Hi all,
With the news of MLBs new deal with Fanatics potentially signaling the end of Topps’s 70 year run in the baseball card industry unless the brand is purchased, I wanted to start a thread where all can share their favorite Topps card. Regardless of print run, grade, set, team or player. The only rule is that you have to pick one. Think about why you like the card, doesn’t have to be value, maybe it’s a memory or it’s related to a special time or a favorite season of being a fan of the game. Whatever it is, feel free to share!
I’ll deliver the first pitch…
Around 2011-2012 I began to seriously get into baseball. I had my first and only season of youth baseball under my belt and even though it didn’t go very well (from an athletic standpoint, terrible actually) I was hooked. I began to pay more attention to the big leagues and actually watch the game. I also asked my parents who their favorite players of all time were and their favorite teams. I knew my Mom was an Astros fan and because of her, I had chosen them as my team back in ‘05 even though I was from Colorado and should probably be a Rockies fan. As for a favorite player, she didn’t have one and still doesn’t. She enjoys watching talent regardless of team. My Dad was from Seattle and although he wasn’t as nearly as big into baseball as he was football, he would root for the M’s. Unlike Mom, Dad did have a favorite baseball player and the man was actually his favorite athlete of all time. I’m talking about Junior. As a kid in the late 80s and early 90s, Dad was at the height of the Seattle sports experience and got to witness the prime years of the young phenom, Ken Griffey Jr. as he lead the once hapless Mariners to success. I was given the full rundown on the ‘95 season and the team that saved baseball in Seattle as well. To me, those guys were legendary and Junior was no different. I soaked up all his highlights and everything I could read up on the man they called “The Kid.” I was awestruck, never had I seen such swagger and athleticism as a 12 year old kid. My mind was blown and the fact that my Dad got to witness it in person was the coolest in my eyes.
In the summer of 2012, I went on the first of many summer vacations visiting my grandparents in Minnesota and North Dakota. With Minnesota being the first stop, my Grandma made sure that we spent a day or so in Minneapolis on our way to her home so that we could see the big city. We took in a Twinkies game at Target Field and went to the Mall of America among other exciting things. It was at the Mall that I stopped into a sports memorabilia store called “Field of Dreams.” While I browsed the cards I began to look at the higher dollar cards sitting behind glass and lock and key. I asked if they had any Griffey cards to which I was pointed in the right direction. I was immediately drawn to Junior’s 1989 Topps Traded #41. Graded at a PSA 8, it was beautiful. Being the novice I was, with no understanding of the junk wax era, card grades or prices, I immediately asked how much it was? I can’t remember the exact price but I believe it was close to $70 after taxes. I also had about $200 in spending money for my trip. Naturally I said “I’ll take it!” So here I was, 12 years old having just bought one of the most expensive purchases of my life and loving the card. Once I got home after my trip I was so geeked to show my Dad. I think he must’ve jokingly commented something to the affect of “that’s rad! Did you get that for me!?” Knowing that Junior was his favorite player, I honestly felt a bit guilty and thought that he would actually enjoy having it more than I would, so not long after, I did in fact give the card to my Dad.
As the years passed, I knew he still had it but I wasn’t seriously into cards so I didn’t pay it much mind. After my Dad passed away in the summer of 2016, I received his Nike shoe box of cards which contained the ‘89 Topps Traded #41. Even after, I still had baseball cards and Griffey cards which I favored more so than the rookie I had first bought before all others. I had a little more info now and realized just how many of that issue were printed and I also became aware of card grading and the value of grades assigned, so the card had sort of lost its luster for me. However, hearing the recent news about Topps got me thinking, “what’s my favorite Topps baseball card?” and I can honestly say it’s the Griffey rookie. More so for the meaning behind it and the excitement that I still remember from when I originally purchased it and sharing it with my Dad but also the cleanness of the design and the image of Griffey. To date it is till my favorite of all his rookie cards even if it was produced up the wazoo.
So I’m curious, what’s your favorite Topps baseball card and why?
Jake
