There are lots of different reasons and ways to collect baseball cards. Many collectors are focused on the value of cards, especially given the meteoric rise in card prices over the last few years. You’ll also find a popular hobby approach is to go after your favorite teams, favorite players, and/or the big name rookies or prospects. However, I am going to look at a less widespread hobby activity, which is collecting a product for the product itself.
There are very few products where collectors, including myself, don’t care about the players on the checklist, the card values in the aftermarket, or trying to collect the full set. Topps Stadium Club is one of the few exceptions and, for me personally, the only exception. I love Stadium Club. Since the 2021 version release is upon us, I decided it would be fun to dive deeper on my perennially favorite product.
Why do I love Stadium Club? The photography. You get more per capita great photographs than any other product. I don’t care who the player is or what team they play for as long as I like the photo being used. I was commenting on something unrelated to Stadium Club in the Prospects Live Discord Baseball Card channel recently and said that it was disappointing whenever you got a long since retired player’s base card in any product, which happens all too frequently. The one exception to that is Stadium Club, as you will see below.
Speaking of seeing below, all of what follows are photos of cards from Stadium Club that I own and absolutely love for one reason or another. You may have already seen some of these cards in past Cards of the Day, and you will likely some of the others in future Cards of the Day. Without further ado and in no particular order, here are my favorite personally owned Stadium Club cards:
2019 Stadium Club Sepia Parallel of Jackie Robinson - I love seeing ex-player photos, especially ones from before my time. Seeing Jackie interacting with the crowd and signing stuff even with what he had to go through is such a great photo, and it being the Sepia parallel to give it that old-timey feel is the cherry on top.
2019 Stadium Club Black Foil Parallel Auto /25 of Dereck Rodriguez - The first of many cards that showcase the stadium back-drop. The Coca-Cola bottle at first felt a bit much to me at Giants stadium, but I have grown to appreciate it over the years. Seeing it lit up a night games really gives it the full effect and every time I see this card, it reminds me how I really need to get back to the bay and catch a Giants home game.
2020 Stadium Club Black Foil Parallel Auto /25 of Mike Yastrzemski - A PC (Personal Collection) player side by side with his famous grandfather Carl at his old stomping grounds, Fenway Park. Just a great photo and each of them are in their team’s casual gear as well which makes for better symmetry than if Mike was wearing his Giants jersey. When I first saw this card, it was an instant reaction of “I must own this card”.
2020 Stadium Club Black Foil Parallel of Clayton Kershaw - Another one with the Stadium in the background, in this case Dodger stadium. I really love how this captures Kershaw in full stretch at the top of his windup and how that somewhat mimics the quintessential Southern California Palm trees in the background. Symmetry in action.
2020 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Mark McGwire - While I am primarily a Giants fan, I still regularly root for the A’s. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area as a kid in the 80’s, the Bash Brothers were a big deal for me, and especially Mark McGwire. I played 1B in little league just at the right time to watch, and be strongly impacted by, McGwire’s rookie season and his explosion onto the scene. Similar to the Yaz Legacy card above, when I first saw this card, I immediately said “I have to own this card”.
2016 Stadium Club Gold Foil Parallel of Robin Yount - A well-known motocross fan, this isn’t actually the first card for Robin Yount involving him and a dirt-bike. At the very least, he had one in 1992 Pinnacle, and I’m all for baseball players showing their personalities off the field. For me, I look at this photo and think “that is one badass m’fer”.
2015 Stadium Club Gold Foil Parallel of Ken Griffey Jr. - The second legacy card in the article but this time it’s a father and son version. I used this card for my Card of the Day for this year’s Father’s Day post and I think it really hits home with the fun father/son relationship theme. The first father and son to play on the same team in the same game and the only father and son to hit back to back home runs in the same game. There are other Griffey Jr/Sr cards that have been produced, but this one is by far my favorite.
2015 Stadium Club Gold Foil Parallel of Fernando Valenzuela - My parents both grew up in Dodgers territory, so I watched quite a bit of Dodger games as a kid, and distinctly remember Fernando-mania. This photo exemplifies that craze and shows Fernando’s great smile while in the midst of it. Sign me up for more cards like this.
2016 Stadium Club Gold Foil Parallel of Randy Johnson - Randy was an intimidating figure in his playing days, and I can’t imagine what it felt like to see that stare coming at you over the top of his glove. Having that in a larger than life size with Randy walking on the field in front of it in a black shirt with no expression on his face gives me further intimidating vibes even in his retirement. If we could see what Randy’s seeing at this moment in time, I am betting we see John Kruk running away from him.
2020 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Randy Johnson - Going to the other end of the spectrum, this looks like “Fun Randy”. I’m assuming this is from the World Series victory parade after the Diamondbacks 2001 championship. I like how the fire engine and the angle of the photo actually make Randy look small even though he is a very tall human being. I also like the subtle touch of the “Big Unit” emblem on the front of the vehicle. And finally, the red foil parallel just fits so well with this photo.
