2008 Stadium Club First Day Issue #109 Garrett Mock

Garrett Mock played baseball for two years, 2003 and 2004. The 2003 season was a very good one for the Coogs. The team went 37-30 playing a very difficult schedule. That schedule prepared the team for a run in the NCAA tournament. UH won the College Station Regional. UH started the Regional slowly losing their first game, but they then proceeded to win the next four including the last two beating Texas A&M at their home field. The Coogs lost in the Super Regionals to Rice who went on to win the national championship. The team finished ranked 16th.

The pitching staff of the 2003 team was loaded. Along with Mock, the pitching staff included Brad Sullivan, Danny Zell, and Ryan Wagner.

The 2004 season was a little more difficult. The Coogs went 30-29 and missed the NCAA tournament. Mock had a solid season though leading the team in ERA. His performance and potential were good enough to get him drafted by Arizona in the third round of the Major League Baseball draft.

Garrett played a few years in the Minor Leagues before landing with the Washington Nationals. He made his Major League debut on June 8th, 2008. He pitched 41 innings as a reliever going 1-3 with a 4.17 ERA. Let's hope he stays in the big leagues and has a successful career.

Today's card is the 2008 Stadium Club First Day Issue #109. 2008 marked the return of the Stadium Club brand know for its amazing photography. It returned as a mid level card set with some controversy due to its fairly high price.

The cards are beautiful though. The photography maintains the tradition of the Stadium Club brand and this card is no exception. I feel like I'm in the batters box waiting for the pitch to fly by me.

The First Day variation is another Stadium Club callback based on the first day of print production. The card is limited to 599 produced so it's not exceptionally rare by today's standards, but much rarer than the original Stadium Club product.