They say hindsight is 20/20 and looking back on the inclusion of Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards in 1989 might seem extremely logical in today’s context. After all, he did develop into one of the greatest of all time. He had that sweet swing which turned him into a first ballot Hall-of-Famer with over 98% of the vote.
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1989 Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie: The Improbable Foresight of Upper Deck
So why wouldn’t he have rookie cards in 1989?
Having said that, hindsight alone doesn’t begin to tell the whole story about his rookie cards’ success. There was a massive confluence of luck, good timing, changes times and of course, his significant ability.
When Ken Griffey Jr. took his very first at-bat in the big leagues on April 4, 1989, he was all of 19 years old, and promptly laced a double. Interestingly, he wasn’t expected to start the season with the Mariners. While he was one of the top prospects in baseball, given his age, he was expected to start the season in the minor leagues. A sizzling spring training brought an end to that idea, and the “kid” broke spring training with the Seattle Mariners.
Here’s where you need to unwind all of the unique things that occurred to get a true understanding of how his rookie cards came to be; more specifically, the most important Ken Griffey Jr rookie card.
What is the Most Important Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card?
The most important Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card was his 1989 Upper Deck card #1. The first card, in the first series ever produced by what was then a brand new company.
Back in 1988, there were only 4 companies that produced packs of cards – Topps, Donruss, Fleer and Score, which just completed their first year of production in 1988. It was during 1988 that a new company was able to get a 5th license. This company had a radical idea. The idea was based around preventing counterfeit cards by using a special printed hologram on the card.
The company was called Upper Deck (a fascinating story about the origin and growth of this company was captured in the book by Pete Williams, called “Card Sharks”). By the end of 1988, Upper Deck received their license and by February of 1989, they delivered their first cases or product.
Here’s where good luck comes to play.
Going back a couple of years to 1987, on an off-day, major leaguer DeWayne Buice walked into the baseball card store owned by one of the future founders of Upper Deck. They struck up a conversation, became friendly and shared their idea for a card company. They didn’t have contacts with major league baseball but Buice did. He helped them secure that license in 1988 and became a part owner of the fledgling company in the process.
Now think about this; not only was Upper Deck printing their cards just after Christmas 1988 but so were Topps, Fleer, Donruss and Score. Bowman came later. Since “the Kid” was expected to begin the year in the minors, both Topps and Score neglected to include a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie in their base series, but Upper Deck did.
Not only that, but Upper Deck also made him card number 1. How did that occur? It was all due to the foresight of a teenage employee. He identified 4 top rookies for 1989 (Griffey Jr., Gary Sheffield, Sandy Alomar, and Gregg Jefferies). Since he was a Mariner fan, he selected Griffey Jr. as the number 1 card.
From April 4th forward, Griffey Jr. was an immediate sensation. Upper Deck with its cutting-edge hologram card, it’s perceived scarcity (recall they only had a couple of months to start production) and the inclusion of the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie, made the set immediately immensely popular.
So, if DeWayne Buice had never walked into that baseball card store…, if the store owners never had an idea to address counterfeit cards…, and if Griffey Jr. didn’t have a torrid spring…, this rookie card would’ve never became the iconic card it is today.
How to Buy 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Cards Today?
There are multiple ways. First off, you can buy a 1989 Upper Deck foil box containing 36. There is a better chance to get a Griffey Jr. rookie if you open a low number box (vs opening a high number box). There are 540 packs in a box and 20 boxes in a case. If you are determined to find one by opening packs, then if you purchase a case, you will get between 14-16 rookies.
This card is not necessarily scarce. It is actually one of the most graded by PSA. If one or more of those rookies you’ve pulled from a case grade out at a PSA 10, they are each worth about $5,000+. A case might run just south of $20,000 now at the time of writing this post. So, if you’d rather just spend the money, you can buy a PSA 10 just about anywhere there is an auction. A recent search on eBay, indicated 40 for sale.
Another way to purchase is to buy sealed sets or a case of sealed sets. Each set should run you north of a $100 but south of $200 (at least as of this writing).
Did You Know…
- That Griffey Jr.’s father was active in the major league at the same time as the Kid. They would become the first father and son to play together at the same time on the same team in 1990. They also became the only to hit back to back home runs.
- Card #1 in 1989 Upper Deck appeared at the top left of their printing sheet and was susceptible to damage
- There were over 1000 Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie cards created in 1989. Only 4 of them were available via packs in the candy store (Bowman, Fleer, Donruss and Upper Deck)
- PSA shows over 3900 have been graded as a PSA 10
So How Did it All Turn Out?
It wasn’t the hindsight that made this rookie card special, it was the serendipitous foresight and the incredible natural skill that turned this 19 year old “kid” into one of the greatest ever, and his rookie card into one of the most sort after!
