The Journey of Derek Jeter — A year-by-year look at The Captain’s career on cardboard

If you’re a certain age, you’ve grown up with him on your television or on your cardboard. If you’re a bit more advanced in age, you’ve grown old with him on the field perhaps evoking memories of similar pinstriped superstars of your youth that you might have loved or hated.

Either way, something is about to change.

The twilight of Derek Jeter’s spotless journey with the New York Yankees is coming to a close with a few days all that remain in the hourglass called his career. Sure, everything ultimately will be documented on the stat sheet, on cardboard (of course) and on DVDs and memory reels to come for decades, but the chance to see a new highlight is coming to a close quickly.

That’s life.

We’ve known Derek Jeter on cardboard far longer than just his last 20 seasons as a big-leaguer — all spent at shortstop for the New York Yankees. While he made his Bronx debut back in 1995, his debut on cardboard came with 20 draft picks and minor league cards from various card companies way back in 1992.

Classic, Front Row, Little Sun, Fleer and more captured The Captain long before he held that title — long before we knew him to be anything more than just another new guy with potential. Long before we came to know him as Mr. November.

Taken with the sixth pick in the 1992 MLB Draft behind MLB non-luminaries Phil Nevin, Paul Shuey, B.J. Wallace, Jeffrey Hammonds and Chad Mottola, Jeter was the first high-schooler selected that year. Five summers from now he should be the first — and potentially only — member of that draft class to find himself in Cooperstown. (Sorry, Johnny Damon.)

Whether you remember Jeter more in his early days fresh out of Kalamazoo Central High School or just in classy blue pinstripes as a Top Prospect who actually delivered, we know that, as a collector, you probably have a memory or two about Jeter cardboard from the past.

If not, we’ll revisit each of Jeter’s 20 seasons as a big-leaguer after the jump, noting just how many of his 14,000-plus cards in the Beckett.com database came from that season and presenting some highlight-worthy cards from the more than $380,000-plus in cardboard (excluding rarities) that are out there for us to chase.

1995 … 62 CARDS
1995 SP Championship #20, $2.50
Although he made his mark in this brand two years earlier, this card is one that might strike Yankees fans as a bit more special — whether they realize it or not. While we had seen Jeter on cardboard a few years before his MLB debut — and we’d still have to wait until the following season to see many more game-action New York Yankees cards arrive — this image could be special to some. Why? It evokes memories of a past Yankees shortstop and a somewhat memorable image of a guy who made his mark elsewhere for the hobby and the Yankees, Mickey Mantle. Upper Deck led the way with 23 of Jeter’s cards this season, while Topps produced nine and Action Packed released seven without having an MLB license.

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1996 … 181 CARDS
1996 Leaf Signature Ext. Autos #89 /1,000, $600
Jeter’s rookie season in 1995 finished with him taking home the American League Rookie of the Year award in runaway fashion over second-place rookie James Baldwin of the Chicago White Sox. (Remember him?) That coveted award also meant added status in the hobby and card companies knew that with more than twice as many Jeter cards arriving as the year before. His priciest cards came with the arrival of more-coveted post-strike brands like the landmark debut of Leaf Signature, which included autographs in heavier volume — well, except for players such as Jeter. He has two $1,800 autos limited to just 100 copies from Leaf that year, while this card from the Extended Series is a bit more plentiful — but still pretty expensive. (Though it is his cheapest of the five cards he signed for Leaf that year.) Although he has earlier autos, this is his among his first in an MLB set.

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1997 … 359 CARDS
1997 Topps Gallery Peter Max Signature Series Serigraphs #1 /40, $200
By 1997, certified autographs in MLB sets were starting to emerge from mylar wrappers more and more often — and this card is one of them. However, this Topps release isn’t signed by the New York Yankees shortstop and future Cooperstown mainstay. This card is signed by legendary pop artist Peter Max whose colorful painting surrounds the captain on this very rare and tough-to-pull card. Not surprisingly, though, most of the other Jeter autos made this year are more expensive. Jeter has signed plenty of cards through the years … but has Max? That might make this one more of a rarity and a bargain than you might think — if you can even find one.

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1998 … 684 CARDS
1998 Topps Gold Label Class 2 One to One #7 /1, $N/A
One hobby creation that drives collectors crazy both good and bad is the 1/1 card and it was born in the 1990s. One example of cards from that timeframe is this card, which is actually one of three 1/1 cards of Jeter in the 1998 Topps Gold Label product. It’s been graded by Beckett Grading Services, receiving a Mint 9, and recently hit the auction block on eBay. After 44 bids, this card sold for $2,063.88 (plus $20 shipping). Not bad considering the price of the pack it came from, right? For context, only a single Jeter 1/1 card has sold for more on eBay in recent months and that was a 2011 Prime Cuts Barrel Up card from Panini America that sold for $2,500. That one had the nameplate from one of Jeter’s black game-used Louisville Sluggers embedded into the card’s front — a much more visually impressive piece of cardboard.

