Whenever I think of the 2010 Topps baseball card set, one word always comes to mind: "balance."
The design itself is clean and straightforward, void of any over-the-top
features that leave it with a solid, conservative look and feel.
The 660-card checklist has a nice mix of big-name rookies, short-printed retired legends, and star players of the day.
And Topps also introduced its now well-known "Rookie Card" icon with the MLB logo to help collectors more easily spot them.
Yes, the mid-season inclusion of the Stephen Strasburg rookie was a bit unusual.
But, when you add it all up, 2010 Topps baseball is a well-rounded set that presents a fun and great-looking collecting experience.
And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 15 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
2010 Topps #2 Buster Posey Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $90
Selected fifth overall by the San Francisco Giants in the 2008 MLB Draft, Buster Posey was destined to become the franchise's catcher of the future.
The future became the present in 2010.
Called up to the big-league squad for good in late May, Posey spent his first month of MLB action at first base.
By the end of June, the Giants were afterthoughts at 42-40 in a crowded National League field.
They needed a spark, and soon.
The Giants traded starting catcher Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers on July 1st, opening the door for Posey to take over the catching role.
Back in his comfort zone, a confident Posey carried the Giants on his back into contention.
Named the National League Player of the Month for July, the 23-year-old backstop hit .417 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 27 games.
With Posey behind the plate, the Giants' pitching flourished.
San Francisco allowed three runs or less in 18 straight games at one point, the best such stretch since 1917.
Posey's presence was all the difference.
The Giants streaked into the playoffs as NL West champs, ending the year at 92-70.
And that streak just kept going in October.
San Francisco went 11-4 in the postseason, capturing the franchise's first World Series title since 1954.
Posey hit .288 with a homer and five RBIs during the run, putting the Giants over the top with his ageless ability to manage a pitching staff.
2010 Topps #85 Ken Griffey Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30
What could have been?
What should have been?
Ken Griffey Jr. finished his career in 2010 as one of the greatest all-around players in baseball history.
Possessing a sugar-sweet swing with a trademark lope, Griffey had more natural talent in one of his pinky fingers than most players had in their entire bodies.
Sadly, we were deprived of several prime years of Junior's career due to bite after malicious bite from the cursed injury bug.
From 2001-10, Griffey played in just over 61% of his team's regular-season games, missing over 500 games due to injury or needed rest.
And when he could play, he was noticeably slowed by the toll of tears, sprains, fractures, and the like.
Imagine if Griffey had stayed healthy after moving to Cincinnati in 2000.
If things broke right, he could have been the man to chase down Hank Aaron for the all-time home run record.
It wasn't to be.
And in 2010, things ended with a depressing thunk.
Re-signed by the Seattle Mariners for gifts as a clubhouse leader, Griffey entered his age-40 season with little left to give.
The 22-year veteran saw his playing time cut as he stumbled to a .184 average with a paltry .454 OPS in 33 games.
2010 Topps #48 Joey Votto
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
It's poetic that Joey Votto was the one to spoil Albert Pujols' bid for three straight MVP awards.
After all, it was Pujols who helped Votto find himself as an MLB player with a frank conversation just a few years before.
"There's something about a star player of that magnitude kind of pulling you in and saying, it's OK, we can talk, don't be a rookie right now, we're going to talk like men," Votto said. "I think he made me feel comfortable and a little more confident."
That confidence was on full display in 2010.
Voted onto his first All-Star team by the fans, Votto captured 31 of 32 first-place votes in the NL MVP race while leading the 91-win Cincinnati Reds to their first playoff berth and division title since 1995.
Leading all of baseball with a .424 on-base percentage and the NL in both slugging (.600) and OPS (1.024), the 26-year-old first baseman ended the 2010 campaign hitting .324 with 37 home runs, 36 doubles, 91 walks, 16 stolen bases, 106 runs scored, and 113 RBIs.
Disappointingly, Votto's monster MVP campaign didn't carry over into postseason success.
