Bobby Brownlie Brings Back Memories
Another successful plain white envelope (PWE) arrived safely Thursday, filled with nine Cubs baseball cards. Another win for #TeamPWE.
Joe in Idaho was the sender and sent a nice mix that included Ryne Sandberg, Greg Maddux, Pierce Johnson, Jason Heyward, Rob Zastryzny, Ben Zobrist, and Kyle Hendricks.
And the ninth card is a newbie! My first 2019 Stadium Club Javier Baez. Love the photography used on Stadium Club cards.
The second package came from Paul in California. It included some Javier Baez cards.
At first glance I thought this next card was Kerry Wood. Upon closer look that’s jersey #54, not #34. It’s Renyel Pinto and it’s numbered 73/1599.
A couple mini 1992 Donruss cards of Mark Grace and Andre Dawson.
One card really stood out. A 2004 Bowman Heritage Bobby Brownlie. Not because of the awesome design from 1955 Bowman (the wood grain console TV set).
No, Brownlie brings back some great baseball memories. It was 2002, and I was a sophomore in college. I had discovered a magazine called Baseball America and became immersed. I started tracking mock draft updates and who the top high school and college players would be.
The Cubs had eight of the first 100 picks in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft. Early in the 2002 baseball season, Rutgers pitcher Bobby Brownlie was seen to be a no doubt favorite to be the first overall pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A couple months in, Brownlie was suffering from tendinitis and injury concerns dropped him in mocks as the draft approached.
I still vividly remember sitting at my old Gateway computer on a warm June day following the draft on mlb.com. They even had audio calling out each pick. No commentary, no bells and whistles, just raw audio of a man announcing names on a teleconference.
Bobby Brownlie slipped. The Pirates took Ball State pitcher Bryan Bullington with the top pick. High school shortstop B.J. Upton went second to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays followed by high school pitcher Chris Gruler to the Reds. Pitchers followed at picks four and five with Adam Loewen to the Orioles and Clint Everts to the Expos, respectively.
Injury concerns and agent Scott Boras pushed Brownlie out of the top five. Six more pitchers would be selected in the top 20, names that included Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke, Joe Saunders, and Scott Kazmir.
The Cubs had the 21nd overall pick. Bobby Brownlie is still there. I was grinning ear to ear. Brownlie could be a Cub! His name was called!!! Bobby Brownlie to the Cubs!
By the time he was on the 2004 Bowman Heritage baseball card, Brownlie was a double-A All Star with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx. He was with triple-A Iowa for 2005 and seemed a lock to make his MLB debut. It never came.
The 2006 season was his last in the Cubs organization and between AA and AAA he went 3-14 with a 6.33 ERA with 66K/40BB.
Brownlie played through 2009, when he was with Newark of the independent leagues. Now, Brownlie is a player agent himself with the Boras Corporation, and it always puts a smile on my face when I see Brownlie baseball cards that take me back to a time I was first developing a love (obsession) with the game of baseball.
One Million Cubs Project Stats
Thursday's (7/11/2019) Cards: 205
Thursday's (7/11/2019) Packages: 2
January's Cubs Count: 9,343
February's Cubs Count: 8,980
March's Cubs Count: 15,704
April's Cubs Count: 11,651
May's Cubs Count: 7,273
June's Cubs Count: 7,690
July's Cubs Count: 7,090
Total Trades/Donations: 168
Trade States of Origin: Arizona (2) Alabama (3)
Arkansas California (13)
Colorado (3) Connecticut (9)
Florida (9)
Georgia (3)
Idaho (3) Illinois (14) Indiana (4)
Iowa (2)
Kansas
Kentucky (2) Maryland (7) Massachusetts (4)
Michigan Minnesota (2)
Missouri (2)
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire New Jersey (10)
New Mexico (2) New York (14) North Carolina (5) Ohio (6)
Oregon (2) Pennsylvania (4)
Rhode Island
South Carolina Tennessee (4) Texas (6)
Virginia (2) Washington (4)
West Virginia (3) Wisconsin (10)
Countries of Origin
Korea (1)