15 Most Valuable 2009 Topps Baseball Cards

2009 Topps #575 Clayton Kershaw

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $35

When issues got here collectively for Clayton Kershaw early within the 2009 season, it was apparent he had the instruments to be a perennial All-Star and legit ace.

On April fifteenth, Kershaw made an announcement towards the rival San Francisco Giants, placing out 13 batters towards only one hit in seven innings.

The 21-year-old lefty turned the youngest Dodgers hurler since Sandy Koufax in 1955 to hit the 13-strikeout mark.

That was simply the beginning of a top-notch sophomore 12 months for the Dallas native.

Regardless of poor run assist en path to an 8-8 file, Kershaw paced the Majors in hits per 9 innings (6.26), opposing slugging proportion (.282), and opposing batting common (.200).

When Kershaw may discover the zone, he was almost unstoppable.

When he couldn’t, although, it might be an ordeal.

His 91 walks had been the second-worst within the Nationwide League in ‘09, usually costing him probabilities at longer outings because the season wore on.

In addition they price him within the playoffs.

The third youngest beginning pitcher in historical past to get the ball for a playoff collection opener, Kershaw went 0-1 with a 6.07 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in three postseason begins towards the Cardinals and Phillies.

He walked seven batters and surrendered 14 hits in simply 13.1 innings pitched.

2009 Topps #643 David Freese Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $35

Two years earlier than his iconic World Sequence walk-off, rookie St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese was the odd man out at Busch.

When St. Louis positioned Troy Glaus on the injured listing to start out the 2009 season, Freese appeared like a strong wager to take his place on the scorching nook.

Nonetheless, a left ankle harm suffered throughout Spring Coaching started to rear its ugly head.

Cardinals supervisor Tony La Russa opted for a more healthy platoon of Joe Thurston and Brian Barden.

Optioned again to Triple-A in mid-April, the previous ninth-round choose would not return to St. Louis till September twenty third.

Within the interim, he’d endure surgical procedure that price him two months of motion on the farm.

General, Freese performed simply 17 video games for the NL Central champs in ’09, slashing .323/.353/.484 with a homer, two doubles, and 7 RBIs in 31 at-bats.

He could have been excluded from the workforce’s postseason roster that 12 months, however he’d have a historic influence within the Fall Traditional a few years later.

2009 Topps #353 Derek Jeter

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $30

Practically a decade faraway from his final World Sequence championship in 2000, Derek Jeter had a Bronx-sized chip on his shoulders heading into the 2009 MLB season.

Following the ‘08 marketing campaign, the New York Yankees captain shouldered the blame for the franchise’s first playoff miss in fifteen years.

And as talks of his tense relationship with teammate Alex Rodriguez dominated the tabloids, Jeter stewed and waited for his likelihood to counter the noise along with his work on the sector.

When the ‘09 marketing campaign lastly rolled round, Jeter was a person possessed.

Main the Yankees to a 103-win season for the primary time in seven years, the 35-year-old shortstop slashed .334/.406/.465 with 18 dwelling runs, 27 doubles, 30 stolen bases, 107 runs scored, and 66 RBIs.

Coupled along with his Gold Glove work on the six, Jeter’s fourth 200-hit season (212) in 5 years reminded the world simply how rattling good he was.

Ending third within the league’s MVP voting, the now ten-time All-Star additionally earned his fourth consecutive Silver Slugger and Sports activities Illustrated’s Sportsman of the 12 months award.

Within the playoffs, he was even higher.

In 15 video games for the World Champs, Jeter hit .344 with a .995 OPS, three homers, 14 runs scored, ten walks, and 6 RBIs.

The Yankees ran by the Twins in three straight and clipped each the Angels and Phillies in six to bookend the Aughts with pinstriped championships. 

2009 Topps #475 Chipper Jones

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $30

On the heels of a four-year, $61 million extension which ensured he’d stay in Atlanta for the rest of his enjoying profession, Chipper Jones hoped to pay again the Braves group with a stellar 2009.

“I’ve been good to the Braves, however they’ve been higher to me,” Jones stated. “They by no means even let me get to a free-agency 12 months.”

Jones, the reigning NL batting champion, had loads of cause to financial institution on his age-37 season as yet one more notch in his Corridor-of-Fame belt.

That’s what made the ‘09 marketing campaign so dang irritating for the Braves legend.

Troubled by an indirect harm and different aches and pains, Jones nosedived from the highest of the NL batting charts into the muck.

His batting common dropped 100 factors from .364 to .264, and his OPS dropped over 225 factors from 1.044 to .818, which was his worst output since his rookie season in 1995.

With Jones caught in impartial, the 86-win Braves didn’t make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive 12 months.

Rumblings of Jones’ impending retirement adopted as the way forward for Atlanta baseball was as unsure as ever.

