15 Most Valuable 1992 Bowman Baseball Cards

1992 Bowman #302 Mariano Rivera Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $600

Don't be fooled by Mariano Rivera's appearance on his 1992 Bowman rookie card.

He may look harmless in that casual attire, but he was lethal on the mound.

For nineteen seasons, Yankees fans sighed with relief whenever Rivera entered late in the game to close things out.

Opposing fans groaned.

As the game's all-time saves leader with an eye-popping 652 to his name, no one did it better than Rivera.

And he was arguably even better in the postseason when it counted most.

In 96 games, Rivera went 8-1, finishing 78 of them and racking up 42 saves with a minuscule 0.70 ERA and 0.759 WHIP.

Though he made his MLB debut for the Yankees in 1995, his story started when a then 20-year-old Rivera signed as an amateur free agent with the team on February 17, 1990.

At the time, Rivera had little to no pitching experience.

But Yankees scouts who saw him play in Panama saw enough raw talent to make him an offer.

And the rest is history.

Rivera worked his way up through the Minors and into Yankees lore forever.

In 2019, Rivera became the first and only player in MLB history to be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1992 Bowman #461 Mike Piazza Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $150

Mike Piazza's trek to the Majors is a fantastic story.

After a solid performance as the first baseman for Miami-Dade Community College, Piazza set his eyes on playing pro ball.

However, teams weren't exactly showing much interest.

Fortunately, Piazza's father was good friends with then-Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.

And as a favor to his friend, Lasorda drafted Piazza with the 1,390th pick of the 62nd round of the 1988 MLB Amateur Draft.

After a strong showing in the Minors, the Dodgers called up Piazza in late 1992.

Piazza was OK in parts of 21 games, but not earth-shattering.

That changed in 1993.

Named the Dodgers' starting catcher in Spring Training, Piazza responded with one of the most impressive Rookie-of-the-Year seasons in MLB history.

Piazza was incredible, ending the season with a .318 batting average and 35 home runs, a new MLB record for a rookie catcher.

In addition, Piazza's 111 RBIs tied him for third among NL rookies in MLB history.

The comparisons to Carlton Fisk and Johnny Bench soon followed.

And so did a unanimous NL Rookie of the Year award, All-Star and Silver Slugger selections, and a 9th-place finish in the NL's MVP race.

Had Piazza's father and Tommy Lasorda not been good friends, the baseball world may never have seen one of its all-time greats.

1992 Bowman #11 Trevor Hoffman Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $100

Though he would end his MLB career as one of the greatest closers of all time, Trevor Hoffman didn't begin his baseball journey on the mound.

In college, he was the best hitter on a University of Arizona squad that featured other future pro ball players like J.T. Snow and Kevin Long.

And as the team's shortstop, he sported an incredible arm, too.

That arm would eventually save his career (no pun intended).

After the Cincinnati Reds drafted Hoffman in the 11th round of the 1989 MLB Draft, he continued as an infielder for the Single-A Charleston Dirty Birds.

But he must have left his bat in Arizona.

Hoffman struggled at the plate and the team eventually asked him to put his strong arm to use as a pitcher.

The change worked, and by 1992, Hoffman had made his way up to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.

However, that's when he and the Reds parted ways.

In the 1992 MLB Expansion Draft, the Florida Marlins chose him with the eighth pick.

But after a brief stay in South Florida, the Marlins traded him to the San Diego Padres in the middle of the 1993 season.

Hoffman would stay there for 16 seasons, carving out a Hall of Fame resume along the way.

1992 Bowman #82 Pedro Martinez Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $100

From 1997 to 2004, Pedro Martinez either won the Cy Young (3) or finished in the top four of the vote in all but one season.

With a tailing fastball, devasting change-up and a nasty curve, Martinez was a nightmare for opposing hitters.

Over his 18-year career, there were primarily three teams lucky enough to have him in their rotation: the Montreal Expos, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets.

For Los Angeles Dodgers fans, early Pedro Martinez baseball cards like this one are painful visual reminders of what might have been.

In 1988, Pedro followed in his older brother Ramon's footsteps when he signed with the Dodgers.

Ramon had already worked himself into the Dodgers rotation by then, but Pedro would eventually work his way through the Minors and join him in 1992.

