The Unexpected Value Of These 11 1990s Baseball Cards

America's pastime is more than just a game. The diamond stands as a cathedral of sport, with unique field dimensions and features in every park. Each of the 30 Major League teams puts on an incredible show for viewers throughout most of the year. From the early days of spring training tucked away in neat little pockets of Florida and Arizona through to the last gasp of warmth in the fall when one team is crowned champion, professional baseball is with us. The sport has been a central part in the lore of what America is and has been. In an episode of "White Collar," Peter Burke talks about the art of Joe DiMaggio's bat standing in the museum at Yankee Stadium: "For four, five at bats a day, Joltin' Joe let Americans forget we were goin' to war." And Brad Pitt's Billy Beane longingly proclaims in the movie adaptation of "Moneyball:" "How can you not be romantic about baseball?"

The sport delivers another wrinkle to dedicated fans in the form of collectible memorabilia. Game-goers frequently bring gloves along with them hoping to snag a stray foul — or maybe even a home run ball. But they often also collect cards, too. Baseball cards launched this tradeable commodity across all sports, and plenty of old cards are worth a fortune today. For younger collectors, a wealth of '90s cards from the so-called junk wax era may be idling in your collection. As with all collectibles, the story tends to drive the value. Fortunately, baseball cards tell plenty of stories. Even though this decade was a time of tremendous card production, there are actually quite a few examples worth a pretty penny.

Admittedly, this card wasn't printed in the 1990s. But it's one that many people today might actually have. Moreover, Cal Ripken, Jr. epitomizes much of what baseball meant to viewers throughout the decade in question. The homegrown Orioles' shortstop and third baseman took the field one day in May of 1982 and played in every game that followed until very near the end of the following decade, leaving the field during a substitution in September 1998. He would play another handful of years and finally retire in 2001. In the quarter century since, no one has even come close to posting even half as many successive games. Ripken is a special name in baseball history, and his 2,632 game streak has come to represent a sizeable part of a crucially important counterweight to the steroid era. Players like Ripken became icons of the game for their work ethic and iron will. Both sides of the steroid conversation mirror American attitudes during this time in a major way — it's also undeniable that steroid use revamped interest in the sport. Ripken was a player who didn't juice and is on the record saying he doesn't judge users but calls it a "cloud over baseball."

Returning to the cards, there are a number of Ripken rookie examples that entered circulation, but the most valuable one has to be the Topps Traded variant. This card sees Ripken holding a bat and standing against a deep blue sky in the background. The cardstock the series was printed on isn't the most durable material, so quality examples are hard to come by today. Even so, a PSA 10 graded card is worth roughly $1,100.

When Alex Rodriguez left Seattle in 2000 to sign the then-largest contract in baseball history he closed out a truly legendary decade of play alongside one of baseball's most interesting and baffling collection of personalities. Drafted first overall in 1993, he made rapid work of rising through to The Show. Jon Bois calls A-Rod potentially the very best shortstop and third baseman individually to ever play the game, with roughly 1,200 starts at each position and a genuinely astonishing body of work in both. Those familiar with Bois' work will likely think of Rodriguez as a Mariner first and a Yankee second, potentially collapsing those Rangers years — in which he began taking steroids — into an afterthought. That's particularly helpful here since his time with the M's finds a neat coda to close out the decade.

Rodriguez's 1994 Upper Deck Foil Rookie Card puts the youngster front and center ahead of some batting netting in the background. The card has become difficult to find in top condition, and PSA 10 grade examples can fetch a price tag of around $10,000, bringing a tidy pile of cash back to a seller in need of some new funding. However, it's worth noting that one sold at Heritage Auctions in 2021 for $30,000, potentially raising the ceiling on its value under the right circumstances. Naturally, condition matters when exploring the value of your old cards, so hopefully you've kept them in a good container.

This one's a truly unique one. Unlike just about all other valuable baseball cards you might have in your collection, this card features a player who never stepped foot in a Major League batter's box. That's right, this George Bush is none other than the 41^st president. During his time at Yale, he captained the baseball team as its first baseman.

