Michael Jordan baseball cards were once the stuff of dreams for diamond fans — can you imagine how awesome it would be to have the greatest basketball player of all time lace up his spikes in the major leagues?
But it was all just that, a pipe dream. No way Jordan would walk away from the Chicago Bulls to try his hand at hardball.
Right?
Right.
But then …
Well, then, Michael started taking some batting practice with the Chicago White Sox in the offseason. and a shot from one of those sessions ended up on a 1991 Upper Deck card.
A 1991 Upper Deck baseball card.
And the whispers started again. Was Michael getting tired of basketball? Would he ditch the court for the outfield grass?
Nah. He was in the midst of winning three straight NBA titles with the Bulls, after all.
When that Three Peat wrapped up, though, and on the heels of his father James‘ murder, Michael walked away from basketball.
Baseball fans’ hearts skipped a beat — did that mean Michael was headed to the diamond? Maybe …
Maybe?
Defnintely, Jordan told us the next spring, joining the White Sox in Spring Training and embarking on his minor league career.
And, of course, opening the cardboard floodgates.
Michael Jordan’s baseball career was short-lived and not overly impressive, but its legacy lives on in our memories and photos and videos, and in our collections.
To wit, that one-year(ish) dalliance with the diamond generated something like 60 cards featuring Jordan in his new sport, and they all maintain a strong hobby presence all these years later.
Here, then, is a complete rundown of Michael Jordan baseball cards, from the sublime to the overkill.
Note: The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay and Amazon listings for the cards being discussed.
1990 SCD Baseball Pocket Price Guide Michael Jordan (#51)
While Sports Collectors Digest (or SCD) was the periodical of choice for hardcore collectors during the 1980s and 1990s, and while Baseball Cards Magazine was the place to turn for hobby fun, there was no doubt who ruled the roost when it came to card values: Beckett.
But Krause publications wasn’t willing to surrender the price guide battleground without a fight, so they unleashed their own yearly tomes – price guide and standard catalog – as well as the SCD Baseball Card Price Guide Monthly.
That mag wasn’t as slick and colorful as Beckett Monthly, and it wasn’t as playful as Krause’s own Baseball Cards, but they did bring over one innovation from their sister pub: repli-cards.
Repli-cards, in case you don’t remember, were cards fashioned after classic designs but picturing players who weren’t originally in the set featured – think 1959 Topps Ken Griffey, Jr. They were Archives and Heritage before Archives and Heritage.
In 1990, SCDBCPGM (say *that* three times fast!), rolled out the beautiful 1957 Topps design, and they got a jump on the Jordan-to-baseball craze by showing His Airness in White Sox uniform, holding a bat over his right shoulder.
It was a magical sight, and it’s still a pretty neat card. And, among Michael Jordan baseball cards, it’s the first.
Value: $100-200
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
Check prices on Amazon (affiliate link)
1991 Ballstreet Michael Jordan (#19)
The Ballstreet Journal was one of the many rags that sprang up in the early 1990s hoping to capitalize on our growing collective infatuation with sports ephemera.
And, like the Krause publications, Ballstreet doubled down by inserting baseball cards into their issues.
As stories and rumors regarding Jordan’s love of baseball continued to grow, you could hardly blame the upstart for including him in their lineup.
Note that PSA no longer grades these Michael Jordan baseball cards, but they did for awhile, so there are at least a few slabbed MJ’s out there, though they don’t come up for sale that often. Thus, some price uncertainty.
Value: $50-??
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
Check prices on Amazon (affiliate link)
1991 RBI Magazine Prototype Michael Jordan (#1P)
Regional Baseball Index (RBI) was another one of those paper speculators, though with a specific focus on the hobby as yet another price guide magazine.
They turned in a hefty effort to drum up interest, too – their inaugural test issue from late 1991 featured Baseball Jordan on the cover and ten prototype cards inside.
The checklist?
Bo Jackson, Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr., George Brett, Don Mattingly, Ryne Sandberg, and Cal Ripken Jr.
Oh yeah … and Mickey Mantle.
Batting leadoff? Michael Jordan.
This is another card you won’t see on the market too often, so prices will pretty much be whatever the buyers drive them to in the moment.
Value: $100-??
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
Check prices on Amazon (affiliate link)
1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan Michael Jordan (#SP1)
This was the Michael Jordan baseball card that really got the hobby excited, of course.
Issued as an insert in Upper Deck’s 1991 “lo” series, this card lit up collector wantlists just as Jordan and the Bulls were putting the finishing touches on the first championship run during their first 3-peat.
Did this card mean Jordan was walking away from basketball now that he’d won a title?
Nah. Not yet.
And, since the 1991 Upper Deck features Michael taking batting practice in 1990 and was issued three years before he decided to give baseball a try, it’s not really a rookie card in the strict sense.
Try telling that to us collectors, though.
Value: $45-50
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
Check prices on Amazon (affiliate link)
1993 Pocket Pages Promo Michael Jordan and Nolan Ryan (#64)
The Pocket Pages Card Show Digest was sort of like a hobby blog report before there were blogs (outside of ARPANET, anyway). Shaped long and skinny, like old media guides or fold-up roadmaps, Card Show Digest reported on hobby happenings like new releases, guest signing schedules, and the like.
And, being an early 1990s hobby publication, Card Show Digest naturally inserted their own cards into each issue.
Jordan got that treatment in 1993 and, though that card shows him with the Bulls, it also shows him alongside Nolan Ryan. So it makes our cut, if only barely (and it’s another one that doesn’t have much of an established market).
Value: $25-??
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)