As Jackson Holliday was taking his place at second base for the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park last Wednesday night, the MASN broadcast team could not help but talk about his impact on the hobby.
Holliday, as it was brought up, was wearing a special MLB Debut patch on his jersey. That patch will go directly to Topps to be used on an upcoming one-of-one card. There is already excitement over the card which has yet to be made.
𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘: Jackson Holliday’s MLB Debut patch being removed from his game-used debut jersey.
This game-used patch will be put into a signed 1/1 rookie card. pic.twitter.com/iS3dP0fcB8
— Topps (@Topps) April 11, 2024
Then, it was suggested that Holliday might go to as many hobby shops as possible and buy up all of the packs so that he will get a chance to pull his own one-of-one card.
While it was light and fun banter, the exchange solidified two things. The excitement over the MLB Debut patches being put on rookie cards is legitimate, and Jackson Holliday is the biggest deal of a young season full of rookies who are a big deal.
Holliday is the latest addition to one of the most anticipated groups of players to make their MLB debuts this year. Jackson Holliday, Jackson Chourio, Jackson Merrill – did you ever think you would see the day where the three youngest players in the MLB are all named Jackson? – and Wyatt Langford are all projected stars who have made their MLB debut in the last two weeks. Their official Topps rookie cards will all be coming out together. There won’t be any checklists for awhile but Topps Series 2 could be pretty great.
In the hobby, Holliday has been a major force for more than a year. An example of his already skyrocketing popularity in the hobby was an eBay sale made March 31. A 2022 Bowman Chrome Draft autographed Orange Refractor #13/25 graded 9.5 by BGS sold for $9,809 via auction. A week later, another Orange parallel graded PSA 9 netted over $8,200.
After his Major League debut last week, Topps released its 2024 Topps Now card #61 featuring a photo of Holliday playing in his first MLB game at Fenway Park against the Red Sox. Holliday had his first career RBI. They’re online for just a few bucks.
After two games, both come-from-behind wins by the Orioles over the Red Sox, Holliday was 0-for-8 at the plate. Harold Reynolds of the MLB Network was quick to Holliday’s defense, saying he will come around and that a slow start is normal. Reynolds pointed out that Willie Mays was 1-for-26 to start his career, Johnny Bench was 9-for-63, George Brett was 3-for-36, Cal Ripken Jr. was 3-32, and Ken Griffey Jr. was 1-for-15.
On Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers, Holliday finally got that elusive first hit.
Number One Prospect
Holliday, the son of seven-time Major League Baseball Al-Star Matt Holliday, was considered the top prospect in baseball. As a shortstop, Holliday was the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. Because Gunnar Henderson is already at shortstop, Holliday has been spending the last year getting reps in the minors at second base. When Holliday made his debut this week for the Orioles, it was as a second baseman.
After Holliday had an outstanding Grapefruit League with the Orioles, he was sent back to Triple-A to get more reps at second base. He spent nine of his 14 Triple-A games this year at second.
In the Minor Leagues, Holliday’s numbers were remarkable. He had a career .321 average and .949 OPS before his Major League call-up.
Number 7
Holliday made his debut wearing the number 7 for the Orioles. He became the first player to wear number 7 for the O’s since Billy Ripken wore it in 1988. After Billy Ripken wore the number, Cal Ripken Sr. wore the number as a coach with the Orioles.
The number had not been worn since, even though it was never retired. The Ripken family gave their blessing for the number to be worn by Holliday, whose father wore the number during his Major League career.
Matt Holliday got the chance to see his son make his MLB debut wearing his old number in Boston Wednesday, but it was not an easy trip. When Jackson Holliday was called up, Matt and the rest of the Holliday family had to figure out how to get from Stillwater, Oklahoma in Boston for the game. There was only one flight out of Stillwater that could get them to Boston, and it left at 4:45 a.m.
The Holliday clan got on the flight and were in the front row at Fenway Park for the final two games of the Baltimore-Boston series.
Jackson Holliday Cards To Watch
2022 First Bowman Card
Holliday’s 2022 Bowman Draft card has his First Bowman Card designation. The card is #BD-168 and was produced not long after Holliday was the first overall draft pick. Printed in sizeable quantities, it’s an easy one to snare but prices are up about 50% since mid-March.
There is also a Bowman Chrome Prospect autograph version of the card, a Bowman Chrome autograph, as well as a number of limited parallels that will be snare the biggest sales in the coming years.
Holliday’s autograph is not the most attractive signature out there. It’s a sloppy, quick scribble of what sort of looks like Holliday’s initials – not exactly Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle. What is interesting is that while Holliday and Henderson are projected to be the longtime middle infield combination for the Orioles, their signatures are remarkably similar. Henderson’s signature is also a linear scribble looking something like initials.
2022 Bowman’s Best Top Prospects
This is an attractive first pro year Bowman card of Holliday that has a great design and is popular in the hobby among Holliday collectors, in part because of its reasonable price.
On the evening of Holliday’s MLB debut, a PSA-10 version of an Atomic Refractor of this card sold for $174.
2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Auto
A PSA version of this card sold for $500 on eBay on the night that Holliday made his Major League debut. Holliday’s Bowman Chrome Prospects Autograph is one of his most popular cards of 2023.
You can check out a list of the most watched Jackson Holliday cards at auction below and see all of Holliday’s cards on eBay here.
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