The 1992 Score brand baseball card set featured a subset known as “Rising Stars” that showcased up-and-coming young talent in Major League Baseball. This subset contained 15 cards that profiled talented players who were breaking through to stardom or expected to blossom into stars in the coming years.
Some of the biggest names featured in the ’92 Score Rising Stars subset would go on to have outstanding MLB careers and become established stars, including Jeff Bagwell, Larry Walker, and Moises Alou. Others showed promise but were unable to reach their full potential due to injuries or other circumstances. It provided collectors a fun opportunity to acquire cards of players poised to make their mark on the game in the early 1990s.
Jeff Bagwell led off the Rising Stars subset as the #1 selection. Bagwell was already establishing himself as one of the top first basemen in baseball in 1992, his third season in the majors. Though just 24 years old at the time, Bagwell was coming off a stellar 1991 campaign where he hit .298 with 15 home runs and 94 RBI for the Houston Astros. He would go on to have a Hall of Fame caliber career, being named to 4 All-Star teams while racking up over 1500 RBI and over 400 home runs as one of the premier power hitters of the 1990s and 2000s.
Larry Walker followed Bagwell as the #2 Rising Star selection. Like Bagwell, Walker was already showing he belonged in the majors by 1992 despite just turning 25 that season. In his first full year in 1991, Walker hit .293 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI as an outfielder for the Montreal Expos. He blossomed into a five-time All-Star, winner of the 1997 NL MVP award, and finished his career with over 300 home runs. Walker proved to be one of the top offensive players of the late 1990s and would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020.
Moises Alou took the #3 spot in the subset. At just 25 years old in 1992, Alou was already a capable everyday outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, having broken out in 1991 by batting .308 with 12 homers and 70 RBI. Alou enjoyed a long, productive 17-year MLB career, finishing with over 2,100 hits and 350 home runs while playing for six different franchises including the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets. He would represent the Expos three times in the All-Star Game during the late 1990s and played a key role on their 1994 squad that reached the World Series.
Other notable names that featured prominently in the ’92 Score Rising Stars subset include Bobby Bonilla (#5), Darrin Fletcher (#6), David Nied (#10), Pete Schourek (#11), and Alex Arias (#14). Bonilla had already established himself as an impact bat for the Pittsburgh Pirates by 1992, while Fletcher was coming off a breakout season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1991 that saw him hit .281 in 100 games as a catcher. Nied, Schourek, and Arias each showed promise but were unable to sustain major league careers long-term, with injuries derailing their developments at times.
Two intriguing international players also made the list, with Dominican infielder Tony Fernandez slotted 7th and Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo checking in at 12th. Fernandez went on to enjoy a solid 17-year MLB career, representing Toronto and other franchises, while Nomo’s inclusion foreshadowed his arrival and success in MLB from 1995 onward as one of baseball’s first true Japanese impact players.
Finally, Joe Carter rounded out the ’92 Score Rising Stars subset at #15. At 30 years old, Carter was a relative veteran compared to others in the group, but was still establishing himself as one of the top sluggers in baseball. He posted six straight seasons of at least 20 home runs from 1989-1994 while playing for Cleveland and San Diego. Of course, Carter is best remembered for blasting his epic World Series walk-off home run for Toronto in 1993, cementing his legacy as a postseason legend and cementing the importance of this Rising Stars subset selection.
In the years since, the 1992 Score Rising Stars subset has become a fun and nostalgic reminder of the stars that were beginning to emerge and make a name for themselves in MLB during the early 1990s. While injuries or circumstances prevented some from fully tapping their potential long-term, overall it proved prophetic in spotlighting young talents like Bagwell, Walker, Alou, Fernandez, and others who went on to truly reach superstar status and have legendary careers. For baseball card collectors and players from that era, digging up one of these Rising Stars cards can instantly spark memories of the promise and excitement surrounding that group of 15 up-and-comers from Score’s 1992 set.
