For the first time since 2015, Topps brought borders back with its flagship 2019 Topps baseball card set design.
Well, kind of...
The borders only take up two sides of the front and always reminded me of the 1982 Topps "hockey stick" design.
You'll know what I'm talking about if you are familiar with '82 Topps...
Who knows if the nod to the past was intentional?
After all, nostalgia was a theme in this set.
Not only did Topps include a 150 Years of Professional Baseball insert set, but they also included a 1984 Topps insert set as well.
As usual, Topps included several other inserts, parallels, autographs and more to supplement the 700-card base set.
Overall, 2019 Topps has pretty solid checklist.
And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 15 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
2019 Topps #600 Shohei Ohtani
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $60
2019 may be the lost season of Shohei Ohtani's remarkable two-way career.
The Los Angeles Angels megastar and reigning AL Rookie-of-the-Year missed the first month of the 2019 campaign due to offseason elbow surgery.
When he returned, he was relegated to a DH-only role with no chance of seeing the mound until 2020.
The weight of increased expectations and bodily limitations bled over into Ohtani's hitting production.
He still had a fine year, all things considered, slashing .286/.343/.505 with 18 home runs, 12 stolen bases, 20 doubles, five triples, and 62 RBIs in 384 at-bats.
On the other hand, his solidly above-average 121+ OPS stands well off his current career mark of over 150.
The 24-year-old's uncharacteristic output makes sense.
Ohtani battled a nagging patella injury in his left knee from Spring Training on, ultimately ending his season three weeks early to address it.
That put a bow on a sophomore year that may well be forgotten in the grand scheme of Ohtani's near-certain run to the Hall-of-Fame.
2019 Topps #50 Mookie Betts
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30
Mookie Betts' last year in Boston was typically brilliant, if not somewhat underwhelming.
It's not that the reigning MVP had a bad year.
Quite the contrary.
The 26-year-old Red Sox outfielder led the Majors in runs scored (135) and finished fourth in the American League in walks (97), fifth in WAR (7.3), fifth in doubles (40), sixth in on-base percentage (.391), tied for ninth in hits (176), and tenth in total bases (313).
He also tallied his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance and Gold Glove, along with his third career Silver Slugger.
Most teams would kill to have a hitter 80% of Betts' caliber.
However, his 2019 was still a drop-off from the dizzying heights of his 2018 MVP campaign.
It was a strange end to a fruitful six-year stay in Beantown, one that included a World Series ring in 2018.
Unwilling to let Betts walk away for nothing in free agency, the Red Sox dealt him to the Dodgers during the offseason in a blockbuster three-team, nine-player deal.
2019 Topps #230 Miguel Cabrera
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30
By 2019, future Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cabrera was sliding down the long downslope toward retirement.
A former 11-time All-Star, four-time batting champ, and two-time MVP, Cabrera was no longer in the conversation for best hitter in baseball.
Riddled by injuries and playing on a bad right knee, the Detroit Tigers legend was now a replacement-level contributor at best.
The Tigers did everything in 2019 to protect Cabrera's health and coax his former glories out of hiding.
This included moving the 36-year-old to full-time designated hitter in mid-May, a move that left Cabrera feeling out of place.
"It's sad," Cabrera said. "I like being in the field."
The shift off the diamond kept Cabrera away from another surgery, but it didn't do much to boost his production.
The Venezuelan native posted the worst slugging percentage of his career so far (.398) and his second sub-replacement OPS+ in three years (97).
Part of that was his declining skills, but part was the glaring lack of protection around him.
The 47-win Tigers were an atrocious offensive collective, ending 2019 as the only squad with under 600 total runs scored (582).
2019 Topps #437 Albert Pujols
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30
The 2019 season was a microcosm of Albert Pujols' final half-decade with the Los Angeles Angels.
Pujols slashed .244/.305/.430 with 23 home runs, 22 doubles, and 93 RBIs in 131 games.
He was relatively healthy all year but lacked the consistent all-field power of years past.
The 39-year-old first baseman/DH pulled 5/6 of the balls he hit in play and posted the lowest line-drive percentage (15.3%) among qualified MLB hitters.
Pujols was now an all-or-nothing hitter who caught more nothing than anything else.
He was also the third oldest player in the Majors with the fourth-highest salary in the American League ($28 million.)
He remained a legend and a revered figure, but there was no doubting the decline and its cost to the Angels' chances of contending.
Perhaps the most glaring example of how things were going came on Pujols' career stat sheet.
A .300 hitter in seeming perpetuity, the future Hall-of-Famer dipped under that mark during the 2019 campaign.
He'd never again climb above it.
2019 Topps #10 Clayton Kershaw
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
Clayton Kershaw was already a Cooperstown lock headed into the 2019 campaign.
Now, he was having more fun with it.
