20 Most Valuable 1989 Score Baseball Cards

No one is going to mistake 1989 Score baseball cards for T3 Turkey Reds, or even for 1989 Upper Deck baseball cards.

Score’s second baseball issue is no great work of art, and it was produced in quantities so large that the cards are generally not worth much at all these days.

On the other hand, ’89 Score does present a clean look, with decent photography on both card fronts and backs. It’s also graced with a pretty strong rookie card crop.

And … well, all those cards on the market means it’s not impossible to find “perfect” specimens, as in cards that grade out at PSA 10 (for example).

Some of those gems still hold some value, too.

What follows, then, is a list of the most valuable 1989 Score baseball cards, based on recent eBay sales of PSA 10 specimens. We’ll start at the bottom of the pile and work our way to the most expensive cards.

(Note: The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay and Amazon links for the cards being discussed.)

1989 Score Greg Maddux (#119)

After a couple of years of putrid records and ERAs, Maddux broke out to the tune of 18-8, 3.18 ERA. It was teh first salvo in what would become an unassailable assault on a spot in Cooperstown.

It also added a bit of extra oomph to the sight of the future Mad Dog in Cubbies pinstripes, as we see on this bright 1989 Score card.

Value: $15-20

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1989 Score Sandy Alomar Jr. Rookie Card (#630)

Everybody was pretty sure in the late 1980s that the Alomar boys were going to be something special. All we were unsure about was a) when they were going to arrive and b) which one would get to the Hall of Fame first.

As it turned out, Roberto won both those battles, as it took Sandy, Jr., a couple more years to get on track. When he did, though, he won the 1990 American League MVP award for the Cleveland Indians.

Before that, he appeared on this extreme close-up 1989 ROOKIE card in that year’s Score set.

Value: $15-25

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1989 Score Ryne Sandberg (#35)

By 1989, Ryno was a bona fide superstar, and all of his cards were sought-after gems each spring.

This Score beauty shows the Cubs’ Hall of Fame second baseman in action, white pinstriped uniform blazing in the Wrigley Field sunshine and the fabled ivy photo bombing the whole tableu.

Cardboard doesn’t get much more 1980s baseball-y than this!

Value: $15-25

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1989 Score Rickey Henderson (#70)

Like Bonds, Rickey Henderson is one of the greatest players of all time, one who also did his damage mostly while playing left field.

In 1989, Henderson was about to embark on maybe the most productive stretch of his career, and he would be on cardboard fire in the hobby by the time he broke Lou Brock‘s stolen base record in 1991.

Rickey’s cards maintain a lot of that glow even today, and this 1989 Score fits that bill.

Value: $20-25

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1989 Score Cal Ripken Jr. (#15)

Cal Ripken hit something of a lull in the late 1980s — as his games-played streak marched on, his batting averages and overall production slid downward.

The Orioles legend took a lot of heat, too, with plenty of folks suggesting he should rest now and then in the name of boosting his output.

Cal, of course, resisted and forged a resurgence in the early 1990s that cemented his place as one of the most popular players to ever lace up his spikes.

Not surprisingly, Ripken’s cards are almost always among the most valuable in the sets they’re part of, and this 1989 Score is no exception.

Value: $20-25

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1989 Score Barry Bonds (#127)

Yep, people love to hate Barry Bonds.

Yep, he’s having all sorts of trouble getting into the Hall of Fame.

But, nope …

None of that changes the fact that he’s one of the greatest hitters of all time, and enough collectors believe in that notion to keep his cards on the high-value list.

This early-career Pirates card is a must-have for Bonds collectors.

Value: $20-30

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1989 Score Jose Canseco (#1)

After watching Wally Joyner steal his early-season thunder in 1986, Canseco stormed back to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award.

Then, then next summer, Jose took a backseat to A’s teammate Mark McGwire and Big Mac clubbed 49 home runs to smash the rookie record and become the darling of baseball.

Not one to take a loss of spotlight lightly, Canseco declared far and wide that he would hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in 1988, thereby chartering the 40-40 Club.

And, by golly, if he didn’t go out and club 42 with 40 steals. He led the A’s to the World Series and was named A.L. MVP for his efforts.

Oh, and he also scored (ha!) card #1 in the 1989 Score set. That’s this one, in case you missed it, and it’s still something of a landmark pasteboard, albeit in a cheap and cheesy sort of way.

Value: $20-30

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1989 Score Edgar Martinez Rookie Card (#637)

You can debate the merit of the designated hitter all day long, but it’s hard to deny the sheer quality of Edgar Marinez’s stats at the plate … .312/.418/.515 with 309 home runs among his 2247 hits, good enough for 68.4 WAR.

Also good enough for Hall of Fame election in 2019.

Thirty years before that, Edgar made his Score debut, and that rookie card is still a collector favorite today.

Value: $20-30

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1989 Score Mike Schmidt (#149)

Schmidt struggled with injuries in 1988, and they continued to pile up the next spring, eventually leading to his abrupt retirement in late May.

Even as he hung up his spikes, though, the Phillies legend looked pretty dar mighty there in the confines of his 1989 Score card, connecting hard in his powder blue Philadelphia uniform.

In a way, then, for Schmidt fans especially, that makes this the most valuable of all 1989 Score baseball cards.

Value: $20-30

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1989 Score Craig Biggio Rookie Card (#237)

Biggio was once a promising catching prospect, one who showed every sign of making good on that promise, as evidenced by a Silver Slugger and All-Star appearance at the position before moving across the diamond to second base in 1992.

This 1989 card of the the budding superstar was Biggio’s first base Score issue — he appeared in the Rookie/Traded set in 1988 — and remains popular with collectors.