In honor of the president, Topps printed around 100 examples of this card featuring him standing in his Yale uniform. A glossy finish was added to the cards presented to the commander in chief all those years ago, but it would appear that the same touches weren't added to other examples that may have leaked out into the public. Either way, the card is exceedingly rare and exists as a unique collector's item for those interested in both baseball and presidential history. They can command a value of roughly $10,000 for a PSA 9 graded example.

"The Big Hurt" was a terror every time the batting order rolled around and he stepped into the box. He's the only player to have ever hit .300 or better in seven consecutive seasons, and he retired with a career .301 batting average while accumulating over 500 home runs and nearly 2,500 hits. He's perhaps the finest right handed hitter the game has ever produced. A consummate member of the White Sox, he spent almost the entirety of his career in Chicago after being drafted 7^th overall in 1989. Thomas was therefore a constant presence throughout the 1990s, posting three 7 bWAR or better seasons in the process and driving in at least 100 RBIs in all but the 1999 season (and his first, 60-game season in 1990).

Aside from Thomas' accolades, there's a particularly interesting reason why one of his cards might fetch a decent return. A standard 1990 Topps Frank Thomas Rookie Card is worth roughly $100 — still a decent return if you find one lying around. But two separate printing errors have skyrocketed the value of the first baseman's rookie memorabilia. The first is a partial separation in the frame around his name, yielding a value of roughly $1,100, while another error saw his name omitted from the front entirely. These examples are worth thousands even in rough condition, and a PSA 9 grade can command a price tag of about $20,000 (although the single 10 Gem Mint sold for $170,000 in 2022).

Returning to a special set of icons that came up through the Mariners organization, Ken Griffey, Jr. is quite possibly the epitome of '90s baseball. His buttery smooth swing was the envy of all, and with it he slugged 630 career home runs while also swiping nearly 200 bags while on the base path (184). He spent the entire decade in Seattle, leaving for his hometown club in Cincinnati for the 2000 season before eventually returning to the city that adored him to finish out his career at age 40. In the 1990s, he posted three seasons with bWAR figures at 8.8 or better while leading the league each time and accumulated a total WAR figure in this span of 67.4. To put this in perspective, the average Hall of Famer racks up between 50 and 70 WAR over the course of their entire career.

Griffey's 1990 Topps Rookie Card is valued at about $350 when graded at a PSA 10. "The Kid" brought a magic to the game unlike any other, and was named an All Star every year in the 1990s. There was no one like him in baseball while he played, and perhaps there won't be again. In this example Griffey appears rising out of the dugout with a bat on his shoulder, seemingly ready to gin up some magic with his electric swing, smile, and overall play.

CC Sabathia entered the game in a time of transition. His debut came in 2001 with Cleveland, but his rookie card from the Topps Traded edition came out in 1999. First suiting up in the minors in 1998 at just 17, it was clear that Sabathia was headed for greatness. Over the course of 19 years, the 6-foot-6 cannonballer would post 251 wins across 3,577.1 innings pitched with over 3,000 strikeouts. His 61.8 total bWAR is among the greats to stand on the mound (tied for 55^th). He began a campaign of grinding out starts and carrying his teammates in the heart of steroid use in the league, meaning his arm was up against some of the most tremendously powerful bats to grace the game. Still, Sabathia has come to be known as one of the most comprehensive workhorses of the modern sport. In a time when innings pitched have slowly dwindled among starting pitchers, Sabathia stood out as a true warrior in the center of the infield.

Beyond Sabathia's many accomplishments with a ball in hand (like the unbelievable 1.65 ERA he posted over 17 starts with the Brewers in 2008), his rookie card stands out as well. It was issued at a time when cards were seeing a shift, and it's one of the first batches of rookie collectibles to feature player signatures as a norm. It's also one of the first certified autograph cards of the Hall of Famer, yet at such an early stage production was limited, leading to a value for high quality examples rising as high as $10,000.

A card that stands out from the pack, the 1992 Bowman Mariano Rivera Rookie example features the greatest closer to ever live standing casually in khakis and a patterned polo shirt. A man who strode out to the mound to finish games struck fear in the hearts of hitters, even though they knew there was a good chance they'd only see a single pitch in his selection mix. The righty's biting cutter broke many a bat and guided the 13 time All Star to a Major League leading 652 saves and an ERA+ of 205 (signaling his dominance at more than two times better than the average pitcher).