On July 30th, 2019, the 31-year-old lefty pitched in career inning #2,000.
His 2.42 career ERA at that juncture was the lowest for any Dodgers pitcher with that innings load.
A few days later, Kershaw passed Sandy Koufax for the third-most strikeouts in franchise history.
No Dodgers player has posted more WAR than Kershaw.
And no Dodgers pitcher, or modern pitcher for that matter, has sustained dominance as long and as strong as the three-time Cy Young winner.
That's a lot of success and a lot of pressure.
In 2019, Kershaw started to embrace the former and cut the latter, appearing looser and more content than in seasons past.
Now an eight-time All-Star, the Dodgers ace finished 16-5 with a 3.03 ERA, a 1.043 WHIP, and 189 strikeouts in 178.1 innings pitched for the 106-win NL West champs.
Two bad NLDS performances and a five-game Nationals upset may have dulled his smile.
Yet, all it did was set the stage for a long-overdue championship the very next year.
2019 Topps #94 Corbin Burnes Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
Corbin Burnes reached his breaking point in 2019.
It was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Ranked among the top 50 prospects in baseball heading into the 2019 season, the 24-year-old Milwaukee Brewers righty looked to build off a sparkling 2018 debut, complete with a 2.61 ERA in 30 relief appearances.
Everything seemed pointed toward great things.
Burnes was the rare prospect with above-average command for four different pitches, and his ability to mix speeds and pitch sequences was well ahead of many veterans.
What actually happened was kinda startling.
Burnes got roughed up in his first four MLB starts and entered mid-April with a ghastly 10.70 ERA.
Manager Craig Counsell had a "long conversation" with Burnes about his future in the organization before sending him down to the Minors for a reset.
Burnes returned before long, this time as a reliever.
He was marginally better out of the 'pen for the Wild Card Brew Crew, but not by very much, posting a 7.76 ERA in his final 28 appearances.
It was as nightmarish as a season could get.
Yet, it spurred Burnes into action.
During the offseason, he'd morph into a Cy Young candidate thanks to the help of a sports psychologist and a complete mechanics overhaul.
2019 Topps #150 Aaron Judge
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
2019 Topps #367 Ohtani Gets Hot
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
2019 Topps #400 Bryce Harper
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
2019 Topps #410 Fernando Tatis Jr. Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $22
The Chicago White Sox kicked themselves all 2019 long.
In June 2016, the Sox dealt two minor leaguers to the San Diego Padres for front-line starter James Shields.
One of those players (Erik Johnson) flamed out right away.
The other?
Fernando Tatis Jr.
The son of 11-year MLB vet Fernando Tatis, Tatis Jr. had yet to play a professional ball game at the time of the trade.
Three years later, he was a blue-chip prospect making the most anticipated debut in Padres history.
And he didn't disappoint.
The 20-year-old shortstop was all flair and more substance, stealing bases, swatting bombs, and making highlight-reel stops in the hole.
By mid-August, he was slashing a .317/.379/.590 and was in the hunt to become the youngest player to win a batting title.
Sadly, a lower back injury halted his year with a month-and-a-half to go, knocking Tatis out of the batting race and down to third in the NL Rookie-of-the-Year balloting.
He still had one of the most remarkable rookie years the franchise has ever seen, posting 22 home runs and 16 stolen bases in just 84 games.
2019 Topps #475 Pete Alonso Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $22
It was all over once the Polar Bear got a hold of an MLB bat.
New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso used brute force in 2019 to slug a hole in the record books, setting both an all-time rookie record and all-time franchise record with 53 home runs, also an MLB best.
A former second-round pick in the 2016 Amateur Draft, Alonso didn't need an adjustment period to crush Major League pitching.
He just did what he had done all his baseball life: see the ball and hit the ball far.
That simple and satisfying approach made Alonso an instant hit with Mets fans and the greater baseball world.
The 24-year-old first baseman dropped jaws with a majestic Home Run Derby win, notched his first All-Star appearance, and picked up a near-unanimous NL Rookie-of-the-Year award to become the sixth Met to take the honor.
"Every experience that I've had, it's just all led up to the success and the joy of this year," Alonso said. "I'm just so happy that everything has come together the way it has."
Alonso finished the year slashing .260/.358/.583 with 103 runs scored and 120 RBIs.
2019 Topps #60 Kyle Tucker Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
The 2019 season was a reward for Kyle Tucker's persistence.
In 2018, the former fifth-overall pick of the Houston Astros seemed to reach his Minor League ceiling.
He hammered 22 home runs and posted a robust .989 OPS for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies, earning what felt like a permanent call-up to the Bigs in September.
Frustratingly for him and everyone else around the organization, Tucker failed to capitalize on his first MLB break.
He hit just .141 in 28 September contests and was left off the Astros' postseason roster.
