Tim Raines baseball cards spent most of their lives chasing the the cardboard version of that other all-time leadoff man who plied his trade during the 1980s and 1990s, and who shall remain nameless (for a few paragraphs, at least).

In many ways, the cards mirrored the men themselves.

But …

Tim Raines was a giant killer, and that was never more evident than at the 1987 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Oakland

That summer, Andre Dawson was playing for peanuts in Wrigley Field, trying to prove himself after being shunned on the free agent market. He was smashing baseballs like no one since George Foster had 10 years earlier.

In the American League, strapping young Mark McGwire was a rookie first baseman for the hometown A’s. On the heels of teammate Jose Canseco‘s monster rookie season in 1986, McGwire took up the Bash Brother mantle and matched Dawson homer-for-homer throughout the season.

But on that sweltering July 14th night in the Coliseum, two of the most potent lineups in recent memory battled to a 0-0 tie after nine innings. And after 10 innings. And after 11 innings.

And after 12 innings.

Finally, in the top of the 13th, NL catcher Ozzie Virgil led off with a single against Jay Howell. Lee Smith struck out, Hubie Brooks singled, and Willie McGee lined out.

The number-5 hitter in the inning thus strode to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second.

There is more than a little irony in the fact that that hitter was Tim Raines, the Montreal Expos’ speed burner who normally slotted into the leadoff position. On this occasion, though, it was up to Raines to bring home the bacon — and he delivered by smacking a two-run triple that gave the National League a 2-0 lead.

It didn’t matter that Juan Samuel — another burner — lined out to end the inning, because Sid Fernandez set down the AL in order after allowing a leadoff walk to Kevin Seitzer.

For the game, Raines went 3-for-3 and was an easy pick for MVP, besting all the sluggers and lockdown pitchers who had pushed the contest deep into the night.

It was a stellar performance by a superstar at the peak of his game, but it was soon forgotten as baseballs continued to fly out of stadiums faster than Donruss and Fleer wax packs flew off store shelves that year. By October, Raines had amassed 50 stolen bases, 123 runs, and batted .330. He was one of the very best players on the planet but finished a distant seventh in MVP voting, far, far behind Dawson, who won the NL award.

That season was a microcosm of Raines’ career: consistent superlative play with frequent flashes of otherworldly talent.

But he was always overshadowed.

For most of his time in the Majors, it was Rickey Henderson who relegated Raines to an afterthought in the conversation about the best leadoff men in baseball.

Even when Rickey had a rare down season, Raines was mired in the obscurity of Montreal.

And when the Expos finally let him go, four years after Dawson’s escape, Raines landed with the Chicago White Sox and was immediately eclipsed by “Big Hurt” Frank Thomas.

As the speed began to erode, Raines moved to the New York Yankees, where he won titles in 1996 and 1998. Stints in Oakland, Montreal (again), Baltimore, and Florida left the speedster with 2605 hits, 808 stolen bases (against just 146 times caught stealing), and a lifetime batting average of .294.

It was all great stuff, but by that time, Barry Bonds and others were swatting home runs like they were fleas, and the public was hungry for bigger numbers, more gawd, more flash. Raines slid into retirement as an interesting footnote to the pre-Millennium era in baseball.

It was little surprise, then, that he languished on the Hall of Fame ballot for most of his eligibility. It took him six ballots to crack the 50% barrier, and, even in 2015, he languished well below 60%.

But with the backlog of huge all-time names clearing out in recent years and an increased overall appreciation of analytics, Raines took a big leap forward in 2016, being chosen by 69.8%  of voters.

And then finally, in 2017, The Rock got The Call.

After a career that saw him slug .425, get on base at a .385 clip, and score 1571 runs, Tim Raines goes into the Hall of Fame as the eighth greatest left fielder of all time (according to the JAWS metric at Baseball Reference).

What better way to celebrate Rock’s election than with a little vintage cardboard? In that spirit, here are 30 of the best Tim Raines baseball cards ever issued.

Why 30?

Take a look at that uniform number flying around the bases in your diamond memories.

(This is part of a series of posts about the 2017 Hall of Fame inductions. Read them all here.)

1979 TCMA Memphis Chicks (#20)

There’s not much to this card other than the fact that it features a minor leaguer named Tim Raines two year before he’d appear on a “real” baseball card and almost 40 before he’d be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Seems worthy of your consideration, no?

1981 Donruss (#538)

Sure, Fleer may have been the company that ended Topps’ monopoly by winning a famous $1 antitrust lawsuit in 1980, but it was Donruss who really surprised collectors in 1981. After nearly three decades of pumping out non-sports cards, Donruss reached across the collecting aisle with a rush-job baseball set to go head-to-head with the other two giants.

While the cardstock was as flimsy as toilet paper and the photos were generally dark and blurry, Donruss scored a coup as the only manufacturer to issue a single-player Tim Raines rookie card in its base set.

1981 Topps (#479)

Of course, Topps was still king to most collectors in 1981, and their version of Raines’ rookie card has been the standard-bearer since it was issued. Never mind the fact that he has to share his debut with a pair of immortals: Roberto Ramos and Bobby Pate.

1981 Topps Traded (#816)

Topps used their first full, dedicated Traded set, at least in part, to ameliorate their whiff on featuring Raines on a solo pasteboard in their base set. His #816 is arguably one of his best-looking early issues and sees healthy continued activity on eBay.

1982 Kellogg’s (#53)

You can’t really run down the cards of any even moderately popular player from the late 1970s or early 1980s without breaking out that novelty of novelties — the 3-D card. In Raines’ 1982 Kellogg’s issue, he appears to be searching for lost keys, but it’s still a fun card.

1982 Topps Stolen Base Leaders (’81) — and Rickey Henderson (#164)

Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines appeared together on a slew of these League Leader cards in the 1980s, but this is the only one where Raines actually bested his AL counterpart, 71 to 56 swipes in the strike-shortened 1981 season. Perhaps that failing spurred Rickey on to his record 180 thefts in 1982.

1982 Zellers (#3)

One of my favorite parts about collecting in the 1980s were all of the oddball and regional issues that would wink at me from the pages of Sports Collectors Digest and occasionally make an appearance at a local card show. In the US, the 1982 Zellers Montreal Expos set was a real delicacy since it was issued in Canada. It didn’t hurt any that the Expos were loaded with young talent, and Raines was right there alongside Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, and all the rest.

1982 Perma-Graphics Super Star

The oddball parade continues with Raines’ 1982 Perma-Graphics Super Star issue. Each of these cards was rendered on hard plastic stock which, coupled with its smaller-than-normal size, earned the set the sobriquet of “credit cards.” These were another card-show favorite and a great impulse buy that was nearly impossible to resist.

1983 Topps All-Star (#403)

With its blue star, this card immediately brings to mind that hot summer night in 1987 when Raines bested all of the sluggers to take home the All-Star MVP award. He doesn’t look too happy here, but things would get better.

1983 Topps (#595)

Raines looks like he’s standing in the middle of a meadow, but you just know he’s getting ready to turn on the burners and make some poor pitcher pay for being too slow to the plate. Great design, and a nice full-body shot of the Expos home whites.

1984 Donruss (#299)

The 1984 Donruss set was a landmark in the hobby, combining vastly improved card quality with perceived scarcity. This shot of a peaking Raines is a perfect fit.

1984 Topps (#370)

The design is not quite as strong as the 1983 Topps or 1984 Donruss set, but the visuals for this underrated Tim Raines card are better than its counterpart in those other more ballyhooed sets. Great card that you can find for next to nothing most days.

1984 Topps Nestlè Dream Team (#17)

Topps made two Nestlè sets in 1984 — one 792-card parallel that the chocolate maker released in sheet-only form, and a special “Dream Team” set that was issued in small, cellophane-wrapped groups in the company’s chocolate candy bars. The former is fairly scarce, but this Raines card is a sweet example of the latter and a wonderful period piece for nostalgia lovers.

1987 Fleer (#328)

This was the year that all three major companies unleashed innovative designs, and the 1987 Topps set remains a classic that evokes the essence of the era. It was the other two sets, though, and especially the 1987 Fleer set, that set the hobby abuzz. Early-season scarcity sent collectors scrambling to soak up any product they could locate, and prices spiraled out of control. It may have been the first true new-product frenzy, and if you dared to open a pack, you could have pulled this cherry Raines card.

 1987 Fleer Juan Samuel and — Doubles & Triples (#642)

During the 1980s, Fleer revived a concept that Topps had used to great effect two and three decades earlier — the multi-player “candid” card. By 1987, Juan Samuel had joined Raines and Henderson among the list of legitimate burners, and he added a healthy dose of power to the mix. No wonder he took top billing on this card, but he seems out of place next to a HOFer all these years later.

1988 Donruss Diamond Kings (#2)

This is Raines’ only Diamond Kings card, and it came the year after Andre Dawson left Montreal for the Chicago Cubs. It also came as part of the first set that was perceived as massively overproduced almost the second the first cases came off the truck. No matter though, because it’s still a beautiful combination of colors and baseball.

1989 Topps Rock Raines (#560)

“Rock” looks every bit as powerful as his nickname would suggest as he prepares for his time at-bat on the front of this 1989 Topps card. There are those who would suggest that Topps was taking a dig at Raines for his “extracurricular” activities by using his sobriquet here, but we’ll leave that for the card truthers.

