The Underrated Baseball Rookie Card List

by Joeyd011 - 286 cards (Last updated on Feb 6, 2020)



131. 1975 Topps #615 1975 Rookie Pitchers (Pat Darcy / Dennis Leonard / Tom Underwood / Hank Webb)


Dennis Leonard - 144 Wins, 1,323 SO's, 3.70 Career ERA, 3 20+ Game Winning Seasons, Career Kansas City Royals.


132. 1975 Topps #567 Jim Sundberg


Jim Sundberg - 1,493 Hits, 243 Doubles, 95 HR's, 624 RBI's, .248 Career Hitter, 1,927 Games Played as Catcher, 8th All-Time, 6 Gold Gloves, 3 Time All-Star, 1 WS Ring.


133. 1975 Topps #628 Ron LeFlore


Ron LeFlore - 1,283 Hits, 172 Doubles, 59 HR's, 353 RBI's, 455 SB's, .288 Career Hitter, All-Star.

Ron made some mistakes early in his life, which led to a life of crime. This lifestyle ultimately ended with his incarceration, but also opened a new door for him to change his life for the better. The prison that he was incarcerated at actually had a baseball program for the convicts. With no prior experience ever playing ball before, LeFlore shined on the field. So much so, that a fellow convict who had a friend that was an acquaintance of Billy Martin, convinced his friend to ask Billy to come see Ron play. This became an opportunity for Billy as well, who was the coach of a fledgling Detroit Tigers team at the time. Once Billy saw LeFlore play, he was amazed. This led to Billy helping to organize an early one-day parole for LeFlore, so that he can begin tryouts for the team. Shortly thereafter, LeFlore made the team. Once a contract was awarded and signed, he met the necessary conditions of his parole to be released. LeFlore was given a second chance in life, and the rest is history.


134. 1976 Topps #263 Lyman Bostock


Lyman Bostock - 624 Hits, 102 Doubles, 23 HR's, 250 RBI's, .311 Career Hitter.

Bostock was an excellent contact hitter and outfielder. His life was tragically cut short at the age of 27, playing in only 4 big league seasons.


135. 1976 Topps #592 1976 Rookie Infielders (Willie Randolph / Dave McKay / Jerry Royster / Roy Staiger)


Willie Randolph - 2,210 Hits, 316 Doubles, 54 HR's, 687 RBI's, 271 SB's, .276 Career Hitter, 2,152 Games Played At Second Base, 7th All-Time, 4,859 Career Put Outs, 9th All-Time, 6 Time All-Star, 1 WS Ring.


136. 1976 Topps #590 1976 Rookie Outfielders (Henry Cruz / Chet Lemon / Ellis Valentine / Terry Whitfield)


Chet Lemon - 1,875 Hits, 396 Doubles, 215 HR's, 884 RBI's, .273 Career Hitter, 3 Time All-Star, 1 WS Ring.

Hey, it's Terry Whitfield again.


137. 1976 Topps #599 1976 Rookie Pitchers (Rob Dressler / Ron Guidry / Bob McClure / Pat Zachry)


Ron Guidry - 1978 AL CY Young Award, 1978 and 1979 AL Pitching Titles, 170 Wins, 1,778 Career SO's, 3.29 Career ERA, 5 Gold Gloves, 4 Time All-Star, 2 WS Rings, Career New York Yankees.


138. 1977 Topps #473 1977 Rookie Outfielders (Andre Dawson / Gene Richards / John Scott / Denny Walling)


Andre Dawson - HOF Career, 1977 NL ROY, 1987 NL MVP, 2,774 Hits, 503 Doubles, 438 HR's, 1,591 RBI's, 314 SB's, .279 Career Hitter, 8 Gold Gloves, 8 Time All-Star.

Andre was a great player in every aspect of the game, defense and offense. After 8 years of being overlooked on the hall of fame ballot he finally got in with 77.9% of the vote in 2010. He should have been inducted much sooner than that in my opinion.


139. 1977 Topps #476 1977 Rookie Catchers (Gary Alexander / Rick Cerone / Dale Murphy / Kevin Pasley)


Dale Murphy - 1982 and 1983 NL MVP Awards, 44 HR Season, 2,111 Hits, 350 Doubles, 398 HR's, 1,266 RBI's, 5 Gold Gloves as Outfielder, 7 Time All-Star.

Murphy's first rookie card. One of my favorite players of all-time, probably in my top 10.


140. 1977 Topps #491 1977 Rookie Pitchers (Mike Dupree / Denny Martinez / Craig Mitchell / Bob Sykes)


Denny Martinez - 1991 NL Pitching Title, 245 Wins, 2,149 SO's, 3.70 Career ERA, 4 Time All-Star.

Denny was a very good pitcher, and I almost forgot about him. The '77 Topps set always looked pretty cool to me as well.

Martinez was the first professional MLB player from Nicaragua.

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Comments

Sep 1, 2018 - 7:55PM
Vvvergeer

I swear I've commented on this excellent list in the past. Perhaps I'm confusing it with another. Anyway...outstanding work. I love a lot of your choices -- not sure how "underrated" the cards or players are in some cases, but great list, nonetheless. 

v3

Sep 1, 2018 - 9:27PM
Joeyd011

Thanks Vvvergeer.  Yes, you have definitely commented and made suggestions to this list in the past.  I believe Rick Reuschel was one of them.  Over the years I have made additions, used suggestions, and revamped the list overall.  Part of the revamp work was cleaning up the statistical information, and doing some updating regarding the many little fun facts and/or thoughts on certain players.  It has been a while since I've updated the list with new additions, and the previous comments made were from a few years ago (time flies)....so, I decided to continue with a fresh comment section.  Thanks again for revisiting the list.

Joe

Dec 14, 2018 - 8:50PM
switzr1

Cool list Joey. I want to go after some of these cards, especially some from the 70s. I would point out that Bernie Williams was ALCS MVP, not AL MVP, in 1996.

Dec 15, 2018 - 1:59PM
Joeyd011

Thanks for revisiting this list Switzr1.  I corrected the Bernie Williams error, and will be adding more cards soon.

Dec 29, 2018 - 5:08AM
Alomar_Collector

How can you leave out the '88 Score Rookie/Traded & '88 Score Rookie/Traded Glossy of Roberto Alomar? They both sell for peanuts considering the print run. Best overall 2nd baseman of all time (offense and defense). Most Gold Gloves of any 2nd baseman in history. Would have reached 3,000 hits if he'd have had better seasons offensively during his 2 years in New York. But he faded fast after 2003. His mind was no longer in the game and he was ready to move on.

Feb 7, 2020 - 8:17AM
DarkSide830

That Young one is certainly interesting. Say, is Willians Astudillo eligible for this list yet, or too early in his career?

Feb 12, 2020 - 3:50PM
Joeyd011

DarkSide830, thanks for checking out this list.  This particular list consists primarily of retired players, or players near the tail end of their career.  An active player 'underrated rookie card' list is something that I have thought about doing, but haven't quite got around to it.  It's a great idea that would definitely generate a whole lot of opinions, and constantly evolve I'm sure.  But if you have any recommendations for this list that you can think of, I'd be glad to see what they are.

Joe  



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