Griffey Pre-Rookies!

Griffey Pre-Rookies!

Pre-rookies are hard.  What really makes a pre-rookie in my opinion is when the card was actually printed.  Beyond that they're just picture cards that could have been made yesterday.  The main problem is that they tend to not have brands or production information printed on the back. 

Any information you may have on these would be amazingly helpful. 

Here we go:

Moeller High School - both versions

Moeller High School back - both versions

I have 3 Moeller high cards, two of the right version and one of the left.  The version on the left includes a High School All-American banner across the front and the Kid in a pro uniform named the Mariners' #1 draft pick for 1987 on the back.  Obviously this card was made later when those two things had been decided.  The production quality is super-high.  Both sides have finished surfaces like only card fronts tended to be in 1988, and the full-color front and back contribute to the mystery here.


Donora, 15 minutes away and upriver of Charleroi

The card on the right is glossy and may actually be an authentic pre-rookie.  It lists Griffey's birth place as Charleroi, PA instead of Donora, PA which is where he is widely known (among fanboy weirdos like me) to have been born (Stan Musial was also born there).  It suggests he may well be a first-round pick someday....

One thing I really like about this card is the Moeller uniforms are very similar in color to the Mariners, but also anyone who is a fan of the band Moe would love one of those hats.  I saw them at Bonnaroo a few years back - it was a solid show.  Maybe I'll try and find one of these hats online.

Awww.  Nevermind.....  But look, a Barry Larkin jersey.



San Bernardino Spirit #34

  

San Bernardino Spirit #34 back


I have three of this San Bernardino Spirit card.  This is his California minor league rookie card for 1988.  He had just had a solid 53-game (or was it 54?  more on that later...) year with the Bellingham Mariners (I have no cards showing him as a Bellingham Mariner) and was promoted to the bigger California league.  He would not even finish the year there. 

This has the look and feel of a minor league team set, the kind they give away on Thirsty Thursdays or Footlong Fridays.  Alliteration is huge in minor league marketing.



California League All-Star #26


  

California League All-Star #26 back

Of course, he was already an All-Star.  He hadn't even put up any stats in the California League yet when this card was made.  Pretty good design for the minors, too.  I have two of this one.



Oddball minor league card #2 "The Kid"



Oddball minor league card #2 "The Kid" back - ignore that tiny version - it's a glitch I'll get rid of soon enough....



I have two of these as well - it has no brand, but it does have all the Kid's minor league stats for the 2 years he was there as well as the first time "The Kid" appears as his nickname on a baseball card.  He is in his Spirit uniform which is not surprising as he spent the most time there and also played at his best.  Homeruns are not recorded on the back of this card, but he had 27.  And .320 in 129 games is pretty good for a teenager.

And look.  54 games in 1987, not 53.  Hmm....

 

SB Spirit Gold

  

SB Spirit Gold back

I have one of this card.  I have no idea where it came from or what it's signifcance is, but it has a gold foil border on the front and is numbered out of 5,000.  These two characteristics led me to believe that this card must be worth millions.

The stats show him playing 128 games and batting .323, but he played 129 games and hit .320, right?  It is not clear whether he missed a game in Bellingham and this is the only card that takes this into account or they're just wrong.  Here's my opinion:

They're wrong.  Here's why: they got the team name wrong.  The Spirit.  Not the Spirits.  You know how old people like to add an "s" to store names like the name is always the owner's name the way it was in the 50s?  "Get in the car, we're going to Wal-mart's for some new socks."  This card does that.  And it pisses me off. 

"Go Magics!  Beat the Jazzes!" 

"The Crimson Tides really dominated the Fightings Irishes in the BCS Championshipses."

Annoying, right?  Moving on.....



Oddball set #16, 17, 18



Oddball set #16, 17, 18 back

These are from some 18-card set that came out after his minor-league career.  I'm not sure if these were made by the Vermont Mariners or the Seattle ones (though I assume it would have a MLBPA logo or something), or just some company cashing in on Ken's newfound fame. 