 1990 Baseball Cards Magazine 1969 Topps Replica (#24)

Back when it was still thrilling to go the actual mailbox every day and every envelope might contain an adventure of one sort or another, the best day of each month was the day my copy of Baseball Cards Magazine arrived. The writing was like nothing else going, and the articles were innovative and fun. I felt like I’d found my brethren. Maybe best of all was that the rag came with actual cards, inserted in the middle and featuring then-current players on classic Topps designs. It was heaven, just like this Raines insert.

 1991 Topps Desert Shield (#360)

In early 1991, the US plunged into the first Gulf War. Before we unleashed Desert Storm, though, we tried the more diplomatic Desert Shield. Though that sentiment soon escalated to full-on military offensives, it did give Topps the chance to issue a special run of their 40th-anniversary cards to be sent to our military men and women in the Middle East. Of course, where there was something new in the hobby, there was a way for someone to make money, so the cards quickly found their way to the stateside market. Here, Rock Raines is in full-swing glory beneath the Desert Shield shield.

1991 Upper Deck (#773)

After the 1990 season, Raines bid adieu to Montreal and landed with the Chicago White Sox. While base sets that year still pictured him in Expos togs, the updates caught him in his ChiSox uniform. As a first card with his new team, it’s hard to beat this 1991 Upper Deck high number offering, featuring a clean design and a crisp action shot.

 1992 Topps (#426)

After years of almost outright begging by collectors, Topps finally capitulated and ditched their long-standing love of soft, drab brown card stock in 1992. The new white stock complemented the crisp new design, and this Raines action shot is a perfect example of a card done right.

 1993 Stadium Club White Sox (#5)

Topps Stadium Club was one of a handful of super premium sets that lit the hobby on fire during the early 1990s. It was the darling of 1991 that had lost a bit of luster by ’93. In an attempt to regain some of that sheen, Topps issued 16 team-specific, factory-sealed sets, each containing 30 cards. This Raines offering is typical of the artsy photography and glitzy design elements of the era.

 1994 Donruss Triple Play (#268)

Full-bleed images, garish product logos, and a set name that makes it impossible to distinguish from 20 other issues of the same time period? Yeah, 1994 Donruss Triple Play checks all those boxes for being a poster boy of the overproduction era, but this Tim Raines card looks pretty darn good anyway.

1995 Topps (#77)

This must have been what opposing pitchers saw in their nightmares as they prepared to face Raines — Rock waving goodbye on his way to second base. Topps designs and quality came a long way between 1990 and 1995, huh?

1996 Pacific (#284)

There were just so many sets from so many manufacturers in the 1990s — does anyone even remember Pacific? We do, right here, right now, with this solid action shot of Raines coming out of the batter’s box.

1997 Topps (#334)

Any pinstripes card from the mid-1990s just looks regal, and especially if it’s coupled with a solid Topps design. Add in Tim Raines, and you have a triple-whammy that stands out in any commons bin.

1999 Plumbers Union (#30)

Thanks to the Plumbers Steamfitters Refrigeration Local Union 342, we get this team-color-coded card of a tough-looking Raines, ready to hack a baseball or maybe cut down a tree (yes, I know that’s not in the typical job description for steamfitters).

Cool oddball all the way around

2001 Fleer Platinum (#308)

Fleer may have missed out on issuing a Raines rookie card in their first set in 1981, but they got their chance to make up for that with their 2001 Platinum edition. Great to see an old design upgraded with better print quality and image crispness.

2002 Fleer Tradition (#87)

Tim Raines on a modern-day Goudey card? No way this one could have missed the list, even if Raines in Orioles gear looks almost as strange as Eric Davis would have.

Oh.

Right.

2003 Donruss (#285)

If you had told me that Tim Raines finished his career with the Florida Marlins, I wouldn’t have believed it. But this Donruss pasteboard proves me wrong and serves as a capper card that shows his entire MLB record. Still looks strange, but it is, indeed, a wrap.

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How is a Wade Boggs baseball card like a 15th-century refrigerator drawing?

Well …

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to observe some of the world’s great masters in their “natural habitats” — the places where they prepared for and carried out their legendary work?

I mean …

Imagine being able to sneak into Einstein’s chalkboardatorium and observing the master from under a desk …

Or spying on Nikola Tesla from behind a lab bench as he goes all Frankenstein with his magical, flashing arcs …

Or sneaking into a pew to watch Michelangelo finish off the Sistine Chapel …

Or, if you’re a baseball fan, witnessing one the world’s greatest hitters hone his craft in preparation for the on-field battles to come.

Witnessing History from the Backend

One of the beautiful things about baseball — and there are so many! — is that, not only can we go to the ballpark to watch our heroes play, but we can also go there to watch them get ready to play.

If you’re lucky enough to take in a Major League batting practice, then you’re in good company — Einstein’s homework partner, Tesla’s lab partner, Michelangelo’s mother who undoubtedly scolded him daily to stop drawing on the walls and use paper or papyrus or whatever they hung on their fridges back then.

(Yes, she died when he was six, but I’ll bet he was already artsing up the joint by that point.)

They all witnessed the masters practicing their craft, and so have you.

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But not everyone can make it to a Big League park, and almost none of us can make it to a Big League park often enough to slake our thirst for the diamond.

We need a refresher.

We need something permanent to remind us what the game is all about and what our conquering athletes go through to keep their skill sharp and vanquish the enemy from their green cathedrals.

OK, yes, that’s a bit dramatic … but this is baseball we’re talking about here, darn it.

And when it came to hitting a baseball, Wade Boggs belonged to a select group of players who analyzed and squinted and adjusted and planned and tuned every possible aspect of the batting game until it screamed for mercy.

You know, guys like Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, and Tony Gwynn.

They were talented.

They were tough.

They had hawk-like eyesight.

But maybe more than anything else, they had superhuman tenacity.

Not just when they stood in the batter’s box against the best pitchers of their era, though these hitters fought tooth-and-nail to make every plate appearance a productive one.

Most Major Leaguer can hang (pretty) tough for the few minutes it takes to face a pitcher, though.

Where these Hall of Famers really gained their edge was outside the lines — reading scouting reports about the pitchers and teams they’d face, refining their swings, working out, watching video.

And standing in the cage, putting all that together.

Immortalizing the Process

While thousands, maybe millions, of people had the opportunity to see Cobb, Williams, Gwynn, Boggs and other historically great hitters take their hacks in batting practice, many millions more never did or will.

But we always have our baseball cards, and card companies through the decades have delighted us with little swatches of cardboard showing Big Leaguers prepping for games with a netted background (see our batting-cages-on-cards post here).

In 1983, no hitter in baseball was more prepared for his battles with pitchers than Wade Boggs.

After six full seasons in the minor leagues, Boggs had finally made the Boston Red Sox roster in 1982 and batted a whopping .349 over 104 games split mostly between first and third base.

No one really noticed that gaudy figure, though, because Boggs had too few at-bats to qualify for the batting race, which was a three-man scrum between Willie Wilson (.332), Robin Yount (.331 and the AL MVP award), and Al Oliver (.331).

Plus, Boggs only connected for five home runs, not exactly the kind of stuff to send fans or collectors into a froth.

The lack of publicity and hype didn’t slow down Boggs, and he spent the winter and the next spring and every day that summer doing what he always did — preparing.

Practicing.

Hitting the cage.

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Boggs’ obsession paid off in 1983 as he came out of “nowhere” to lead the Majors in batting average with an astounding .361.

Now fans and collectors everywhere took notice, despite the fact that Boggs once again hit just five homers.

That didn’t matter when you were the new Ted Williams, when you were the most disciplined hitter in a generation, when you might be the next guy to hit .400.

We all wanted to know Boggs’ secrets, and reporters peppered him for information about how he was able to do that.

In the midst of all the hoopla that comes watching greatness unfold on the diamond, the card companies were busy preparing for their 1984 issues.

Boggs would be featured prominently in all of them, of course — he was a bona fide superstar, for goodness sake.

But each manufacturer took a different approach when it came time to select photos for those 1984 sets.

Fleer went with a gloved Boggs taking a throw during warm-ups or between innings.

Topps chose a hacking, in-game batting scene that is classic Boggs.

And Donruss?

Well, Donruss decided to give us a peek under the covers, a glimpse through the cracked door of Boggs’ workshop.

Because, there on 1984 Donruss card #151, Wade Anthony Boggs stands with his arms cocked, his head straight ahead, and his eyes locked in on an unseen pitcher.

Behind him, batting cage netting protects onlookers from the foul balls that Boggs probably won’t generate anyway.

Welcome to the Wade Boggs Laboratory of Hitting, where hard work was transformed into baseball magic.

Thanks to your baseball cards, you can visit anytime you want.

1984 Donruss Wade Boggs (#151) Value:

PSA 10: $95-110

PSA 9: $20-30

raw: $1-5

(Check out our other player card posts here.)

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When Ivan Rodriguez first came on the scene in the very early 1990s, he brought a lot of hype with him.

Of course, many hotshot rookies have similar stories — they’re the next Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Rickey Henderson, or Steve Carlton.

But Rodriguez’s advance billing came with a grain of salt.

Sure, he was a great defensive catcher, but no one was quite sure if his bat could stand up to Major League pitching.

Unlike most young players, though, Rodriguez lived up to his promise and then some.

Not only did he develop into one of the best catchers ever behind the plate, he also built himself into a force at the plate.

Thanks to those efforts, Pudge will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, during the summer of 2017.

