Who Are the Best Rookie Cards From Each Topps Baseball Set?

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Knowing the best Topps baseball cards from each set, each year, is important for card collectors! A common question from sports card collectors, new and old, is what are the best rookie cards to get in each Topps Baseball set? That’s what everyone wants, right? The top rookie cards from each Topps flagship set, whether it’s Series 1, Series 2 or Topps Update.

• UPDATE: We just posted our article on Who Are the Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Each NBA Season?

Over the past couple years, I’ve started to dive deeper into my sports card collection, and something that dawned on me is that I’ve never seen a full page with all the best Topps rookie cards from each year. So I said to myself, “Self, get to writing!”

Here’s the thing – I need you to help me out with this. This is obviously subjective because some people might value some rookie cards more than other rookie cards, and I might consider one player worthy of notation, while others think I omitted some great names.

Please comment which rookie cards I’m missing from these sets – but I’ve gone to great lengths to try to get the top Topps rookie cards for each set/series.

I’ve used both CardConnection.com and DACardWorld.com to track down many of the most attractive rookie cards for each series, but there could certainly be some errors.

(One of the reasons I wrote this article is because I’m kind of obsessed with making up for lost time, and I’m backfilling my sports card collection with the top rookies over the past couple decades from which I wasn’t collecting. One of the ways I’m doing that, other than just outright buying the singles on eBay, is buying old boxes and packs to rip from sites like DACardWorld.com, BlowoutCards.com and BBCExchange.com. Do you rip old packs or boxes? Let me know!)

While this article is currently only covering the best baseball rookie cards over the past 10 years, I do plan on going all the way back through the 71 years of Topps baseball card series – probably 10 years at a time. So bookmark this article and come back often!

Best Rookie Cards From Each Topps Baseball Set – Dating Back to 1952

This article will be updated throughout the years as some player’s ascend in value and some decline. The most recent seasons will have a higher number of rookies to collect because we’re still waiting to see if they will fulfill their promise. As the seasons wear on, I’ll remove the rookies that have fallen by the wayside.

This is only including Topps flagship set, not Topps Chrome, not Topps Archives, not Topps Heritage, or any other series. So don’t make those comments.

Most card images provided by BuySportsCards.com.

Best 1952 Topps Rookies Cards

• Mickey Mantle
• Billy Martin
• Minnie Minoso
• Ralph Houk
• Hoyt Wilhelm
• Dick Williams
• Eddie Matthews

Best 1953 Topps Rookies Cards

• Johnny Podres – 263

Best 1954 Topps Rookies Cards

• Ernie Banks
• Hank Aaron
• Tommy LaSorda
• Al Kaline
• Bill Skowron

Best 1955 Topps Rookies Cards

• Don Zimmer –
• Harmon Killebrew –
• Sandy Koufax –
• Roberto Clemente –

Best 1956 Topps Rookies Cards

• Luis Aparicio – 292

Best 1957 Topps Rookies Cards

• Don Drysdale
• Bill Mazeroski
• Whitey Herzog
• Frank Robinson
• Clete Boyer
• Rocky Colavito
• Bobby Richardson
• Tony Kubel
• Brooks Robinson
• Jim Bunning – 338

Best 1958 Topps Rookies Cards

• Johnny Roseboro
• Roger Maris
• Orlando Cepeda
• Vada Pinson

Best 1959 Topps Rookies Cards

• Sparky Anderson –
• Norm Cash –
• Bob Gibson –

Best 1960 Topps Rookies Cards

Here’s my piece on the Top 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1960 Topps Baseball to collect!