I am hoping this is one of those sets (that doesn't exist) where players get 3 cards in a row (18 is divisible by 3!) instead of one.  That way these 3 would be considered all of his cards from that (imaginary) set, not just a small minority.

Also, Reds is not capitalized.  Derp!



ProCards Vermont Mariners



ProCards Vermont Mariners back



Now this is a freakin' minor league card.  Pre-rookie through and through.  You've got a date, brand, and MLB logo, which is immediately more than you can say about any of those other cards.  These facts make me believe that this card speaks truth; therefore, 54 is correct number of games in 1987.  You heard it here.

Now, look closely under the round Vermont logo on the front.  There's a light ink stain in the shape of that MLB logo from where the cards were stacked too soon after printing.  Those would be the little card packets you get at minor league games for free on Thirsty Thursdays.

And it looks like Griffey lost 5lbs.  I've mentioned before that 1988 was a tough year for Junior, so it's no surprise.

The value of these cards is a complete mystery to me, but they are some of my favorites of his.  Again, if you know any specifics about them, let us know!

1989 Score Traded #100T Rookie & Young Superstar Set 2 #18

 

1989 Score Traded #100T



 

In my collection: 2 Traded, one Young Superstar

Griffey looks: about to run

Is this a good Griffey card?: Yes.  Here is Junior's first Score card, and it it the first of his cards to designate him as a center fielder and not an outfielder.  This card is not as easy to come by as many of his other '89 cards and under-appreciated as his rookie cards go.

The set: As much as I hate admitting it, '89 Score was pretty forgettable.  I looked through my binders for other players I could post cards of from this set and found none.  NONE.  My binders are huge, too.

I think it's the front.  Not very much going on.  Not dynamic, bold or unique.  And it's a shame, because look: color photography on the back!  Upper Deck was the only other company doing that, and their set from '89 is lauded as one of the most important ever made.

On the back you've got a nice big block of blurb, all his minor league stats, vitals, a great color photo that rivals many of his other rookie card photos.  The layout doesn't come across as clunky or claustrophobic.  It's actually very feng shui. 

Admit it: this card is great.

Not crazy about the teal/pink/magenta on the front; but remember, it's the late 80's.  I bet you had some funky Jordache and Esprit shirts in your closet at the time.

Let's look again:
 

It looks like Griffey just smashed a looper into right-center field and is about to run.  You can see the blurry on-deck batter watching it fly.  Go, Junior, go!

Score also made two Young Superstar sets of 42 players each.

I know it says 47, but that is because they include these:

These came one-per-pack in the regular set.  They are lame.

Little cards with lenticular fronts that don't show the awesome things described on the back, but instead transition between "A Year to Remember" and a baseball showing the year the thing happened. Had there been a picture of the event described, these would be very cool and highly collectible.  But instead, they are kind of lame and easy to forget.

Enough of these - let's get to the players:

Set 1

Set 2

These cards have glossy fronts and some solid action photography.  And that's my favorite Biggio RC other than the '88 Fleer.

Here's the Griffey:

Young Superstar Set 2 #18

On the front you have the follow-through, a ball having just popped off the bat.  On the back, a direct quote from his scouting report.  That is cool.  And another great picture of the Kid. 

Score did a great job in '89, a fact I completely forgot until I wrote this post.

The regular card can be got for less that 5 bucks.  The Young Superstar card, while valued much higher, you can get for under ten bucks.  For the same price as the single card was going on the Bay, I was able to get both complete sets and keep the Biggio, Sheffield and Maddux cards.  Good deal.

The OTHER Donruss Rookies

The OTHER Donruss Rookies: Baseball's Best #192 & The Rookies #3



Baseball's Best #192





The Rookies #3



 

In my collection: 1 Baseball's Best, 2 The Rookies

Griffey looks: better than he did on his regular Donruss rookie

Are these good Griffey cards?: Yes.  They are significantly rarer than their regular set counterpart.  Also, both cards show Griffey's minor league records while the regular version shows nada.  And both have much better pictures of the Kid.

