The Definitive Collection (Baseball Edition) – 1989 Ken Griffey Jr.

Player Name: Ken Griffey Jr.

Card Sets: Topps Traded, Score: Rookie/Traded ,Upper Deck, Fleer, Donruss, and Bowman

Card Numbers: 41T, 100T, 1, 32, 548, and 220 respectively

Why are these cards must have?: Griffey Jr. may very well go down as one of the greatest hitters of all time.  Sure he had his share of disappointing injuries and now he plays for the Chicago White Sox (which just looks wrong to me).  However, he still has over 600 home runs and 2680 hits.  Atone point in his career as he neared the 500 home run mark, there was talk he could get to the 800 home run level. After 20 year though his bat speed and overall speed has slowed down considerably.  He no longer is swinging through his hips, he is arming it more and more (something you do as you get older).  I think he might have one more season left in him, but in the end I think he could have retired after this past season.  His name still is one of the hottest in collectibles, and almost every card of him demands a premium.   He is one of the 10 or so players that are priced in every set he’s been in.  These cards represent the first of all his cards, not the most valuable, but I think the most important of all his cards.  The Upper Deck card is important for a number of reasons, it launched a then unknown baseball card company, and became the holy grail of collectors from 1989 until 1995.

Scale of 1 – 10, how must have are these cards: 10, very simple, if your name is mentioned along the lines of Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, and Reggie Jackson, your cards are a 10 no matter what.  The UD card still runs in the $25 region, the other cards run from $3 – $8 depending on the card (substantially more if graded).