• Carl Yastrzemski –
• Willie McCovey –

Best 1961 Topps Rookies Cards

• Ron Santo
• Billy Williams
• Juan Marichal

Best 1962 Topps Rookies Cards

• Boog Powell
• Tim McCarver
• Gaylord Perry
• Jim Fregosi
• Joe Torre
• Lou Brock
• Jim Bouton (multi-RC)
• Bob Uecker
• Joe Pepitone

Best 1963 Topps Rookies Cards

• Tony Oliva
• Pete Rose (multi-RC) – 537
• Rusty Staub
• Willie Stargell (multi-RC) – 553

Best 1964 Topps Rookies Cards

• Tommy John (dual RC)
• Lou Piniella
• Richie Allen
• Tony La Russa
• Tony Conigliaro
• Phil Niekro (dual RC) No. 541

Best 1965 Topps Rookies Cards

• Joe Morgan
• Denny McClain
• Steve Carlton
• Jim “Catfish” Hunter
• Tony Perez

Best 1966 Topps Rookies Cards

• Jim Palmer
• Fergie Jenkins
• Don Sutton

Best 1967 Topps Rookies Cards

• Rod Carew
• Tom Seaver (dual RC)

Best 1968 Topps Rookies Cards

• Nolan Ryan (dual RC)
• Johnny Bench (dual RC)

Best 1969 Topps Rookies Cards

• Reggie Jackson
• Rollie Fingers
• Bobby Bonds

Best 1970 Topps Rookies Cards

• Thurman Munson (dual RC)
• Vida Blue
• Bill Buckner
• Bill Russell
• Larry Bowa (dual RC)

Best 1971 Topps Rookies Cards

• Dave Concepcion
• Bert Blyleven
• Ted Simmons
• George Foster
• Steve Garvey
• Greg Luzinski
• Bill Buckner
• Dusty Baker

Best 1972 Topps Rookies Cards

• Carlton Fisk (dual RC)
• Ron Cey (dual RC)

Best 1973 Topps Rookies Cards

• Rich “Goose” Gossage No. 174
• Oscar Gamble
• Hal McCrae
• Mike Schmidt No. 615 (multi-RC)

Best 1974 Topps Rookies Cards

• Mike Schmidt (first solo card)
• Dave Winfield
• Ken Griffey
• Bucky Dent
• Dave Parker

Best 1975 Topps Rookies Cards

• George Brett
• Robin Yount
• Jim Rice
• Gary Carter
• Fred Lynn
• Keith Hernandez

Best 1976 Topps Rookies Cards

• Dennis Eckersley
• Willie Randolph
• Ron Guidry

Best 1977 Topps Rookies Cards

• Bruce Sutter
• Mark Fydrich
• Andre Dawson
• Dale Murphy
• Dennis Martinez

Best 1978 Topps Rookies Cards

• Eddie Murray
• Jack Morris (multi-RC)
• Lou Whitaker (multi-RC)
• Paul Molitor / Alan Trammell (multi-RC)

Best 1979 Topps Rookies Cards

• Ozzie Smith

Best 1980 Topps Rookies Cards

• Rickey Henderson

Best 1981 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Joe Charbonneau
• Mike Scoscia / Fernando Valenzuela (multi-RC)
• Kirk Gibson
• Harold Baines
• Tim Raines

Traded:

• Danny Ainge
• Tim Raines (solo rookie card)
• Fernando Valenzuela (solo rookie card)

Best 1982 Topps Rookies Cards

• Cal Ripken Jr. (multi-RC)
• Jorge Bell
• Lee Smith

Traded:

• Cal Ripken Jr. (solo rookie card)
• Kent Hrbek
• Steve Sax

Best 1983 Topps Rookies Cards

• Ryne Sandberg
• Tony Gwynn
• Wade Boggs

Traded:

• Darryl Strawberry

Best 1984 Topps Rookies Cards

• Don Mattingly
• Darryl Strawberry

Traded:

• Dwight Gooden

Best 1985 Topps Rookies Cards

• Dwight Gooden Record Breaker
• Dwight Gooden
• Roger Clemens
• Orel Hershiser
• Kirby Puckett
• Mark McGwire (Team USA)
• Eric Davis

Best 1986 Topps Rookies Cards

• Len Dykstra
• Cecil Fielder

Traded:

