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TOM BRADY BASEBALL CARDS

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Tom Brady is widely considered one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL. While he became a legend on the football field, Brady was also a talented baseball player in his youth. As a result, several Tom Brady baseball cards exist that commemorate his athletic career prior to finding fame in the NFL.

Brady grew up in San Mateo, California and attended Junipero Serra High School. In addition to excelling at football as the starting quarterback, Brady was also a star catcher and center fielder on the baseball team. He held scholarship offers to play both baseball and football in college. In fact, Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft but ultimately chose to attend the University of Michigan to play football instead.

Despite never appearing in a Major League Baseball game, Brady’s baseball talents as a young player led to a few card releases that are highly collectible today. Some of the more notable Tom Brady baseball cards include:

1996 Bowman Chrome Draft: This insert card features a photo of Brady in a Serra High baseball uniform. It marks one of the earliest cards made since he was drafted by the Expos that year. PSA 10 examples often sell for several hundred dollars considering Brady’s eventual NFL fame.

2000 SP Authentic Rookie/Baseball Card: This is one of Brady’s true rookie cards from his high school baseball days. It pictures him batting right-handed with stats from his Serra High career. Higher graded versions fetch over $1,000 due to the card’s iconic status as a Brady baseball rookie.

2000 Topps Chrome Draft Pick Prospects Autograph: A short printed insert set featuring autographed MLB draft picks, this Brady card carries his signature from his Expos drafting year. It provides one of the few authenticated Brady signatures from his baseball playing days. PSA/BEMA 10 Gem Mint slabs regularly sell for well over $10,000.

2002 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Baseball Relic: This card includes a swatch of Brady’s authentic high school baseball jersey, making it one of the select relic cards in existence featuring Brady memorabilia from the sport. The jersey swatch adds significant value given Brady’s later NFL accomplishments. Ungraded examples sell for thousands.

2004 Topps Tribute Patch Autograph: As part of Topps’ “Football pays tribute to baseball” insert set, this 1/1 unique card shows Brady in Patriots uniform with a distressed on-card jersey patch autograph. It stands out as the lone 1/1 Brady patch card recognizing his dual-sport background. Worth over $20,000 when it hits the market.

Interestingly, despite focusing solely on his football career, Brady has mentioned in interviews throughout his NFL tenure that he still loves baseball and stays engaged with the sport. He even hosts an annual celebrity softball game fundraiser called “Tom vs. Time” where former MLB players participate.

This history has kept Brady’s baseball cards highly relevant for collectors interested in his entire athletic story. While quantities are limited given his unrealized MLB career path, the rarity and Brady’s folklore as a multi-talented athlete continue to drive enthusiast demand and significant prices for his baseball card portfolio. As his NFL legend grows, so too does collecting interest in artifacts from Brady’s origins as a touted two-sport high school star over 25 years ago.

BOWMAN BASEBALL CARDS TOM BRADY

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While Tom Brady is best known as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history with the New England Patriots, he was actually drafted by Major League Baseball as an 18th round pick by the Montreal Expos in 1995. Though Brady chose to pursue a career in football instead of baseball, his potential as a baseball player was such that he received Bowman baseball card issues in the late 1990s during his rise to stardom in the NFL.

Bowman was one of the leading baseball card manufacturers throughout the 20th century, known for issuing prospects and rookie cards of future Hall of Famers long before they achieved superstardom. In 1998 and 1999, during Brady’s early years with the Patriots, Bowman recognized his athletic talents and included rookie and prospect cards of him in their annual sets despite the fact that he had chosen football over baseball. These rare Tom Brady baseball cards provide a unique window into Brady’s athletic background and potential in America’s pastime before he became a household name in the NFL.

The first Tom Brady baseball card came in 1998 Bowman’s Best, issued the year after Brady was drafted by the Expos. Sporting Patriots jersey #12 but with his baseball stats and drafting details listed, the Brady card stands out amongst the sea of future MLB stars featured in the set. Brady’s card value has increased steadily over the years due to his football accomplishments and the card’s status as one of the only professional football players included in a major baseball card set of the late 90s/early 2000s. PSA 10 Gem Mint examples of the 1998 Bowman’s Best Brady card now sell for over $1000 given its uniqueness.

In 1999, Brady received an even more prominent baseball card issue from Bowman. As a rookie quarterback coming off a promising season with the Patriots, Brady was included amongst the prospects in the 1999 Bowman set. Again wearing his Patriots jersey but with his baseball bio, the 1999 Bowman Tom Brady rookie card stands out from the many future All-Stars in the set. Examples receive strong grades and have increased in value exponentially since Brady’s NFL success. PSA 10 Gem Mint versions of Brady’s scarce 1999 Bowman rookie card now sell for upwards of $5000-10000 given his legendary career and the card’s status as a true “one-of-one” in the baseball card world.

While Brady never actually played a single game in MLB, the 1998 and 1999 Bowman issues acknowledge and commemorate his baseball drafting and the significant athletic talents that led the Expos to select him despite his choosing to play football instead. As Brady has gone on to become arguably the greatest NFL quarterback ever and cement his status as a worldwide celebrity, the rarity and uniqueness of his baseball card issues from the late 90s make them enormously desirable collectibles. They serve as a reminder of the path not taken for Brady in baseball and are a fascinating historical curiosity from a time before his football greatness was fully realized.