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1999 … 604 CARDS
1999 Topps Gallery Heritage #TH9, $20
By the end of 1999, Jeter had his third World Series ring and was an established star. Found one in every 12 packs of 1999 Topps Gallery were these cards where Jeter was one of 20 past and present players selected to appear on cards in this now-landmark insert card set using the 1953 Topps design. Why’s it so important? It helped spark one of today’s hobby staples — Topps Heritage, which has been going strong by going back to the past every year since 2001.

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2000 … 701 CARDS
2000 Upper Deck Pros & Prospects Game Jersey Autograph #DJ, $2,000
Jeter appears on more than 2,300 game-used memorabilia cards in the Beckett.com database, and it was in 2000 when Jeter gamers arrived in force and volume. You can find many cards from that year that are quite affordable, but it’s this signed jersey card with a clean and classy design that is among this writer’s favorites from the year. (Of course, I’ll never own it … but I do have the Jose Canseco card that I always wanted.)

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2001 … 483 CARDS
2001 Fleer Platinum Classic Comb. #6 w/Phil Rizzuto /25, $N/A
With several card companies licensed to make MLB cards and the explosion of game-used items and more finding their way into cardboard, we started to see more and more of the possibilities in the hobby. While this is a simple selection, it’s one that pairs Jeter with a beloved Yankees infielder from the past, Phil Rizzuto. There are only 25 copies of this game-used bat card to go around, so it definitely is a classic combination that will hold up over time even as companies now are more creative than ever with their cardboard. Even the huckleberries can’t hate on this card.

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2002 … 551 CARDS
2002 Upper Deck 40-Man Lumber Yard #LY15, $30
With plenty of competition for collector dollars, companies had to get creative to capture our attention. One brand that wasn’t on the radar of many collectors (an assumption because it didn’t last long) was Upper Deck’s 40-Man, which included these inserts as very rare finds. This 18-card set was seeded one card in every 168 packs of the all-encompassing brand and features the player on a surface of laser-etched wood. It’s not game-used but it’s certainly cooler than a lot of cards from its day and from 2002.

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2003 … 711 CARDS
2003 Topps Kanebo Japan #4, $3
With a quick glance, you might think this entry is a mistake and that this one is really a 2002 Topps card. But, if you look closely you will see some details are different on the card’s front up top and that there’s no foil stamping. The true mystery unravels if you find one of these cards and flip it over — you’ll find the biography portion written in Japanese. What is it? It’s a Japanese version of an MLB card that was distributed overseas — not expensive but also not something you will see every day, either. Topps and Kanebo teamed up to make four sets around this time, and Jeter has this and three other cards that can be found for less than $15.

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2004 … 1,088 CARDS
2004 Leaf Exhibits 1939-46 Sincerely Left #12 /46, $12
Jeter’s card volume took a dramatic jump in 2004 thanks in part to some creative ways of making rarer parallels more cost-effective for companies to pull off. Sometimes, though, they just create confusion. That’s likely the case with the 2004 Leaf Exhibits cards, which have minor changes to the notations on the card fronts. While they are rare — this card is limited to just 46 copies — they aren’t expensive, probably meaning that most collectors are just too confused to pick them all off and aren’t bothering to buy them. Between the two editions of Leaf that year, there are 88 different Jeter Exhibit cards listed in the Beckett database for fans to chase.

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2005 … 1,191 CARDS
2005 Diamond Kings #152, $3 … or is it 2005 Diamond Kings #374, $3?
Before it lost its MLB license in 2005, Donruss/Playoff was a cardboard-producing beast with former subsets and insert card sets such as Diamond Kings getting the standalone treatment in not one but two series. While exclusives have some key Jeter card types found elsewhere, Donruss stuck to its once-powerful array of parallels with countless versions of each card. In the confusing case of Jeter, the painting on both cards is basically identical, making it seem like there are even more ways for parallels to confuse, befuddle or perhaps entice depending on one’s habits. In all, there are 51 versions of Jeter cards in that year’s two DK series — without autos or mem.

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2006 … 851 CARDS
2006 Ultimate Collection Ensemble Signatures Quad #3 w/ Ken Griffey Jr., Ortiz, Pujols /25, $N/A
Upper Deck wasn’t shy in the past about using its exclusive autographers to create some deluxe cards. This one takes Jeter and places him among a Cooperstown-worthy pack of hitters that also includes Ken Griffey Jr., David Ortiz and Albert Pujols. Sure, these are the dreaded sticker autographs, but this card (save for maybe the mismatched silver Griffey sticker) is a poster boy for what’s possible using them. Question 1: How many of these autographs do you have in your collection on their own? Question 2: How many cards do you already own that might trump it? The answer to both questions is perhaps something like “not many” — even if you’re an advanced collector.