For longtime collectors, Rodriguez’s enshrinement brings back great memories of our hobby before the bust. He’s one of the last players from our youth who will make it to Cooperstown through the writer’s ballot — most of the rest will need help from the Veterans Committee.

To help you get in the mood for some old-time collecting with a Pudge-y flair, here are seven (in honor of Pudge’s uniform number) great Ivan Rodriguez cards from the early days of his career.

1989 Procards Gastonia Rangers Ivan Rodriguez

Back in the late 1980s, dedicated minor league cards staked their claim to the pre-rookie market much as Bowman would do a few years later.

When Rodriguez made his minor league debut for the Gastonia Rangers in 1989, both the Star Company and ProCards were there to chronicle the event on cardboard.

If you want a pure 1980s Pudge card complete with a back that looks like it came straight off your high school typewriter, though, the ProCards issue is the one you need.

And it can be yours for less than $50 most of the time, and occasionally less than twenty, with PSA 10 copies pushing toward $75 or more.

1991 Bowman Ivan Rodriguez

In 1991, Topps was still trying to figure out what to do with the resurrected Bowman line.

The set had debuted two years earlier as an oversized nod to the hobby’s past but, while collectors enjoyed the large and colorful photos, we were less enthused by the cards’ refusal to play nice with the rest of our 2-1/2″ X 3-1/2″ treasures.

The Bowmans were too big!

Topps trimmed the cards down to a standard size in 1990 and, in 1991 hit on the formula that would carry the set so far in subsequent years: rookie cards!

Among the 150 or so first-year cards in that 1991 set are standouts such as Jim Thome, Chipper Jones, Jeff Bagwell, Luis Gonzalez, and Kenny Lofton.

And, of course, Pudge Rodriguez.

For just a few bucks, you can have the first widely distributed Major League card of a Hall of Fame catcher … what could be better than that?

(PSA 10 copies sell for $150-200.)

1991 Topps Traded Tiffany Ivan Rodriguez

The more you look at the 1991 Topps base set, the more you realize it could have been a Bowman issue from the same era.

For their 40th anniversary set, Topps dropped all the garish borders and wild colors of the 1980s and went with a simple design that emphasized the player photo — and the company’s own celebratory logo.

Rodriguez didn’t appear in the full set, but T.C.G. made sure to include the rookie in their year-end Traded set.

Today, even the glossy “Tiffany” version won’t set you back more than $10 raw, though if you opt for a PSA 10 you’re looking at several hundred dollars.

1991 Fleer Ultra Update Ivan Rodriguez

Fleer helped kick off the era of “ultra premium” baseball cards with their 1991 issue named, appropriately enough, “Ultra.”

The hype around Ultra was soon surpassed by the glare of Topps Stadium Club, and the continued build-up of 1990 Leaf as Frank Thomas and Sammy Sosa launched their monster careers.

After a few years, it became apparent that Ultra was not really very limited, but this Pudge card is still one of his rookies and represents a piece of hobby history — the first card of a Hall of Famer in a  groundbreaking set.

Even if it is just an “Update.”

Today, this card can be yours for less than $30 in even the highest grades.

1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations Ivan Rodriguez

In 1992, Fleer caused a hobby “sensation” by issuing one of 20 “Rookie Sensations” cards in each of its jumbo packs of 35 cards.

Featuring big names like Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas, Sensations also offered up the first card of slugger Phil Plantier.

The cards were thick and shiny, and pretty limited, at least compared to most of the other material being pushed out by the millions that summer.

As the buzz around Plantier continued to grow, he pulled Sensations along with him, and they were the hit of the hobby most of that season.

While the Rodriguez card never got the kind of love that Plantier’s did, it’s still a solid early-career issue that you can buy for a few bucks or so on eBay, with PSA 9 copies hitting $100 or more and PSA 10s pretty much nonexistent.

1993 Upper Deck Ivan Rodriguez

This one is all about aesthetics.

By 1993, virtually every card was being produced in quantities large enough to paper your office walls, and you can pick this one up for less than a dollar these days.

But when it comes to a striking visual of a modern catching great, this one is hard to beat.

You can’t see much of Rodriguez’s face on this card, but you do get his intense eyes and a hint of teeth. Is he going to catch the ball with his mouth? Bite the batter?

Whatever Pudge has in mind, I wouldn’t want to cross him.

1994 Topps Stadium Club Ivan Rodriguez

Like the ’93 Upper Deck above, this Stadium Club issue won’t break your bank and it won’t give you much return on your investment down the line.

But, also like the UD card, Topps gave us an awesome glimpse into the on-the-field life of one of the game’s great catchers with this beauty.

Someone has just popped up, and Rodriguez is blasting out of his crouch to give chase.

If I had to bet, my money would be on this play ending in an out.

Another Rodriguez play — and card — worthy of the Hall of Fame.

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Chipper Jones rookie cards have been hot commodities since well before the former Atlanta Braves third baseman ever stepped foot on a Major League diamond.

Part of that is due to his timing — Jones was the first overall pick in the 1990 draft, right in the middle of the rookie card craze.

That combination came with some crazy expectations, both on the field and in the hobby.

And, although Chipper didn’t make his Big League debut until 1993, he made his cardboard debut in 1991 (if you don’t count a spate of minor league cards in both 1990 and 1991).

The heck of it all, though, is that Jones pretty much lived up to the hype.

Over a 19-year career, he collected 2726 hits, 468 home runs, and a .303 batting average, numbers that make him something like the fifth or sixth greatest hot corner man ever.

When you add in all those World Series appearances with the Braves, his 1999 National League MVP award, and his 2018 Hall of Fame election, it’s little wonder that Jones’ baseball cards still cause a stir after all these years.

So …

As a mini (micro?) celebration of one of the great players of the Junk Wax Era, here is a quick rundown of each Chipper Jones rookie card.

(Affiliate links to Amazon and eBay are included in the price checks below.)

1991 Bowman Chipper Jones (#569)

This was the third year of the resurrected Bowman line, which Topps brought back in an oversized format in 1989. They clipped the card size to the standard dimensions (2-1/2″ x 3-1/2″) in 1990 and beefed up the rookie card content to almost obscene levels. Of course, that trend has only continued over the years, with Bowman becoming the place to go for rookies and pre-rookies.

In 1991, Topps made sure to capitalize on the still-booming rookie craze by not only jamming their Bowman full of first-year cars but also peppering the U.S. with enough product to sop up the tears of “investors” when the bubble inevitably burst.

Today, Chipper Jones leads the pack, but you can usually find his raw card for less than a buck. Slabbed copies in Mint condition or better will set you back $20 or more

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1991 O-Pee-Chee Chipper Jones (#333)

In 1991, O-Pee-Chee broke with tradition and produced a set of baseball cards that was not a near-exact copy of the Topps set from the same year. O-Pee-Chee Premier was a venture into the world of premium cards, and came heavily hyped, as those sets tended to do.

Although OPC never really panned out as a super-duper brand, they didn’t abandon their roots completely in 1991. For collectors, that meant a Topps parallel set that you could only tell was not a Topps set by the premium white cardstock and the French copy on card backs.

Aside from those differences, the Chipper Jones OPC rookie is identical to his Topps issue, but the Canadian cards were issued in much smaller quantities. As a result, this card can bring $15-20 even ungraded, with PSA 10s busting through the $500 mark.

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1991 Score Chipper Jones (#671)

Ah, yes … here we have young Chipper Jones swinging away from the surface of the sun.

This card was hot hot HOT!!

Well, sort of.

It looked — and still looks — actually hot.

But like most baseball cards from 1991, Score pumped out enough of these to keep your family feeling Chipper for generations.

Expect to pay about a dollar for ungraded copies and maybe $50 for GEM slabbed specimens.

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1991 Topps Chipper Jones (#333)

This is a classic rookie card forged by the classy design Topps rolled out for their 40th anniversary, but it’s just so plentiful that it’s had a hard time building up much value over the years. Even with huge numbers available, though, the first base Topps card of Chipper Jones *feels* like a bargain at a dollar or two each, ungraded. That price climbs to $100+ for graded GEM copies.

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1991 Topps Desert Shield Chipper Jones (#33)

In 1991, Topps made a parallel set of their base issue for distribution to US troops serving in what would become the (first)

Gulf War. The cards were identical to “normal” Topps cards from that year, except each was graced with a foil stamp of the Operation Desert Shield emblem.

Colloquial estimates put the print run at 6500-7o00 of each card, which was tiny for the day.

As a consequence, even ungraded copies of this Chipper Jones rookie card can reach well into three figures. If you’re looking for a GEM graded specimen, be prepared to pay thousands, and to wait a long time to do it.

You should also beware that counterfeits exist — take a look at this piece from Cardboard Connection for tips on how to spot the fakes.

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1991 Topps Micro Chipper Jones (#333)

Topps always did like to experiment, and their lab work in 1991 produced a “micro” set, with each card measuring a scant 1″ x 1-3/8″.

These cards were never very popular with collectors and that, coupled with wide availability at retail outlets, limits the resale value of complete sets to less than $10. Most of that price is wrapped up in Chipper Jones, though, and his rookie card from the set brings $3-10 in nice ungraded condition.

But that’s not the end of the story for this card. Even though more than half of the micros submitted to PSA for evaluation have graded out at a GEM-MT 10, less than one-seventh of Chippers make that cut. As of this writing, only 31 Jones rookie cards exist with a PSA 10 rating.

As a consequence, you’ll have to pay well into three figures for a perfect 1991 Topps Micro Chipper Jones card, if you can even find one.

