The 1989 Topps baseball card set was released at the start of the 1989 MLB season and contained 792 total cards. The set featured baseball players, managers, and coaches from the American and National Leagues. Some of the key details and cards included:
The design featured a simple format with the player’s picture on the left side and their stats/information on the right. The Topps logo was featured at the bottom right of each card. This format remained largely unchanged from previous years.
The rainbow foil parallels known as ‘Traded’ cards made their debut in this set. These cards indicated players that had been traded to a new team during or after the 1988 season. Players featured included Ken Phelps, Jack Clark, and Dennis Rasmussen among others.
Rookie cards included future Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Tom Glavine, and Gregg Olson. Griffey’s rookie is one of the most iconic and valuable cards of the modern era, often grading and selling for thousands in top condition due to his immense popularity and talent.
Highlights among the star players featured included Orel Hershiser, who won the NL Cy Young and led the Dodgers to a World Series win in 1988. Also included were defending AL MVP José Canseco, NL MVP Kirk Gibson, and career hits leader Pete Rose, who was in his last MLB season.
Checklist insert cards for Series 1 and Series 2 were included at the end of each series pack. These helped collectors keep track of which cards they still needed to complete their set.
Other notable rookie cards included Bob Welch, Gregg Jefferies, and Bobby Thigpen, who would go on to break the single-season saves record. Jerry Browne and Jeff Reardon also had rookie cards despite having prior MLB experience.
The back of each card contained the usual stats such as batting average, home runs, RBIs as well as career totals. Also included was a blurb with additional info on the player for that season.
Inserts included Star Stickers that could be applied to albums, Traded cards (mentioned above), and Manager/Coach cards separate from the main checklist numbers.
The design moved away from the high-gloss photo style of the past few years to a flatter, more matte finish look. The quality was still a step below the competitors like Donruss and Fleer at the time.
The entire set could usually be completed by buying a couple of wax boxes retail or with some trading between collectors. Finding higher-end chase cards required either luck in packs or trading.
In terms of secondary market prices decades later, the Griffey, Glavine and Morris rookies are among the most expensive at around $100-300+ in PSA/BGS 10 grade. Stars like Canseco, Hershiser come in around $10-50 while common players are $1-5.
As one of the largest sports card producers, Topps aimed the 1989 set at the gigantic baseball card collecting market of the late 80s. While not the flashiest design of the year, it remained affordable and featured many future Hall of Famers in addition to capturing a specific season and rookies in players’ careers. For baseball card collectors both then and today, finding the complete 792 card checklist remains a fun challenge to undertake whether it’s from packs or the secondary market. The 1989 Topps set endures as an iconic representation of 1980s baseball card culture and nostalgia.
The 1989 Topps baseball card set was one of the most recognizable and collectible issues of its era. Featuring future stars, visual continuity with prior designs, and an accessiblechecklist made it hugely popular among children and adults alike. Its affordability, and abundance even today, means this set remains obtainable and enjoyable for collectors decades later.
