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A Rod Carew rookie card for $1? Say what?
Sports treasures that soar to crazy prices on eBay always attract our attention. But what about bargains that are just as insane?
We’ve got one for you right now: a Rod Carew Topps rookie that sold for $1. You read that right: a single U.S. dollar.
You’re probably figuring the card was in miserable shape. Creased? Torn? Maybe missing a corner? Nope. It was actually slabbed by SGC with a respectable 5 grade. Looking at the listing’s photograph, you might even make the case that 5 is a conservative grade — not bad for a card printed in 1967.
SCD Archives: Rod Carew shows serious side at card shows
Either way, it’s a gem. And at $1, we feel confident saying that any of us — if we had seen the auction in time — would have gladly bid twice that price. Or 10 times that price.
Carew’s first card was an “A. League Rookie Stars” effort, one that also features Hank Allen. The older brother of should-be-Hall-of-Famer Dick Allen, Hank Allen was a useful utility man who played multiple infield and outfield positions over seven seasons, batting .241. However, he’s definitely the undercard on this Topps issue: Carew was in a class of his own.
A hitter’s hitter, Carew played 19 seasons and was a tough out from start to finish, batting .328 in his career. He slashed, roped, gapped and bunted his way to 3,053 hits. In fact, Carew led the league in hitting seven times, including 1977 — the year he had a brush with .400. He finished at .388 that season, with 239 hits in 616 at-bats.
Carew’s career home run total was only 92, but he had 112 triples and 445 doubles. And all the singles he hit didn’t mean he’d stay at first base very long: He had 353 steals. Plus, he rarely struck out. Carew’s high for a season was 91 Ks — and that was in his rookie year. After that, he never struck out more than 81 times in a season.
Back to that 1967 Topps Carew card: The $1 sale on eBay is especially remarkable when you consider typical prices his rookie commands:
• PSA’s online price guide puts a grade-5 example at about $500 and a 6 at $650.
• On eBay recently, a Carew rookie graded PSA 7 realized $1,010.
• Also on eBay, a pair of PSA 8 rooks fetched prices of $3,250 and $2,750.
• Climbing the ladder, a Near-Mint 9 Carew rookie shows up at $18,800 in PSA’s guide.
• And a 10? Well, that rarity gets into the stratosphere. At Heritage Auctions in 2021, a PSA 10 Carew rookie from the Dmitri Young Collection drew $186,000. Whew!
One added note: If you use Twitter, it’ll be worth your time to follow Carew. He goes by @RodCarew_29, and he regularly posts baseball-relevant comments and questions.