The sets: The Baseball's Best set is a 336-card factory-exclusive set sold specially through mass-market retailers such as K-mart.  This set contained the first major Sammy Sosa card as well as a Randy Johnson card.

Being that they were all stars among rookies, I suppose it made some sense to include them among "Baseball's Best," but really I think it was just Donruss telling Topps, "Look, we already have 3 Griffey cards out and you only have one!  Ha!  We'll print anything!  In yo' face, Topps!"  Didn't really work out in the end for Donruss, but at least we have these cool albeit unnecessary cards.

All the cards in this set are green, even those for the Reds, Blue Jays, and both color Sox.  Yes, that is weird.

The Rookies set also stuck with green.  There are 56 cards in this set, including Omar Vizquel, the Big Unit, Kenny Rogers, Edgar Martinez, Jefferies, Sheffield and Neon Deion.  Having just re-read what I typed, now I want this set.  That's a solid rookie checklist right there.

Hey, let's spot the differences between the two images, Highlights Magazine-style:



Regular back vs. The Rookies back

We have minor league stats, verification of his successful jump to the bigs, glaring error on the time frame that wasn't there before, and they added "Is" to the last sentence which makes it seem more complete, but it's still not.  Also, the orange-green combo makes me feel like we're on a Nickelodeon game show from the 80's.

All in all the Rookies set makes sense, but Baseball's Best seems like a money-grab.  Except for the Sosa card, it has no real purpose in the collecting mix.  And the green-only is just silly.  Here's all 3:

See?  In both cases Griffey looks better than he did on his regular card.  It's crazy town, I tell ya.

The greenies are valued at ten bucks each.  And if you think these are too much of one color, wait til you see next year's Donruss set......

1989 Bowman Tiffany #220 Rookie & #259

1989 Bowman Tiffany #220 Rookie & #259

[Note: we're going to try for a two-fer here.]

How many in my collection: 1 Tiffany Jr & 1 Tiffany Sr, 8 regular Jr, 3 regular Sr

Griffey looks: posed

Is this a good Griffey card?: Yes.  It’s Griffey’s “1^st Bowman Card” which Bowman's marketing team has taught us is very significant.  Plus it’s the rarest of his Tiffany rookies with only 6,000 printed (per Beckett).

The set:  So, yeah.  I hate this set.  And if you were an OCD kid trying to keep everything orderly in boxes and stacks, top loaders, rigid plastic cases, etc., then you know how frustrating ‘89 Bowman is too.  I seriously want to give the guy whose idea it was to add that extra 0.25” to every card an atomic wedgie, then take his mother out for a nice meal and never call her again.

Yet, I must admit the photography in the set is alright, and the lack of name and information on the front makes for a very clean look.  Just a thin, one-color border, a printed signature, and the colorful Bowman logo. 

Another kinda-good thing about this set is that the signatures really did look genuine.  If you were dealing with a kid who thought the signature was real you could get all kinds of good stuff in trade and no one except another experienced collector would be the wiser. 

I never did this, but dammit, I thought about it.

This set has the same Tiffany situation as the Topps: limited run, high-gloss fronts, and printed on white paper for brighter backs.  And what a complicated back Bowman gave us.  The Tiffany is downright necessary to extract any enjoyment out of the backs of these cards at all.  Look at this:

I still don’t know what I’m looking at, but if I had the patience to try and figure it out, I’m glad I have the Tiffany.  In the mean time, thank God there's no numbers in any of those little boxes or my head would explode.

Also, see how the bottom curl of the "S" in Pennsylvania is missing?  That's on every one of these I've seen, even the Tiffanies.  I think it's a mass-scale printing defect.  Let me know if you have any information.

Here’s a bunch of cards from the ’89 Bowman set:

The only thing that kept any of these in good condition is the fact that top loaders are not a standard size.  Some are a little taller (millimeters) than others.  Those are the ones you slipped your Bowman cards into.

