The 1993 Leaf Baseball card Series 1 release was one of the most highly anticipated issues of the early 1990s. Coming off the massive popularity of the sport in the late 80s and early 90s following the home run chase of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco in 1987 and the 1989 World Series earthquake win of the Bay Area’s Oakland Athletics, baseball cards were a huge part of youth culture.
Leaf, which had begun producing cards in the late 80s, was looking to take market share from industry heavyweights Topps and Fleer. Their innovative borderless design, crisp color photos and inclusion of rising young stars like Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken Jr. and Ken Griffey Jr. helped the brand gain popularity. Their 1993 set had registered collectors eagerly awaiting the checklist reveal to see which players would be featured.
The base set for 1993 Leaf Series 1 consisted of 234 total cards. Both veteran stars and up-and-coming talents that would go on to have Hall of Fame careers were included. Some of the notable names fans hoped to find packs were pitcher Nolan Ryan, who was still in the midst of his record-setting career at age 41 with the Texas Rangers, slugger Mark McGwire of the Oakland A’s fresh off a career-high 43 home run season in 1992, Cal Ripken Jr. who was in the midst of his then-record setting streak of consecutive games played, and young superstars like Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas and Greg Maddux.
All of those players and more were included in the set. Some of the specific base cards fans coveted were Nolan Ryan’s card showing his blazing fastball (#1), Mark McGwire’s powerful uppercut swing (#5), Cal Ripken Jr. in his classic Baltimore Orioles uniform (#15), a clean-shaven Barry Bonds displaying his graceful outfield skills (#41), Ken Griffey Jr. leaping for a catch in centerfield (#52), monster slugger Frank Thomas at the plate for the Chicago White Sox (#81), and Greg Maddux on the mound for the Atlanta Braves displaying his pinpoint control (#113).
In addition to future Hall of Famers, the set also highlighted many other star players of the early 90s like Will Clark, Tom Glavine, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, Randy Johnson and more. Rising young talents like Jim Thome, Frank Thomas, John Smoltz, Jeff Bagwell and Moises Alou also earned inclusion while still early in their careers. The designs were clean and colorful, showing action shots and player poses that gave collectors a true sense of that era of baseball.
Some of the more unique backward-looking inserts in the base set paid homage to retired legends like #4 Johnny Bench catching for the Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1970s and #226 Willie Mays making “The Catch” for the New York Giants in the 1954 World Series. Nostalgic photos like these of past stars helped connect both new and old generations of baseball fans to the long history of the national pastime.
Beyond the base checklist, Leaf Series 1 also included severalinsert sets to provide collectors additional chase cards. The “Legendary Leaders” parallel insert set featured 35 additional cards of veterans and Hall of Fame players like #LL-1 Ty Cobb, #LL-10 Hank Aaron and #LL-30 Pete Rose. Another parallel was the borderless “Sterling Sho” short print set honoring star African American ballplayers like #SS-15 Maury Wills, #SS-28 Ernie Banks and #SS-35 Dave Winfield.
Rookies were highlighted with a 66-card “Great American Rookies” insert set including up-and-comers like #GAR-1 Chili Davis, #GAR-6 Derek Jeter and #GAR-36 Jason Giambi. Exclusive autographed cards could be found through the 66-card “Prime Cuts” insert set with signatures of stars like #PC-5 Nolan Ryan, #PC-25 Tony Gwynn and #PC-66 Cal Ripken Jr. Overall die-cut, foil and emblem parallels provided dozens more chase cards for dedicated collectors.
When the 1993 Leaf Series 1 checklist was revealed, collectors were thrilled that so many of their favorite players both past and present were included through the base cards and inserts. The designs helped capture the exciting modern game while still honoring traditions. Produced at the peak of the 90s collector boom, sets like this helped spawn new generations of baseball fandom. Today over 25 years later, the pristine rookie cards of players who went on the star like Jeter, Maddux, Thomas and Bonds remain some of the most coveted and valuable in the hobby. For fans of the early 90s, Leaf Series 1 holds a special nostalgic appeal that transports them back to simpler times.
