Random baseball card: 2012 Bowman Prospects, Jackie Bradley Jr.

Jackie Bradley Jr. spent 11 seasons in MLB after being selected in the 1st Round of the 2011 Draft by the Boston Red Sox. JBJ is the subject of our first random baseball card.

Collecting baseball cards has been an interest dating back to my youth. Being able to collect and assemble the players I’d become so invested in watching play the sport was a simple extension of my growing fandom. Naturally, for many years every dollar I was able to earn would end up being spent on packs of cardboard.

Eventually, I’d learn to spend that hard-earned money on other things. Life became much broader — the teenage years, going off to college, needing to pay rent, etc., you know the basic nonsense that comes with being an adult — and the money for a hobby became more sparse. Adding to the collection I started all those years ago is rare these days.

Still, there are roughly 52,000+ cards in my collection (at last count), so let’s pick one at random now and then.

The longstanding standard in the baseball card world is Topps. Bowman’s place in the hobby has never been far behind.

The 2012 Bowman set included 220 base cards and a 110-card prospect insert set. The biggest rookie cards in the set included Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish and A’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

That prospect insert set is where card #BP66 originates from. It marked the first time Jackie Bradley Jr. appeared on a Bowman prospect card — while not the same as a player’s rookie card, a player’s 1st Bowman is often a popular chase among collectors.

Boston had four of the first 60 picks in the 2011 Draft. The team gave up their original pick in the 1st Round as compensation for signing Carl Crawford in free agency. The Sox also watched Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltré depart, netting them a pair of compensatory selections in return for each.

The Red Sox used those four picks to draft Matt Barnes, Blake Swihart, Henry Owens, and, finally at 40th overall, Bradley.

Two years later, Bradley would earn an invitation to spring training and his performance would earn him a place on the club’s 2013 Opening Day roster, starting in left field. He would struggle at the plate that first year, hitting just .189/.280/.337 in just 107 plate appearances.

Bradley’s calling card would never be his offense. Defensively, however, JBJ was one of the more talented players on the field throughout his career. His defensive standouts made him a quick fan-favorite in Boston.

Red Sox pitching also reaped the benefits of having an outstanding defensive outfield — Andrew Benintendi in left, JBJ in center, Mookie Betts in right — for many years.

Bradley slashed .225/.303/.381 over nearly 4,200 plate appearances in his 11-year career. He hit 109 home runs, 204 doubles, and stole 69 bases.