[Fun fact: Among baseball card collectors, “I slipped her the Bowman.” translates into “I’m packing an extra quarter-inch, and we had intercourse.  Plus, I am a pathetic loser and also lying.”  The joke?  You guessed it - baseball card collectors don't get laid.  Moving on....]

I have dispensed with countless common (and some not so common) cards from this set in all the worst ways just to keep from having to store the things.  I mean, I’ve wrapped gum in them.  Seriously.  Gum.  You know that kid Sid from Toy Story?  I was that guy with all the Bruce Hursts and Lee Smiths and Ron Kittles of this unfortunate set.  They weren’t just worthless – they were a hindrance.  The Griffey was the only one I cared about and took care of.  Don’t ask me how the rest of those pictured above survived.  I don’t know.

The real insult added to this injury is the fact that when it came time to reprint this card in the 2002 Bowman Chrome (13^th anniversary?  Really?), guess what size they used?

It's standard 2.5 x 3.5, in case you couldn't tell.

Mm-hm.  Whattaya know?  Practicality wins out. 

Herp-a-derp derp, here come the Uncollectables of Bowman '89:

One cool tidbit about this set: The Bowman Company was having a contest that year, giving away a bunch of old Bowman cards from the 40's and 50's; and to advertise this they included a bunch of “reprints” of the old cards with sweepstakes entry forms on the backs.  These never seemed like they were worth anything, but I kept them because they're awesome.   Here’s all of them:

I’m not sure how those survived, either.  They spend their time sticking out of the tops of UltraPro hologram card pages.  Frickin’ ’89 Bowman, man.

Now, to the Griffey(s):

Griffey is intricately posed here.  I’m thinking the photographer put a lot of direction into this.  “Okay, Junior (he called everybody that), down on one knee.  Now, stretch your right hand over to your left knee.  Good, now right hand over left hand, you know, like people do.  Now, twist your torso counter-clockwise, but turn your head towards me.  Come on Junior, rigid and unnatural, let’s go.  I still gotta shoot Jay Buhner and we’re burning daylight…. Now, imagine you’re surrounded….by tiny seahorses……”

This is also Griffey’s 2^nd sweatiest card, the first being the ’89 Fleer.  1989 was a banner year for Griffey sweat (eeeew).

Here’s Dad’s card:



This is a Ken Griffey, Sr. card, a novel way of pairing the father and son in Junior's rookie year.  First let's point out the obvious: this is a throwback to the 1955 Bowman set which looked like that Eddie Waitkus on the right. Now, despite my love for this card, I'm going to make fun of it a little: 
 

1955 Bowman Eddie Waitkus



While the 1955 Bowman card is all cool and historic, heralding the dawn of color television, the 1989 card dates the heck out of the set by showcasing awful late 80’s technology.  I can't look at it without thinking "How chunky was that remote control?"  

I do like how Griffey Sr. is coming out of the television like that kid from The Ring and eyeing his son as if to say, "Why are you so tiny, son?  Do not fear.  Someday you will be HUGE, like me.  Huge.....and squinty."

This card mentions a pretty cool fact: that April 3^rd, 1989, the Griffeys became the first father-son pair to be simultaneously active in the Major Leagues.  This is nice because, like on American Chopper, Jr. and Sr. had had kind of a strained relationship.  Their situation came to a head when Griffey was 18, but thereafter things were decidely better between them.  The two would later hit back-to-back home runs which is pretty amazing and also freakin' adorable. 

Sandy Alomar, Sr. also got the Zenith TV treatment with his sons, rookie Sandy, Jr. and Roberto (the guy who spit in the ump’s face in 1996, but also got married 6 days ago as of this post.  Congratulations, Roberto!)


I thought I had this card, but it turns out I don't.  Here's a Google image for your eyes.


