Bowman auto master rainbow + Guys From Granite 2021 recap

Five years ago, Johnny Omahen, a guy who went to my high school, had autographs in 2016 Bowman. I went after them and soon completed the rainbow with the exception of the 1/1. That was added to the long list of cards I try to keep an eye out for, and I went about my life. 

My patience paid off and that 1/1 finally popped up the other day for a reasonable buy-it-now price. I quickly pounced on it and now the rainbow is fully complete.

These Retail Prospect Autographs are "paper only", meaning no Chrome counterpart to this card. On one hand, that's nice because there are less cards for me to chase, but on the other hand it sucks because there are less cards for me to chase. LOL. I don't mind an occasional excuse to pick up some new refractors, but not this time. There were also no printing plates packed out for these, which always factors in the feasibility of completing a rainbow.

The 1/1 is officially called the "Metallic" parallel (shown here doing the spider-man meme pointing thing with the base version), but that's just a fancy way of saying grey in this instance. It'd be cool if the card was actually printed on metal or at least had some foil shine or something special like that, but nope, the design just features a touch of grey.

There's still an unofficial parallel for me to keep an eye out for: the orange Christmas Card. My copy of the orange parallel is numbered 19/25, but I hope to one day find number 12/25.

Quick bio: After graduating from Granite Hills High School, Omahen attended Cal State San Marcos and was drafted by the Marlins in the 35th round of the 2011 draft. After a rough 2012, the Marlins cut him loose. He then pitched for an independent team in 2013, impressing scouts there and signing with the Diamondbacks. Splitting time between high-A and AA, John had a nice 2015 season, going 13-3 with a 3.07 ERA, prompting the folks at Topps to give him the autograph card in 2016 Bowman. It would stand to be his only major release, though. He made it up to AAA in '16, but struggled and was done after that season.

Granite Hills H.S. gets alluded to on the back, but not namechecked.

As far as my John Omahen supercollection, now I'm only missing a stadium giveaway variation of his 2012 minor league card (the one I also have signed). I passed on it years ago because it was a little too expensive (basically the only difference is a "Cone Health" logo added), and now it doesn't seem to be available for sale anywhere.. except for as a team set, but that's a bit pricey (Jose Fernandez is the big name in the set). Oh well, it's not that interesting to me. I'm just happy I was able to complete the Bowman rainbow.

I also have a "yin" to this "yang" by way of Johnny's high school teammate, Travis Taijeron, whose only packed-out MLB card was an auto in 2018 Topps Chrome Update. So, only Chrome autos, opposed to Omahen's only paper autos. My Taijeron auto rainbow is just missing the red (non-wave) /5 and a couple printing plates. I can't find any stats for Travis since 2019, so it's safe to assume his time as a player is behind him. He made the show, though, playing in 26 games for the Mets in 2017, cracking one MLB home run to go along with 170 in the minors.

If TCDB can be trusted, Travis has 41 cards. I'll never have them all because he got Topps cards (Pro Debut and Heritage Minors) in 2012, both with printing plates that I have zero of. But not counting 1/1s, there are only 4 more Taijeron cards I'm missing. Also, I have 18 cards bearing Travis' signature (including a few of my customs), which I gotta assume is the most autos I have by one player, or at least near the top of such a list that might exist if I had my collection better cataloged and could therefore check.

With Travis riding off into the sunset, Granite no longer boasts any active players with MLB service time. Let's look to the minors now and see who could possibly be the next guy from Granite to get the call.

Welp, it won't be Jordan Verdon. He retired just before the start of the 2021 season. A 23rd round draft pick by Detroit in 2018, Jordan finishes his pro career with a .246 batting average and a lone home run in 84 games. Really sucks for guys like him that the 2020 MiLB season was canceled, stalling their attempt at climbing up the ladder. Glad he had the one card released (above), at least, so he can be represented in my collection (Bummer that my TTM attempt from 2019 [using a custom I made] didn't bear fruit). Best of luck in the next chapter of your life, Jordan!

This guy, @dshrum25, hit his first Fireflies 💣 yesterday, so today, he's the guy who's featured in our line-up #LetsGlow pic.twitter.com/tzMQmTB5Ys

— Columbia Fireflies (@ColaFireflies) September 10, 2021

Ooh, here's a new guy I wasn't familiar with until researching this post: Dillan Shrum. Dillan had a nice returning-senior season at University of Nevada in 2021 with an OPS of 1.490 in 35 games. Looks like he signed with the Royals as an undrafted free-agent and played in 17 professional games this season. I'll have to keep my eye on him (and hope he gets cards).