• Barry Bonds
• Bo Jackson
• Jose Canseco
• Will Clark

Best 1987 Topps Rookies Cards

• Barry Bonds
• Bo Jackson Future Stars
• Mark McGwire (first in A’s uniform)

Traded:

• Greg Maddux
• Fred McGriff

Best 1988 Topps Rookies Cards

• Tom Glavine

Traded:

• Roberto Alomar
• Tino Martinez

Best 1989 Topps Rookies Cards

• Craig Biggio
• John Smoltz
• Randy Johnson

Traded:

• Ken Griffey Jr.
• Randy Johnson

Best 1990 Topps Rookies Cards

• Ken Griffey Jr.
• Frank Thomas
• Sammy Sosa
• Larry Walker
• Bernie Williams

Best 1991 Topps Rookies Cards

• Chipper Jones

Traded:

• Ivan Rodriguez
• Jeff Bagwell
• Jason Giambi
• Luis Gonzalez

Best 1992 Topps Rookies Cards

• Manny Ramirez – 156
• Shawn Green – 276
• Kenny Lofton
• Mike Mussina
• Ivan Rodriguez Rookie Cup
• Jim Thome – 768

Traded:

• Nomar Garciaparra
• Jason Varitek

Best 1993 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Derek Jeter
• Jason Kendall

Series 2:

• Jim Edmonds
• Mike Piazza/Carlos Delgado (multi-rookie)

Traded:

• Todd Helton

Best 1994 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Derek Jeter (multi-RC)

Traded:

• Paul Konerko

Best 1995 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

Series 2:

Traded:

• Carlos Beltran UER
• Mariano Rivera (dual RC)

Best 1996 Topps Rookies Cards

• Mariano Rivera (solo RC)

Best 1997 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Lance Berkman (dual RC) – 246
• David Ortiz (multi-RC) – 257

Series 2:

Best 1998 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Adrian Beltre / Aaron Boone (multi-RC) – 254
• Kerry Wood (multi-RC) – 256
• Roy Halladay (multi-RC) – 264

Series 2:

• Alex Rodriguez – 504 (first Topps card! – shout-out to viewer Edward Williams for sharing this!)

Best 1999 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Kerry Wood (first solo RC) – 20
• Miguel Tejada – 352

Series 2:

• John Rocker (multi-RC) – 429
• Vernon Wells (multi-RC) – 436
• Matt Holliday (multi-RC) – 442

Best 2000 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

Series 2:

• Josh Hamilton (dual RC) – 449
• Barry Zito / Ben Sheets (dual RC) – 451

Traded:

• Brandon Phillips – T3
• Alex Gordon – T21
• Juan Pierre – T34
• Francisco Rodriguez – T38
• Miguel Cabrera – T40
• Michael Young – T46
• Adrian Gonzalez – T81

Best 2001 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

• Travis Hafner – 371

Series 2:

• Ichiro Suzuki – 726
• Jake Peavy – 728
• Edwin Encarnacion – 746

Traded:

• Ichiro Suzuki / Albert Pujols (dual RC) – T99
• Justin Morneau – T235
• Jose Reyes – T242
• Albert Pujols – T247

Best 2002 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

• Jason Bay – 326

Series 2:

• Joe Mauer – 622

Traded:

• Mark Teixeira – T169
• Jose Bautista – T180
• Mark Prior – T231
• Dontrelle Willis – T262

Best 2003 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

• Cliff Lee – 304
• Alex Rios – 307
• Kevin Youkilis – 311
• Carl Crawford – 325

Series 2:

• Cole Hamels – 671
• Chase Utley – 682

Traded:

• Adam Wainwright – T159
• Hanley Ramirez – T181
• Robinson Cano – T200

Best 2004 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

• Yadier Molina – 324
• Zack Greinke – 330

Series 2:

Traded:

• Felix Hernandez – T144

Best 2005 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

• Ian Kinsler – 302
• David Wright (dual RC) – 330

Series 2:

• Billy Butler – 668
• Justin Verlander – 677
• Ryan Howard (dual RC) – 689

Updates and Highlights:

