9 things you didn’t know about the Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck rookie card (2024)

There aren’t many sports cards in the world more iconic than the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. I believe it stands right alongside the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card. If you were sculpting a sports cards Mount Rushmore, it’s safe to say those three cards would be on there, right next to Billy Ripken’s bat.

I recently wrote a column on some of the most interesting stories surrounding some different sports cards over the past century, and it led me to the creation of this story. It’s too big to jam into one piece.

Do you know the history behind Griffey’s rookie card?

Of course, you know it’s the very first card in Upper Deck’s very first set — which is a set that pushed the sports card industry into a new era. Some say the junk wax era was the worst era, but we only think that now, in hindsight. It’s like when they came out with fat-free potato chips! We loved Lay’s WOW Chips for a short time, then the “abdominal cramping and fecal incontinence” kicked in.

At the time, sports card collectors were loving what would eventually be known as the Junk Wax Era. Life was good with huge card shows, sports card magazines, and all the product our open wallets could buy!

Alas, there are just a few things that survived the Junk Wax Era, including the love for Michael Jordan, Dream Team memories, and the greatest baseball card of the past half-century.

9 Things You Didn’t Know About the Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card

Most of these nine interesting facts come from the book, “Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession,” by Dave Jamieson.

This book is phenomenal and a must-have for sports card collectors. It’s interesting, educational and super entertaining.

1. Griffey wasn’t the obvious choice as the top rookie

We look back and see that Griffey was a generational talent, but at press time for Upper Deck in 1989, he had not yet played a game above Double-A, and he wasn’t even expected to start the season in the majors. He was not a safe pick for the No. 1 spot in the set.

Topps often holds that No. 1 spot in their flagship set for a superstar from the previous year (like 2021 American League MVP Shohei Ohtani, who held that spot in 2022 Topps Series 1). But Upper Deck turned to a college student named Tom Geideman to help decide who should go in the top slot because of his knowledge of minor league prospects. He was prospecting with cards long before Bowman 1st cards were ever a thing.

As a collector, he knew that rookies were the lifeblood of any great set, and as a Seattle Mariners fan, he helped Upper Deck lean toward Griffey, who was the No. 1 overall pick as a high schooler just a couple years earlier. It would be the equivalent of Topps using Jackson Holliday as the top card in the 2024 Series 1 set. Holliday was the No. 1 overall pick by the Orioles in 2022. Before 2022, Royce Lewis was the last high schooler chosen first overall, and he just made his MLB debut with the Twins late in 2022.

Choosing Griffey as their first card wasn’t a slam dunk then, like you think it would be now.

2. Three other prospects were strongly considered for card No. 1

Upper Deck mulled over several other choices for the first spot in their first set, including card-collecting favorite Gregg Jefferies, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Double-A Player of the Year Gary Sheffield.

3. Griffey’s Mariners uniform is airbrushed on!

Upper Deck got someone to airbrush the Seattle Mariners hat and uniform over Griffey’s picture from when he was with the San Bernardino Spirit.

4. This card is quite susceptible to imperfectness

Since this was card No. 1, it was in the top-left corner of the card sheets, which meant it was more susceptible to dinged corners and getting cut poorly.

5. Upper Deck printed sheets of 100 Griffey cards at a time

Upper Deck had a policy back then, where they’d replace damaged cards to keep customers happy. Since many of the Griffeys were dinged up, and in high demand, they had to send out a lot of Griffey replacement cards. So they printed full sheets of 100 Griffey cards!

6. Over 50,000 Upper Deck Griffey RCs were graded by PSA by 2010

Back in 2010, when this book was published, Griffey’s Upper Deck card was the most graded card in PSA history. Over 50,000 Griffey rookies from this set were graded at that point. That’s a lot of graded cards. To put that in perspective, in January of 2023, there are only FIVE sports cards, including this Upper Deck Griffey, that have been graded more than 50,000 times by PSA (and none of them are of Michael Jordan, the most popular athlete of the 20th century).

7. Over 96,000 Upper Deck Griffey RCs have been graded by PSA

Thirteen years later, after millions upon millions of cards have been sent to PSA, especially over the past three years, it’s still the No. 1 most graded card in 2023! According to GemRate.com , over 96,000 graded copies have gone through PSA’s building. Another 11,000-plus Griffey RCs have been graded over at SGC Grading. One of the key elements in grading an Upper Deck card from that set is not just the centering of the card, but also the centering of the hologram on the back.

8. The Top 3 most-graded sports cards at PSA are all Griffey Jr. RCs

The next two most graded cards at PSA are also Griffeys, including the 1989 Topps Traded and 1989 Fleer. But those two get 10s at more than twice the rate the Upper Deck one does. Toss in the 1989 Donruss set and Griffey RCs make up four of the eight-most graded sports cards in PSA’s population report. (The 1985 Topps Mark McGwire is close to passing the Fleer Griffey for third place. One might say, Big Mac is No. 3 — with a syringe.)

9. The most common Griffey Jr. grade is a PSA 8

There are just over 4,000 PSA 10s available of this card, according to the PSA pop reports. But the most common grade is PSA 8, and those 37,000-plus make up about 40% of all the graded Upper Deck Griffey Jr. rookie cards. There are nearly as many cards graded lower than a PSA 8, as there are graded higher than a PSA 8.

33 years later, Ken Griffey Jr. re-took his 1989 Upper Deck photo and this is the result. pic.twitter.com/Bl8TdV0eD2

— Baseballer (@TheBsblr) January 11, 2023

I’m going to show you something that will change how you look at the first three years of Upper Deck’s baseball cards! This was also something I gleaned from the “Mint Condition” book, that you absolutely must buy.

In 1989, Upper Deck designed the card so it would have a section running up the right side of the card, like a first base line on a baseball diamond.

In 1990, their second set, they designed the card with a section at the top, which is supposed to be like the base path running from first to second base!

In 1991, their third set, they designed the card with a section alongside the left side of the card, which is supposed to be like the base path running from second to third base!

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You’ll never look at those sets the same way again!

Do you have some interesting facts to share about the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card? Drop them in the comments below!

Last Chance at the 2023 Packstravaganza Giveaway!

I’m running a huge giveaway near the end of the month, and the deadline to get in on it is Monday, January 23. We’re opening tons of packs of baseball cards — both new and old — and we’re giving it all away, along with a vintage SGC slab, to 21 winners. Some of the great sponsors for this giveaway include The Athletic, Topps, SGC Grading, Dave & Adam’s Card World and several others. This giveaway happens over the course of seven days, but you must follow the directions on this video to get entered (basically, you just have to subscribe, like and comment with your favorite Topps rookie card)!

(Top photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)