A side note about the Zenith cards: The really ironic thing about these is that regular-sized baseball cards are closer in aspect ratio to the old-style cathode-ray tube televisions (4:3), depicted here.  These Bowman cards are elongated and, therefore, closer in aspect ratio to the new flat panels (16:9) that are the standard now.  Yet, Bowman depicted the old style TVs, creating negative space on the left and right sides of the horizontally-held card.  In other words, Bowman could have been tech-forward and the crazy dimensions of their cards would have been perfectly appropriate.  Instead, while stepping forward in aspect ratio appropriateness, they depicted the older technology.  You know what?  Never mind.  This made sense in my head, but now I can feel it sucking the life out of my blog.

The regular set.

The regular Griffey Jr. card will run you less than $5, the regular Sr., less than $3.  The complete set shipped will run about $10-$15.  In a PSA 10, the regular card runs $100 or less.

The complete set in Tiffany will run you $200-$400, depending on whether you want it sealed.  The Griffey Sr. is pretty affordable in Tiffany, about $8 loose up to $25 in a PSA 10.  The Griffey Jr. is expensive.  In a PSA 10, expect to clear $1200 pretty quickly.  A 9.5 will easily cost more than a sealed set.  Below that or ungraded entirely, you’ll land between $90 & $200 for Junior's Tiffany rookie, depending on condish.

In closing, while this is the rarest of Griffey’s Tiffany rookies, it is not the rarest Bowman Tiffany.  That designation goes to the 1991 set with less than 5000 believed to have been printed.  That one is still on my want list if you’ve got the hookup…..

1989 Topps Traded #41T Rookie

                                                       1989 Topps Traded #41T Rookie

In my collection: 7

Griffey looks: ready

Is this a good Griffey card?: Yes.  His 1^st Topps card - they finally got around to making the guy a rookie card.  Of course at this point he was already a star.  At least we finally got to see his name in the sweet ’89 Topps wave.

Quick note: I know all I've done is rookie cards so far, but that is what I know.  I stopped paying attention to the hobby from 1999 until pretty recently.  And while I have plenty of Griffey cards that have been printed since then, I assure you, eventually my posts are all going to read "This card has Ken Griffey, Jr. on it.  It is shiny.  Baseball."

The set: The 1989 Topps set is a behemoth at 792 cards.  The traded set of 132 cards came out later in the year to showcase rookies and the players that switched teams.  In other sets and years you may see “update” and “series 2,” sets that account for these late-season changes.  You’ll even see two cards for the same player in the same year because of sets like this.  Check it:

Traded vs. Regular

A prominent feature of the traded set compared to the regular is that the traded set was printed on white card stock instead of brown.  This made the back look much cleaner:

So, there you have the regular set and the traded set, but there’s also the Tiffany set and the Tiffany traded set.  Tiffany cards came in a lovely blue box and were printed in more limited numbers on white card stock with high-gloss fronts.  Since the traded set is also printed on white stock, these cards can be easily mistaken for Tiffany.  

Keep in mind that the high-gloss front is unmistakable, so if you’re not sure whether what you have is a Tiffany, it’s probably not.  I bought a whole collection on eBay once that claimed to contain all the Tiffany rookies.  It did, except for this one, despite the post-it note attached to the case that said “Tiffany.”  It was the seller’s mistake, but I got such a ridiculous deal on it at the time that I didn’t fuss.  This remains one of the only rookie specimens I don’t have in my collection.  Anyone want to trade?

Here’s some great cards from 1989 Topps regular and traded:

Also, some sweet All-Star cards with bright primary colors for the kids (I still love these things):

And here’s some “Uncollectables” from Topps that year:

That Keith Atherton is one of my favorite cards ever printed.  No joke. 

And now to the Griffey:

Griffey looks ready.  Ready to rock some major league socks.  See the squint?  That’s fury.  That’s focus.  That’s the naïve fearlessness of the rookie contender.  The Kid had a tough 1988.  But right now?  Right NOW, this dude is about to play some f***ing baseball all over your face.  BOOSH.

In closing, the ’89 Topps Traded is another favorite all-time rookie card.  You can snag one for less than $5 on eBay.  The whole Tiffany Traded set will run you almost the same amount as the Griffey by itself, so you might as well get the whole thing and keep the rookies and the Nolan Ryan as bonuses.