Like Dillan, Trenton Brooks is another guy who attended Nevada after Granite Hills (I think they narrowly missed being amateur teammates by a year). He's in the Cleveland chain, and looks like they moved him to first base from the outfield this year. After spending the first month of the season at AA, Trenton got promoted to AAA Columbus and held his own. Maybe-just-maybe he'll get into some mainstream card sets next year and challenge for a spot on the Guardians' 40-man roster. Good luck, Trenton!

Andrew Brown is another guy from Granite who saw a mid-season promotion this year, making the jump to AA after a strong showing in high-A. The Phillies farmhand seems to have been moved to the pen after being a starter much of his pro career. I'm sure Philadelphia is always hungry for live arms, so there should be solid odds on Andrew becoming the 9th player from our high school to crack the bigs. Fingers crossed for ya, Andrew!

Much of the minor league cards in this post were purchased from Go Sports Cards. They are one of the biggest sellers on eBay for modern minor league cards, though I've found you can usually save money by purchasing from their website. Anyways, for this year's order, I was accidentally sent a Ben Brown (not a Guy From Granite) from the 2021 Jersey Shore Blueclaws set, when I had actually ordered Andrew Brown. Joe, the card shop guy, was very responsive and put the correct card in the mail to me on the next business day. A+ service.

I'm glad Joe let me keep the Ben Brown card. I'm really amused that Ben's birthdate is 9-9-99. And on top of that, he's 6'6" (which upside-down is ,,9,9). (I'll even bet his favorite tv show is Brooklyn 99.) Looks like he missed most of 2021 due to injury. Let's hope he's got more of his 9 lives left and comes back strong in '22.

Go GHHS Eagles and thanks for stopping by.

Guys From Granite 2017 Recap

I'm a bit overdue for this, but let's take a look at how pro ballplayers who went to my high school did in 2017.

Travis Taijeron

Taijeron (pronounced Tyrone) was the big news here, as he became the first Granite Hills High School grad since Brian Giles to play Major League Baseball when the Mets called him up in late August. While his overall performance could have been better (.173 in 59 plate appearances), he had a couple nice highlights including his first home run, and a game-winning base-knock that to my delight earned him a Topps Now card, his first mainstream card since 2012. Taijeron's Topps Now card had a print run of 348, one of which was yoinked by me off eBay.

As a collector, I'm very curious to see if he gets included in 2018 checklists. Would love to see some "RC" rookie cards of his to add to my collection. After the season, he signed with the Dodgers as a free agent, hoping to earn a bench spot. So if he does get a card in any early 2018 products, he'll likely be 'shopped into a Dodgers uniform.

Congrats again, Travis, and best of luck to you in LA!


Trenton Brooks

Brooks, an outfielder since going pro, played for a couple of A ball teams in the Indians organization in 2017, batting a combined .202 with 1 tater. Also worth noting is that he pitched one scoreless inning and picked up a save in a lone pitching appearance. I wonder if they'll look at him more on the mound in 2018, or if that game was a one-time thing.


Andrew Brown

Brown pitched at A-Williamsport in the Phillies chain in 2017 and performed well. In 13 games (10 starts), he went 4-4 with a 3.11 ERA, striking out 47 and walking 19. The 20-year-old should quickly make his way up the chain if he keeps that up.


Jayson Rose

Drafted by the Brewers in the 8th round of the 2017 draft, Jayson pitched in 10 rookie league games (6 starts), with 37 strikeouts and 9 walks in 31.2 innings. But he did give up 34 hits and 21 earned runs. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in 2018. Would love to see him get new cards on the market soon, since looks like all he's got now are from 2013 Leaf Perfect Game back in his high school days.


No-longer-active Guys From Granite
Now for the melancholy farewells to those guys who played in the minors recently, but weren't able to make it into that very small sliver of the population that cracks the big leagues. I tip my cap and wish them best of luck in whatever new direction life takes them.


Brian Carroll

Brian Carroll played one season of pro ball (2015), and although he hit .306, he battled injuries, specifically a problem knee, and was cut loose by the Rockies in early 2016. Doesn't look like he got picked up by any team in 2017, ending his pro career. Sorry to see he didn't make it, but I'm glad I was able to get his autograph when I did. That was a fun day at the ballpark.


