After a dark and drab period of American history marked by the Great Depression and World War II, 1948 Leaf baseball cards brought a welcome splash of color and life to the game.
And, after more than a decade that saw almost no cards produced, the new Leaf set was flooded with rookie cards of future Hall of Famers and gave some hope that the hobby might not be dead after all.
Now, there is some disagreement over exactly when these cards were issued, because some of them bear a 1948 copyright, while others show “1949.”
As you will see with a couple of the cards below, player selection lend some credence to the 1949 date, as does information about the 1948 season included on some card backs.
Whichever year the Leaf cards they were issued, though, there is little doubt that the colorful set has been popular with collectors for seven decades and that they’ve helped push the first two Bowman issues (1948 and 1949) into the background to some extent.
The Leafs are helped on today’s market by a short print run in general and several cards among the 98-piece checklist that are considered to be short-printed — that is, they were only included on every second print sheet or so.
Oh, and to make this set even more interesting, Leaf skip-numbered the cards, so you’ll find numbers ranging from one through 168, but not a card at every number — again, there are 98 different cards in the set.
Unless, of course, you count the multitude of variations that exist in the set.
It can all get a big confusing, but this list of the most valuable 1948 Leaf baseball cards gives you a good flavor of the set and a tour of important early post-War cards.
(Rankings based on PSA 7 card values as listed in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide.)
Play ball!
1948 Leaf Satchel Paige Rookie Card (#8)
The presence of the Paige rookie card in the Leaf set argues for a 1949 release date, as Paige didn’t make his Major League debut for the Cleveland Indians until July 9, 1948.
No matter when it was issued, though, this Leaf card of the enigmatic Hall of Famer is one of the most popular of all early post-War cards, and its short-printed status makes high-grade copies extremely hard to come by.
As of this writing, in the fall of 2019, PSA had graded 140 Paige RCs in total, and only 32 of them received a score of PSA 7 or better.
No wonder this thing sits at the top of our list with a price tag in the $75,000 range for a graded NM copy … if you could ever even find one.
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1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson Rookie Card (#79)
Robinson, of course, changed the game forever when he stepped into the Brooklyn Dodgers‘ lineup on Opening Day 1947.
Changed the hobby forever, too, as collectors have spent the last 70+ years chasing down Jackie’s cards.
It all started with this classic Leaf RC, as iconic a Robinson pasteboard as you’ll ever find, and one that will set you back $15,000 or more in graded NM condition.
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1948 Leaf Bob Feller (#93)
Do you remember the last time the Cleveland Indians won a World Series?
Yeah, it was 1948, the same year this Feller short-print was issued.
And, even though Rapid Robert lost two games in that Fall Classic, the Indians never would have made it there without his 19 wins in the regular season.
Of course, that total seems sickly compared to some of the others he put up in his career — 24, 27, 25, 26 — and Feller waltzed into Cooperstown on his first ballot in 1962.
This tough issue of the Tribe legend is about a $6500 card in PSA 7.
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1948 Leaf Hal Newhouser Rookie Card (#98)
While many of his contemporaries were embroiled in World War II, Newhouser helped keep the fires burning on the baseball home front with the Detroit Tigers.
Serving as both a starter and reliever through most of the 1940s, Prince Hal shook off some shaky early seasons to win the American League Most Valuable Player award in both 1944 and 1945.
In that latter season, his 25-9 record helped the Tigers reach the World Series, where they downed the Chicago Cubs in seven games.
Newhouser made it to the Hall on a Veteran’s Committee vote in 1992, and his short-printed ’48 Leaf rookie card sells for $5000+ in PSA 7 these days.
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1948 Leaf Babe Ruth (#3)
Ruth was in failing health as the 1948 baseball season dawned, and the great slugger passed away on August 16 at the age for 53.
Whether issued in 1948 or 1949, it must have been dramatic and maybe eerie for collectors to pull this card during such a somber time.
Today, the Ruth Leaf card pushes $5000 in PSA 7.
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