106 Jose Guillen 107 Andruw Jones 108 Mark Kotsay RC 109 Wilton Guerrero 110 Jacob Cruz 111 Mike Sweeney 112 Julio Mosquera 113 Matt Morris 114 Wendell Magee 115 John Thomson 116 Javier Valentin 117 Tom Fordham 118 Ruben Rivera 119 Mike Drumright RC 120 Chris Holt 121 Sean Maloney 122 Michael Barrett 123 Tony Saunders RC 124 Kevin Brown C 125 Richard Almanzar 126 Mark Redman 127 Anthony Sanders RC 128 Jeff Abbott 129 Eugene Kingsale 130 Paul Konerko 131 Randall Simon RC 132 Andy Larkin 133 Rafael Medina 134 Mendy Lopez 135 Freddy Adrian Garcia 136 Karim Garcia 137 Larry Rodriguez RC 138 Carlos Guillen 139 Aaron Boone 140 Donnie Sadler 141 Brooks Kieschnick 142 Scott Spiezio 143 Everett Stull 144 Enrique Wilson 145 Milton Bradley RC 146 Kevin Orie 147 Derek Wallace 148 Russ Johnson 149 Joe Lagarde RC 150 Luis Castillo 151 Jay Payton 152 Joe Long 153 Livan Hernandez 154 Vladimir Nunez RC 155 Pokey Reese UER (actually numbered 156, should be 155) 156 George Arias 157 Homer Bush 158 Chris Carpenter UER (actually numbered 159, should be 158) 159 Eric Milton RC 160 Richie Sexson 161 Carl Pavano 162 Chris Gissell RC 163 Mac Suzuki 164 Pat Cline 165 Ron Wright 166 Dante Powell 167 Mark Bellhorn 168 George Lombard 169 Pee Wee Lopez RC 170 Paul Wilder RC 171 Brad Fullmer 172 Willie Martinez RC 173 Dario Veras RC 174 Dave Coggin 175 Kris Benson RC 176 Torii Hunter 177 D.T. Cromer 178 Nelson Figueroa RC 179 Hiram Bocachica RC 180 Shane Monahan 181 Jimmy Anderson RC 182 Juan Melo 183 Pablo Ortega RC 184 Calvin Pickering RC 185 Reggie Taylor 186 Jeff Farnsworth RC 187 Terrence Long 188 Geoff Jenkins 189 Steve Rain RC 190 Nerio Rodriguez 191 Derrick Gibson RC 192 Darin Blood 193 Ben Davis 194 Adrian Beltre RC 195 Damian Sapp RC 196 Kerry Wood RC 197 Nate Rolison RC 198 Fernando Tatis RC 199 Brad Penny RC 200 Jake Westbrook RC 201 Edwin Diaz 202 Joe Fontenot RC 203 Matt Halloran RC 204 Blake Stein RC 205 Onan Masaoka 206 Ben Petrick 207 Matt Clement RC 208 Todd Greene 209 Ray Ricken 210 Eric Chavez RC 211 Edgard Velazquez 212 Bruce Chen RC 213 Danny Patterson 214 Jeff Yoder 215 Luis Ordaz RC 216 Chris Widger 217 Jason Brester 218 Carlton Loewer 219 Chris Reitsma RC 220 Neifi Perez 221 Hideki Irabu RC Series TwoVeterans (Reds)222 Ellis Burks 223 Pedro Martinez 224 Kenny Lofton 225 Randy Johnson 226 Terry Steinbach 227 Bernie Williams 228 Dean Palmer 229 Alan Benes 230 Marquis Grissom 231 Gary Sheffield 232 Curt Schilling 233 Reggie Sanders 234 Bobby Higginson 235 Moises Alou 236 Tom Glavine 237 Mark Grace 238 Ramon Martinez 239 Rafael Palmeiro 240 John Olerud 241 Dante Bichette 242 Greg Vaughn 243 Jeff Bagwell 244 Barry Bonds 245 Pat Hentgen 246 Jim Thome 247 Jermaine Allensworth 248 Andy Pettitte 249 Jay Bell 250 John Jaha 251 Jim Edmonds 252 Ron Gant 253 David Cone 254 Jose Canseco 255 Jay Buhner 256 Greg Maddux 257 Brian McRae 258 Lance Johnson 259 Travis Fryman 260 Paul O'Neill 261 Ivan Rodriguez 262 Gregg Jefferies 263 Fred McGriff 264 Derek Bell 265 Jeff Conine 266 Mike Piazza 267 Mark Grudzielanek 268 Brady Anderson 269 Marty Cordova 270 Ray Durham 271 Joe Carter 272 Brian Jordan 273 David Justice 274 Tony Gwynn 275 Larry Walker 276 Cecil Fielder 277 Mo Vaughn 278 Alex Fernandez 279 Michael Tucker 280 Jose Valentin 