On September 24, 1992, Pedro entered the eighth inning of a game against the Reds, striking out one, walking one, and allowing two hits.

The following week, he made his first MLB start against the Reds, striking out seven while allowing four hits and two earned runs while getting tagged with a loss.

Ramon would stay with L.A. through the 1998 season, but unfortunately for Dodgers fans, the team traded him to the Montreal Expos before the 1994 season. 

1992 Bowman #127 Carlos Delgado Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $90

By the time Carlos Delgado was 16, several Major League clubs were already showing interest in the young Puerto Rican phenom.

Eventually, the Toronto Blue Jays, with whom he would spend twelve MLB seasons, were the lucky winners to sign him in 1988.

And that's where it all began for the future star.

But it began slowly.

In 31 games for the St. Catharines Blue Jays in Class A Short Season ball, Delgado hit just .180 with 16 hits, no home runs and 11 RBIs in 113 plate appearances.

It wasn't the start he had hoped for, but he remained resilient.

Things began to take off in 1992, when Delgado hit .324/.402/.579 with 30 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 83 runs scored for the Class A Dunedin Blue Jays.

As a nod to his success, Delgado was named USA Today's 1992 Minor League Player of the Year.

After spending most of 1993 with the Double-A Knoxville Smokies, Delgado finally got the long-awaited call to the Big Leagues on October 2, 1993.

He'd bounce back and forth between the Minors and Majors in 1994 and 1995 before completely locking in at the plate in 1996.

From then on, Delgado was one of the most feared hitters of his era, finishing with 473 home runs and 1,512 RBIs.

1992 Bowman #222 Nolan Ryan

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $75

Nolan Ryan was ejected from a game once during his 27-year Hall-of-Fame career.

The reason for this depends on who you ask.

On August 6th, 1992, the 45-year-old righty found himself locked in a pitcher's duel with Oakland's Kelly Downs.

Oakland slugger Jose Canseco was rung up on a questionable third strike in the sixth inning and got booted for arguing with the home-plate umpire.

An inning later, A's center fielder Willie Wilson got into a heated shouting match with Ryan after cracking a triple off the wall in center.

According to Ryan, the problems had been brewing for a minute.

"Willie seems to have a problem," Ryan said. "He thinks he can scream obscenities all game, and if someone says something back, he wants to get a reaction from the ump."

Never one to let a hitter get the mental advantage, Ryan plunked Wilson in the eighth and was tossed after a ten-minute delay.

Wilson, as you might expect, took objection.

"I knew he was going to hit me. I just didn't know what pitch," Wilson said. "He's always done that. He stares people down, he walks around the mound, he just tries to intimidate everybody."

Midsummer drama aside, Ryan had a solid year for the fourth-place Rangers, finishing 5-9 with a 3.72 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 157.1 innings pitched.

1992 Bowman #100 Ken Griffey Jr.

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $60

The 1992 Seattle Mariners were caught in a torrent of relocation threats and lousy baseball.

Amid all the uneasiness at the Kingdome, the team still had Ken Griffey Jr. to offer a little hope and swagger.

And he did so while dealing with mounting stress as the undisputed face of a bumbling, stumbling M's franchise.

"There was a lot of pressure on him, not just fans, but from veterans in the clubhouse," Mariners third baseman Mike Blowers said.

Privately, Griffey's moods swung from day to day.

On the field, he was a charismatic superstar with the smile and gorgeous swing to unite fans of every team.

Now a three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glover, the 22-year-old "Kid" received down-ballot MVP consideration despite playing for the worst team in the American League.

He posted a .308/.361/.535 slash line in 142 games with 27 home runs, 39 doubles, 4 triples, 10 stolen bases, 83 runs scored, and 103 RBIs.

At the '92 All-Star Game, Griffey reinforced his standing as the game's most popular young star.

He finished just a triple short of a cycle, winning game MVP honors in a 13-6 American League rout.

1992 Bowman #28 Chipper Jones

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40

Like many other prospects in this set, Chipper Jones showed up in casual attire that screams "early 90s."

But, out of all of them, he may have worn it best.

From the long-sleeve shirt tucked into his shorts, held together by an oversized belt, to the awesome Nike high-top sneakers, Jones certainly completed the look.