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1991 Topps Tiffany Chipper Jones (#333)

If this card looks familiar, well, it’s because you’ve seen it before. Up there, in the O-Pee-Chee listing.

And up there, in the Desert Shield listing.

And up there, in the Micro listing.

Yes, they all sport the same design, same photo, same Chipper.

But at least the Tiffany card is glossy and printed on creamy white stock and pretty limited, compared to most other 1991s, at any rate.

And … PSA says only about 6% of the Chippers it has seen rate a perfect 10.

Put all that together, and you’re looking at close to 100 bucks for a raw copy and five grand or more for a GEM MT graded version.

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1991 Upper Deck Chipper Jones (#55)

By 1991, we all knew that Upper Deck cards would be thick, feature blazing white borders, dazzle with the best photography in the industry, and twinkle at us with their holograms.

The cards were great looking, and the Chipper Jones rookie card was no exception.

But it was all kind of … boring … after three years of pretty much the same (great) design. And there were so many UDs issued that year.

So now, decades later, we can either lament the fact that Chipper’s first Upper Deck card struggles to bring $1 on the open market (about $50 for a PSA 10) … or we can be happy that such a nice card is the rough equivalent, monetarily, to a Keurig pod.

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(Check out the rest of our posts on the 2018 Hall of Fame class here.)

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Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Derek Jeter fall into the former group, while guys like Chone Figgins and Adam Dunn figure to be one and done.

In between are a host of players that stir up all sorts of debate — Larry Walker, Curt Schilling, Billy Wagner, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez.

Some of those lack the lock-down stats that would guarantee them a spot in Cooperstown, and others are pariahs to one degree or another because of their off-field activities.

Heck, even Bonds and Clemens have found the going tough on the route to a bronze plaque thanks to the PED controversies swirling around them.

Still, these are the guys we watched perform at the highest levels of the game for about 30 years … and their rookie cards span from the middle of the hobby boom on into the early 2000s.

That’s a pretty good cross-section of recent hobby history, so I thought it might be fun to take a quick tour through these RCs as a reminder of where we’ve been … and the guys who made the game, for better or for worse.

Here, then, is a list of one rookie card for each of the players on the 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, in alphabetical order.

Of course, these dudes each have more than one RC — many more in some cases — so you can click through to the eBay or Amazon links to check out their other rookies.

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1993 Classic Best Bobby Abreu (#24)

Hard to remember that Abreu ever played for the Astros, right? Well, this card is proof.

And … well, Abreu was probably better than you remember, too.

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1999 Fleer Tradition Update Josh Beckett (#U-122)

Before he won 20 games and a World Series with the Red Sox in 2007, Beckett was helping the Marlins win a ring in 2003.

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2003 Upper Deck Classic Portraits Heath Bell (#170)

Bell was a lockdown closer in San Diego for a few years, but he’s a Met here.

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1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds (#11T)

Yeah, right, he was surly and ended up on the wrong side of the PED fence.

But, man, Bonds was a force, and we all ate up his exploits, even if his RCs never held the hobby sway of, say, a 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly.

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1997 Bowman Chrome Eric Chavez (#192)

Chavez was a legit MVP candidate for those Moneyball A’s, but injuries dampened what might have been a Hall of Fame career.

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1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens (#U-27)

See Bonds for Clemens’ general situation. Roger’s rookie cards, though, did light up the hobby for a long time, especially this beauty from the relatively scarce 1984 Fleer Update set.

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1999 Topps Traded Adam Dunn (#T50)

A monster masher for the Reds, Big Donkey was a joy to watch, even if the wind from his strikeouts could power Great American Ball Park.

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2002 Donruss Originals Chone Figgins (#404)

Figgins picked up some MVP votes while with the Angels but didn’t play long enough or at a high enough level to make the Hall of Fame cut.

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1999 Bowman Rafael Furcal (#364)

Furcal actually played more years outside of Atlanta than with the Braves, but he made his name with a Tomahawk on his sleeve.

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1991 Topps Traded Jason Giambi (#45T)

Giambi was another Moneyball guy who made hay with a solid Sabermetrics profile.

Also logged lots of postseason ABs with the Yankees.

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1993 Topps Traded Todd Helton (#19T)

Yeah, he played in Coors Field with the Rockies, but Helton was good enough for long enough that folks will debate his HOF candidacy for a long time.

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1996 Bowman’s Best Raul Ibanez (#172)

Ibanez peaked in his 30s and played until he was approximately 84. Picked up 2000+ hits in the process.

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1993 Upper Deck SP Foil Derek Jeter (#279)

Who wouldn’t include The Captain on their Hall of Fame ballot? Only someone who somehow missed out on a Jete’s rookie card, I’d say.

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1995 Bowman Andruw Jones (#23)

Jones was a key part of those great Braves teams in the late 1990s, but he fell off the table in his 30s.

This rookie card reminds us of the happier times.

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1991 Classic Best Jeff Kent (#108)

Kent a Blue Jay? It happened, but he was shipped to the Mets before Toronto won their first World Series in 1992.

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1994 Stadium Club Draft Picks Paul Konerko (#80)

I was jazzed when the Reds got Konerko from the Dodgers, but that lasted all of 26 games.

He went on to become a White Sox icon but shows up here in Dodger Blue.

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2002 Donruss Classics Cliff Lee (#205)

Lee turned into a bit of a mercenary late in his career, but you could always count on him to put up gaudy won-loss records.

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2001 Fleer Platinum Carlos Pena (#361)

Pena banged home runs for a slew of teams, but it all started with the Rangers.

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1997 Bowman Brad Penny (#199)

Brad Penny started with?

Yeah, the Florida Marlins. Won a ring in Miami, too.

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1992 Classic Best Andy Pettitte (#286)

Along with Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada, Pettitte helped form the “Core Four” that led the Yankees’ 1990s and 2000s dynasty.

Lesser pitchers are in the Hall, so you figure his time will come.

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2000 Royal Rookies Futures Autographs J.J. Putz (#28)

Putz turned in some 40-save seasons but generally falls short of Hall of Fame closer standards.

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1992 Upper Deck Manny Ramirez (#63)

Manny being Manny hasn’t played out well with Cooperstown voters, but dude was one of the greatest hitters of the last fifty years.

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2001 Upper Deck SPx Brian Roberts (#194)

Roberts was a career Oriole and gets a fitting RC here.

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1995 Bowman Scott Rolen (#271)

Rolen battled injuries for a large part of his career but still racked up enough glitzy numbers in 17 seasons to rank among the all-time third base elite.

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1989 Donruss Curt Schilling (#635)

Schilling has all the accomplishments to glide into Cooperstown, but his personal dealings have soured some voters.

He is a young Oriole on this card.

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1989 Topps Gary Sheffield (#343)

Sheffield smashed a ton of homers and caused a tone of grief for his teams. On this card, though, he’s a hopeful young Milwaukee Brewer.

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1998 Fleer Tradition Update Alfonso Soriano (#U-5)

Soriano began and ended with the Yankees. In between, he put up some big numbers that left him with 412 dingers and 2000+ hits.

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1989 Donruss Baseball’s Best Sammy Sosa (#324)

No one excited baseball fans more than Sammy Sosa in the late 1990s, and no one fell from grace faster.

On this card, he’s a young Ranger.

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2002 Bowman Heritage Jose Valverde (#394)

Valverde was a real workhorse reliever — and a very effective closer — through the late 2000s and early 2010s.

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1989 Upper Deck Omar Vizquel (#787)

Vizquel played forever and, though he really became a star in Cleveland, it all started with the Mariners.

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1994 Bowman Billy Wagner (#642)

Wagner was one of the nastiest strikeout pitchers of all-time, finishing with nearly 12 K per nine innings.

He is a dark-horse HOF candidate.

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1990 Leaf Larry Walker (#325)

Walker was one of the last great players to suit up for the Montreal Expos, and he became an even bigger superstar in Colorado.

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There may be no one man more responsible for the modern baseball cards hobby than Mickey Mantle.

From even before he ever stepped foot on a Major League Baseball diamond, Mantle was christened as the second coming of Babe Ruth and the man who would make Joe DiMaggio expendable.

The heck of it is, Mantle darn near delivered on that huge promise  others made on his behalf. If not for a freak accident (with a Joe D. assist) and some hard living, Mantle might well have played into his 40s and rewritten all the record books.

As it stands, Mantle put together one of the best peaks in the history of baseball and helped the New York Yankees build yet another dynasty in the middle of the twentieth century. And, even though he petered out in his mid 30s, Mantle still banged out more than 500 home runs and continues to draw consideration in every “best of” discussion you can imagine.

And, exactly at the moment that Mantle was beginning to make his mark on American culture, so was another baseball giant.

Topps produced their first set of baseball cards in 1951 and, while they missed out on young Mick that first time around, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle “rookie card”  struck the right note with young collectors.

It was big and bold, just like Mantle, and it was on every kid’s want list.

Many of those youngsters returned to the hobby in the 1970s and 1980s as adults, and those Baby Boomers brought plenty of expendable income with them.

Setting out to collect the cards they missed out on in their youths, these now-grown men focused their collective efforts on grabbing that ’52 Topps Mantle. That tremendous demand, coupled with the card’s place in Topps’ high-number series, sent prices spiraling through the stratosphere and pulled along every other Mantle card with them.

Not long after that, the hobby exploded as collectors tried to hook into whatever might become the next Mickey Mantle rookie card.