281 Sandy Alomar Jr. 282 Todd Hollandsworth 283 Rico Brogna 284 Rusty Greer 285 Roberto Hernandez 286 Hal Morris 287 Johnny Damon 288 Todd Hundley 289 Rondell White 290 Frank Thomas Prospects (Blues)291 Don Denbow RC 292 Derrek Lee 293 Todd Walker 294 Scott Rolen 295 Wes Helms 296 Bob Abreu 297 John Patterson RC 298 Alex Gonzalez RC 299 Grant Roberts RC 300 Jeff Suppan 301 Luke Wilcox 302 Marlon Anderson 303 Ray Brown 304 Mike Caruso RC 305 Sam Marsonek RC 306 Brady Raggio RC 307 Kevin McGlinchy RC 308 Roy Halladay RC 309 Jeremi Gonzalez RC 310 Aramis Ramirez RC 311 Dee Brown RC 312 Justin Thompson 313 Jay Tessmer RC 314 Mike Johnson RC 315 Danny Clyburn 316 Bruce Aven 317 Keith Foulke RC 318 Jimmy Osting RC 319 Valerio De Los Santos RC 320 Shannon Stewart 321 Willie Adams 322 Larry Barnes RC 323 Mark Johnson RC 324 Chris Stowers RC 325 Brandon Reed 326 Randy Winn 327 Steve Chavez RC 328 Nomar Garciaparra 329 Jacque Jones RC 330 Chris Clemons 331 Todd Helton 332 Ryan Brannan RC 333 Alex Sanchez RC 334 Arnold Gooch 335 Russell Branyan 336 Daryle Ward 337 John LeRoy RC 338 Steve Cox 339 Kevin Witt 340 Norm Hutchins 341 Gabby Martinez 342 Kris Detmers 343 Mike Villano RC 344 Preston Wilson 345 James Manias RC 346 Deivi Cruz RC 347 Donzell McDonald RC 348 Rod Myers RC 349 Shawn Chacon RC 350 Elvin Hernandez RC 351 Orlando Cabrera RC 352 Brian Banks 353 Robbie Bell 354 Brad Rigby 355 Scott Elarton 356 Kevin Sweeney RC 357 Steve Soderstrom 358 Ryan Nye 359 Marlon Allen RC 360 Donny Leon RC 361 Garrett Neubart RC 362 Abraham Nunez RC 363 Adam Eaton RC 364 Octavio Dotel RC 365 Dean Crow RC 366 Jason Baker RC 367 Sean Casey 368 Joe Lawrence RC 369 Adam Johnson RC 370 Scott Schoeneweis RC 371 Gerald Witasick Jr. RC 372 Ronnie Belliard RC 373 Russ Ortiz 374 Robert Stratton RC 375 Bobby Estalella 376 Corey Lee RC 377 Carlos Beltran 378 Mike Cameron 379 Scott Randall RC 380 Corey Erickson RC 381 Jay Canizaro 382 Kerry Robinson RC 383 Todd Noel RC 384 A.J. Zapp RC 385 Jarrod Washburn 386 Ben Grieve 387 Javier Vazquez RC 388 Tony Graffanino 389 Travis Lee RC 390 DaRond Stovall 391 Dennis Reyes RC 392 Danny Buxbaum 393 Marc Lewis 394 Kelvim Escobar RC 395 Danny Klassen 396 Ken Cloude RC 397 Gabe Alvarez 398 Jaret Wright RC 399 Raul Casanova 400 Clayton Bruner RC 401 Jason Marquis RC 402 Marc Kroon 403 Jamey Wright 404 Matt Snyder RC 405 Josh Garrett RC 406 Juan Encarnacion 407 Heath Murray 408 Brett Herbison RC 409 Brent Butler RC 410 Danny Peoples RC 411 Miguel Tejada RC 412 Damian Moss 413 Jim Pittsley 414 Dmitri Young 415 Glendon Rusch 416 Vladimir Guerrero 417 Cole Liniak RC 418 Ramon Hernandez 419 Cliff Politte RC 420 Mel Rosario RC 421 Jorge Carrion RC 422 John Barnes RC 423 Chris Stowe RC 424 Vernon Wells RC 425 Brett Caradonna RC 426 Scott Hodges RC 427 Jon Garland RC 428 Nathan Haynes RC 429 Geoff Goetz RC 430 Adam Kennedy RC 431 T.J. Tucker RC 432 Aaron Akin RC 433 Jayson Werth RC 434 Glenn Davis RC 435 Mark Mangum RC 436 Troy Cameron RC 437 J.J. Davis RC 438 Lance Berkman RC 439 Jason Standridge RC 440 Jason Dellaero RC 441 Hideki Irabu Parallels
InsertsBowman's Best PreviewsThis 20-card, chromium-stock, set previews the 1997 Bowman's Best set. All cards are available in the following Refractor parallels.