Fans turned quickly on Tucker, growing restless and loudly lobbying for a trade in the offseason.
The Astros remained in his corner and invited him to 2019 Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
The 22-year-old outfielder didn't make the team, but another big Triple-A set the stage for a second chance at September success.
This time, Tucker made it happen.
He hit four home runs and posted a .857 OPS in 22 September games, earning himself a postseason roster nod this time around.
Tucker didn't do much more than pinch-hit during Houston's journey to the World Series, but his just being there was a testament to his top-prospect talents and perseverance.
2019 Topps #100 Mike Trout
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $18
Even a season-ending injury was no match for the great Mike Trout in 2019.
The 27-year-old Los Angeles Angels center fielder won his third league MVP award after the self-professed best offensive season of his career, becoming just the 11th player to do so.
That ties Trout for the second-most MVPs in MLB history behind the immortal yet controversial Barry Bonds (7).
It was the seventh time in eight years that Trout finished one or two in the AL MVP race.
Trout set a new career high with 45 home runs while leading the Majors in on-base percentage (.438) and OPS+ (182).
The New Jersey native also paced the Junior Circuit in slugging percentage (.645) and OPS (1.083) while posting his third season with at least 100 RBIs (104), 100 runs scored (110), and 100 walks (110).
Trout missed the final three weeks or so of the regular season and could very well have lost the MVP to the sizzling-hot bat of Houston's Alex Bregman.
However, voters didn't hold his health against him and awarded him 17 first-place votes to Bregman's 13.
2019 Topps #213 Juan Soto
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $18
Juan Soto was the belle of the baseball ball in 2019.
A year after finishing as the NL Rookie-of-the-Year runner-up in the final year of his teens, the Washington Nationals left fielder strung together one of the best pre-21 seasons in MLB history.
Soto topped 100 walks (108), 100 runs (110), and 100 RBIs (110) in 150 games while swatting 34 home runs and posting a cool .282/.401/.548 slash line.
The kid was so electric that he made the art of taking close pitches an event with his trademark Soto Shuffle, a pitcher-baiting routine with an aggressive, taunting step towards the mound.
Soto finished ninth in the league MVP race, but the real fun came in the World Series.
The storybook Nats dispensed of the Dodgers and Cardinals on the NL side of the bracket before riding Soto's bat (and Series MVP Stephen Strasburg's arm) to a seven-game stunner.
The Dominican Republic native slashed .333/.438/.741 with three massive home runs, six runs scored, five walks, and seven RBIs as the Nats erased a 3-2 series deficit for their first world championship.
2019 Topps #227 Adolis Garcia Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $12
The Texas Rangers got Adolis Garcia on the cheap.
It was one of the shrewdest moves of their rags-to-championship rebuild.
In 2019, Garcia had his nose firmly against the glass ceiling of the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
After five years of professional baseball in Cuba and one in Japan, the 26-year-old outfielder was one of the oldest prospects on the Cardinals' farm.
Despite hitting 32 home runs with a .818 OPS at Triple-A Memphis, Garcia fell out of favor compared to younger prospects with supposedly higher upside.
Cardinals executives didn't see an end game for Garcia at the MLB level and promptly DFA'd him in mid-December.
That's when the Rangers swooped in to take a flier, nabbing Garcia via trade for cash considerations.
A few bumps and one more DFA later, Garcia proved his St. Louis doubters silly with two All-Star nods, a 2023 ALCS MVP award, and a World Series triumph.
2019 Topps Baseball Cards In Review
When 2019 Topps first debuted, the hobby buzz centered around the Fernando Tatis Jr. rookie card.
He was supposed to be the next big thing and, for a while, his performance certainly justified the hype.
And then the connections to PEDs and subsequent suspension derailed everything.
Once thought of as the future face of baseball, fans and hobbyists were suddenly turned away.
Today, he continues to play at a high level.
But his rookie card will likely never recover.
After all, no player connected to PEDs has really seen a full recovery in his rookie card value.
Still, Tatis wasn't the only rookie in this set to have a solid career so far.
Kyle Tucker, Pete Alonso and Corbin Burnes have impressed early and often.
There are also plenty of big-name superstars to help balance out the checklist.
There were also several subsets, including:
- League Leaders
- All-Star Rookies
- Future Stars
- Stadiums
- World Series Highlights
The celebration of 150 Years of Professional Baseball is well-noted throughout this set and the 35th anniversary of '84 Topps is as well.
Those inserts as well as the many parallels, autos and relic cards help keep interest elevated.
However, despite all of those things, the downfall of Fernando Tatis Jr. and his rookie card will always be the biggest letdowns of 2019 Topps.
It will still be a decent set because of the other rookies, but unfortunately will leave more questions than answers because of Tatis.