Brian Humphries

Humphries made it up to AA with the Rockies in 2014 before being released in 2015 spring training. He then had a couple impressive seasons with independent teams, but despite that, couldn't latch on with another affiliated team. He didn't play in 2017, so I gotta assume he hung them up. I really appreciate how he was generous with my TTM requests. Great guy.


Johnny Omahen

John made it up to AAA in 2016, but was released by the Diamondbacks at the end of spring training in 2017. Doesn't look like he caught on with another club. Bummer.



In Memorial

On December 11th, Granite Hills student Will Burton was killed in a car accident. He was an incredible athlete who excelled on the school football and baseball teams. By all accounts, he was a terrific kid, full of positivity. Such a tragic loss.

December 2017 was quite a sad time for the Granite Hills Baseball community. Former coach Gordy Thompson died on December 31 at the age of 76. He managed the school team for many years, including helping shape brothers Brian and Marcus Giles into the major league all-stars they became. He led the Eagles to 8 Grossmont Conference titles, and CIF titles in '77, '94, '98. There's a nice article at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Rest in peace, Will and Gordy.

Guys From Granite: 2016 season review (w/ TTM success + CONTEST)

Regular readers know that two main off-the-beaten-path groups of players I collect are guys named Gavin and guys who went to Granite Hill High School. There's a kinship for me that makes these dudes fun to collect and follow. I recently did a 2016 recap for players named Gavin, now let's do a similar post for active Guys From Granite.

Let's start with a sweet TTM return that came back a little while ago.

Trenton Brooks was one of two former Granite Hills Eagles to be drafted in 2016. I sent him 3 copies of a custom I made from his high school days (the Leaf Signature style card on the left). He kindly kept 2 as my gift to him per my offer and signed/returned 1.. plus he threw in another surprise signed card from his college days (right)! Awesome! It's the first time I ever received a bonus card from an autograph request. And as you see, he even wrote a nice little thank you note on the back of the return envelope.

I put together a little bio for the back of his custom (ok, ok, it's mostly plagiarized from the web). The Nevada card adds some personal info. Interesting that a kid from So. Cal became a Twins fan.. I wonder what the story is there.

As evidenced by the fronts of his two cards, Trenton pitched a lot as an amateur. The Indians like him more as a batter/fielder, though, and he played center field in rookie league this past season. I sent the request to his Arizona League team, and a couple weeks later it returned, mailed from San Diego, I assume his home.

Thanks a ton, Mr. Brooks, and best of luck to you with your career!

- - ---o

Andrew Brown was the other 2016 draftee from Granite Hills, taken in the 13th round, and in fact was drafted right out of high school rather than college. The righty who just turned 19 put up solid numbers with the Gulf Coast League Phillies this past season. With Philadelphia strapped for talent these days, he's probably got a decent shot escalating up the ladder quickly if he keeps pitching well. Good luck, Andrew!

Granite Custom TTM update: Tried, but I didn't have any luck getting this TTM request back. I'll likely give it another shot next year.

-  -- ---o

2016 Las Vegas 51s Travis Taijeron (The MiLB cards in this post are all from my recent GoSportsCards order)

Travis Taijeron put together his second consecutive strong season in AAA (OPS of .886 while leading the PCL in doubles with 42), but the Mets cruelly didn't give him a call-up, instead opting to overpay for Jay Bruce down the stretch to play right field even though there's no question Taijeron would have performed just as good if not better for a fraction of the price. He was also the Mets' best hitter in spring training, for what it's worth. Screw you, Mets front office! Here's a pretty good recent article articulating the situation better than I. Hopefully Travis will be plucked away from that organization and go to a team that finally gives him a chance to show what he can do in the major leagues.

Granite Custom TTM update: Sadly, I've pretty much given up on getting a Travis Taijeron TTM autograph, as 3 separate requests have gone unanswered (one near the end of the 2015 AAA season, one during 2016 spring training, and one during the 2016 season).. bummer. But I still root for the guy despite his reluctance to answer his fanmail. Maybe I'll give it a 4th attempt sometime next year.. I'm persistent, gotta give me that!

-   - - ---o

2016 Mobile BayBears John Omahen, an obvious homage to 1986 Topps

John Omahen had a very nice 2015 in AA. He started back there this past season, and pitched well enough to get promoted to AAA. His luck didn't continue there, unfortunately, and he had a rough time of it (8.59 ERA). I'm not sure what the Diamondbacks have in mind for him at this point, but hopefully he can turn things around in 2017 and get called up.

