Yogi Berra Baseball Cards: Values and Collector’s Guide

This card is the most valuable of Yogi’s career even though it was issued several years after his rookie season–something you don’t see too often in the hobby.

The iconic ’52 Topps set features full color photos of candid shots of each player.

Yogi’s name and autograph are surrounded by stars with a Yankees logo nearby.

The set is one of the most difficult to collect as there are varying numbers depending on if you’re trying to collect the basic set or the true master set.

Pair that with the outrageously high prices of many of the cards, and you’ve got yourself one of the hardest sets to own.

The Mantle and Mays cards easily outshine every other player in the set but Berra’s is still key.

Tilting and centering are typical challenges with this card.

It would be the last of the five year streak of World Series wins for the Yankees.

Yogi would be called up to the All-Star game once again for his stellar performance during the season.

The card features a portrait of Berra with his cap on and a determined look on his face.

His name, position and team are found in a red box at the bottom left corner.

A beautiful card, no doubt, it’s still one of the few of his mainstream issues where he’s not smiling.

Chipping along the red bottom border is a common concern for collectors.

Topps embraced a whole new design for their ‘54 set.

Yogi’s card has a bold green background with a black and white cut-out action shot of him swinging the bat.

A larger, cut-out color photo of Yogi about to make a catch steals the focus of the card.

His signature trails across the bottom of the card while his name, team and position are recorded at the top.

These cards are prone to rounded corners and centering issues, which devalues them drastically.

The Yankees faced the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1955 World Series, a series in which one of the most iconic moments in the game’s history took place.

Down 4-6 in the top of the 8th of Game 1, Jackie Robinson famously stole home plate–something Berra remained upset about for years thereafter.

The match-up would end up being a 7 game battle, one which the Yankees would inevitably lose.

In game 7 of the championship, Yogi hit a fly ball in the sixth inning that had the potential to change the game, but Dodgers’ left fielder Sandy Amorós caught it, which sealed the Yankees’ fate.

The horizontal design, a first for Topps, and the bright yellow borders make this card one of the more attractive Yogi Berra baseball cards.

Centering and print blotches in the yellow background are common problems.

The Yankees would have their chance at redemption in 1956, as once again they would end up facing the Dodgers in the World Series.

This time, the Yankees brought the heat.

Even though Berra helped catch in Don Larsen’s perfect, no hit game, the teams still pushed the battle to a game 7.

Much to the credit of Yogi, who hit a homerun and batted 4 runners in, the Yankees smashed the Dodgers in a 9-0 domination.

The whole season was a great one for Berra, giving him many of his personal bests which still hold to this day.

Another great horizontal issue, Berra is is depicted in a close up head shot along the left and in a small action shot on the right.

The 1957 Topps set was fairly large in size, at 407 cards.

While Yogi’s teammate, Mickey Mantle, is the real star of the set, Berra’s card still sells close to $3,000 in top condition.

The focus in ‘57 was elsewhere in New York, as it would be the last season for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants before the teams relocated to the west coaSt. His ’57 Topps issue is a sharp-looking card with a full on headshot of the Yankee legend on center stage.

Centering is probably the number one condition issue that affects this card.

Topps decided to punch up the color factor in the 1958 set.

Each card has one of nine different brightly colored backgrounds.

The backs of these cards featured small cartoons about the players.

Yogi’s card is electric orange with a cutout photo of him smiling over top.

A blue banner at the bottom reads his position and team name.

It was an excellent season for Yogi.

He played 88 perfect games landing him one of several 1.000 fielding averages in his career.

Centering and print blotches are typically the biggest challenges for this card.

Berra was the first catcher to keep one finger out of the glove while catching.

Many other catchers followed suit in the years to come.

Yogi would once again make it to the All-Star team in 1959.

The Topps set from that year was bold and totally new in design.

A circular photo of Berra holding the bat with his autograph across it lays in front of an orange background.

His name trails diagonally upwards at the the top of the card.

The Yankees would find themselves once again in a World Series, this time facing the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In what would be a devastating Game 7 loss, the Pirates’ Bill Mazeroski would hit a homerun that would win the game 10-9.

The Yankees both outhit and outscored the Pirates, but one bad pitch would doom the game.

It’s the last time Berra was featured on a horizontally-designed mainstream card.

The iconic 1960 Topps card design displays a small black and white action shot of Berra on the left and a larger head shot on the right.

Print dots can affect these cards but they’re still great looking.

The 1961 Topps set is considered a classic despite its somewhat plain appearance.

Print bubbles can appear in the colored blocks at the bottom but for the most part this is one of the easier sets in the ’60s to find in high grade.

Yogi’s card features a posed photo of him smiling, bat in hand.

The backs of the card had no humorous anecdotes, just the plain old stats about each player.

The Yankees would win yet another World Series in ‘61, this time against the Cincinnati Reds.

This was their 19th championship win out of 39 seasons.

They won the match-up in just five games, completely crushing the Reds.

Once again the Yankees found themselves in a World Series Championship going head to head with Willie Mays and the San Francisco Giants.

The match went right to game 7, with the Yankees stealing the victory by just one run.

Yogi was 37 years old by this point, but he still played with stamina, even catching the entirety of a 22 inning game against the Detroit Tigers, which lasted seven whole hours.

The famous wood-grain borders of the 1962 Topps set present chipping and wear challenges.

Centering is also a common problem.

This card features two photos of Berra, one small black and white shot of him holding the bat in a bright yellow circle, and a much larger full color photo of him smiling.

The larger photo really shows his age.

This would be the year that Yogi would retire as a player for The Yankees, and take his turn as a manager and coach for the team.

Centering is a severe challenge and the red bottom borders also easily show wear and chipping.

Yogi was able to lead the Yankees to the American League pennant against the St Louis Cardinals as a first year coach.

The Yankees lost the matchup over seven games.

Berra was having difficulty convincing the team that he was ready to manage, and he eventually was fired from the Yankees, leading to over a decade of bad blood between Yogi and the team.

One of the easier sets to find in terms of print quality, 1964 Topps Berra cards are much easier to find in top condition.

It’s also one of two Yogi Berra baseball cards to show him as a manager.

In 1965, Berra officially ended his Yankees career by signing with the New York Mets as a coach.

He would appear occasionally as a catcher throughout that season, mostly just for show.

He would continue to be a coach in the years that followed, eventually leading the team to a World Series title.

Tilt and centering are usually the more common issues with this card.