Top 10 David Wright Baseball Cards
David Wright was the heart and soul of the New York Mets organization for the better part of a decade and he remains one of the most popular players to ever don the orange and blue. He has also been an important figure in the baseball card hobby where collectors continue to chase down the best David Wright cards, even after he retired from the game.
David Wright's blue-collar style of play and ability to drive the Mets offense immediately made him a favorite amongst the Mets' faithful. He was a star attraction alongside future Hall of Famers Mike Piazza, Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez. During his Major League career, Wright won multiple Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, contended for the National League MVP several times, and eventually helped lead the Mets to the 2015 National League Pennant and a World Series appearance.
The first David Wright cards were produced shortly after he was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2001 MLB Draft. Although Wright's career was limited by injuries, his cards saw interest throughout the entirety of his career. Collectors have a wide array of David Wright cards as he was often given a prominent place in baseball card products.
The quantity of David Wright cards has diminished since he retired, but the major card companies still include him on their checklists from time to time. He will likely have a continued presence for the foreseeable future as he becomes eligible for Hall of Fame voting in 2024.
Top 10 David Wright Baseball Cards
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10. 2008 Summer at Shea New York Mets Photocards David Wright #28
The Mets played their final year in Shea Stadium during the 2008 season. The team had dozens of promotions to celebrate their ballpark, one of which included a set of photocards with members of the 2008 team. The Mets produced a set of photocards for many years during the 1980s, 1990s, and into the 2000s, but that did not happen on a yearly basis towards the middle of the decade. However, the team brought the long-running promotion back for 2008. The Summer At Shea set is hard to find, including cards of David Wright, Pedro Martinez and Billy Wagner. This is one of the most difficult David Wright cards to locate.
9. 2001 Grandstand Appalachian League Top Prospects Update David Wright
Shortly after selecting him in the first round of the 2001 MLB Draft, the Mets sent David Wright to join the short-season Kingsport Mets in the Appalachian League. There was a deep pool of prospects playing in the Appy League that summer, which is reflected in both the regular and update sets. The regular set included cards of Yadier Molina and Joe Mauer, while the Update set included David Wright and a second card of Joe Mauer. It is not the easiest David Wright card to find, but is one of his most reasonably priced early cards.
8. 2004 Bowman Sterling David Wright Autograph Relic #BS-DW
Topps rolled Bowman Sterling out for the first time in 2004. The product promised collectors cards of top prospects with all the high-end trimmings. The David Wright autograph relic is one of the best in the set, along with first-years cards of Robinson Cano and Adam Wainwright. Collectors might be used to seeing large price tags on more recent Sterling autographed rookie cards of stars like Mike Trout and Aaron Judge, but this Bowman Sterling Wright is one of the most reasonable options.
7. 2016 Topps Postseason Performance David Wright Autograph Relic #/50
Topps started inserting Postseason relics in 2005 Series 1 packs after the Red Sox won the World Series the previous fall. The relic cards have become easier to find, but Topps has improved the insert by adding autographs. David Wright's lone appearance in a World Series came in 2015 when the Mets won the National League pennant. Topps featured several Mets cards in the 2016 Postseason autograph and relic set, including Wright. Collectors can hunt down the autograph relic, limited to 50 copies, or find the plain relic version, which has a print run of 100.
6. 2018 Topps Now David Wright #810 (PR=2,592 copies)
Topps Now was created in 2016 as a way to highlight important events throughout the season. Over the years, Topps has sold the cards directly to customers by giving them a 24-hour window to purchase copies of the card. David Wright has appeared on several Topps Now offerings, but the card marking his final game is by far his most popular. Beyond the base version of this card, Topps also created an autographed copy of this card with a print run of 199 copies.
5. 2005 eTopps David Wright Autograph #49
eTopps was the forerunner to Topps Now, with the card giant offering collectors the opportunity to directly buy copies of cards directly from the company online. Plenty of great cards were produced and sold under the eTopps program, including this 2005 David Wright card. There is a base eTopps card of the former Mets third baseman, which has a print run of nearly 3,000 copies, as well as the autograph version that has become popular with collectors.
4. 2002 Topps Pristine Common David Wright RC #166 #/1,999
Topps debuted the Pristine MLB brand in 2002, and the David Wright rookie cards are the stars of the set. The featured prospects all had three different cards that were in sequential order on the checklist. For Wright, that's #166, #167 and #168.
The fielding Common (#166), shown above, and pre-throw Uncommon (#167), shown below, are the easiest to find with a print run of 1,999 copies apiece. However, most collectors only consider card #166 as the true rookie in this product.
Still, the Uncommon and Rare (#/799) hitting card are both important early issues and either is a solid addition to a David Wright collection.
3. 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter David Wright Autograph #AGA-DW
Allen & Ginter debuted for Topps in 2006. Besides being the starting point for one of the most key baseball card releases each year, the 2006 A&G set also had one of the deepest autograph checklists of any modern baseball card product. There are some great Hall of Famers in this Ginter set, including Nolan Ryan, Carl Yastrzemski, Stan Musial, and Tony Gwynn, along with some athletes from other sports. David Wright has appeared in Ginter several times over the years as an autograph signer, but his 2006 signature has long been the top pick of the group. There are still copies available on the secondary market, but the price tag on this card is far steeper than the average David Wright certified autograph.
2. 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres David Wright RC #52
Upper Deck rolled out Prospect Premieres in the fall of 2001 as a competitor to Bowman. The cards have the same design as 2001 Upper Deck Baseball, which houses rookie cards of Albert Pujols and Ichiro. At the time of its release, most collectors were focused on trying to find copies of the Mark Prior autograph, who was the uber-prospect of his day. Years later, there are some solid names on the checklist, but David Wright is the real standout here. This card is plentiful on the secondary market and collectors can find affordable copies in both graded and raw forms.
1. 2002 Bowman Chrome David Wright RC #385 Autograph
There have been some great Bowman Chrome autographs over the years, and the 2002 David Wright is a card that definitely belongs in that category. This Bowman Chrome rookie has a heftier price tag than the rest of the cards on this list, but it is a must-have for any collector trying to assemble a great collection of David Wright cards. The autographs in 2002 Bowman Chrome were seeded at one per box, so the base David Wright signature is not too difficult to find. If you are looking for something a little more challenging, or have a little more money to spend, you can always try to track down a copy of the Refractor (numbered to 500), X-Fractors (numbered to 250), or the Gold Refractor (numbered to 50). The X-Fractor version is shown below.
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