Baseball Hall of Fame: Key Cards For the 2024 Class

The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame class has plenty of key rookie cards to chase, and they aren't that expensive.

Led by former Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners star Adrian Beltre, three players secured enough votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Those three join former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland to complete the 2024 class.

Hobbyists looking to add the 2024 class to their sports card collection have plenty to choose from — though it might be best to wait until the news passes to land the best prices.

Overall, the 2024 class has plenty of rookies worth owning and the majority of the flagship sets shouldn’t be too expensive either. Here’s a glance at several key rookie cards for this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame class:

Adrian Beltre

An easy first-ballot Hall of Famer, Beltre’s popularity on the field never really translated into a massive following in the hobby, though he does have signature rookies to chase that aren’t extremely expensive. Beltre’s key rookies start with his 1997 Bowman and 1997 Bowman Chrome cards, and they’ve been his two most popular rookies in terms of sales volume over the last year, according to Market Movers.

Based on GemRate data, the 1997 Bowman Chrome Base is Beltre’s most graded card with just over 3,400 total examples from PSA. With just 985 PSA 10s, that card has gemmed 29% of the time.

Goldin Auctions

Beltre’s 1997 Bowman Base is his third-most graded card, and it likely follows his 1997 Bowman's Best in total submissions because of its low chance for high grades. Featuring a black border, his 1997 Bowman has just under 1,500 total examples with PSA and only a 9% gem rate.

The 1997 Bowman Chrome Refractor is also extremely difficult to find in high grades, with just eight PSA 10s across 238 total examples.

Joe Mauer

Considered one of the greatest hitting catchers of all time, the former Minnesota Twins star was elected while appearing on 76% of ballots in his first year of eligibility.

For many collectors, Mauer has four key rookies that appear in 2002 Bowman, 2002 Bowman Chrome, 2002 Topps and 2002 Topps Chrome. In terms of sales volume, Mauer’s 2002 Topps Base and 2002 Bowman Base have been his most popular rookies over the last year and the grading data backs that up, too.

Goldin Auctions

Mauer’s 2002 Topps Base has a total PSA graded population of 933 with 201 PSA 10s. His 2002 Bowman Base is the second most graded with 475 total examples and 104 PSA 10s.

While those two cards feature relatively-low gem rates, the toughest grade appears to be his 2002 Bowman Chrome Autograph -— there are just 11 PSA 10s across 226 total examples for a 5% gem rate.

Todd Helton

Helton finally gets enough votes in his sixth year on the ballot. He’s always had the stats but many have believed he only piled up those numbers because he played in Colorado.

His 1993 Topps Traded Base has been the key target for many collectors, and makes up over half of his entire PSA graded population — 6,331 of Helton’s 11,198 total graded cards are his ‘93 Topps Traded.

Goldin Auctions

Helton does have a more unique rookie with his 1993 Bazooka Team USA card. The Team USA cards were distributed as a 22-card set in Bazooka Bubble Gum tins. Unopened tins are popular on their own, and the cards can be expensive in high grades. Helton’s 1993 Bazooka Team USA has a PSA 10 population of just 40.

All sales data is provided by Market Movers and all population count data is provided by GemRate.