Votto hit just 1-for-10 in the NLDS, and the Philadelphia Phillies swept the Reds out of October in just three games.
2010 Topps #100 Albert Pujols
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
The final year of Albert Pujols' first decade in the Majors provided plenty of historical perspective.
Simply put, Pujols was already on the shortlist of the best right-handed hitters ever.
In 159 games for the 86-76 St. Louis Cardinals in 2010, the two-time reigning NL MVP slashed .312/.414/.596 with NL bests in home runs (42) and RBIs (118).
He also led the Majors in runs scored (115) and intentional walks (38), striking fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers and managers from April through September.
At the season's end, there were almost too many accomplishments to process.
Pujols joined Alex Rodriguez and Jimmie Foxx as the only players to post ten consecutive years of at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.
He also hit his 400th career home run on August 26th, becoming the third youngest player to reach that milestone (Rodriguez, Griffey Jr.)
Pujols also passed Stan Musial with his 38th multi-home game in a Cardinals uniform, earned his ninth All-Star nod and sixth Silver Slugger, and added his second Gold Glove at first base.
He was so damn good that even the eventual NL MVP winner, Joey Votto, was stunned that Pujols (2nd place) hadn't received more first-place votes at his expense.
2010 Topps #105 Madison Bumgarner Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
Called up to the Majors for good in late June of 2010, the real story of Madison Bumgarner's epic rookie season started in September.
After two inconsistent months in July and August, Bumgarner laid the hammer down on the NL West in the regular season's final month, pitching to a 1.13 ERA to propel SF to its first division title since 2003.
Bumgarner finished the year with a 7-6 record and a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts, surrendering 119 hits and pitching to a so-so 1.306 WHIP in 111 innings.
However, none of those totals mattered compared to his sterling September and his October heroics thereafter.
In Game 4 of the NLDS against Atlanta, the 21-year-old righty made his playoff debut count with six strong innings of two-run ball.
The Giants upended the Braves 3-2 in the elimination contest, making Bumgarner the youngest Giants starter in history to win a playoff game.
After two scintillating scoreless innings of relief against Philadelphia in the NLCS Game 6 clincher, Bumgarner was given the ball for Game 4 of the 2010 World Series against Texas.
He didn't disappoint.
Actually, the fifth-youngest pitcher to start a World Series game went above and beyond the call of duty, tossing eight shutout innings for his first World Series dub.
Bumgarner joined Buster Posey in Game 4 as the first rookie battery since 1954 to start a World Series contest.
2010 Topps #126 John Smoltz
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
2010 Topps #623 Miguel Cabrera
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
The 2010 Detroit Tigers were a year away from realizing their collective potential and becoming a perennial contender.
No one told Miguel Cabrera, who continued his MVP-caliber assault on AL pitching in his third year with the Motown Kitties.
Named to his first American League All-Star team as a starter in place of injured Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, Cabrera led the Majors in RBIs (126) and OPS+ (178) while pacing the AL in on-base percentage (.420) and intentional walks (32).
He hit .328 for his fifth .300-plus season in six tries and posted new career bests in home runs (38), slugging percentage (.622), and OPS (1.042).
Voted second in the AL MVP race behind Texas' Josh Hamilton, Cabrera gathered five first-place votes in his first Silver Slugger season as a member of the Junior Circuit.
Cabrera's glove was an issue, as his 13 errors were the most of any AL first baseman.
But, the 81-81 Tigers were happy to eat those errors to reap the rewards that Cabrera provided at the plate.
2010 Topps #10 Clayton Kershaw
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
One year before his Cy Young breakout in 2011, future Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw had some kinks to work out.
The 22-year-old lefty walked nearly seven batters per nine innings in April, constantly working in and out of jams.
It all boiled over in his first start of May when he was rocked by the Milwaukee Brewers at home and pulled after 1.1 innings.
Booed off the field by the Dodger Stadium faithful, Kershaw knew something had to give.
"It's just not a good feeling to let your teammates down, let everybody down," Kershaw said. "It stings, it hurts. I've got to figure things out."
