Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowman
Maybe this is a regional thing? I don't know. But there was never even a moment where the 89 UD Griffey was not the #1 card to own since even before it was released where I grew up. Not just in 1989 either. For years and years thereafter. It was still THE card. I was in card shops almost daily around this time. I had no clue who Jerome Walton or Dwight Smith were. Zero people were collecting those players among my group of friends.
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It definitely wasn't a regional thing. Jerome Walton was $15, Dwight Smith was $12, Jim Abbott was $12 and Todd Zeile was $10. Griffey was only $8 and wasn't selling. Upper Deck was running the presses making those little boxed high number sets, not Griffeys then. I was breaking them and travelling to shows across the country. That is all modern collectors wanted, the high number rookie cards and Nolan Ryan in a Rangers uniform throwing the football.
If you didn't know who Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith were, you must not have been following baseball in 1989. Jerome Walton was NL Rookie of the Year. Dwight Smith finished 2nd. They were the 2 rookies that led the Cubs to the NL East Championship and the NLCS. They were the hottest rookies in baseball, not the guy who led his team to 6th place in the AL West and finished 3rd in AL ROY voting. I guess if you and your friends didn't watch postseason games, watch ESPN Sports Center or read the sports section of any major newspaper, you may not know who the hot rookies in 1989 really were.