And while this isn't a rookie card (see his 1991 Bowman issue), it's one of the more infamous cards from his storied career.

In 1992, Jones split his time nearly evenly across Single-A and Double-A baseball while working his way up to the Majors.

In 70 games with the Single-A Durham Bulls, Jones hit .277 with four home runs and 31 RBIs.

Meanwhile, the switch-hitter fared even better with the Double-A Greenville Braves, hitting .346 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs in 67 games.

And after spending most of the 1993 season with the Triple-A Richmond Braves, Jones made his Atlanta debut on September 11, 1993.

Jones entered the ninth in the 13-1 blowout versus the San Diego Padres and didn't record an at-bat.

But he didn't care.

He had finally made it to The Show.

And for nineteen seasons, Jones would put on a heck of a show for Atlanta fans.

1992 Bowman #340 Don Mattingly

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40

Don Mattingly may have fallen far off his MVP peak by 1992, but the New York Yankees captain was just as valuable to the franchise as he ever was.

The 31-year-old first baseman was a galvanizing presence for a retooling Yankees squad, putting in extra time in practice and in the clubhouse to get young players up to speed.

This included a concerted effort to break future five-time All-Star Bernie Williams out of his shy, insecure shell.

"I think confidence was the big key for Bernie," Mattingly said later. You have to believe you can play here. You can't keep hearing about potential. I think Bernie had to prove that to himself. Once you get that, you can do some things."

The 23-year-old outfielder made critical strides in his development under Mattingly's tutelage, helping to push the 76-win Bronx Bombers to their best record since 1988.

Mattingly was no slouch, either.

He had his best power season since the turn of the decade, slashing .288/.327/.416 with 14 home runs, 40 doubles, and 86 RBIs in 157 games.

It was a promising step forward for the captain and his young charges, with bigger and better things just around the corner.

1992 Bowman #50 Tony Gwynn

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

1992 was just another ho-hum year for Tony Gwynn.

It just so happens that a ho-hum season for Gwynn was much better than the best efforts of nearly any other MLB player.

Despite missing a month or so of games due to various aches and injuries, the 32-year-old San Diego Padres right fielder placed in the top five of the NL batting race (.317).

His .371 on-base percentage was his best in three years, and his 121 OPS+ maintained what would eventually become a career-long 20-year streak of seasons at 105 or better.

San Diego remained stuck in neutral, though, finishing third in the NL West for the second consecutive season at 82-80.

The Padres' sleepy campaign softened opinion on Gwynn's steady brilliance, as the eight-time All-Star missed out on his sixth Gold Glove and failed to register an MVP vote for just the second time in nine seasons.

1992 Bowman #166 Rickey Henderson

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

Two extended trips to the disabled list weren't enough to dull Rickey Henderson's shine as the best leadoff hitter in baseball.

The 33-year-old missed over a month and a half of game time due to injury, playing in his fewest total of games (117) since his '87 campaign with the Yankees.

When he could play, though, the recently-crowned all-time stolen base champ pieced together one of the best statistical showings of his Hall-of-Fame career.

Oakland's dynamic left fielder posted the third-best OPS+ of his 25 years at the big-league level (155), slashing .283/.426/.457 with 15 home runs, 18 doubles, 3 triples, 77 runs scored, 95 walks, and 46 RBIs in 396 at-bats.

Henderson's 48 stolen bases were good enough for seventh in the Majors, even with over a quarter of the season lost on the DL.

The A's overcame Rickey's injuries and a bombardment of other DL trips to take the AL West by six games over the Minnesota Twins.

Henderson went 6-for-23 with four walks and five runs scored as Oakland fell in six games to the eventual World Series champion Blue Jays. 

1992 Bowman #400 Cal Ripken Jr.

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

Cal Ripken Jr.'s awful 1992 season didn't kill his standing with his legions of adoring fans worldwide.

Ripken was the leading vote-getter for the 1992 MLB All-Star Game, a year after topping the Majors in WAR (11.5) and setting new career highs in home runs (34) and RBIs (114).

The O's shortstop took All-Star MVP honors that year as he continued his Iron Man march toward Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record.

The fans held that season dear and voted Ripken in droves for the '92 Midsummer Classic.

It would be the highlight of an otherwise depressing year for the 31-year-old.

