I opened my first pack of 2024T series 2 a few weeks ago and sadly did not get any new Rookie Cup cards, However...
I did get one Rookie Cup from the 1989 Retro insert and it was a good one.
2024 Topps 1989 retro #89B2-10 Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
Henderson was the unanimous selection for 2023 AL Rookie of the Year. He led an excellent Junior Circuit Rookie Class in Home Runs, RBI and WAR all while playing Shortstop for the Division Champion Baltimore Orioles.
And he is not suffering a sophomore jinx. He has 26 Home Runs mid-way through the season, second only to Aaron Judge. Gunnar is leading the league in WAR (5.9) and Runs Scored(70) and is in the top 10 in a bunch of other categories: RBI, Total Bases, Hits, OBP, XBH, BB, OPS.
There is only one Shortstop in MLB history to post a 50+ Home Run season, Alex Rodriguez (57 2002, 52 2001). If Henderson can match his first half the rest of the season he would join this exclusive club.
Picture This
We scoured Getty Images and found the original photo for the card. It was taken by Brandon Sloter who describes himself as a "Funtographer" on Instagram. According to the information attached to the image the picture was taken at Camden Yards during an Orioles 2-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on September 28 2023. It was not a noteworthy game for Henderson who when 0 for 3 with a couple of strikeouts. Since the shot is of him fielding we will note that he had 3 assists in the game which helped Pitcher Dean Kremer to his 13th and final victory of the season.
In the image we can also see the Memorial Patch dedicated to 16 time gold glove winner Brooks Robinson, which feels appropriate on a card showing a player in the field.
1989 Topps
The 35 anniversary insert this year is 1989T. The shortstop on that year's Cup squad also took home Rookie of the Year Honors, Walt Weiss.
Weiss numbers were not nearly as impressive as Henderson in fact they are pretty pedestrian (.250, 3, 39) with a 2.8 WAR. However Weiss did play for the 1989 Oakland A's who won the World Championship.
We will tackle the 1989 AL ROY voting in the future, but I will summarize by noting only 2 players had double digit Home Runs, one of them batted .215 and the other was a DH that did not play into the 1990s. So it is safe to say that Walt Weiss won a ROY award but it was partially due to a pretty weak class.
Sources and Links
2024 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Subset Index
1989 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Subset Index
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