2009 Topps #41 Mike Mussina

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $25

There aren’t many MLB legends which have gone out on high.

Mike Mussina is likely one of the few who’ve.

Elected to the Baseball Corridor of Fame in 2019 in his sixth 12 months of eligibility, Mussina was one of many steadiest pitchers of an period through which video-game offenses (and controversial well being regimens) dominated.

Critics pointed to his comparatively excessive profession 3.68 ERA as a cause to exclude him from Cooperstown consideration.

But, context is essential when taking a look at Mussina’s resume.

His ERA was 23 p.c higher than the league common throughout his 18 MLB seasons, and his bWAR of 82.7 ranks him twenty fourth all-time amongst fellow pitchers.

A five-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glover, Mussina completed sixth or higher within the AL’s Cy Younger balloting eight occasions throughout ten seasons from 1992-2001.

Nonetheless, he could not put collectively a 20-win season till his closing 12 months with the Yankees in ’08.

Mussina went 20-9 for the 89-win Bombers, incomes Cy Younger and MVP consideration in his age-39 season.

He additionally turned the oldest pitcher in MLB historical past to succeed in 20 wins for the primary time.

You’d assume Mussina would money in on this late-career showcase.

As a substitute, he went the other approach and introduced his retirement.

In doing so, he’s considered one of simply three pitchers to name it quits after a 20-win season. 

2009 Topps #290 Albert Pujols

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $25

2009 was the height of Albert Pujols’ Corridor-of-Fame profession, at the very least from a person standpoint.

Named Nationwide League MVP for the second consecutive 12 months and third time in a half-decade, the 29-year-old first baseman joined Stan “The Man” Musial as the one three-time MVPs in St. Louis Cardinals historical past.

There was no higher hitter within the Majors in ’09.

And there was no extra well-liked of a participant, both.

Beloved in every single place by followers of all 30 MLB groups, Pujols set a brand new Nationwide League file for All-Star votes to earn one other beginning spot at first for the Senior Circuit.

By season’s finish, Pujols paced all of baseball in dwelling runs (47), runs scored (124), intentional walks (44), slugging proportion (.658), OPS (1.101), OPS+ (189), and complete bases (374).

He additionally set a career-high for walks (115), drove in 135, and hit .327.

With Pujols on a distinct astral airplane and the acquisition of Matt Holliday on the commerce deadline, the 91-win Cardinals ran away from the sector within the NL Central.

The playoff celebration did not final lengthy.

Pujols went 3-for-10 towards the Los Angeles Dodgers within the NLDS with an RBI, however the remainder of St. Louis’ bats had been held in verify in a blink-and-you’d-miss-it three-game sweep.

2009 Topps #300 Ichiro Suzuki

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $25

In components of his 14 seasons with the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro Suzuki made the playoffs precisely as soon as: his rookie season in 2001.

He’d have to attend till he was traded to New York in 2012 for an additional style of postseason play, which made his championship runs with Japan within the World Baseball Traditional that a lot sweeter for the title-starved baseball savant.

Suzuki led his native nation to victory within the inaugural WBC in ’06 and did so once more in ’09, slashing a championship game-winning two-run single to elevate Japan previous South Korea in ten.

The 35-year-old proper fielder stored the beat going throughout the MLB season, slashing .352/.386/.465 with an MLB-best 225 hits, 11 dwelling runs, 31 doubles, 88 runs scored, 46 RBIs, and an AL-best 15 intentional walks for the 85-win M’s.

Ichiro completed ninth within the league’s MVP race and earned his ninth-straight All-Star look, his ninth-straight Gold Glove, and his third Silver Slugger.

Regardless, the M’s as soon as once more squandered Ichiro’s greatness, lacking the playoffs for the eighth consecutive 12 months. 

2009 Topps #390 Joey Votto

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $25

Certainly one of this era’s most refreshingly frank gamers, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto skilled a few of his highest highs and lowest lows in 2009.

Votto opened the World Baseball Traditional for his native Canada with a bang, notching 4 hits in 5 at-bats in a back-and-forth 6-5 loss to the USA.

That led to an eye-opening 2009 MLB season through which the 2008 NL Rookie-of-the-12 months runner-up landed close to the highest of the league’s leaderboards in OBP (.414), slugging proportion (.567), and batting common (.322).

The 25-year-old slugger additionally mashed 25 dwelling runs and posted 38 doubles, 82 runs scored, and 84 RBIs.

Receiving down-ballot MVP votes regardless of Cincinnati’s mediocre 78-84 file, Votto was on the verge.

Earlier than he’d absolutely break by, nonetheless, he’d should attend to his psychological well being.

Following his father’s passing in August of ’08, Votto struggled to remain afloat.