The heat tossed by Rivera helped the Yankees (the only team the ultimate closer played for) to five World Series titles across his 19-year career. High quality examples of this Bowman Rookie Card that change the pace on Rivera's image a little can fetch prices going around $800, but this can rise to as high as $8,000.

Nolan Ryan is an outlier in the baseball world. His 27-year career saw him pitching until the age of 46, and his record 5,714 total strikeouts will potentially stand as a testament to his durability for as long as people continue to play the game. Ryan began his career in 1966 with the New York Mets, placing him among completely different company than most of the other players on this list. But the length of his playing days saw "The Ryan Express" throwing pitches until 1993. It's even said that Randy Johnson, often touted as potentially the best pitcher to suit up in an MLB uniform, found his mojo after encountering Ryan before a game and talking shop.

In 1990, Topps dedicated four cards (plus a standard Ryan card) in honor of his lengthy career. They featured Ryan pitching for the four cities he called home and on their reverse named each. The Mets, Angels, Astros, and Rangers "Years" cards combine to highlight the timelessness of this hurler while giving a bit of context to his various accolades at each stop along his Major League journey. They all feature "5000" emblazoned across their faces behind the Hall of Famer, in a nod to his 5,000^th strikeout that came while pitching for the Rangers. The final card in the series also appropriately notes his 300^th win, placing him in a group of just 24 — including Randy Johnson. These cards are valued at about $50 each, making the whole set worth roughly $200.

Roy Halladay was a two-time Cy Young winner and an eight-time all star. Inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously in 2019, his first year of eligibility, Halladay was without a doubt one of the most dominant pitchers of his era. 203 wins and more than 2,100 strikeouts across a 16-year career in Toronto and Philadelphia and a wicked pitch arsenal was perhaps all topped by MLB's 20^th perfect game thrown by Halladay in 2010.

Halladay's 1997 Bowman Chrome Refractor Card was among the first few issued by the maker to feature refractor parallels. The trend didn't continue long, making this a limited run and placing the card among unique issues. Moreover, rookie examples of Hall of Famers (with Halladay breaking into the Major League in 1998 at 21) are often highly sought after. This one can fetch a price of up to $20,000 in excellent condition.

The Yankees longtime captain, Derek Jeter is a name that surely was bound to wind up here. Jeter is an icon of the sport for his heads up play, membership in the 3,000 hit club, and five World Series titles. All 20 years of his Major League career took place in New York, and his age 40 season in 2014 even saw him earn the honor of All Star once more, making it his 14^th and final selection ahead of retirement. Jeter's 71.3 career bWAR and .310 batting average are icing on the cake for what was always going to end in Cooperstown.

The 1993 foil card from Upper Deck featuring Jeter as a rookie (two years ahead of his first plate appearance in Yankee Stadium) is almost certainly the most valuable baseball card of this decade, and likely of Jeter's era more broadly. PSA 10 graded copies can see prices going as high as $600,000 at auction. The card features a finicky foil finish that easily flakes, making pristine copies almost as rare as players the caliber of Jeter himself.

If you find any of these cards in your collection, you might

consider selling them before retiring

to boost the cash you have available during this transition. Like

perfume bottles

, and

vinyl records

, there's tremendous value to be found in these cards. However, there's one more card that certainly deserves a mention. You almost certainly weren't expecting to see Michael Jordan's name in a list of valuable baseball cards. The triumphant basketball legend stands in uniquely rarified air on the court, but his passion for baseball also led him into outfield for a short stint in Birmingham's AA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox (127 games in 1994). A .202 batting average isn't much to write home about, but the Bulls talisman stole 30 bags and recorded nearly 100 hits, too (88). On his card, Jordan is swinging in a batting cage while seemingly performing his best Griffey impression as his back shoulder rolls over the top and his front hand comes away.

The novelty of this card is surely what drives its value up to around $450. It's also worth noting that the card is from Upper Deck's 1991 printing, and his actual playing days on grass didn't take place for a few years, making the example an interesting piece of sports history for a variety of reasons.