Even today, with the hobby boom long behind us, Mantle cards are special and deserve a second or thousandth look.

You can check out the complete list of Mantle cards issued during his career via the PSA master checklist , but with well over 200 cards in the list, you could probably spend a lifetime trying to piece the whole thing together.

You don’t have to wait so long to get a good look at Mantle’s best cards, though.

Below, we run down every Mantle card (except for team cards) issued by the big two card companies — Bowman and Topps — during his playing career. It’s a cornucopia of celebrated cardboard, so sit back and enjoy the show.

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1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle (#253)

Although the 1952 Topps Mantle (below) gets most of the glory in mainstream coverage of the hobby, real collectors know the 1951 Bowman is Mantle’s true rookie card. This beauty will never surpass his first Topps card in terms of value or mystique, but it is a hobby icon in its own right.

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1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle (#101)

A fine follow-up to his debut cardboard, the 1952 Bowman Mantle features a vertical format and a facsimile version of The Mick’s famous signature. An underappreciated card in the firmament of Mantle cardboard.

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1952 Topps Mickey Mantle (#311)

This is it — the Mac Daddy of all modern baseball cards. Were it not for the existence of the T206 Honus Wagner card, this would likely be the most valuable hunk of cardboard ever produced. It’s already in a close race for title of “Most Famous” and may — may — be in the running for most overrated.

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1953 Bowman Hank Bauer/Yogi Berra/Mickey Mantle (#44)

Mantle barely squeezes into this rollicking photo with Yogi Berra and Hank Bauer, but don’t you get the feeling Bowman would have skipped the thing altogether had Mantle not been there?

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 1953 Bowman Color Mickey Mantle (#59)

The 1953 Bowman set is often lauded for its big, beautiful full-color images and minimal card design, and it smacks a home run with this Mantle card. This one has it all — powerful follow-through, pinstripes, stadium background, blue sky. Cardboard perfection?

Darn close.

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 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle (#82)

The 1953 Topps set is beloved by collectors but still has to play second fiddle to the 1952 Topps issue when it comes to value, especially in the case of Mantle. But this colorful card featuring the artwork of Gary Dvorak is a masterpiece in miniature that has been reproduced by Topps themselves multiple times.

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1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle (#65)

This card was the only Mantle card in town in 1954 since the youngster had signed to appear exclusively on Bowman pasteboards. The classic design and Mick’s big smile make up for that paucity of cardboard, though.

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 1955 Bowman Mickey Mantle (#202)

Mantle was still a Bowman exclusive in 1955, so collectors were treated to Mickey on the tube, wrapped in wood grain. Not gorgeous, but it’s a Mickey Mantle baseball card, so you can’t sneeze at it.

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1956 Topps Mickey Mantle (#135)

Mantle himself called 1956, “my favorite summer” and even wrote a book (affiliate link) about it with Phil Pepe. Little wonder, considering that the he won the Triple Crown that year! And, while Mantle was unfurling his magic on the field, little boys across America were pulling this classic card from their wax packs. A perfect representative of Topps first set as the lone card manufacturer after buying out rival Bowman.

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1957 Topps Mickey Mantle (#95)

This is another of those minimalist card designs, like 1953 Bowman, that old-time collectors gush about. And, with Mantle in pinstripes and at the end of his left-handed power swing, this one is tough to resist.

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1957 Topps Yankees Power Hitters — Yogi Berra/Mickey Mantle (#95)

This is a reprisal of the 1953 Bowman multi-player card, this time with Mantle and Berra poised and ready for diamond battle. But … where is Hank Bauer?!?

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1958 Topps Mickey Mantle (#150)

Mantle gets up close and personal on his 1958 Topps card. It’s pure 1950s, set off by the classic Yankees top-hat logo.

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1958 Topps World Series Batting Foes — Mickey Mantle/Hank Aaron (#418)

Hank Aaron probably should have had top billing on this card considering that his Milwaukee Braves beat Mantle and the Yankees in the 1957 World Series. No matter who’s listed first, though, it’s hard to gripe about the only card to feature these two legendary sluggers together.

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1958 Topps Mickey Mantle All Star (#487)

Even more “50s” than his base card from the same year is the 1958 Topps Micke Mantle All Star card. There’s a whole lot of glitz and glamor on this one, but then again … it does feature The Mick, so what would you expect?

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1959 Topps Mickey Mantle (#10)

Mickey Mantle in a red porthole pretty well sums up this 1959 Topps base issue. Not the greatest design or image ever, but it’s still a 1950s Mantle card. So … awesome!

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1959 Topps (Mickey) Mantle Hits 42nd Homer for Crown (#461)

You wouldn’t know just by looking at this card that it’s part of the 1959 set, at least until you turn it over. There, the blocky green and red print give it away. The front features what appears to be a paint-over photo that is not great art but gives the card a tobacco-era feel.

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1959 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#564)

The American League shield cutout replaces the porthole design of the base 1959 set in this All-Star card, and Mantle looks powerful and vigilant in his left-handed stance against the Yankee Stadium grandstand in the background. A nostalgic card all the way around.

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1960 Topps Rival All Stars — Mickey Mantle/Ken Boyer (#160)

Ken Boyer found himself in rarefied air on this 1960 card, sharing space with Mickey Mantle courtesy of a 1959 All-Star berth and a lifetime average that was creeping up toward .300. Add in climbing power numbers, and it’s little wonder that St. Louis Cardinals fans were excited by their stellar third baseman. Mickey seems amused by the whole thing.

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1960 Topps Mickey Mantle (#350)

After three years of portrait layouts, Topps returned to a landscape format in 1960. It’s an interesting design that really pops for this Mantle card thanks to the bright colors, the classic Yankees logo, and … well, the presence of Mickey Mantle himself.

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1960 Topps Mickey Mantle All Star (#563)

Topps wanted to make darn sure  you knew which year these All-Star cards represented, so they slapped a huge “60” on the backdrop of each pasteboard. For his part, Mantle almost looks frightened here — maybe he feels the weight of “60” in another way? Babe Ruth and Roger Maris loomed in his future, after all.

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1961 Topps AL Home Run Leaders — Mickey Mantle/Roger Maris/Rocky Colavito (#44)

This card was a harbinger of things to come for the 1961 season. After besting teammate Roger Maris for the American League home run crown in 1960, Maris would spend the summer of 1961 chasing history and, ultimately, looking up at Roger.

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1961 Topps Mickey Mantle (#300)

Nothing fancy here, just The Mick and his bat, staring off into the future — or at some fan who has caught his attention.

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1961 Topps 1960 World Series — (Mickey) Mantle Slams 2 Homers (#307)

Long before Reggie Jackson became Mr. October, Mantle was busy smashing through World Series after World Series with the Yankees. Here, he connects for two home runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 2 of the 1960 Fall Classic.

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1961 Topps (Mickey) Mantle Blasts 565 Ft. Home Run (#406)

This is another one of those cards that tough to associate with a particular set based on an initial visual inspection, and even the back is a bit confusing. It’s a pretty cool little card, though, celebrating as it does the monster home run that Mantle blasted against the Washington Senators’ Chuck Stobbs on April 17, 1953. Any truth to the rumor that JFK, after hearing reports of this moonshot, recruited Mantle as a rocket booster in the US space program?

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1961 Topps Mickey Mantle MVP (#475)

Who is that old man in front of the red background on 1961 Topps #475? Oh, right, it’s Mickey Mantle, two-time AL MVP.

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 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#578)

Apparently, Topps was a big fan of having Mantle wave a bat over his right shoulder, lift his chin, and gaze off intensely to his left, as this was the third card in their 1961 set that fit the motif.

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1962 Topps Managers’ Dream — Mickey Mantle/Willie Mays (#18)

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays certainly qualify as a manager’s dream, but when you throw in Hank Aaron and John Roseboro in the background, you have to elevate this specimen to cardboard heaven.

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1962 Topps AL Home Run Leaders — Jim Gentile/Harmon Killebrew/Mickey Mantle/Roger Maris (#53)

What may be more amazing about this card that than the Roger Maris’s 61 home runs, Mickey Mantle‘s 54 home runs, or all the floating heads is that none of those floating heads belong to Chicago Cubs players. Go figure!

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1962 Topps Mickey Mantle (#200)

This is a classic Mantle card released during his final MVP campaign and delivered to a whole new generation of collectors through Kmart’s 25th anniversary box set of MVPs in 1982.

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1962 Topps The Switch Hitter Connects — Mickey Mantle (#318)

This card ostensibly celebrates the home run record that Mantle didn’t set, noting on the card back that

The New York Yankees’ fabulous switch-hitter was running neck and neck with Roger Maris in the home run race last year when an injury sidelined him in September.

Uh … yeah.

Just an excuse to squeeze in another Mantle card, which is all well and good. It does have some pretty sweet stop-motion swing action going on. And, Topps gave Roger his due with card #313, “Maris Blasts 61st,” so all is good.

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1962 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#471)

Ho hum, another day, another Micky Mantle All-Star card with bat on shoulder, chin up, and mischievous grin. It must have been good to be king.

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1963 Topps AL Batting Leaders — Chuck Hinton/Norm Siebern/Floyd Robinson/Mickey Mantle/Pete Runnels (#2)

The floating heads are back and, what’s remarkable here, is that Mickey Mantle is the only guy among the five 1962 AL batting leaders who put together a Hall of Fame career. The rest weren’t even close.

