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Hello! If you’re looking for a list of the best Mark McGwire rookie baseball cards, then you’ve come to the right place.
Mark McGwire was one of the most prolific home run hitters in MLB history, and his rookie cards are highly sought-after by collectors.
While investing in Mark McGwire rookie cards can be a sound financial decision, it's important to remember that he also has a number of other accomplishments that make him collectible.
Mark had an incredible rookie season in the MLB for which he was named Rookie of the Year in 1987.
In 1998, McGwire set the single-season home run record with 70 dingers.
Mark was also a five-time All-Star and won three Silver Slugger Awards.
Finally, in 2010, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
We highly recommend adding a Mark McGwire rookie card to your collection as they are a tribute to one of baseball's greatest power hitters.
The experts here at Sports Card Sharks have spent countless hours sifting through each and every Mark McGwire rookie card on the market and have compiled a list of the ones we feel are the best of the best.
We hope you find a ton value in our list!
FAQs
The rookie cards we select for our lists are judged based on 3 criteria:
- Design / Aesthetics
- Price
- Rarity
At Sports Card Sharks, we tend to go against the grain. We typically aren’t buying what everyone else is buying when everyone else is buying it, so if you’re moving with the masses this may not be the right list for you. Adios!
Our Founder is an 80's baby that grew up in the 90's collecting sports cards during the junk wax era.
While card collecting when on hiatus for a couple of decades, that passion was re-sparked in 2020 and we haven't looked back since.
We spend countless hours researching each player and constructing these posts to help you save time and energy so that you can focus on the fun part which is collecting!
Mark McGwire Player Profile
MLB Draft: 1981 (8th round by the Montreal Expos) & 1984 (1st round and 10th overall by the Oakland Athletics)
College: USC
Team(s): Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals
Position: 1B
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 215 lbs
Date of Birth: October 1, 1963
All-Star Appearances: 12x
World Series Championships: 1x (1989)
Career Statistics: View Here
Why We Love Mark McGwire
- Great nicknames - Big Mac, Big Red, Colossus
- 1987 Rookie of the Year
- 3x Silver Slugger
- 583 career home runs
Our List of the Top Mark McGwire Rookie Cards
1. 1987 Mark McGwire Action Superstars Series IV Rookie Card #76
We kick things off with a bit of an oddball rookie card. You won't find many of these floating around on marketplaces and they're definitely the bottom of the barrel in terms of collecting.
Also Check Out: Ozzie Smith
2. 1987 Mark McGwire Mother's Cookies Swinging Rookie Card #3
This Mark McGwire rookie card is a fun one that you probably won't find on many lists out there. It was produced by the Mother's Cookies brand and features a fantastic image of Mark in his batting motion.
Additional Option:
- 1987 Mark McGwire Mother's Cookies Portrait Rookie Card #1 [View Here]
Also Check Out: Doc Gooden
3. 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss Rated Rookie Card #46
That "Rated Rookie" badge has to be one of the coolest designed features in the history of sports cards.
The black border definitely makes it difficult to maintain but we think this card design is awesome.
Also Check Out: Shohei Ohtani
4. 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "The Rookies" Rookie Card #1
In 1987, Donruss also had a secondary set called "The Rookies" and McGwire was feature #1.
You'll notice that the design is very similar to the previous rookie card but features a green border which color matches Mark's uniform.
Also Check Out: Derek Jeter
5. 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Diamond Kings" Rookie Card #1
Most trading card purists hate when "inserts" are featured on lists like this because they're not "true" rookie cards, but we prefer to give our readers ALL of the options.
We remember being big fans of these designs while growing up and the Diamond Kings inserts were a big part of what drew us to this set.
Additional Insert Options:
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Highlights" Rookie Card #27 [View Here]
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Highlights" Rookie Card #46 [View Here]
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Highlights" Rookie Card #54 [View Here]
- 1987 Donruss "Highlights" Mark McGwire & Jose Canseco Rookie Card #40 [View Here]
Also Check Out: Vladimir Guerrero Jr
6. 1987 Mark McGwire Fleer Update Rookie Card #U-76
The blue border really pops on this rookie card and. you get the rare feature of a player actually smiling on a card.
Mark was probably loving all those home runs he was hitting in his rookie season.
Also Check Out: Top Ken Griffey Jr Rookie Cards
7. 1987 Mark McGwire Fleer Baseball's Best Rookie Card #26
Do you think Mark worked out his arms? My goodness. McGwire truly was the best slugger at this time and one of the greatest of all time (we don't care about the steroids stuff in case you were wondering).
Also Check Out: Mike Trout
8. 1987 Mark McGwire Leaf Rated Rookie Card #46
Leaf was Donruss' counterpart to the great north aka Canada.
The designs are identical outside of the logo, however, the Leaf version is much more highly sought-after given the much shorter print run which makes it more rare.
Also Check Out: Luis Robert
9. 1987 Mark McGwire Topps Rookie Card #366
This rookie card is the first time that Mark McGwire was featured in an Oakland Athletics uniform in the Topps set.
It is arguably his 2nd most popular rookie card to the one featured below...
Also Check Out: Juan Gonzalez
10. 1985 Mark McGwire Topps USA Baseball Team Rookie Card
While 1987 is technically considered his rookie season, this 1985 Topps card is considered his first ever mainstream release and therefore is looked at as his flagship rookie card by most collectors.
There is both a regular version and a Tiffany version, with the Tiffany version being the more rare and expensive card.
Also Check Out: Frank Thomas
Mark McGwire Rookie Card Checklist
- 1987 Mark McGwire Action Superstars Series IV Rookie Card #76
- 1987 Mark McGwire Mother's Cookies Portrait Rookie Card #1
- 1987 Mark McGwire Mother's Cookies Swinging Rookie Card #3
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss Rated Rookie Card #46
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "The Rookies" Rookie Card #1
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Highlights" Rookie Card #27
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Highlights" Rookie Card #46
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Highlights" Rookie Card #54
- 1987 Donruss "Highlights" Mark McGwire & Jose Canseco Rookie Card #40
- 1987 Mark McGwire Donruss "Diamond Kings" Rookie Card #1
- 1987 Mark McGwire Fleer Update Rookie Card #U-76
- 1987 Mark McGwire Fleer Baseball's Best Rookie Card #26
- 1987 Mark McGwire Leaf Rated Rookie Card #46
- 1987 Mark McGwire Topps Rookie Card #366
- 1985 Mark McGwire Topps USA Baseball Team Rookie Card
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About the Author:
James Sargent is the Head Writer & Analyst of Sports Card Sharks. His pro sports teams are the Suns, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Arsenal F.C. Sargent graduated from the University of Arizona so he is an avid Wildcat fan – Bear Down! He is also an outdoor enthusiast, consisting mainly of fishing, camping, and hiking.