Five Surprising Facts About the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Card
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The 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr., card is arguably the Hobby's most iconic card of the last 70 years. Even among cards of the last 100 years, it's possible that only the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, one of the Hobby's ultimate grails, tops it. As famous as the card is, there are a certain number of facts nearly all serious collectors know about the card. At the same time, there are still a number of surprises for all but the biggest Junior die-hards.
Not the First Upper Deck Card!
Yes, the Griffey comes in at card number 1 on the 1989 Upper Deck checklist, but that doesn't make it first. Well before Upper Deck packs hit shelves in 1989, the company produced two prototypes, one of Halos pitcher (and Upper Deck advisor) DeWayne Buice, numbered 1, and one of teammate Wally Joyner, numbered 700. In other words, not only is Griffey not the first Upper Deck card; it's not even the first 1989 Upper Deck #1!
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Not a Rookie Card?
This next surprise comes down to some serious hair-splitting and comes with a zero percent chance of altering the Kid's rookie card landscape. Still, facts are facts. Were collectors today to apply the official Hobby definition of a rookie card, the Upper Deck Griffey card would fall short.
The reason? The card hit the street in February 1989, two months ahead of Junior's MLB debut. At the time, being early was hardly a disqualifier. Today, however, rookie card status requires that the player in question has already reached the majors. Crazy as it sounds, by today's rules, Junior's only rookie card would be his 1989 Bowman, a card that gets about as much love from collectors as a bone spur.
Not a Mariners Cap!
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Though the image is fairly convincing, especially given that Photoshop had not yet hit the market, the cap Griffey wears on his Upper Deck card is a San Bernardino Spirits minor league cap, digitally modified to look like a Mariners cap.
Familiar Trees?
This next one is a "deep cut" but here it is. Off in the distance, some blurry trees appear on the Griffey card's background.
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These same trees (or at least ones at the same park) appear on several 1951 Bowman baseball cards such as this Pete Castiglione, dating back to a time when the Pirates trained in San Bernardino, California, home of the Spirit!
Junior's Missing Run!
As Griffey had yet to play a major league game, it's not surprising that the back of his card has no MLB totals to speak of. However, the card does include stats from Junior's two minor league teams in 1988.
Compare these to his stat lines in Baseball-Reference, and they pretty much check out, except for one small detail. While the card shows 49 runs with San Bernardino in 1988, everyone's favorite go-to stats site shows 50. With luck, some SABR member will get to the bottom of this pronto!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.