From the get-go, Ripken was mired in a perplexing season-long slump with few sparks of life.

Baltimore kept chugging along over the first four-and-a-half months, locking horns with Toronto and Milwaukee for the AL East crown.

Ripken's struggles at plate were compounded as the season wore on, and the rest of the lineup went belly up.

From mid-August on, the O's played .500 ball, falling out of the race for third in the standings.

Ripken played his customary 162 games yet set new career worsts in slugging percentage (.366), OPS (.689), home runs (14), RBIs (72), and runs scored (73).

1992 Bowman #532 Manny Ramirez Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

Manny Ramirez's athleticism and sweet swing transcended language barriers, making him the first Latin-American immigrant selected in the first round of an MLB Draft.

Picked 13th overall by the Cleveland Indians in June 1991, the Dominican Republic native blew the doors off of rookie ball in 1991, tallying over an RBI per game (63 in 59 contests) while hitting .326 with 19 homers.

Things were much more challenging for the enigmatic outfielder in 1992.

The Indians assigned Ramirez to winter ball in the DR, yet he was unwilling to play.

After just over two weeks, he quit and returned to his home in New York.

Come Spring, Ramirez was sent to Single-A Kinston of the Carolina League.

He slumped terribly over the first month or two of the season before finding his swing in the middle of June.

It looked like the 20-year-old was ready for another Minor League breakout until a hamate bone fracture ended his season in July.

Ramirez ended his second pro season as an intriguing yet confounding question mark, slashing .278/.379/.502 with 13 homers, 18 doubles, 4 triples, 52 runs scored, and 63 RBIs in 81 games.

1992 Bowman #80 Kirby Puckett

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30

The defending World Series champion Minnesota Twins fell six games shy of another playoff appearance in 1992, losing out on the AL West title to the Oakland A's.

On the plus side, the second-place Twins cracked 90 wins for the second consecutive season while enjoying another fantastic year from franchise icon Kirby Puckett.

The beloved Minnesota center fielder had a postseason for the ages in 1991, winning ALCS MVP honors and posting a combined OPS close to 1.100 on Minnesota's march to a second title in five years.

In 1992, the 32-year-old Arizona native picked up right where he left off.

Puckett won AL Player of the Month in May and June, becoming the second player in history to do so in consecutive months.

He never went hitless for more than two games and topped 200 base knocks for a fifth time with an MLB-best 210.

Puckett's 313 total bases paced the American League and marked the fourth time he crossed the 300-base threshold in eight seasons.

His .329 batting average gave him his seventh .300-or-better campaign over that same eight-year stretch.

1992 Bowman #114 Frank Thomas

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30

In 1993 and 1994, Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas booked a one-way trip to Cooperstown on the strength of back-to-back MVP awards.

Analyzing his stat line from 1992, it's almost criminal that it wasn't a three-peat.

"The Big Hurt" announced himself as a hitter to be feared when he hit the Southside scene in 1990.

He killed it in an abbreviated 1990 showcase before finishing third in AL MVP voting for '91, setting the stage for a potential award win in '92.

He did everything humanly possible to make it happen, leading baseball with 46 home runs while pacing the American League in walks (122), on-base percentage (.439), and OPS (.975) for the second consecutive season.

Every at-bat for the hulking White Sox first baseman/DH was an event.

Shockingly, it wasn't enough to even sniff a top-five MVP ranking.

Thomas finished a distant eighth, likely because Chicago finished third, ten games back of the AL West champion Oakland Athletics.

Two A's players (including award recipient Dennis Eckersley) and three players from the eventual World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays finished ahead of him in MVP voting.

1992 Bowman Baseball Cards In Review

While the Bowman sets from 1989 to 1991 are OK, the 1992 release was a home run.

Even if it was debatable at the time, the incredible rookie card class and list of big-name stars has given this set a tremendous boost in hobby credibility.

For collectors of the early 1990s, it's simply a must-have.

Other information about this set includes:

Checklist: 705 cards 

Distribution: One Series

Subsets:

• FOIL cards (throughout checklist)

Inserts

• None

Topps knew that they had to do something special to give the struggling Bowman brand a boost, and they certainly pulled it off.

And with multiple guys in this set now enshrined in the Hall of Fame, it should have staying power for quite some time.