The 2019 Topps flagship baseball card set marked the 67th year of production for the iconic brand. As with every Topps release, the 2019 offering featured a wide variety of designs, parallels, short prints, and inserts to satisfy collectors across all levels of interest and budgets. With hundreds of players included across base cards, rookie cards, veteran hits and more, selecting the “best cards” from the 2019 Topps set involved weighing factors like on-field performance, popularity, rarity, and design aesthetics. Here are some of the strongest contenders for the title of 2019 Topps baseball’s best cards:
Perhaps the biggest star on the baseball diamond in 2019 was Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who took home his third AL MVP award. Unsurprisingly, Trout’s base card found itself among the most sought-after in the set. Topps hit a home run by featuring Trout in an intense action shot at the plate, swinging with ferocity. The simple yet powerful image captured Trout at the top of his game and increased demand for the card. Another Angels star, Shohei Ohtani, also enjoyed a breakout season after debuting in 2018 following successful stints in Japan and the minors. Ohtani’s base card showed him pitching, representative of his extreme two-way talents. While injuries limited Ohtani’s playing time in ’19, his performance and future potential still made him a coveted rookie card.
One of the Topps brand’s strongest traditions is highlighting top prospects and early-career stars in their “Bowman” and “Chrome” parallels. In 2019, no rookie caught more attention than that of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays. After months of hype as one of the minors’ top-ranked prospects, Guerrero finally made his much-anticipated MLB debut in 2019. Collectors went wild for Guerrero’s Topps Chrome Refractor RC, featuring a sparkling image of the young slugger taking a mighty cut. Guerrero gave collectors an encore performance with his Topps paper base RC card, showcasing his confident stance at the plate. Also in high demand were the rookie cards of Eloy Jimenez (White Sox), Pete Alonso (Mets), and Chris Paddack (Padres), three impact rookies who achieved success immediately in the big leagues.
While stars on present-day teams received plenty of card love from Topps in 2019, legends of the past weren’t forgotten either. “Topps Now” flashback cards honored pitching icons Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson with specially designed parallel versions featuring stunning black-and-white action photographs from their prime years. Koufax’s cutter and Gibson’s high leg kick were captured in all their glory. Topps also produced a moving tribute to the late Roy Halladay with a “Hall of Fame” parallel card, honoring the iconic pitcher on the field where he found immortality. For collectors seeking iconic names from baseball history mixed with modern rarity, these flashback cards resonated strongly.
Topps has long been adept at crafting insert sets highlighting unique achievements, performances and milestones. In 2019, no player had a bigger year at the plate than New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who swatted an NL-rookie record 53 home runs. Topps commemorated Alonso’s mammoth total with a “53 Homers” parallel card that featured a powerful graphic displaying his home run leader status. Meanwhile, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich took home his first NL batting title by hitting an otherworldly .329. The “Hitting Machine” parallel card Topps created to salute Yelich’s excellence at the plate with its robotic design became an instant must-have. Adding modern flair were various Topps “Now & Then” parallels marrying classic photographs with present-day action shots to honor longevity and links to baseball’s past.
Topps also introduced a “Fractured” subset in 2019 that split player photographs across four cards in an abstract, Cubist-inspired design. While unconventional, the creativity shown through Fractured cards featuring stars like Mookie Betts, Max Scherzer and others became collector favorites for their novelty. Rounding out the inserts were perennial Topps fan favorites like “Photo Shoot” cards giving a behind-the-scenes look at annual player portraits and the ever-popular “Heritage” retro parallels mimicking designs of the 1970s. The 2019 Topps set showed that a combination of star power, rookie phenoms, achievements, parallels and creative designs allowed for no shortage of “hits” across all types of collectors.
Clearly, the sky-high performances of players like Trout, Guerrero Jr., Alonso and Yelich in 2019, mixed with Topps’ wide assortment of inserts, parallels and innovative designs, led to a banner year in terms of standout cards from the flagship baseball set. With rookies becoming immediate impact stars and veterans cementing legendary careers, the 2019 Topps release captured both the past and future of America’s pastime. For dedicated collectors seeking the most meaningful MLB cards to commemorate a historic season, many of the strongest contenders resided within the pages of the Topps 2019 baseball release thanks to a potent mix of on-field excellence and creative cardboard commemorations.