2017 Stadium Club Gold Foil Parallel of Willie Stargell - Not really sure when this photo was taken, but without context, it feels very 70’s. I see this card and all I can think of is that Willie Stargell is a badass who wears a Willie Stargell beanie and it would not be a smart move to ask him why it says his name on it. This was before my time, so if anyone knows, was having your name on your beanie actually a “thing” back then, or was Willie just that badass? Absent any information, I am going to go with the obvious answer which is that he is a badass.
2018 Stadium Club Black Foil Parallel of Ted Williams - His nickname is the Splendid Splinter for a reason. I might, with the emphasis on might, be able to make a pencil look like that in a picture, but I doubt it. Teddy Ballgame made a piece of lumber the length of your arm look like it’s defying physics. I’ll gladly add a card with that photo to my collection.
2017 Stadium Club Gold Foil Parallel of Lou Gehrig - The greatest first baseman to ever play the game in my opinion gives you a great weapon of choice perspective shot. An unassuming personality lets his bats do the talking and that is exactly the feeling I get from this photo. Hard not to like this card.
2017 Stadium Club Gold Foil Parallel of Billy Hamilton - Newsflash! Billy Hamilton is fast. So fast that either he is a blur or everything else is. I have no idea how cameras work to make it possible to have a photo like this. What I do know is that this card is awesome.
2018 Stadium Club Black Foil Parallel of Mariano Rivera - I’m not sure exactly when this photo was taken, but I assume it was somewhere near the end of Rivera’s final season in 2013. A beautiful backdrop of a packed Yankee Stadium from an angle you don’t normally get to see with the added “Thank You Mariano” on the digital displays. Throw in the number 42 jersey number shown prominently on Rivera as the last active player to get to wear that number full time and I can’t understand why you wouldn’t want this card. Unless you are a Red Sox fan or something like that, but I’m sure even they could find it in their hearts to appreciate this card.
2018 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Zack Godley - I assume this is in 2017 when the Diamondbacks made it into the playoffs via the Wild Card, but I’m not 100% sure exactly when this photo was taken. Regardless, getting a baseball card with the focus being the unique feature of having a pool in the outfield and the team using it for their celebration is just something you won’t find anywhere else. Topping it off with the Red Foil as a color match to the Diamondbacks logo is perfect. Just another example of the card being the star of the show as this could have been any player on the team and I wouldn’t care who it was, I would still want the card.
2018 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Dustin Pedroia - The first thing I thought of when I saw this card was that it was a throwback to the classic Mickey Hatcher giant glove card from 1986 Fleer. After a minute of investigation, I found that it is actually a gift that Pedroia is giving to Red Sox broadcaster and legend Jerry Remy after he was diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time back in 2017. Any way you look at it, just an amazing card and the team color parallel makes it just that much better.
2019 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Ozzie Smith - Ozzie’s iconic back-flip in mid rotation is a great photo no matter what you think of the Wizard of Oz. While the brick facade is reminiscent of Busch stadium, it doesn’t really seem like that is part of the stadium. I definitely would like to know if anyone else can inform me of where this picture was taken. Regardless, iconic player, iconic back-flip, team color parallel - beautiful.
2019 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Clayton Kershaw - Another Stadium Club photo where you wonder how the photo came to be. I believe this was a photo of Kershaw warming up pre-game and the Clydesdales doing a circuit of the warning track, likely for some promotion. But honestly, who cares. It’s horses and Kershaw has been the Dodgers horse for easily over the last ten years. Where else would you find a card like this? Nowhere.
2020 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Paul Goldschmidt - Another stadium backdrop photo where the city’s defining monument is the highlight of the photo. The arch, the team color parallel, a great player in Goldy, what else could you ask for?
2019 Stadium Club Black Foil Parallel of Brandon Nimmo - A good player, but nothing much the hobby has interest in. It just proves my point that an awesome card in Stadium Club is primarily about the photography and not about the player. The perspective and angle is just nothing you ever see in a baseball card and I love it.
2020 Stadium Club Base of Bo Bichette - Bo has a lot of great looking rookie cards, but this one takes the cake. A stunning stadium backdrop pierced by the CN Tower reaching up to the clouds. Great balance to the card with the stadium roof anchoring the right, the CN Tower holding the middle, and Bichette the focus of the right side of the pic as he runs towards the edge with glove in hand. Sign me up for this and any other card like it.
2019 Stadium Club Red Foil Parallel of Edgar Martinez - All the fire jokes! His bats are always on fire! Edgar is smoking hot! Wait, I mean his bats are smoking hot! Edgar brings the heat! Enough? Alrighty then. Even though it’s a setup shot, it’s still really cool and I have seen more than one person ask if that picture is photoshopped. It’s not, which is why this card is so hot! Sorry, had to do it one more time.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of other amazing Stadium Club cards and I would love to see your favorites. These just happen to be the ones I am lucky enough to own and enjoy. My fingers are crossed that Topps understands what they have here and don’t go away from the core desirability they have built with this product. It’s hard to trust Topps with much, but I trust that they will continue to deliver an amazing product year after year with Stadium Club.