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1963 Topps Bombers’ Best — Tom Tresh/Mickey Mantle/Bobby Richardson (#173)

Topps and the Yankees probably thought the Bombers were on the verge of another dynastic run when this card came out, but it never quite materialized. By the mid-1960s, the Yanks had sunk toward the bottom of the standings, and Mantle was winding down. Tresh and Richardson were great in their own ways and for short periods of time, but they couldn’t carry the, um, mantle of becoming Yankee legends.

And, how could you possibly call out the “Bombers’ Best” in 1963 without including Roger Maris? Maybe the Yanks just ran into The Curse of Card #173.

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1963 Topps Mickey Mantle (#200)

This card illustrates why Topps had Mantle looking to his left all those years. A turn to the right always soured his mood and swallowed his bat.

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1964 Topps Mickey Mantle (#50)

The Mick was back in prime form here, bat waving over his right shoulder and eyes casting daggers toward the (batting practice) pitcher. A classic shot that extends nicely into the borders of the clean 1964 Topps design.

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1964 Topps AL Bombers — Norm Cash/Al Kaline/Mickey Mantle/Roger Maris (#331)

Mantle grabs the limelight here as he poses with Maris and Detroit Tigers sluggers Norm Cash and Al Kaline. An awful lot of baseballs were harmed in the making of this card.

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1965 Topps AL Home Run Leaders — Harmon Killebrew/Mickey Mantle/Boog Powell (#3)

Mantle is doing his best Thomas Jane impression here as he peers up from the lower right-hand corner of the AL Home Run Leaders card. He may not have won the crown, but he looks like he still has several good years left in him.  Depends on your definition of “good,” I suppose.

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1965 Topps AL RBI Leaders — Brooks Robinson/Harmon Killebrew/Mickey Mantle (#5)

Mantle is just one of the crowd here, nestled as he is between Dick Stuart and Harmon Killebrew. That’s OK, though, because collectors could always count on Topps to squeeze in a bit more Mantle cardboard.

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1965 Topps World Series Game #3 — (Mickey) Mantle’s Clutch HR (#134)

And so they did, with a recounting of Mantle’s Game 3 home run in the 1964 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Mantle looks powerful on his follow-through here, and the mattresses lined up behind him at old Busch Stadium cringe at the thought of a foul ball slammed their direction.

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1965 Topps Mickey Mantle (#350)

This is, quite simply, a beautiful baseball card. The 1965 Topps set captures perfectly the rah-rah game day feeling that swallows ever die-hard baseball fan who has ever headed to a Major League stadium for the first time, and Mantle still stirs the all-American dream of making it big on the diamond. Crows’ feet and all.

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1966 Topps Mickey Mantle (#50)

The 1966 Topps set was a rare bird — a major baseball card issue with only one Mickey Mantle card (if you discount the Yankees team card). Maybe it had something to do with the fact that both Mantle (19 home runs, 46 RBI, .255 batting average) and the Yankees fell on hard times in 1965.

The card is a good one, though, even if Mantle is batting left-handed and looking to his right. In fact, he seems mildly amused and not really sour at all.

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1967 Topps 2nd Series Check List – Mickey Mantle (#103)

Topps made up for their pittance of Mantle cardboard in 1966 by popping his noggin on the top of their 2nd Series checklist (or “check list” in Topps’ parlance) in 1967. Slightly creepy, but it’s colorful and Mantleful.

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1967 Topps Mickey Mantle (#150)

If Mantle weren’t smiling in this photo, you might mistake his base 1967 Topps card for a mugshot, what with the drab green background and partial-shoulders-and-mug … um … shot.

Couple this with the Check List card, and you get the feeling that maybe Topps wasn’t too keen to show Mantle’s body in 1967. Was it falling apart or something?

Well, yeah, it kinda was, but still.

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1968 Topps Mickey Mantle (#280)

There we go. This is more like it.

The 1968 Topps Mickey Mantle card greeted what would turn out to be his last season in the Majors with a classic batting stance pose in Yankees pinstripes. It doesn’t come much more basic or iconic than that, burlap and all.

Related post: 1968 Topps Mickey Mantle Baseball Card: Sylin’ in Burlap

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1968 Topps Super Stars — Harmon Killebrew/Willie Mays/Mickey Mantle (#490)

Willie, Mickey, and … The Duke? Well, not quite. Duke Snider had been retired for a few years by the time this burlap beauty slid out of wax packs across the land, but Harmon Killebrew filled in admirably for the Silver Fox to round out this trio of sluggers. (Though slotting him in centerfield would have been an interesting experience.)

So … Willie, Mickey, and Killer?

Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

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1969 Topps 5th Series Check List — Mickey Mantle (#412)

Mantle retired just before the 1969 season began which meant that Topps’ “check list” was already pretty cemented. Part of that run was another Mantle head on another checklist card, but at least this time he got to keep his neck and a bit of background scenery.

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1969 Topps Mickey Mantle (#500)

Most of the time, Topps based their set composition on who they thought would actually be playing in the Big Leagues during a given season. If they knew a player was jobless, they generally wouldn’t include him.

That wrecked the baseball card careers of luminaries like Sandy Koufax and Hank Aaron, who announced their retirements well before the ink was dry on Topps’ master plan for the following season. As a consequence, those guys got no career-capper cards showcasing their entire statistical records.

But Mantle held out long enough that Topps couldn’t pull the plug on his final pasteboard, #500 in their 1969 set.  Not only that, but his card also exists in the scarce “white letter” version that sends prices through the roof:

Who knows? Maybe Topps would have granted Mantle his career-capper anyway because, you know, he was Mickey Mantle. But he took the bat out of their hands and did it his way.

Cue Sinatra.

Related Post: 7 Reasons Mickey Mantle’s Last Topps Card was the Best of 1969

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Who’s buying? Who’s selling? Which stars are changing teams? Will your team make a move?

And if you’re a baseball card collector, well, the delights of trade-deadline season are multiplied by all the cardboard possibilities.

I mean, remember how awesome it was to know Terry Mulholland would appear in a different uniform each spring when the new baseball cards hit store shelves?

But as exciting as the trade deadline is, it’s not the only late-July ritual that ignites diamond imagination … and debate.

That’s because Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in Cooperstown during the last weekend of July each year, and there is always disagreement about who belongs in baseball’s Valhalla and who should have to pay admission like the rest of us scrubs.

It’s all great fun.

And sometimes … sometimes … baseball’s two hot-topic streaks collide and the unthinkable happens: a future Hall of Famer is traded!

Not long ago, I came across a Sports Illustrated article by Jay Jaffe that deals with this very topic — eventual Hall of Famers dealt before the non-waiver trade deadline (so Jeff Bagwell doesn’t make the cut, for example).

I thought it would be fun to take Jay’s list and put it a hobby twist on it.

Specifically, I wanted to look at two baseball cards for each of the HOF players: the last card issued before the trade (old team) and the first card issued after the trade (new team).

Here then, I present ten Hall of Fame baseball card makeovers, courtesy of the MLB trade deadline. Enjoy the memories!

June 15, 1964 — Lou Brock, Cubs to Cardinals

Before the trade …

Brock was the Chicago Cubs starting left fielder, but it took him parts of three Major League seasons to get there, and he wasn’t running — or hitting — like a record breaker. He did 24 steals in 1963, but that came with 12 caught-stealings, and his lifetime batting average stood at .258.

Judging by his 1964 Topps card, Brock wasn’t all that thrilled.

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The Cubs evidently weren’t, either, as they traded Brock, Jack Spring, and Paul Toth to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens, and Bobby Shantz.

After the trade …

Brock stole 33 bases while hitting .348 with 12 home runs for the 1964 Cardinals in 103 games, finishing tenth in National League Most Valuable Player voting. He also picked up a World Series ring that October.

No wonder he looked so much happier on his 1965 Topps card.

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And, of course, Brock would go on to 3000 hits and a berth in the Hall of Fame, along with just about every stolen base record in the book … until Rickey Henderson swallowed them all up a decade-ish later.

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June 13, 1975 — Gaylord Perry, Indians to Rangers

Before the trade …

Perry won the American League Cy Young Award for the Cleveland Indians in 1972, and he manged a 21-13, 2.51 ERA campaign in 1974. That was good enough for him to get shipped from one also-ran to another — the Texas Rangers — in exchange for Jim Bibby, Jackie Brown, and Rick Waits early in 1975.

And, at 36 (maybe 35 in the pic), Perry already looked like your grandfather on his 1975 Topps card.

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After the trade …

Perry went 12-8, 3.03 the rest of the way in 1975, then spent all of 1976 and 1977 in Arlington before the Rangers traded him to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Dave Tomlin. There in the southern California sunshine, Perry won the 1978 National League Cy Young award.

He then slip-slide-Vasolined his way through another five Major League seasons to bring his win total to 314.

All along the way, he continued to look like your grandfather, just as on his 1976 Topps card.

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June 15, 1976 — Rollie Fingers, A’s to Red Sox

Before the trade …

Fingers was the premier reliever for the dynastic Oakland A’s of the 1970s, but became just another expensive pawn when Charlie O. Finley decided to tear down his monster in 1975-76.

Finley sold Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million.

Before he headed out of town, though, Fingers looked distinctly 19th century with his handlebar mustache and serif A’s jersey, as on his 1976 Topps card.

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After the trade …

Fingers cut up with his new BoSox teammates, mugged for the camera … and then headed back to Oakland when commissioner Bowie Kuhn stepped in and voided the deal because it felt too seedy to him.

