[BobC]

Don't disagree at all Phil that many people will consider foreign issues as eligible for rookie card status. Especially when the player has no other ML cards. Just shows how different people can have different ideas and different thinking when it comes to rookie cards, especially before 1948 when the Leaf/Bowman/Topps era of card production took over.

And the 1993 SP card of Jeter is another great example of the ambiguities and questions that can arise. Same sort of thing with the 1985 Mark McGwire Team USA "rookie" card. When the major card manufacturing companies started including these prospect and minor league players in their regular annual card issues, it potentially changes once again how people think and look at ML rookie cards. It was well over what, 30 years that the Bowman/Topps companies started issuing their annual card sets with just major league players in them? Those years were what kind of set the "gold standard" then for what many collectors during the hobby boom and after considered a player's true rookie card then. Later card issues then adding minor league and prospect players just start to muddy up the waters and thinking even more. Makes the whole issue clear as mud! LOL