Steve Avery was a star Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves and other teams in the late 1980s through the late 1990s. As one of the dominant pitchers of his era, Avery amassed a sizable baseball card collection over his 11-year MLB career. Today, some of Steve Avery’s rookie and premium baseball cards from his playing days with the Braves have become quite valuable for collectors.
Avery was drafted by the Braves with the 8th overall pick in the 1988 MLB Draft out of Sweetwater High School in Texas. After making a quick rise through Atlanta’s farm system, Avery broke into the majors in 1989 at just 20 years old. His rookie card from 1989 Fleer is one of the key cards from his collection. Featuring Avery dressed in a Braves uniform with his long, curly brown hair, the ‘89 Fleer rookie card captured Avery at the very start of his MLB career. In high grade, mint condition, Avery’s ‘89 Fleer rookie commands prices upwards of $100 now. The card remains one of the more affordable options for collectors looking to add an early Avery issue to their collection.
In 1991, Avery emerged as one of the sport’s top young pitchers. He went 14-5 with a 2.94 ERA and finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting, helping lead the Braves to their first World Series title. Topps captured Avery’s breakout season with their iconic 1991 design. The ‘91 Topps Avery card shows the lanky lefty in his windup, again with his signature locks flowing. High graded versions of Avery’s ‘91 Topps card have sold for over $300. It remains one of the premier cards from his playing days with Atlanta.
Avery continued pitching like an ace for the Braves throughout the early 1990s. In 1992, Topps paid tribute to Avery’s ace status with a special ‘Topps All-Star’ insert card. Part of Topps’ premium ‘Stadium Club’ subset, the ‘92 Topps All-Star Avery insert pictured him in a retro uniform design. Only available through special packs at the time, the ‘92 Topps All-Star Avery is a true chase card. Graded mint copies have sold for upwards of $500 in recent years. Few Avery cardboard items carry the cachet of this rare insert from the height of his Braves tenure.
In addition to his mainstream rookie cards and annual issues, Avery also has several prized cards in the higher-end specialty release realm from his playing days. In 1990, he was featured in the inaugural edition of Leaf’s ultra-premium ‘Studio’ brand. Dressed to the nines for his baseball portrait, the ‘90 Leaf Studio Steve Avery showed collectors an elegant snapshot of the blossoming star hurler. In pristine condition with a high grade, the exclusive ‘90 Leaf Studio Avery has reached prices above $1000 at auction.
Avery’s dominance in the early 1990s playing for World Championship Braves teams also landed him in several coveted team and set cards from that golden era in Atlanta baseball history. The ‘91 Topps “Braves Team” card featuring a large group shot of the pitching staff and Avery is highly sought. As is the rare ‘92 Donruss “Dynasty” parallel insert card honoring the back-to-back champion Braves that included a bonus Avery photo. Graded gems of these specific team and commemorative Braves cards with Avery have brought in several hundred dollars each.
Regrettably, injuries derailed the promising path of Avery’s pitching career after 1993. He bounced around to several other teams after leaving the Braves organization in 1995. But Avery did enjoy a minor career revival while pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals later in the decade. His tenure in St. Louis yielded several later-year cards without quite the same cachet as his Atlanta issues. But cards like Avery’s ‘98 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Gold parallel /50 still carry value for diehard PC (personal collection) collectors.
In the years since his retirement, Avery’s elite baseball cards from his dominant seasons pitching for the Baby Braves in the early 1990s have grown in demand and price among savvy vintage baseball card investors. While Avery never reached the Hall of Fame, his iconic cardboard as one of the faces of Atlanta’s first championship team continues to resonate strongly with collectors today. With the passage of time, many consider Avery’s best baseball cards to still be strong holdings in any vintage baseball card portfolio, especially for aficionados of 1980s and 1990s memorabilia. While he may not be a household name to modern fans, Steve Avery forever etched his place in baseball history—and in the hobby of baseball cards.
