Thursday, February 14, 2019

2008 Bowman, Brent Morel


#BDPP49 Brent Morel

Here is a card that I got signed at an Omaha Storm Chasers game in 2015. Brent was playing for the visiting Nashville Sounds at the time and I asked him to sign when he came out of the clubhouse. He was one of the last guys out and running a little late, so he told me he would get me after the game. I have heard that line, or one similar, hundreds of times and it is very rare for a player to uphold his promise. But, low and behold, Brent actually came through. I was quite amazed.

That was the second time I tried to get this card signed. The first one was at the Rickwood Classic in 2010. I didn't have a smartphone at the time, so I printed off rosters for the teams I would be seeing before I left for my trip. When I got to Birmingham, the Barons were wearing throwback uniforms without player names on them. So, I found his number and kept calling out for Brent and he kept ignoring me. After a bit, he finally turns around and tells me that he wasn't Brent and that Brent had been promoted to AAA. D'oh!

Brent's Major League career spanned parts of six seasons with the White Sox and Pirates. He played in 219 games during that time and he hit just .227 with 13 home runs and 59 RBI. His best season was with the Sox in 2011. That season, he got into 126 games and he hit .245 with 10 dingers and 41 driven in.

2015 was the last time Brent played in the Majors and in the States. He took his game to Japan for two seasons before apparently calling it a career after the 2017 season.

Nebraska has been added to the 2008 Bowman map. This is the last addition to this map for now. It looks like the final tally is that I got cards signed in fifteen cities and twelve states.

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