SP The Shoeless ProfessorA Collection of Baseball History
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1988 · Greg Maddux

1988 David Berg Chicago Cubs Greg Maddux #31

1988 David Berg Chicago Cubs #31 — a regional Cubs team/SGA-style issue from Maddux's breakout 1988 season (first All-Star year). Short-run local cardboard, not a national pack issue.

Issue
Greg Maddux — Early & Oddball Issues
Year
1988
Number
#31
Subject
Greg Maddux
Grade
PSA 9
Cert #
73252189
Population
19 at this grade (per Card Ladder)
Why the issue matters

Greg Maddux — Early & Oddball Issues

Maddux did not appear in the mainstream 1987 Topps or Fleer base sets, so his earliest cardboard is scattered across minor-league team sets, a Venezuelan winter-league sticker album and the year-end Traded and Update sets. These short-run issues, like the 1986 ProCards Pittsfield Cubs card (his first) and the 240-sticker 1987 Venezuelan set, were made in far smaller numbers than his major-league rookies and are tough to find in any condition.

More on this issue →
Sources
  1. waxpackgods.com
  2. psacard.com
  3. oldcardboard.com
Why the player matters

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux, “The Professor,” was my childhood favorite player, which is why he has a place in this collection when almost no other modern player does. He won 355 games with command and guile rather than velocity, took four straight Cy Young Awards from 1992 to 1995 and a record 18 Gold Gloves, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014. I collect him the same way I collect the vintage: earliest and scarcest issues first, plus a little Atlanta game-worn gear that ties to the same story. The nickname fits a Shoeless Professor.

More on Greg Maddux →
Sources
  1. sabr.org
  2. oldcardboard.com