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2007 … 1,742 CARDS
2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Black Glove Leather Silver Ink #DJ /10, $N/A
We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again — not many autographs can trump the Upper Deck Sweet Spots. This 2007 creation is signed on faux black fielding glove leather with a silver pen. In some cases from those last few years of the brand, there are ink problems with the embedded pieces but not on this card. It looks as fresh as the day Jeter signed it. He has plenty of Sweet Spot sigs from that year, but none of them are more plentiful than 15 copies. And, oddly, some of those are cards that he signed alongside somebody else.

2008 … 2,657 CARDS
2008 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection #303 w/ seven other players, $40
If you wanted a card that helps symbolize the massive explosion in the number of Jeter cards made in this year, find yourself any copy of his 860 Topps Moments and Milestones cards. (You won’t find that here as this writer’s still not over the collecting challenges laid out by that brand.) Instead, we’ll go with a still-confusing but much more impressive release, Ballpark Collection from Upper Deck. This double-sided, eight-piece memorabilia card is a classic mix of teammates and notables and the brand is full of many interesting combinations all intended to make us sometimes-unpleasable fans happy.

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2009 … 825 CARDS
2009 Topps Heritage #83b SP VAR/Red Sox, $200
Some collectors will call this a gimmick. Yankees collectors might call it a slap in the face. This writer calls it something funny given the rivalry — but there’s nothing funny about the cash that this card can demand. This short-printed intentional variation card is a nod to the error cards of the past, and the past is what Heritage is all about. Sure, Jeter never pulled a Johnny Damon and switched sides of the rivalry — yet (just kidding) — but there’s just something strikingly odd and interesting about this card. We haven’t seen any sell in online auctions recently, so who knows what kind of demand there could be?

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2010 … 352 CARDS
2010 Exquisite Collection Diamond Club Signatures #DJ, $N/A
When Upper Deck lost its MLB Properties licensing in 2010, it had been planning to release a series of Exquisite inserts in various products. Among those cards prepped at the time but later released in alternate fashions was this Exquisite auto for its long-time spokesman. This one was issued to members of the company’s exclusive Diamond Club and is limited to just 130 serial-numbered copies. Jeter has three other Exquisite Collection cards from 2010 — a base card limited to just 75 serial-numbered copies and a pair of numbered game-used memorabilia cards limited to just 15 copies. On those Quad Patches, he is joined by Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly and Alex Rodriguez along with Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes and Ozzie Smith on the other card.

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2011 … 396 CARDS
2011 Prime Cuts Timeline Material Quads Prime #3 w/A-Rod/Teixeira/Cano /25, $N/A
Panini America’s foray into baseball thanks to an MLBPA license allowed the company to revive brands such as Prime Cuts and include several active players on cardboard once again. While, yes, there are no logos to be seen here, there is plenty of star power and some simple pieces of memorabilia, too. These can be bargains, especially if not the prime versions like this one.

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2012 … 510 CARDS
2012 Prime Cuts Timeline Material Player Quads #6 /25, $N/A
With Jeter certified autographs on new cardboard not available, it seems that the not-super-rare but higher-end options reside in the game-used memorabilia area. For bargains, once again, this writer would turn to Panini America’s creations like this card, which includes four game-used pieces for the price of a card that’s typically not nearly as deluxe if there’s a Yankees logo showing.

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2013 … 578 CARDS
2013 Topps Five Star Jumbo Jersey Red #DJ /25, $60
With card companies continuing to push the envelope toward high-end creations more and more, it seems there just aren’t as many ways to wow us at times. This particular card, though, shows us ways we can get something different since it’s apparently a piece of game-used pants or jersey with some serious clay on it from diving or sliding through the infield. Be careful to inspect cards such as these — the dirt could be added later — by examining the inner edge of the window’s top layer of cardboard. It shouldn’t have dirt on it. If it does, that stain might not be of Jeter’s making.

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2014 … 433 CARDS (SO FAR)
2014 Topps All-Star FanFest Patches #PC03 /150, $80
With this year’s MLB All-Star Game the first chance for a large national farewell to the Yankees captain, Topps created four cards relating to the event. The priciest is this card, which is a manufactured patch for the game and is limited to only 150 serial-numbered copies. The cards were only available at this year’s FanFest and they reportedly were gone quickly. They’ve sold quickly on the secondary market, too. Will there inevitably be more Jeter farewell cards in the months and years to come before Cooperstown calls? Of course …