The 1989 Topps baseball card set was released at the start of the 1989 MLB season and consisted of 792 total cards. The set featured every Major League player as well as all 18 MLB franchises from that year. Some notable aspects of the 1989 Topps set include:
The set featured cards numbered from 1 to 792, making it one of the largest Topps sets ever produced up to that point in the company’s long history of manufacturing baseball cards. Both team cards as well as player cards were included in the numerical sequencing. The design of the front of the cards was relatively simple, featuring a color team logo at the top accompanied by the player’s name and position underneath in bold white font. The player’s photo took up the majority of the front of the card.
On the back of each card, stats from the previous season were featured along with career stats and a brief biography of the player. One unique aspect of the 1989 Topps design was the inclusion of the new or improved stats section, which highlighted any statistical categories where the player saw significant improvement or had a career-best season in 1988. This added context and helped collectors assess how players were progressing in their careers from one year to the next.
Some key rookie cards that were included in the 1989 Topps set and would go on to have strong sales and collector demand in the following decades include Ken Griffey Jr., Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Ben McDonald. Griffey’s rookie in particular is one of the most iconic and valuable modern baseball cards ever produced by Topps, routinely fetching thousands of dollars to this day in high-grade condition.
In addition to rookie star players, the set also included send-off cards for legends of the game who were nearing or in the final stages of their Hall of Fame careers. Notable examples are Pete Rose’s card #701, marking his last season before being permanently banned from baseball, as well as Robin Yount’s card #749, as he entered the twilight of his career with the Brewers.
All 18 MLB franchises in 1989 received team cards as well. These ranged from #4 (Baltimore Orioles) to #791 (Seattle Mariners). One of the most iconic team cards was #6, featuring the Oakland Athletics and highlighting the “Bash Brothers” Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, who were in their early dominance years leading the A’s offensive attack. Team cards provide a nice display of each franchise’s uniforms and ballpark from that particular season.
Beyond the player and team cards, the 1989 Topps set also included several franchise greats cards honoring previous all-time players and managers of storied MLB franchises. Examples are Yankees great Lou Gehrig (#16), Cardinals legend Stan Musial (#80), and Reds manager Sparky Anderson (#125). These nostalgic cards help connect generations of baseball fans to the history and heritage of their favorite ballclubs.
The condition and availability of the full 792 card 1989 Topps set has varied greatly over the decades. In the late 80s and 90s, it was possible with enough searching to piece together a complete set for a few hundred dollars or less, as interest and demand were relatively low during the early years of the 1990s “junk wax” era. As collector interest rose in the 2000s vintage/retro market, finding an intact ’89 Topps set became much more difficult. These days, a completely sealed and in pristine “Gem Mint” condition 1989 Topps factory set can sell for thousands if one even becomes available on the secondary market. More commonly, collectors will piece together sets over time using a combination of graded individual cards, incomplete sets, and dealers’ inventory.
The mammoth 792 card 1989 Topps baseball set was truly an encapsulation of the players, teams, history and storylines of Major League Baseball during that season. While daunting to complete all these years later, the set remains a highly collectible and iconic release that marks both the 1980s heyday of the traditional “wax pack era” as well as an important transition year as the young 1990s core of stars like Griffey, Glavine and Maddux were just getting their big league careers underway.