For serious Brady and baseball card collectors, finding high grade copies of his 1998 Bowman’s Best and 1999 Bowman rookie in a PSA/BGS slab is a true prized possession. Both cards already hold significant value purely due to rarity and Brady’s achievements, and that value is all but guaranteed to keep increasing as Brady potentially adds to his NFL trophy case and cement his GOAT status before retirement. Even for casual collectors just looking for an interesting piece of sports history, Brady’s baseball cards provide a quirky conversation piece and tangible link to the other professional path the quarterback could have followed. Nearly 25 years after they were issued, Brady’s rare Bowman baseball issues continue to fascinate collectors and serve as a unique legacy from his original two-sport professional prospects.

While Tom Brady opted to exclusively focus his incredible athletic talents on football, the 1998 and 1999 Bowman baseball card issues representing his brief drafting by the Expos are remarkable historical artifacts. They represent a path not taken for Brady on the diamond and acknowledge the skills that could have made him a professional baseball player instead. As Brady has gone on to etch his name alongside Joe Montana and Jerry Rice as perhaps the greatest NFL quarterback ever, the rarity and uniqueness of his baseball cards from the late 90s make them enormously valuable collectibles. They provide a special connection to Brady’s athletic versatility and two-sport background before he became a global icon leading the Patriots dynasty. For serious sports collectors and Brady enthusiasts, finding high grade copies of these one-of-one cards remains a highly coveted prize.

BOWMAN DRAFT BASEBALL CARDS TOM BRADY

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While Tom Brady is best known as an NFL quarterback, he was actually drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft. Though Brady never played professional baseball, his selection by the Expos made him eligible to be featured in Bowman draft baseball cards during his amateur career in the late 1990s.

Bowman was the premier brand for baseball card issues related to the MLB Draft from the early 1990s through the mid-2000s. Each year, Bowman would produce sets highlighting the top prospects and recent draft picks from each draft class. For players like Brady who were drafted but chose to pursue other sports, these draft cards served as the only baseball card representation they would receive despite their MLB draft eligibility.

In 1995, Brady’s first year of draft eligibility after graduating from high school, he was featured in the 1995 Bowman Draft Pick baseball card set. The design of Brady’s rookie card was simple, with a blue border and white front displaying his headshot photo, basic stats, and Expos draft information. Despite his future NFL stardom, Brady’s 1995 Bowman card is still a fairly common and low-value piece for draft card collectors. His signing with Michigan to play college football rather than pursuing a pro baseball career diminished interest in his baseball card at the time.

Over the next two years, Brady continued to be included in Bowman’s annual draft sets as his college football career at Michigan progressed. His 1996 Bowman card showed little change from the original, while the 1997 issue upgraded to a photo of Brady in a Michigan football uniform rather than a headshot. By then, it was clear Brady’s future lay on the gridiron rather than the diamond. However, Bowman kept including him annually to acknowledge his draft rights still belonged to the Expos organization.

After Brady led Michigan to back-to-back bowl victories in 1998 and 1999, he declared for the 2000 NFL Draft following his senior season. Though still just a 6th round pick by the New England Patriots, Brady’s future NFL stardom was beginning to be recognized. This translated to increased demand from collectors for his final 1998 and 1999 Bowman draft baseball cards.

The 1998 issue showed Brady in full Michigan football pads and uniform, a sign of the sport he had clearly chosen to pursue. Meanwhile, his 1999 Bowman card took things a step further with a photo of Brady in his Patriots preseason jersey and helmet. This marked the first time a Bowman draft card acknowledged a player’s switch to another professional sport besides baseball.

When Brady went on to lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl XXXVI victory over the St. Louis Rams as a rookie, the demand for his final few Bowman baseball cards skyrocketed. Collectors recognized these issues as the only baseball cards capturing a player who was quickly becoming a star NFL quarterback. Prices for the 1998 and 1999 Bowman cards rose significantly above the few dollars they had initially sold for.

In subsequent years, Brady’s success kept fueling collector interest in those late-1990s Bowman draft pick cards. Each Super Bowl victory, MVP award, and championship run saw values climb higher. Today, high-grade examples of Brady’s 1995, 1998, and especially 1999 Bowman rookie baseball cards can sell for thousands of dollars. For a player who never stepped on a MLB field, Brady paradoxically holds some of the most valuable baseball cards as a result of his unprecedented NFL accomplishments.

While Bowman lost the baseball card licensing rights after the 2004 season, they played an important role in documenting Brady’s draft rights transition from baseball to football. Collectors now look to those final few Brady Bowman issues as a unique baseball card representation of an all-time sports legend. They serve as a reminder of the path not taken for the future six-time Super Bowl champion, while maintaining high values reflective of his immortal status in NFL history. No other baseball card sets captured the journey of a player switching sports at the highest level quite like Brady’s Bowman draft years.

In summary, Tom Brady’s Bowman draft baseball cards from the mid-1990s through late 1990s chronicle the transition of a MLB draft pick who chose football glory instead. As Brady developed into the greatest quarterback ever and a global icon, the demand for these sole baseball representations of his amateur days skyrocketed. Today, they are some of the most historically significant and valuable issues from the Bowman draft sets due to capturing the unparalleled rise of an athlete who redefined success in multiple sports.