From there, Fingers continued his assault on the all-time saves record and won the 1981 American League Cy Young and MVP awards with the Milwaukee Brewers.

All along the way, he maintained his Dick Dastardly sense of style, as you can see on his 1977 Topps card:

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But Fingers never made it onto a “real” Red Sox card.

Thanks to the magical airbrush of the guys at the Baseball Card Blog, though, we have a delicious and historically accurate 1976 Topps Traded Fingers to ponder:

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June 15, 1977 — Tom Seaver, Mets to Reds

Before the trade …

Seaver was already a legend in the game, having helped the 1969 Miracle Mets to their unbelievable World Series title with his first Cy Young season … his second CYA came in 1973 when the Amazins again made it to the Series.

Just for good measure, he added a third CY in 1975.

In 1977, though, the Mets were your basic New York City sewer backwash and needed to start rebuilding.

Maybe unbeknownst to most New Yorkers, Seaver’s 1977 Topps would be their last chance to see Seaver in pinstripes (at least for a few years) …

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… because New York traded Tom Terrific to the Reds for Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman, and Pat Zachry.

After the trade …

Seaver went 14-3 with the Reds in 1978 while staring down batters like an angry Tom Bergeron … like here on his 1978 Topps card:

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Seaver then reeled off several more winning seasons for Cincy, including a sterling 14-2 mark in the strike-shortened 1981 campaign before heading back to the Mets.

He spent the latter half of the eighties with a variety of teams, including a stop with the Chicago White Sox — when he became Floyd Bannister for awhile.

Amazing.

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July 31, 1987 — Steve Carlton, Indians to Twins

Before the trade …

By the time the Cleveland Indians traded Carlton to the Minnesota Twins for a PTBNL (Jeff Perry) at the 1987 trade deadline, Lefty was pretty much done as an effective starter.

And he had entered that head-spinning final push of his career that saw him run through the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago White Sox during the 1986 season.

He signed with the Indians in April 1987, which meant he didn’t appear on Tribe cardboard until the 1987 Topps Traded set:

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After the trade …

If the Twins were expecting Carlton’s 5-9 record with the Indians to turn around … well … at least he didn’t lose as many games for Minnesota. Still, his 1-5, 6.70 ERA to finish out the season was ugly.

From there, the Twins released and re-signed Carlton multiple times, and he wrapped up his career with them in 1988.

Still, they were the last team for which Carlton appeared on a baseball card, such as this 1988 Fleer cupcake:

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July 31, 1993 — Rickey Henderson, A’s to Blue Jays

Before the trade …

Henderson was in his second stint with the Oakland A’s, and he already held the single-season and all-time records for stolen bases. He was also a run-scoring machine and considered by many to be the greatest leadoff hitter ever.

He looked pretty much like he always had in green and gold, like on this 1993 Topps card.

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After the trade …

The Toronto Blue Jays were pushing toward the postseason again at the trade deadline in 1993, hellbent on repeating as world champions.

So they shipped Steve Karsay and a PTBNL (Jose Herrera) to Oakland in exchange for Henderson, their would-be catalyst.

Problem was, Rickey hit just .215 with almost no power in 44 games with Toronto, who won the World Series anyway.

That fall, Henderson signed with the A’s again as a free agent and continued his march toward Cooperstown, but not before he landed some Blue Jay cardboard — like his 1994 Topps card.

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July 31, 1998 — Randy Johnson, Mariners to Astros

Before the trade …

By the 1998 trade deadline, Randy Johnson had fully developed into The Big Unit, and he was a Seattle Mariners legend.

Alas, as an impending free agent and with a middling team behind him, Johnson carried huge trade value.

So … Seattle pushed him to the Houston Astros in exchange for Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, and a PTBNL (John Halama) — salary dump and prospect reload accomplished.

Unit’s 1998 Topps Opening Day card was among his last Mariners pasteboards.

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After the trade …

Johnson blazed through the National League in the second half like, well, an Astro (whatever that is). His 10-1 record in 11 games was supported by an unbelievable 1.28 ERA and an ungodly 116 strikeouts in 84-1/3 innings.

Those afterburners helped Houston finish 102-60 to win the NL Central before losing the NL Division Series to the Padres.

They also helped Johnson land a big offseason contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, leaving collectors to seek mementos of his time in Houston — like this 1998 Mother’s Cookies Astros card:

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July 31, 2006 — Greg Maddux, Cubs to Dodgers

Before the trade …

By midsummer 2006, Maddux had long since wrapped up his storied run with the Atlanta Braves and had been back “home” with the Chicago Cubs for two-and-a-half seasons.

The Cubs, though, were the Cubs … losing, in other words. So Chicago sent Maddux to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Cesar Izturis.

It was good to see Maddux in Cubbies pinstripes again, as on his 2006 Topps Heritage card, while it lasted, though.

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After the trade …

The Professor went 6-3, 3.30 as LA finished second in the NL West and then lost the NL Division Series to the Mets in three straight.

Maddux’s 2007 Topps Chrome gives you a glimpse of that first brief stint with the Dodgers:

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From there, Maddux signed two successive free agent contracts with the Padres — for 2007 and 2008 — before the Friars dealt him back to the Dodgers in August 2008.

And that was the end of the road for Mad Dog, one of the greatest ever.

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July 30, 2008 — Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers to Yankees

Before the trade. …

In the summer of 2008, the Detroit Tigers were headed back down the competitive ladder after having reached the World Series in 2006.

One of the keys to their mid-2000s success was catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who won an AL MVP award with the Rangers in 1999 and helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series in 2003 during a one-year Miami layover.

At 36, though, the future Hall of Fame catcher was expendable, and contenders like the New York Yankees came calling.

Collectors got a last good look at Ivan the Tiger courtesy of cards like his 2008 Topps base issue before he headed to the Bronx in exchange for Kyle Farnsworth.

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After the trade …

Rodriguez appeared in just 33 games for the Yanks in the second half, hitting an anemic .219 with two homers and three RBI. On the plus side, he did steal four bases and score 11 times.

Still, the Yanks missed the playoffs, and Rodriguez bounced around for another few seasons, via free agency and trades, to the Astros, Rangers, and Washington Nationals.

His brief stint in New York was nothing to brag about, but it was something to card about … check out his 2009 Topps pinstripes:

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July 31, 2008 — Ken Griffey Jr., Reds to White Sox

Before the trade …

Ken Griffey, Jr., came home to the Cincinnati Reds in a 2000 trade that everyone said couldn’t happen, but that Reds GM Jim Bowden somehow pulled off.

Junior was going to smash every record there was wearing Riverfront Red and playing in sparkling new Great American Ballpark.

He was going to finally end the debate about who was the greatest player of all time.

He was going to save the Reds.

Only … Griffey was already 30 when Trader Jim brought him to the Midwest, and the physical decline happened fast. The Kid seemed to lose much of his joy for the game, too, and his enthusiasm while locked into his 10-year Cincy contract.

Things didn’t go especially well for Griffey and the Reds, in other words, but he did look pretty good in team colors before management sent him and Cash to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Nick Massat and Danny Richar.

See his nifty 2008 Topps card (ignore the belly):

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After the trade …

Griffey played below league average levels in the second half for the ChiSox before signing with his original team, the Mariners, for the 2009 season.

It was a much sweeter homecoming than his 2000 Cincinnati tour because a) Griffey was already a lock for the Hall of Fame and b) nobody really expected much from him.

And that’s just what he provided — on the field, anyway — not much.

He did hit 19 homers for the Ms in 2009 before retiring in June 2010, but he got further and further out of shape and became sort of a doddering old man (e.g., maybe missing PAs because he was sleeping in the clubhouse).

Griffey’s 2009 Topps card gave us a glimpse of those things to come, but also a peek at a legend in strange duds (hard to ignore the belly).

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Sometimes, a little bit of luck in timing and location can make all the difference in the world.

Take the Jack Morris rookie card, for example.

If the 2018 Hall of Fame inductee had made his debut before 1977 or with just about any team other than the Detroit Tigers, he would have had one rookie card.

And if he had made it to the Major Leagues a few years later, he likely  would have had three rookie cards, and that’s what everyone would have expected.

As things stand, Morris got a cup of coffee with the Tigers in the summer 1977, appearing in seven games and going 1-1 with a 3.74 ERA. That was enough for Detroit to call him back to Motown early in the 1978 season.

It was also enough for Topps to tag Morris for card #703, a Rookie Pitchers card he shares with Larry Andersen, Tim Jones, and Mickey Mahler.

Here is what that one looks like:

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But the Tigers probably wouldn’t have called Morris up at all, not right then, had they been, say the New York Yankees. After bottoming out in the mid-1970s, though, Detroit had invested in a youth movement, and their minor league moves were paying off in the spring of 1978.

Ready to reshape the Big League team were youngsters like catcher Lance Parrish, second baseman Lou Whitaker, shortstop Alan Trammell, first baseman Jason Thompson, left fielder Steve Kemp, starter Dave Rozema … and bullpen hand Jack Morris.

Of course, Morris was destined for the starting rotation, too, and moved into a full-time starting role in 1979.

Before that came to pass, though, it just so happened that hast food monarch Burger King decided to ramp up their baseball card promotions. In 1977, BK had tested the cardboard waters with a Topps-made set devoted to the Yanks and available with food purchases in the New York area.