After that abysmal early exit, Kershaw put in long hours to get his secondary stuff under control.
Something clicked, and the young hurler started to hit the black with much more frequency, limiting walks and devastating opposing hitters with a wicked fastball/slider combo.
The walks went down, and the strikeouts went up, sending Kershaw into a different stratosphere.
He ended the 2010 campaign with just 3.6 walks surrendered per nine innings (down 33% from 2009).
Overall, Kershaw finished 13-10 for the 80-win Dodgers with a sterling 2.91 ERA and 212 strikeouts in 204.1 innings pitched.
2010 Topps #125 Ichiro Suzuki
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
Ichiro’s last All-Star season in 2010 was a testament to his consistency.
It was made even more impressive by just how bad the rest of the Seattle Mariners were.
The 36-year-old right fielder posted his tenth consecutive .300-plus season to open his MLB career, hitting .315 and leading the Majors in hits for the fifth straight campaign (214).
The only other qualified hitter to hit over .250 for the 61-101 M’s was Chone Figgins (.259).
Suzuki was often the only thing worth watching during a dismal Mariners season.
He played in all 162 games for Seattle as the losses piled up, leading the Majors in at-bats (680) and snagging his tenth straight Gold Glove for his superb work in right field.
Perhaps the most admirable thing about Ichiro’s 2010 campaign was his self-motivation.
The Mariners were out of contention just a month into the season, and Suzuki still had it in him to put on an All-Star show for Seattle’s long-suffering fans.
2010 Topps #215 Max Scherzer
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
A brief demotion to the Minors in 2010 wasn't enough to derail Max Scherzer's plans of becoming an essential piece of the Tigers' starting rotation.
Traded from Arizona to Detroit in December of 2009, the former 1st-round pick earned a spot on the Tigers' Opening Day roster for 2010.
However, his first full year with Detroit was interrupted when he was sent back down to Triple in mid-May to make room for Armando Galarraga.
The Tigers recalled Scherzer quickly, and the young righty cemented his spot in the rotation with an impressive end to the campaign.
In 31 starts for the 81-win Tigers, Scherzer went 12-11 and pitched to a 3.50 ERA with 174 strikeouts (10th-best in the AL) in 207 innings pitched.
He surrendered just 3.2 walks per nine innings pitched and posted a very strong 120 ERA+.
Throughout the year, Scherzer showed flashes of Cy Young stuff that turned everyone's heads, including a 14-strikeout performance against Oakland on May 30th in just 5.2 innings that tied him for the most strikeouts in a single game by a pitcher at Comerica Park.
2010 Topps #476 Yadier Molina
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
2010 Topps #549 Derek Jeter
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
In the immediate aftermath of his fifth and final World Series win, Derek Jeter continued to spread his wings outside of baseball.
The Yankees captain made a memorable appearance in the hit comedy The Other Guys, playing himself.
Often measured and guarded in a room full of analysts and writers, Jeter's silver-screen success gave the world a glimpse of the true man behind the pinstriped mask.
On the field, Jeter had quite the down year by his sky-high standards.
In an AL-leading 739 plate appearances, he posted full-season career lows in multiple categories including batting average (.270), on-base percentage (.340), slugging percentage (.370), and OPS (.710).
The 36-year-old Yankees shortstop was still a top-shelf table-setter, scoring 111 runs and passing Lou Gehrig for the Yankees' all-time hits record with 179 knocks.
And although advanced metrics have since cast a shadow over his defensive prowess, Jeter nabbed his fifth Gold Glove with a reel-to-reel collection of dazzling plays at the six.
Now an 11-time All-Star, Jeter's version of a season-long slump wasn't enough to derail the Yankees in the regular season.
Falling short of back-to-back AL East titles by a single game, the 95-win Yankees still captured the Wild Card and stood in a good position for another deep October run.
However, the Texas Rangers thwarted New York's bid for back-to-back titles in a gutting six-game ALCS loss.
