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Soto’s 428-Foot Blast In First Yankees Game Will Be Cemented In Hobby Timeline

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Sunday, February 25 is not likely going to be remembered as an important date in the 2024 baseball card season.

Few fans were probably glued to the YES Network to watch the New York Yankees spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays, which was also picked up nationally by SportsNet in Canada.

If you are a collector, you might have already forgotten about Sunday, but chances are you will see reminders of the day throughout the collecting year.

Juan Soto made his Grapefruit League debut for the New York Yankees. In his third plate appearance, Soto met the ball with a smooth, effortless swing and went the opposite way. The ball left his bat at 110.1 mph and sailed 428 feet.

That at-bat, that swing, and that game will almost certainly leave its mark on the hobby more than any other at-bat in all of spring training.

If there was ever going to be a Juan Soto moment made for Topps Now, this was it.

Obviously, the first reason is that it served notice to the baseball world that Juan Soto, hitting in front of Aaron Judge, gives the Yankees one of the best two-man hitting combination seen in years. With the exception of Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna Jr., Soto and Judge are probably the most collectible players in the game.

Oddsmakers have Judge and Soto as numbers one and two in the list of favorites for American League MVP, followed by Corey Seager, Yordan Alvarez and Julio Rodriguez. With a healthy Anthony Rizzo and a lighter and improved Giancarlo Stanton, teams won’t be able to pitch around Judge like they did last season.

Big numbers for Soto and Judge in that market – and Soto has put up big numbers at Yankee Stadium as a visitor over the years – will mean big increases in demand and value for their early cards.

Soto arrived as the newest superstar on the most followed and most collected team in baseball. He arrived with a bang, literally, as his home run to left center clanged off the scoreboard at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

But the importance of that home run goes far beyond collectors and fans getting excited about Soto.

The game was on a bright, sunny day played at 1 PM. Photographers could not have prayed for a better day. Those who were situated in the third base photo pen had their Nikon motor drives humming.

What many collectors do not realize is that most baseball card products released mid-season or later use photos taken in spring training. With so many of the games played during the day, lighting is much better for baseball card photos. Photos shot at night or in a dome might be good in a pinch and might be good for media coverage, but they are not ideal for baseball cards. While Bowman, Topps and Topps Chrome will feature a lot of in-season photos from last year, the images for post-All-Star Game products may well be predominantly from Grapefruit League and Cactus League games.

When Soto’s first cards with action photos in a Yankees uniform appear in packs, they will no doubt be from this game. They could be from his home run swing, his trot around the bases, or maybe just a candid shot. Making the photo opportunity even better is that the Yankees were wearing their white pinstripes rather than the dark blue jerseys they often wear during spring training.

Only 25

Juan Soto was only 19 years old when he was called up to the majors by the Washington Nationals. Since that day in 2018, Soto has led all Major League players with a .421 on base percentage.

Judge, meanwhile, broke in to the big leagues in 2017. He has 253 home runs to lead all players since then.

But here is the big difference. This season is Soto’s seventh, and it is his 25-year-old season. Judge was the Rookie of the Year at the age of 25. Through Soto’s six seasons with the Nationals and Padres, he has a.284 batting average, 768 hits, 160 homers, 483 RBIs and 527 runs scored. He has won four Silver Slugger awards and a World Series.

With the massive fan and collector base the Yankees have, Soto’s first cards suddenly have a wider audience. He first appeared in 2016 Bowman Chrome with a Prospects Autograph card. Although it does not have the RC tag, this card is the most popular Soto for serious collectors.

What really makes this card special for collectors is how clean the signature is. In fact, the autograph is not a typical autograph, as it looks like Soto printed his name on the cards. One of the biggest complaints that collectors have against autographed cards is that the autographs are illegible scribbles. Soto’s autograph on the card is famous for its clarity.

The first card produced with the RC tag was a Topps Now card from Soto’s Major League debut on May 21, 2018. The Topps Now concept created the perfect scenario for an incredible moment captured on one of the most important cards of Soto’s career. In his first Major League at bat, at the age of 19 years and 208 days, Soto blasted the first Major League pitch he ever faced 422 feet for a monster home run. Topps made a second card of the home run commemorating the home run as the Topps Now 2018 Moment of the Year.

Soto’s 2018 Topps Archives RC was Soto’s first official rookie card found in packs. It shows how much two years can make when it comes to autographs.

Soto’s signature is clearly different that the very clean 2016 Bowman Chrome card, which makes the 2016 card even more special for collectors. The 2018 Archives set usd the popular 1959 Topps design.

By the time 2018 Topps Gold Label came out at the end of the season, perhaps Soto’s wrist or hand was tired from signing. His autograph in this set is sloppy compared to watch the hobby was used to seeing.

In 2019, Soto led the Nationals to their first World Series title, becoming the youngest player to ever hit three home runs in a World Series. Topps created a game-used base signed relic card of Soto for Topps Now.

After Soto’s trade to the Yankees, Topps Now produced the first card of Soto in a Yankees uniform, even if was done with photoshop. The Padres have pin striped uniforms, which made the creation of the card much easier. Photoshopping images have come a long way, and edited photos on baseball cards have come a long way over the years from the air brush era to the present.

Topps said the Topps Now card of the trade “sold out faster than the local fish fry.”

We expect to see many more Juan Soto home runs in a New York Yankees uniform this year. But the dinger hit in his first Grapefruit League game in a Yankees uniform will be frozen in time by Topps, possible many times over.

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About Jeff Morris

Jeff Morris is a hobby veteran who has been a collector for more than 50 years. Originally a hobby journalist, he became brand manager at Pinnacle, and then was an executive for Collector's Edge and Shop at Home before joining Pacific Trading Cards as VP of Marketing. He is the former editor and publisher of Canadian Sports Collector magazine, and he was also a columnist for ESPN.com.