That apparently worked out well enough that the King wanted more in 1978, expanding their sets — and markets — to include the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, and, yes, the Detroit Tigers.

The Yanks were back on the docket, too.

But it’s that Tigers set that really paid dividends for a generation of baseball card collectors. Among the 23 cards issued in the Motown BKs were solo cards of Whitaker, Trammell, and Morris.

While most of the Burger King cards were just copies of the corresponding base Topps cards, that wasn’t really possible with the three youngsters — they all appeared on multiplayer cards (like Morris’ above) in the regular Topps issue.

And, no matter how good Topps is at their craft, even they can’t make one player look like four players, or vice versa.

So each of these guys, all of whom will someday be in Cooperstown, instantly doubled their baseball card count. And, in each case, that new rookie card was an upgrade over the original.

Here is the Morris single from that Burger King set:

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Now, I’ve already told you, in this post, what I think of the 1978 Burger King Jack Morris card, but you can decide for yourself.

Is it better than his base card?

Is it better than Trammell’s card?

Than Whitaker’s?

That’s the beauty of baseball cards, and, especially these Burger King cards …

You can have them your way!

At least in a binary sort of way.

(Check out the rest of our posts on the 2018 Hall of Fame class here.)

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Picking out the best Vladimir Guerrero rookie card — or even identifying all available Vladdy rookies — is a challenging task.

See, Guerrero came along just as the hobby was climbing out of the Junk Wax Era and trying to recover from the baseball strike of 1994 (and 1995).

That meant lower production runs in general but also a proliferation of shiny, (super) premium, expensive cards that sort of ended the long-standing collector dreams of owning one of everything.

And Guerrero himself was an unusual sort — a free-swinging bad-ball hitter who raked for both average and power, didn’t draw all that many walks, and had good speed.

He also had a cannon of an arm in right field.

In an era (now) that emphasizes plate discipline, launch angle, exit velocity, and all the rest of the modern metrics, Guerrero looks like an anachronism.

Really, he and his cards were just caught in between epochs, forced to create their own timeless footprints on the game and hobby.

Here is a quick rundown of those Vladdy rookie cards, all of them issued just as the strike-induced fog was starting to lift.

1995 Best Top 100 Albany Polecats (#80)

Vladimir Guerrero running right at you as a member of the Albany Polecats. What could be more old-school and hard-nosed than that?

And all for $10 or less most of the time!

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1995 Bowman (#90)

This is arguably Guerrero’s “real” rookie card, as it’s the first widely available base set to show Vlad in a Major League uniform.

Over the years, this image of a young Guerrero in his batting pose has become a classic. You can find these for $10 or less in raw form, up to around $100 for PSA 10 copies.

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1995 Bowman’s Best (#2)

Here’s where we start to get into some of the glitz and glamour of the post-strike hobby.

Bowman’s Best is all shiny and foily, and you can find fancy parallels like refractors and “blue” versions, with prices ranging from less than $20 to well into three figures.

Check the Amazon and eBay links below to explore the various versions currently available on the market.

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1995 Classic 5 Sport (#115)

Having moved on from their days as a board game manufacturer, with baseball cards thrown into the deal, Classic was casting a wide net by 1995.

Part of that net included this 5-sport offering of athletes from MLB, the NFL, NBA, NHL, and auto racing.

Guerrero shows up in a nondescript uniform and on parallels including a printer’s proof, red version, silver version, die-cut version, autographed version, and probably combinations thereof.

It’s all pretty confusing, but gives you lots of opportunities to snag another Vladdy rookie, generally for less than 20 bucks.

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1995 SP Top 10 Prospects (#7)

This card features Guerrero in a cameo shot surrounded by a picture frame sorta deal. It’s hokey and irregular — and comes in a couple varieties — but, again, how can you pass up a smiling Polecats Vladdy?

Prices range from under $10 to $100 or so depending on version and grade.

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1995 SP Top Prospects (#90)

Not to be confused with SP Top 10 Prospects, this SP Top Prospects card shows Guerrero sitting and smiling in his Polecats uniform, and without the burgundy picture frame.

Huge difference.

Trust me.

This one also exists in autographed and promo form.

Sticker prices run up towards $300 for PSA 10 copies.

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1995 SP Top Prospects Destination The Show

Another Albany Polecats card, this one takes the prize for Vladimir Guerrero Rookie Card with the Longest Name.

It also seems to be relatively scarce, at least judging by the copies available for sale on eBay and at other online outlets.

The lack of available specimens is reflected in the price tag — folks are asking $200 or so for PSA 9 and around $100 for raw copies.

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1995 Upper Deck Minor League (#127)

The first Upper Deck card of Guerrero is a “Minor League” issue but shows him sliding in his Expos uniform.

Good looking card that you can generally find with and without the “Future Stock” designation for under $5 raw and less than $10 in PSA 9.

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(Check out the rest of our posts on the 2018 Hall of Fame class here.)

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What would you expect a Trevor Hoffman rookie card to look like?

Without cheating, I mean. No looking up the Hoffman master set on PSA, no Googling for Hoffman’s rookie card.

I will let you take a peek at Hoffman’s stats if that will help … here is his Baseball Reference page.

So now …

What would you expect a Trevor Hoffman rookie card to look like?

Well, we can make some guesses, right? Put together a list of likely qualities?

Seems reasonable.

Given the available evidence, we might expect Hoffman’s first cardboard to …

• Have been issued in 1993 or 1994, around the time of his Major League debut with the Florida Marlins
• Show him with the Marlins or the San Diego Padres or possibly one of their minor league affiliates
• Feature the steely stare that helped Hoffman intimidate Big League batters for 18 seasons
• At least hint as Hoffman’s trademark goatee
• Intimidate with the muscular physique that struck out more than a batter per inning in the Bigs
• Maybe echo “Hell’s Bells” from a microchip embedded somewhere unknowable on the card

That all seems reasonable in a way, if not altogether likely.

Now that we know what we might expect from a Trevor Hoffman rookie card, let’s look at Trevor Hoffman’s actual rookie card:

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Uh-oh.

Something’s not right here.

Hoffman is clean-shaven.

Hoffman is really lean.

Hoffman is … smiling.

And, gosh almighty, Hoffman is wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform!

What in the world is going on here?

Well, you see …

No-Field, No-Hit … But Arm!

Trevor Hoffman was once a sorta promising high school and college shortstop.

The Reds selected him from the University of Arizona in the 11th round of the 1989 MLB draft as a shortstop. By that point, Glenn Hoffman, Trevor’s older brother, was wrapping up a so-so Major League career as an infielder.

Think that pedigree helped Trevor get a look from the Bigs?

Maybe.

But after parts of two seasons in the bottom ranks of the Reds’ minor league system, Hoffman was doing just about nothing with the bat — .213/.311/.277 that summer with the Class-A Charleston Wheelers.

He also committed 25 errors at short.

Ugh.

But future Reds general manager Jim Bowden and others within the organization noticed that Hoffman had a cannon of a right arm, regularly gunning down runners at first when he didn’t boot the ball.

On the verge of dropping the youngster entirely, the Reds instead invited him to Spring Training in 1991, but as a project — they were going to transform him into a pitcher or he would be done with the Reds.

Bowden told the whole story in a 2017 ESPN article, but the upshot is that Hoffman took to pitching — relief pitching — much better than he had taken to a professional batter’s box or the shortstop hole.

Somewhere in there, either when he was at Reds camp in 1991, or maybe at the next camp, a Topps photographer caught up with the young fireballer and snapped the shot that would end up on that 1992 Bowman rookie card up there.

Those were the early days of Bowman’s renaissance, and the brand was just coming into its own as THE place to go for rookie cards. Even then, though, Topps was eager to use their old competitor’s name to push out rookie cards of any and every remotely viable prospect before anyone else.

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Given Hoffman’s name and the success he had in 1991 — 2-1, 1.89 ERA, 20 saves, 14.2 K/9 — it was probably a no-brainer to include him in the first white-stock Bowman set.

Thus, while Upper Deck managed to issue a minor league Hoffman card later that summer, 1992 Bowman was by far the first nationally distributed Major League Trevor Hoffman card.

Of course, by the time Hoffman actually made his Major League debut, he was a Florida Marlin, courtesy of the expansion draft in November of 1992. Bowden himself says that not protecting Hoffman in that draft is one of his biggest GM regrets, and it’s hard to refute that notion.

But, hey, the Reds were able to hang on to Tim Costo, so there’s that.

Anyway, the Marlins turned Hoffman, Andres Berumen, and Jose Martinez into Rich Rodriguez (not that one) and Gary Sheffield in a June 1993 trade with the San Diego Padres.

And that’s pretty much where the unknown parts of this story end.

Hoffman became the Pads’ closer in 1994 and didn’t relinquish that role until 2008, at which point the 40-year-old had nailed down 554 saves on the strength of a 2.78 ERA and nearly 10 K/9.

He caught on with the Milwaukee Brewers for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, but Hoffman’s legacy as a shutdown closer and likely future Hall of Famer was already scratched in the wet cement of history by then.

All we had to do was wait for it to dry.

Fast forward seven years or so, and the concrete had set firmly in place — Hoffman gained entrance to Cooperstown in the 2018 BBWAA election, on his third try.

Trevor Hoffman will rightly wear a San Diego Padres cap on his Hall of Fame plaque, but he’ll always be a Cincinnati Red on his rookie card.

Believe it or not.

(Check out the rest of our posts on the 2018 Hall of Fame class here.)

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