1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Has Surprising Connections to a 74-Year-Old Set
The 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr., may well be the most famous baseball card of the last 70 years, so it's no surprise that virtually everything about it has already been written, probably more than once. Everything, that is, except for it's surprising connections to a baseball card set from 74 years ago.
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Since 1989, the Bowman brand has been part of the Topps family, but from 1952 to 1955 the companies were fierce rivals, competing for the hard earned (or pilfered) pennies of young gum chewers with some of the best baseball card sets ever produced. Back up a year, however, and Bowman was just about the only game in town. Yes, Topps had a handful of oddball releases, but none could compare or compete with the Bowman's colorful, 324-card masterpiece.
Fantastic, but what does that have to do with the Upper Deck Griffey? For starters, the set is well known today for its rookie card of a five-tool, Hall of Fame centerfielder who wore number 24!
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Okay, so there's that, but what else? Keep in mind that a portion of the Griffey card's mystique is that it led off the 1989 Upper Deck checklist as card number one. For decades this coveted top slot went to established superstars the ilk of Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, and Hank Aaron. But a rookie? In fact, prior to 1989, only one major set had a Hall of Fame rookie card at the top of its checklist: 1951 Bowman!
As for the final--and unlikeliest--connection between Junior's famous Upper Deck cardboard and the 1951 Bowman set, take a look at the picturesque card of Pirates third baseman Pete Castiglione recently posted to the SABR Baseball Cards Facebook group by Seattle Pilots superfan Tim Jenkins.
On one hand, this Castiglione card couldn't be any further from Junior's Upper Deck classic, but on the other hand it couldn't be any closer. As Tim noted in his post, Castiglione's Pirates trained from 1935 to 1952 (minus a few years) at Perris Hill Park n San Bernardino, California, hence the pine trees on several early 1950s Bowman Pirates cards.
Fast forward several decades and Perris Hill, today known as Fiscalini Field, was home to the San Bernardino Spirit of the California League. Of course, Griffey die-hards know that while Junior's upper deck cardboard depicts him as a Seattle Mariner, the actual source photograph came while Griffey was still a minor leaguer with (of course!) San Bernardino!
Now take a closer look at those blurry trees behind Griffey, Nobody's saying they're the exact same trees (or even grove) featured on so many Pirates cards in the 1951 Bowman set, but they may well be! Either way, who would have guessed that the photo shoot for a 1951 Pittsburgh Pirate and 1989 Seattle Mariner would take place at the same minor league (now collegiate) ballpark, nowhere near Pittsburgh or Seattle.
On the off chance all these connections between the Griffey rookie and the 1951 Bowman set have convinced you that you might just need to add the 74-year-old vintage set to your Griffey-adjacent collection, just be warned. 1951 Bowman is also the home of another Hall of Fame centerfielder's rookie card!
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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.