CHEAP WAX WEDNESDAY BOX BREAKS: 2001 TEAM BEST MINOR LEAGUE COLLECTOR EDITION
2001 Team Best Set Collector Edition Baseball featured a 102-card base set featuring only minor leaguers. Featured players were selected from every level of the minors, with each base card highlighting the level the player was playing, from A to AA to AAA. The cards also showed the players in their minor league duds, which I love!
In addition to the base set, there were just two insert sets. Both Babbitt’s Bombers and Best Lumber inserts were fairly tough to pull. In fact, you may open an entire box and not find a single one. Autographs were also featured, with a somewhat short checklist. Just 19 players were included in their autograph checklist.
The best autographs? Adam Dunn, Josh Hamilton, John Lackey, Ben Sheets & Barry Zito.
2001 Team Best Set Collector Edition Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 8
Packs per box: 24
Price paid: $25
Pack 1 Highlights:
Alfonso Soriano and Aubrey Huff
Soriano was called up to the majors for good in 2001, and finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting behind Ichiro and Sabathia.
Pack 2:
Dernell Stenson and Kevin Nicholson Autograph (1 in every 8 packs)
Pack 3:
Mark Buehrle
Buehrle was also up in the big leagues for good starting in 2001, and all he did was go 16-8 with a 3.29 ERA.
Pack 4:
Joe Crede
Pack 5:
Jack Cost and Brad Wilkerson
Remember when Jack Cust averaged 28 home runs per season 2007-2009? No? Just me?
Pack 6:
Sean Burroughs
Pack 7:
Barry Zito
Zito wasn’t even mentioned in Moneyball, even though he went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA en route to winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2002.
Pack 8:
C.C. Sabathia, Aramis Ramirez, and Corey Patterson
Pack 9:
Willie Bloomquist and Ben Broussard
Bloomquist is currently the head baseball coach at Arizona State University.
Pack 10:
Casey Fossum and Jon Garland
Pack 11:
Brandon Inge and Mike Bynum Autograph (1:8 packs)
Bynum pitched in just 29 major league games, posting a 7.73 career ERA.
Pack 12:
Hee Soep Choi and Ramon Castro
Pack 13:
Ben Sheets and Josh Hamilton
Because of his struggles with drug addiction, Hamilton wouldn’t make his major league debut until 2007.
Pack 14:
Josh Beckett
Pack 15:
Juan Pierre, Marlon Anderson, and Carlos Pena
“You traded Pena?? You’re killing this team.”
Pack 16:
Milton Bradley
Pack 17:
Josh Hamilton and Jason Tyner
Tyner finished his 8-year major league career with a very respectable .275 batting average.
Pack 18:
Tomokazu Ohka
Pack 19:
Ben Sheets
Sheets was selected as an All-Star in 2001, his first big league season.
Pack 20:
Josh Beckett and George Lombard
Pack 21:
Juan Pierre, Carlos Pena, and John Lackey Autograph (1:8 packs)
Lackey was extremely consistent, finishing his 15 year career with a 3.92 ERA.
Pack 22:
Barry Zito
Pack 23:
Adam Piatt
Piatt played in parts of four major league seasons, mostly as a backup outfielder.
Pack 24:
Vernon Wells
Lastly, the Wells card back. He certainly did contribute in 2001, batting .313 in 30 big league games.
Well, that concludes Minor League May for the year. We will get back to major league products next week!
