The 1987 Topps baseball card featuring New York Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry holds a special place in the history of baseball cards. The 1987 season would end up being a breakout year for Strawberry and one of the most memorable individual seasons in Mets franchise history. This made Strawberry’s ‘87 Topps card highly sought after by collectors at the time of its release and to this day remains one of the most iconic Strawberry cards from his playing days.
Some key details and facts about Darryl Strawberry’s 1987 Topps card:
Card number: 171
Photograph: Shows Strawberry from the waist up, smiling in his Mets road gray uniform with jersey number 18. The photo captures his powerful physique and showcases why he was known as one of baseball’s first true “five-tool” players.
Biography on back: Highlights Strawberry being selected #1 overall by the Mets in the 1980 amateur draft out of high school in Los Angeles. Notes his tremendous power potential and five-tool skills. Lists his career stats through 1986.
The 1987 season would be a true breakout for the 25-year old Strawberry. After several solid but injury-plagued seasons to start his career, 1987 saw Strawberry stay remarkably healthy and tap into his immense talents. Playing in 159 of a possible 162 games, Strawberry posted career-highs in virtually every major offensive category:
Batting Average: .299 (previous high .259 in 1984)
Home Runs: 39 (previous high 26 in 1984)
RBI: 126 (previous high 90 in 1986)
Runs Scored: 105 (previous high 78 in 1986)
Slugging Percentage: .568 (previous high .495 in 1986)
OPS: .952 (previous high .855 in 1986)
Strawberry’s scintillating power display and all-around brilliance made him one of the game’s true superstars in 1987. He finished 2nd in the NL MVP voting, earning 21 of 24 first place votes, and led the Mets to their first division title since 1973. Strawberry established himself as the unquestioned face of the franchise.
His iconic 1987 season made Strawberry one of the most in-demand new rookie cards in the hobby. The condition and demand for his ‘87 Topps card has only grown tremendously over the decades. Some additional details about the collectibility and value of Strawberry’s 1987 Topps issue:
In 1987, a mint condition Strawberry rookie traded around $5-10. It now regularly fetches $100-250+ in top-graded Gem Mint 10 condition.
The card has been part of major vintage card auctions and routinely sets records. In recent years it has sold for as much as $600-800 individually in top grades.
As one of the best-known and most widely collected baseball cards of the 1980s, the Strawberry rookie sees tens of thousands of copies trade hands annually still today.
It remains one of the highest valued cards from the 1987 Topps set, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2022. Other star rookies like Kevin Mitchell and Mark McGwire also saw their values increase substantially from the ‘87 set over the decades.
Strawberry’s huge 1987 season and status as a true five-tool star and fan favorite made his rookie card extremely popular. Slightly edging out his 1986 rookie in demand.
In the years since, Darryl Strawberry has seen both tremendous highs and lows in his life and career. But his iconic 1987 Topps card, capturing Strawberry at the peak of his immense talents and during one of the Mets franchise’s greatest seasons, remains a treasured piece of baseball history. For collectors it stands out as one of the most famous and valuable baseball cards to be found from the 1980s era. Over 35 years later, interest in Strawberry’s stellar ‘87 campaign and his rookie card shows no sign of slowing down. The card succeeds in memorializing one of the true bright spots and “Boys of Summer” from a remarkable period in Mets history.
In conclusion, Darryl Strawberry’s breakout 1987 season with the New York Mets established him as a true superstar and cemented his 1987 Topps baseball card as one of the most famous, desired, and valuable baseball cards from that decade. Capturing Strawberry at the height of his immense talents and during a defining chapter for his franchise, the card takes collectors back in time each time it changes hands. Even decades later, it remains a prized piece of memorabilia that any vintage card collector hopes to own.