He missed time in ’09 because of bouts of dizziness, stress and panic assaults.

Votto would later get his panic assaults beneath management, searching for therapy and remedy on his option to a number of All-Star Video games and the 2010 NL MVP award.

2009 Topps #50 David Ortiz

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $20

Throughout the 2009 marketing campaign, David Ortiz was named in a New York Occasions piece as considered one of a number of gamers with a constructive end in MLB’s first spherical of steroid testing again in 2003.

13 years later, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred referred to as the validity of those preliminary outcomes into query.

However in 2009, Ortiz was pressured to defend himself and passionately deny any wrongdoing, regardless that all assessments in ’03 had been speculated to be carried out beneath the situation of anonymity.

Issues weren’t a lot much less aggravating on the sector.

Mired in an early-season droop that stored going and going, Ortiz scuffled by an uncharacteristic 149-at-bat homerless streak.

Because the season progressed, the 33-year-old DH threw his palms up and went into “Little League” mode.

Simplifying his mindset and method, Ortiz recovered to hit 28 dwelling runs and 99 RBIs with 35 doubles and 77 runs scored.

His .238 common and .794 OPS had been removed from excellent, however they had been a lot better than the place the season may have ended up.

Ortiz’s late-season surge helped the 95-win Crimson Sox lap the sector of AL Wild Card hopefuls, establishing an ALDS date with the Angels.

That date was a brief one.

Ortiz went simply 1-for-12 with a single, and the Halos swept the Sox out of October in three video games.

2009 Topps #224 Max Scherzer

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $20

Mad Max’s first 12 months as a full-time starter left him with a lot to be offended about.

That does not imply it was a foul 12 months altogether.

Slotting in behind the Arizona Diamondbacks rotation, the previous first-round choose notched his first profession win on Might sixteenth with six innings of scoreless four-hit ball towards the Braves.

And Scherzer’s chaotic supply and baseball smarts confounded hitters at his finest, leading to 174 strikeouts in 170.2 innings pitched.

Nonetheless, the 24-year-old righty was unpolished and obtained rocked extra usually than he would have appreciated.

In 30 begins, Scherzer went Sep 11 with a so-so 4.12 ERA and 1.344 WHIP, one of many worst WHIPs of his profession.

He gave up 8.8 hits per 9 innings and 1.1 homers per 9, and large hits appeared to plague him on the worst occasions.

Scherzer usually wore his frustrations on his sleeve, which regularly snowballed into extra management points.

That successfully ended his time in Arizona, as he’d be dealt to Detroit in late ’09 as a part of a three-team deal that despatched Curtis Granderson to the Yankees.

2009 Topps #35 David Value Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $15

The 2009 Rays fell on their collective faces the 12 months after the franchise’s first AL pennant, meandering to 3rd within the AL East at 84-78.

And most of that landed on the shoulders of the pitching employees.

In ’08, the Rays completed second within the AL and third within the Majors with a composite 3.82 ERA.

In ’09, Tampa regressed to beneath league common (4.33) with a 4.35 ERA.

An inexperienced David Value was one of many principal culprits.

In his first full 12 months as an MLB starter, the younger Tennessee native struggled to a 4.42 ERA in 23 outings.

He surrendered 119 hits and 54 walks in 128.1 innings pitched, rounding out to a hard 1.348 WHIP and eight.3 H/9.

After which there have been the house runs.

Value gave up 17 bombs throughout the ’09 marketing campaign, equating to 1.2 homers surrendered per 9 innings.

He had but to develop a constant out pitch, and hitters punished him commonly when he caught an excessive amount of of the plate.

One 12 months later, Value would turn out to be the ace that Tampa invested in with the primary total choose of the 2007 MLB Draft.

His ’09 season was filed away as a useful studying expertise for future successes, somewhat than an abject failure. 

2009 Topps Baseball Playing cards In Assessment

Once more, this set seemingly will not come up close to the highest of any polls for the highest units of the trendy period, however for the hardcore hobbyist and set builder, 2009 Topps is respectable total.

The quick print variations that featured many big-name legends of the sport like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Jackie Robinson, too identify just a few, had been definitely a pleasant contact.

And the design is simple and provides loads of top-notch motion pictures of the most important names of the day.

The guidelines can be loaded with subsets, together with:

• Managers
• Postseason Highlights
• Award Winners
• Crew Checklists
• Legends of the Sport

The interest was definitely nonetheless in a lull when this set debuted.

The Nice Recession was properly underway, leaving many hobbyists sidelined with the shortage of job and monetary safety amongst their larger issues.

Many will not recall this set for that cause alone.

And regardless that not one of the rookies on this set will seemingly find yourself in Cooperstown, it is nonetheless value a re-examination when you contemplate your self a pure hobbyist and set builder.