1 Frank Thomas 2 Ken Griffey Jr. 3 Barry Bonds 4 Derek Jeter 5 Chipper Jones 6 Mark McGwire 7 Cal Ripken 8 Kenny Lofton 9 Gary Sheffield 10 Jeff Bagwell 11 Wilton Guerrero 12 Scott Rolen 13 Todd Walker 14 Ruben Rivera 15 Andruw Jones 16 Nomar Garciaparra 17 Vladimir Guerrero 18 Miguel Tejada 19 Bartolo Colon 20 Katsuhiro Maeda Scout's Honor Roll1 Dmitri Young 2 Bob Abreu 3 Vladimir Guerrero 4 Paul Konerko 5 Kevin Orie 6 Todd Walker 7 Ben Grieve 8 Darin Erstad 9 Derrek Lee 10 Jose Cruz Jr. 11 Scott Rolen 12 Travis Lee 13 Andruw Jones 14 Wilton Guerrero 15 Nomar Garciaparra 1998 ROY FavoritesIt should be noted that the actual 1998 Rookies of the Year (Ben Grieve and Kerry Wood) are not included. ROY1 Jeff Abbott ROY2 Karim Garcia ROY3 Todd Helton ROY4 Richard Hidalgo ROY5 Geoff Jenkins ROY6 Russ Johnson ROY7 Paul Konerko ROY8 Mark Kotsay ROY9 Ricky Ledee ROY10 Travis Lee ROY11 Derrek Lee ROY12 Elieser Marrero ROY13 Juan Melo ROY14 Brian Rose ROY15 Fernando Tatis International BestThis 20-card chromium-stock set features a variety of players, mostly from overseas. The design in identical to the 1997 Bowman's Best set. Each card is available in the following Refractor parallels.
BBI1 Frank Thomas BBI2 Ken Griffey Jr. BBI3 Juan Gonzalez BBI4 Bernie Williams BBI5 Hideo Nomo BBI6 Sammy Sosa BBI7 Larry Walker BBI8 Vinny Castilla BBI9 Mariano Rivera BBI10 Rafael Palmeiro BBI11 Nomar Garciaparra BBI12 Todd Walker BBI13 Andruw Jones BBI14 Vladimir Guerrero BBI15 Ruben Rivera BBI16 Bob Abreu BBI17 Karim Garcia BBI18 Katsuhiro Maeda BBI19 Jose Cruz Jr. BBI20 Damian Moss Autographs & Game-UsedAutographsThis 90-card set features top prospects with on-card autographs with the Topps Certified Autograph Issue Stamp. All cards EXCEPT the Derek Jeter are available in three different color parallels.
The Blue Ink cards are the easiest to find while the Golds are the scarcest. The Jeter was only available in either blue (Series One) and green ink (Series Two). CA1 Jeff Abbott CA2 Bob Abreu CA3 Willie Adams CA4 Brian Banks CA5 Kris Benson CA6 Darin Blood CA7 Jaime Bluma CA8 Kevin Brown CA9 Ray Brown CA10 Homer Bush CA11 Mike Cameron CA12 Jay Canizaro CA13 Luis Castillo CA14 Dave Coggin CA15 Bartolo Colon CA16 Rocky Coppinger CA17 Jacob Cruz CA18 Jose Cruz Jr. CA19 Jeff D'Amico CA20 Ben Davis CA21 Mike Drumright CA22 Scott Elarton CA23 Darin Erstad CA24 Bobby Estalella CA25 Joe Fontenot CA26 Tom Fordham CA27 Brad Fullmer CA28 Chris Fussell CA29 Karim Garcia CA30 Kris Detmers CA31 Todd Greene CA32 Ben Grieve CA33 Vladimir Guerrero CA34 Jose Guillen CA35 Roy Halladay CA36 Wes Helms CA37 Chad Hermansen CA38 Richard Hidalgo CA39 Todd Hollandsworth CA40 Damian Jackson CA41 Derek Jeter CA42 Andruw Jones CA43 Brooks Kieschnick CA44 Eugene Kingsale CA45 Paul Konerko CA46 Marc Kroon CA47 Derrek Lee CA48 Travis Lee CA49 Terrence Long CA50 Curt Lyons CA51 Elieser Marrero CA52 Rafael Medina CA53 Juan Melo CA54 Shane Monahan CA55 Julio Mosquera CA56 Heath Murray CA57 Ryan Nye CA58 Kevin Orie CA59 Russ Ortiz CA60 Carl Pavano CA61 Jay Payton CA62 Neifi Perez CA63 Sidney Ponson CA64 Pokey Reese CA65 Ray Ricken CA66 Brad Rigby CA67 Adam Riggs CA68 Ruben Rivera CA69 J.J. Johnson CA70 Scott Rolen CA71 Tony Saunders CA72 Donnie Sadler CA73 Richie Sexson CA74 Scott Spiezio CA75 Everett Stull CA76 Mike Sweeney CA77 Fernando Tatis CA78 Miguel Tejada CA79 Justin Thompson CA80 Justin Towle CA81 Billy Wagner CA82 Todd Walker CA83 Luke Wilcox CA84 Paul Wilder CA85 Enrique Wilson CA86 Kerry Wood CA87 Jamey Wright CA88 Ron Wright CA89 Dmitri Young CA90 Nelson Figueroa |