Baseball Rookie Card Clarification

I received the following question on now confusing topic of Baseball Rookie Cards.

“How do Rookie Cards work these days? I know there was clairification a few years back. If the card doesnt say “Rookie Card” on it does it make it a rookie? Can it be someone who played the season ie Jesse Litsch, he played the season but he was a rookie last year and he didnt have any rookie card issued. Where is his rookie?”

Well…

Let’s tackle this question with a higher profile player, the New York Yankees Philip Hughes. Now the question outlines one of the problems going on currently in the baseball card market. The MLBPA’s service regulations set down in 2006 define what they think is a rookie card. This is a card that includes a rookie card logo, which can be seen in the bottom right hand corner on this card.

2007 Bowman Heritage “Rookie Card”

This is now classified as a “rookie” because Hughes made his MLB debut during the 2007 season.

Here’s a 2006 card of Hughes. Notice that this card does not include the rookie logo. This is due to the fact that Hughes is shown in his Futures Games uniform and has yet to make his MLB debut.

2006 Bowman Draft & Prospects

In 2006 Hughes also had a minor league card.

2006 Tristar

Moving back now to 2005 we can see Topps issuing a card of the recently draft Hughes posing during what was most likely minor league spring training.

2005 Topps Update

Hughes was drafted in June of 2004. I’m sure you can figure out what this means. More “rookies”! This is what is now defined as a “hobbyist rookie card”. A card depicting a player in their MLB uniform from a major card company.

2004 Bowman Chrome

Now what the MLPBA is trying to tell you is that his 2007 card is his official rookie. The one shown here (although not autographed) goes for about a quarter on Ebay. An 2007 Auto card fetches about $20. Collectors appear to disagree however, as the 2004 regular auto will go for $100+.

The summation of this is painfully obvious. While the MLBPA is attempting to push their vision of what a rookie card is, the people that truly matter, those within the hobby itself, are still inclined to pay more for the first card of a player issued.