Granite Custom TTM update: My ill-timed request was sent out to his AA team right around the time he got called up to AAA, and has heretofore gone unanswered. He did kindly sign for me last year, a minor league issue, but it'd be sweet to have a Granite Hills custom signed by him, too. I'll likely try again next season.

I did get a bunch of his autographs this year, though, thanks to him having (retail-only) certified autos included in 2016 Bowman. All I'm missing for the master rainbow is the 1/1 (just the one; no printing plates were put out for this card). Hoping that pops up someday.

-  - -- ---o

2011 Tri-City Dust Devils Brian Humphries (his first card)

The fifth and final Granite grad active in pro ball in 2016 to mention here is Brian Humphries. To recap his career, he was drafted by the Rockies in 2011, and despite solid numbers in the minors, they cut him loose in spring training 2015. Not one to give up, he signed with an independent league team for 2015 and had an awesome year. Surprisingly, he didn't get picked up by an organized-ball team for 2016, but went out and had another very strong season in independent ball, plating a career-high 66 RBI in 97 games. He'll turn 27 next March, so the clock may be ticking on his major league dreams, but I'm rooting for him.

Granite Custom TTM update: Yep, I showed this on the blog already, but he signed for me this year back in July. That makes 2-for-2 in requests with him. Great guy! Best of luck, Brian!

-  - -- ---o

CONTEST:
I get that minor league dudes who went to my high school might not be a topic with wide-reaching appeal, but it's something that I'm excited about... so much so that I want to bribe you guys into reading this post, so here's a contest.

Prize package:

A few autos and customs. With the 2016 Fall Classic coming to a head, I picked guys for the prize package who were World Series Champions.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post predicting who you think will be the next Guy From Granite to make the major leagues. Could be any of these 5 guys or none of the above. This is actually 2 contests in 1, because a few days from now I'll randomize all the entries who commented for the above prize package. Then down the line if/when one of these guys makes the majors, my plan is to again randomize a bonus prize (more autos and customs) between all those who guessed correctly.

So who you got?

UPDATE: Contest entry period is now closed. Thanks to everybody who entered!

Minor League lot

If you've gone looking for modern minor league cards on eBay, you know there's really only one game in town: gosportscards. That guy has the hook-up for minor league issues from the past few years. I snagged a few singles from him the other day to take advantage of combined shipping. Here's what I got..

Zippy Zappy gave me a heads-up the other day that John (formerly known as "Johnny") Omahen has a retail-only autograph in 2016 Bowman, releasing 4/27. I'm very excited about this and will likely try to rainbow it with all the parallels I can get my hands on. But for now, I've grown my Omahen PC with this pair of 2015 cards. I'm hoping he can become just the second guy from my high school to ever pitch in the majors (after Tom Fordham in the late 90s). His is a nice story, as after being released by the Marlins and spending 2013 on an independent team, he latched on with the Diamondbacks organization and had a fine 2015 season, going 13-3 with a 3.07 ERA. Looks like he's off to a rocky start in AA so far this year, but it's still early.

Finally got my first real Brian Carroll card! Maybe you remember last year I made a few customs and had an adventure at the ballpark attempting to get them signed in person. Another Guy From Granite, he battled injuries to finish 2015 strong, ending up with a .306 average and 14 steals in his first professional season. Not sure where he'll play this year, but I'll be keeping an eye out.

Travis Taijeron is back in AAA this season, but you gotta figure he's waiting in the wings if/when the Mets need any outfield help. I was a little surprised to see him shut out of the 2016 Bowman checklist after impressing last year in AAA and this spring training. Hmm. Well, hopefully he gets another mainstream card soon, but for now, this lot of 4 minor league cards will tide me over.

Ok, now we've finished with the players who went to the same high school as me, and moved on to the players named Gavin portion of the order.

Seller gosportscards always puts the keyword "rookie" in his eBay listing titles. Sometimes this makes him look kinda stupid, as this Gavin Floyd card definitely ain't no rookie. He had 5 rehab starts for the Gwinnett Braves in 2014. Since he's only got one card from his stint in Atlanta (2014 Topps Update), I thought it'd be cool to pick up this minor league Braves card. Mr. Floyd has been having a good start to 2016 out of the pen, looking like a shrewd pickup by Toronto. Hopefully he gets a card as a Blue Jay soon.

Gavin Glanz is a guy I successfully got a TTM back from last year. He had some good starts in 2015, but ultimately finished the season at 2-5 with a 4.84 ERA in the low minors. Not sure where he's at this year, but I'll be rooting for him.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend, everybody!