Value: $25-30

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1989 Score Will Clark (#450)

Clark led the National League with 109 RBI and 100 walks in 1988, and he made his first All-Star team for his troubles.

Then, while collectors were pulling this color-mismatched Score card in 1989, Clark was busy putting up 8.6 WAR en route to finishing second in National League MVP voting to teammate Kevin Mitchell while leading the San Francisco Giants to the World Series.

Sweet-swinging Will The Thrill has better Hall of Fame credentials than some guys already enshrined, and if he ever does get the call, you can bet this 1989 Score card — and every other card featuring The Natural — will see a nice price bump.

Value: $25-30

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1989 Score Kirby Puckett (#20)

Already a superstar after the Twins run to a World Series title in 1987, Puckett became something of a monster in 1988 — .356 batting average, 24 HR, 121 RBI, 109 runs, 358 total bases.

All of that only served to amp up demand for Puck’s cards even higher than it already was.

This Score entry, featuring a classic shot of Puckett in the batter’s box, is as popular today as ever.

Value: $25-30

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1989 Score Tony Gwynn (#90)

After the home run barrage of 1987, pitchers took back a big hunk of their territory in 1988, thanks in large part to some fiddling around with definition of the upper reaches of the strike zone.

The effect was a dramatic reduction in top-end home run production and, in the National League at least, a dampening of batting averages.

I mean, it was so bad that Tony Gwynn — he of the two batting tiles and amazing .370 average the year before — could manage only a measly .313 in 1988.

Which turned out to be six points better than the next N.L. scrub could manage — Rafael Palmeiro finished runner-up for the hiting crown with a .307 mark.

Not that any of that mattered to collectors, who kept right on chasing Gwynn’s 1983 rookie cards, as well as smiling ear to ear when we pulled a new Mr. Padre card — like this one — from our 1989 packs.

Value: $25-35

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1989 Score John Smoltz Rookie Card (#616)

Smoltz took an unusual path to Cooperstown, but he made it there, anyway.

Like Dennis Eckersley before him, Smoltz turned his experience as a starter into a stellar late-career run as a closer.

Unlike Eck, though, Smoltz returned to the rotation his last few years.

That combo pack made his election inevitable, and it also keeps his Score RC in the hobby limelight today.

Value: $25-35

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1989 Score Don Mattingly (#100)

Mattingly saw his power plummet in 1987 and, especially, 1988, dropping from 31 home runs and an MLB-best .573 slugging percentage in 1986 to a much more pedestrian 18 dingers and .462 SLG in ’88.

As it turned out, that was our warning sign that Donnie Baseball’s back troubles would be his doom, but at the time, fans and collectors alike sort of looked the other way and kept pumping money into his merchandise and cards

And, though we may never see The Hit Man in Cooperstown, his 1980s hobby mystique is tough to shake, as evidenced by his presence here among the most valuable 1989 Score baseball cards.

Value: $30-40

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1989 Score Mark McGwire (#3)

Big Mac was up and down in performance and popularity over the first ten years or so of his career. But once he landed with the St. Louis Cardinals and settled in to a groove that saw him smacking home runs at a historic pace season after season, it was all up, up, up for McGwire and his baseball cards.

Until, you know, the PED bubble burst.

The man who broke Roger Maris’ single-season home run record is unlikely to ever be elected to the Hall of Fame, but there are still plenty of collectors who cherish the memories and the cards that stir them up.

Value: $30-40

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1989 Score Nolan Ryan (#300)

Talk about a guy who always has some of the most valuable cards in a set!

No one can carry Nolan Ryan’s jockstrap when it comes to popular and expensive baseball cards, and that general theme applies here, too.

This 1989 Score was among the last base cards to show Ryan as a member of the Houston Astros, and it even features the rainbow shoulders to good effect.

The reward for that artistic effort is a tidy price tag for perfect graded copies.

Value: $30-40

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1989 Score Gary Sheffield Rookie Card (#625)

Once upon a time, Gary Sheffield was the can’t-miss nephew of Dwight Gooden, a young man who was going to rewrite the record book.

Then came attitude issues and some early struggles that dimmed his shine, and we weren’t sure anymore.

Then came a trade to the San Diego Padres and the beginning of an upward trajectory that would take Sheff to eight MLB franchises in 22 years and leave him with more than 500 home runs and nearly 2700 hits.

He was a masher whose numbers say “Cooperstown,” but, alas, steroid-laden clouds have wrecked his HOF campaign.

Still, Score his rookie card sticks around lists like this one.

Value: $35-40

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1989 Score Bo Jackson (#330)

Bo in Blue was a sight to behold, and the baseball cards that take us back to those precious few moments when he was at bat, when everything seemed possible, still hold an indescribable mystique for us oldsters who witnessed one of the greatest athletes of the last half century (at least).

Like all the other cards on this list, there are plenty of these to go around, but there’s even more demand for a piece of the Bo Jackson nostalgia.

After all, this just may be the most hopeful of all 1989 Score baseball cards.

Value: $40-50

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1989 Score Randy Johnson Rookie Card (#645)

In 1989, Randy Johnson was huge, gangly, fast, and wild.

And he was trying to make his way with the Montreal Expos. A trade to the Seattle Mariners not long after his Score rookie card hit store shelves, though, set the stage for Johnson to become the Big Unit.

Three decades later, Johnson is a living legend, and his first Score card brings the heat whenever it’s on display. This one stands tall in a constant battle with the Bo above for the title of most valuable of all 1989 Score baseball cards.

Value: $40-50

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