2010 Topps #652 Chipper Jones
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
Just over a year removed from winning the NL batting title, Chipper Jones readied himself to call it a career.
After hitting the wall with a substandard 2009 season and leaving the 2010 World Baseball Classic early with an oblique injury, Jones was convinced it was time to hang 'em up.
He met with Braves management, discussing his desire to retire alongside longtime manager and friend Bobby Cox at the end of the 2010 season.
The 38-year-old third baseman wanted to go out on top, and this Braves team appeared good enough to make it happen.
And then, Jones' body decided to change his plans for him.
On August 10th, Jones ripped a ligament in his left knee charging after a routine ground ball, the same ligament that cost him his rookie season in 1994.
It was a brutal injury, and it was enough to stop Jones' retirement talk dead.
"In that instant, I knew retirement was out the window," Jones said. "No way did I want to go out like that."
Jones ended his 2010 season with a .265/.381/..426 slash line, ten home runs, 21 doubles, and 46 RBIs in 381 plate appearances (317 at-bats).
2010 Topps #353 Jason Heyward Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $15
One of the most hyped prospects of the past 20 years, Jason Heyward was a Hall-of-Famer in many folks' eyes before he took an MLB swing.
While that hasn't panned out, the "J-Hey Kid" looked like a sure Cooperstown bet in the first two months of his rookie campaign with the Atlanta Braves.
In the team's first 50 games of the 2010 season, Heyward hit .301 with ten home runs and an OPS near 1.000 (.997).
The early favorite for the NL Rookie-of-the-Year, the Braves' new right fielder seemed unstoppable.
And if it wasn't for a thumb injury, that might have been the case.
Heyward missed the better portion of a month, and when he came back, he alternated between ice-cold stretches and molten-hot stretches at the plate.
He pulled things together, winning Baseball America's MLB Rookie of the Year and Sporting News' NL Rookie of the Year with a .277/.393/.456 slash line, 18 home runs, 29 doubles, 83 runs scored, 91 walks, and 72 RBIs in 142 games.
Named to his first and only All-Star team thus far, Heyward received several down-ballot MVP votes and finished second to Buster Posey in the NL's Rookie of the Year race.
2010 Topps #369 David Ortiz
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $15
A month into the 2010 MLB season, many pundits openly wondered if David Ortiz was washed.
The year before, Ortiz put together his worst season in a Boston Red Sox uniform, hitting just .238 with 28 home runs.
Teams used the shift to vex Ortiz all year, muting his effectiveness as a pull hitter.
And 2010 started with more of the same.
In April, the 34-year-old DH/first baseman hit just .143 with one home run as the Red Sox hovered around .500.
It felt like more than a slump, and no one quite knew if Ortiz’s days as an elite hitter were behind him.
It turns out it was a false alarm.
Ortiz adjusted his approach as 2010 went along, delivering his sixth All-Star campaign for the 89-win Red Sox.
Catching fire heading into the All-Star break, Ortiz ended the season slashing .270/.370/.529 with 32 home runs, 36 doubles, 86 runs scored, 82 walks, and 102 RBIs in 606 plate appearances (518 at-bats).
2010 Topps Baseball Cards In Review
If you're looking for a great-looking set that is simple, straightforward, and won't break the bank, 2010 Topps could be a good option for you.
The checklist is solid and contains multiple big-name rookies.
There are plenty of superstars, relics and autograph cards to chase.
And if you like inserts, Topps introduced nine new inserts in this set that helped boost the collecting experience.
There were also several different subsets in the checklist, including:
- Leaders
- Franchise History
- All-Star Rookies
- Award Winners
- Team Checklists
Had Stephen Strasburg and Jason Heyward's careers continued on the trajectory at which they were hyped, this set may be much more popular than it is today.
Those two guys were arguably two of the most hyped-up athletes of any sport during their era.
Unfortunately, injuries and a bit of bad luck held them back from their true potential, though both went on to have solid careers.
Overall, the 2010 Topps baseball set delivers a great collecting experience but isn't typically remembered as one of the biggest of its era.