Minor League May is back! For the rest of the month, minor league products take over Cheap Wax Wednesday.
1999 Team Best Salvino’s Rookie Bammers feature a collectible Salvino’s bear in each box. Remember these? While all the bears in this product are minor league players, Salvino also released bears of MLB stars. I am almost positive I have a Sammy Sosa Salvino somewhere.
Team Best released a handful of minor league products in 1999. The bad news? They can sometimes be confusing to differentiate. For instance, the cards included in this product are actually from the 1999 Team Best Baseball America set. The good news? All of the releases can be found pretty cheaply.
1999 Team Best Salvino’s Rookie Bammers Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 6
Packs per box: 6
Price paid: $10
First up, the bear of course. This happens to be Ryan Anderson who was a first round draft pick in 1997 out of high school. He rose as high as the #7 ranked prospect in all of baseball prior to the 1999 season. He never did make the majors.
Each bear comes with a matching serial-numbered “Trading Card of Authenticity.”
Pack 1 highlight:
Carlos Lee Diamond Best Silver
Not to be confused with regular Silver parallels. Silver and Gold parallels are serial numbered to 50 and 100 copies, while Diamond Best parallels are not numbered. The difference? Diamond Best features the foil bases above the logo.
Pack 2:
Octavio Dotel Diamond Best Gold, Rick Ankiel Diamond Best Silver & Fernando Seguignol Diamond Best
These cards were pretty badly stuck together in the packs.
Pack 3:
Joe Crede Diamond Best Silver
Crede would make his major league debut in 2000 and play parts of ten seasons in the big leagues. He won the Silver Slugger Award in 2006, batting .283 with 30 home runs and 94 RBI.
Pack 4:
Jerry Hairston, Jr. Diamond Best Gold
Hairston played parts of 16 seasons in the majors for nine different teams. Mostly a utility player, Hairston earned over $20 million in his career.
Pack 5:
Jayson Werth Diamond Best Silver & Michael Cuddyer Diamond Best Silver
Drafted in the first round as a catcher, Werth never appeared behind the plate in a major league game.
Pack 6:
Randy Wolf Diamond Best Gold & Brad Penny League MVP
Penny won the 1998 California League MVP award after going 14-5 with a 2.96 ERA for the High Desert Mavericks.
Unfortunately the cards were ruined by being stuck together. I always appreciate adding early cards of guys who went on to good major league careers. That alone makes these Team Best releases fun to rip. It helps that they are some of the cheapest boxes available as well.
Check back next week for more minor league fun!
Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.