• Nelson Cruz – UH206
• Russell Martin – UH234
• Matt Kemp – UH284
• Carlos Gonzalez – UH298
• Ryan Braun – UH313
• Jacoby Ellsbury – UH317
• Ryan Zimmerman – UH323
• Andrew McCutchen – UH329

Best 2006 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

Series 2:

Updates and Highlights:

• Jon Lester – UH149

Best 2007 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

Series 2:

• Daisuke Matsuzaka – 630

Updates and Highlights:

• Carlos Gomez – UH155
• Tim Lincecum – UH158
• Justin Upton – UH327

Best 2008 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

• Joey Votto – 319

Series 2:

• Johnny Cueto – 476

Traded:

• Evan Longoria – UH10
• Jay Bruce – UH100
• Chris Davis – UH231
• Clayton Kershaw – UH240
• Max Scherzer – UH280

Best 2009 Topps Rookie Cards

Series 1:

• David Price – 35

Series 2:

• Elvis Andrus – 591

Updates and Highlights:

Best 2010 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Buster Posey – 1
• Madison Bumgarner – 105
• Michael Brantley – 270

Series 2:

• Jason Heyward – 353

Update:

• Mike Stanton (Giancarlo Stanton) – US-50
• Kenley Jansen – US-114
• Josh Donaldson – US-172
• Carlos Santana – US-330

Best 2011 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Mark Trumbo – 57
• Chris Sale – 65
• Aroldis Chapman – 110
• Freddie Freeman – 145

Series 2:

• Michael Pineda – 595
• Brandon Belt – 605

Update:

• Paul Goldschmidt – US47
• Anthony Rizzo – US55
• Michael Pineda – US118
• Jose Altuve – US132
• Eric Hosmer – US155
• Mike Trout – US175
• J.D. Martinez – US186
• Mike Moustakas – US192
• D.J. LeMahieu – US205
• Charlie Blackmon – US231
• Brandon Crawford – US234
• Kyle Seager – US308
• Dee Gordon – US329

Best 2012 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

Series 2:

• Yoenis Cespedes – 396
• Yu Darvish – 660
• Bryce Harper – 661 (short print)

Update:

• Patrick Corbin – US-16
• Matt Harvey – US-23
• Yasmani Grandal – US-104
• Starling Marte – US-109
• Bryce Harper – US-183 (true RC)
• Dallas Keuchel – US-188

Best 2013 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Manny Machado – 270

Series 2:

• Jose Fernandez – 589

Update:

• Anthony Rendon – US-8
• Gerritt Cole – US-150
• Yasiel Puig – US-250
• Nolan Arenado – US-259
• Marcell Ozuna – US-270
• Christian Yelich – US-290

Best 2014 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Xander Bogaerts – 133
• Nick Castellanos – 195

Series 2:

• Jose Ramirez – 424
• Marcus Semien – 429
• Jose Abreu – 496
• Masahiro Tanaka – 661

Update:

• George Springer – US-10
• Mookie Betts – US-26
• Jacob deGrom – US-50
• Eugenio Suarez – US-96
• Marcus Stroman – US-197

Best 2015 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Jorge Soler
• Joc Pederson
• Maikel Franco
• Javier Baez

Series 2:

• Kris Bryant

Update:

• Carlos Correa
• Noah Syndergaard
• Byron Buxton
• Francisco Lindor
• Carlos Rodon
• Joey Gallo

Best 2016 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Miguel Sano
• Corey Seager
• Kyle Schwarber
• Michael Conforto
• Trea Turner
• Ketel Marte

Series 2:

• Gary Sanchez

Update:

• Tim Anderson
• Mike Clevinger
• Trevor Story
• Jose Berrios
• Lucas Giolito

Best 2017 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Dansby Swanson
• Yoan Moncada
• Aaron Judge
• Alex Bregman
• Tyler Glasnow

Series 2:

• Trey Mancini
• Matt Olson

Update:

• Matt Chapman
• Cody Bellinger
• Luke Voit

Best 2018 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Rafael Devers
• Rhys Hoskins
• Ozzie Albies
• Alex Verdugo
• Victor Robles
• Walker Buehler

Series 2:

• Sandy Alcantara – 594
• Ronald Acuna Jr. – 698 SP
• Gleyber Torres – 699 SP
• Shohei Ohtani – 700

Update:

• Austin Meadows – US34
• Juan Soto – US300
• Gleyber Torres – US200 (true RC)
• Ronald Acuna Jr. – US250 (true RC)

Best 2019 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Kyle Tucker
• Jeff McNeil
• Brandon Lowe
• Adolis Garcia
• Corbin Burnes
• Cedric Mullins

Series 2:

• Fernando Tatis Jr.
• Pete Alonso
• Patrick Wisdom
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (No # short print)

Update:

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
• Luis Arraez
• Bryan Reynolds
• Jared Walsh
• Austin Riley No. US100
• Will Smith
• Mike Yastrzemski

Best 2020 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Trent Grisham – 9
• Nico Hoerner – 70
• Bo Bichette – 78
• Zac Gallen – 207
• Randy Arozarena – 229
• Yordan Alvarez – 276
• Dylan Cease – 326

Series 2:

• Emmanuel Clase – 390
• Luis Robert – 392

Update:

• Devin Williams – U113

Best 2021 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

• Jo Adell
• Alec Bohm
• Joey Bart
• Dylan Carlson
• Ryan Mountcastle
• Cristian Pache

Series 2:

• Ke’Bryan Hayes
• Alex Kiriloff
• Jazz Chisholm

Update:

• Jarred Kelenic
• Ian Anderson
• Andrew Vaughn
• Jonathan India
• Alek Manaoh

Best 2022 Topps Rookies Cards

2022 Topps Series 1:

• Wander Franco – 215
• Gavin Sheets
• Brandon Marsh
• Bryan De La Cruz
• Reid Detmers

2022 Topps Series 2:

• Joe Ryan – 390
• Juan Yepez
• Josh Lowe – 479
• Spencer Strider – 509
• Oneil Cruz – 537
• Spencer Torkelson – 658 SP
• Julio Rodriguez – 659 SP
• Bobby Witt Jr. – 660 SP

2022 Topps Update:

• Spencer Torkelson – US20
• C.J. Abrams – US34
• Julio Rodriguez – US44
• MacKenzie Gore – US81
• Bobby Witt Jr. – US100
• Royce Lewis – US105
• Hunter Greene – US160
• George Kirby – US207
• Alek Thomas #US212
• Bryson Stott – US224
• Jeremy Pena – US253
• Seiya Suzuki – US250
• Steven Kwan – US261
• Nick Lodolo – US298

Best 2023 Topps Rookies Cards

2023 Topps Series 1:

• Nolan Gorman – 21
• Riley Greene – 31
• Brett Baty – 89
• Triston Casas – 92
• Oswald Peraza – 94
• Hunter Brown – 111
• Miguel Vargas – 163
• Gabriel Moreno – 169
• Gunnar Henderson – 206
• Michael Harris II – 226
• Adley Rutschman – 250
• Vaughn Grissom – 275
• Vinnie Pasquantino – 302
• Christopher Morel – 308

2023 Topps Series 2:

• Jordan Walker – 344
• Kodai Senga – 362
• Logan O’Hoppe – 363
• Max Meyer – 388
• James Outman – 396
• Corbin Carroll – 401
• Anthony Volpe – 460
• Masataka Yoshida – 471
• Josh Jung – 529
• Oscar Colas – 545
• Ezekiel Tovar – 651
• Francisco Alvarez – 644

We also recently posted our article on Who Are the Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Each NBA Season?

As I mentioned at the start of this article, this is going to be an often updated page. Some rookie cards will be removed as players decline in value to their baseball team, and some rookie cards will be added as they bloom later than we expected. Either way, feel free to comment below and share some of the players you think are the best rookies from each Topps baseball set.