1989 Bowman

Description

1989 Bowman (produced by Topps) is a 484-card set released July 6th, 1989. Billed as the "Comeback Edition!," 1989 Bowman bears little resemblance to the prospect and rookie-laden brand it would eventually become, and can be seen as almost a second Topps "flagship" set.

The design of the set was meant to resemble the 1953 Bowman Color Baseball set, and each card measures 2.5" X 3.75" -- a quarter-inch longer than the post-1957 standard-size trading card. As a result, the cards do not fit into standard-sized 9-pocket sheets, top-loaders, or cardboard set boxes, and briefly caused a run on 8-pocket sheets. This lack of compatibility with standard storage supplies hurt sales of the product.

John J. Langdon, president of the Topps Company lauded the set. "We will publish our cards around the All-Star break because it allows us to include players that have been traded as well as rookies. And unlike any other card in the market Bowman has statistics on the back of its card that tell, at a glance, how a particular player did against every other team in the league the previous season. The 1989 Topps card has a picture of Nolan Ryan with the Houston Astros but Bowman is the only major set in the country that has Ryan in a Texas uniform." [1]

The set is arranged alphabetically by team's city name starting with the American League then National League, with a three-card Fathers & Sons subset in-between.

Of the 484 cards in the set, only 46 are rookie cards. Notables include Ken Griffey, Jr. Gary Sheffield, Tino Martinez, and John Smoltz.

1., Baseball; New Line of Cards, The New York Times, July 10th, 1989

Distribution

Wax: 36 packs per box, 14 cards per pack, 1 Stick of Bubble Gum

Cello: 24 packs per box, 31 cards per pack

Rack: 24 packs per box, 38 cards per pack

Factory Sets

Tiffany Factory Sets (limited to 6000 sets)

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards
Base	484
Bowman Reprints	11

Checklist

Base Set

NOTE: The 484-card base set is arranged alphabetically by city, with the 14 American League clubs first (Baltimore, Boston, California, etc ...) , followed by the Fathers & Sons subset, then the 12 National League teams (... Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco), and finally the checklists.

American League

• 1 Oswald Peraza
• 2 Brian Holton
• 3 Jose Bautista RC
• 4 Pete Harnisch
• 5 Dave Schmidt
• 6 Gregg Olson
• 7 Jeff Ballard
• 8 Bob Melvin
• 9 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 10 Randy Milligan
• 11 Juan Bell
• 12 Billy Ripken
• 13 Jim Traber
• 14 Pete Stanicek
• 15 Steve Finley
• 16 Larry Sheets
• 17 Phil Bradley
• 18 Brady Anderson RC
• 19 Lee Smith
• 20 Tom Fischer
• 21 Mike Boddicker
• 22 Rob Murphy
• 23 Wes Gardner
• 24 John Dopson
• 25 Bob Stanley
• 26 Roger Clemens
• 27 Rich Gedman
• 28 Marty Barrett
• 29 Luis Rivera
• 30 Jody Reed
• 31 Nick Esasky
• 32 Wade Boggs
• 33 Jim Rice
• 34 Mike Greenwell
• 35 Dwight Evans
• 36 Ellis Burks
• 37 Chuck Finley
• 38 Kirk McCaskill
• 39 Jim Abbott
• 40 Bryan Harvey RC
• 41 Bert Blyleven
• 42 Mike Witt
• 43 Bob McClure
• 44 Bill Schroeder
• 45 Lance Parrish
• 46 Dick Schofield
• 47 Wally Joyner
• 48 Jack Howell
• 49 Johnny Ray
• 50 Chili Davis
• 51 Tony Armas
• 52 Claudell Washington
• 53 Brian Downing
• 54 Devon White
• 55 Bobby Thigpen
• 56 Bill Long
• 57 Jerry Reuss
• 58 Shawn Hillegas
• 59 Melido Perez
• 60 Jeff Bittiger
• 61 Jack McDowell
• 62 Carlton Fisk
• 63 Steve Lyons
• 64 Ozzie Guillen
• 65 Robin Ventura
• 66 Fred Manrique
• 67 Dan Pasqua
• 68 Ivan Calderon
• 69 Ron Kittle
• 70 Daryl Boston
• 71 Dave Gallagher
• 72 Harold Baines
• 73 Charles Nagy
• 74 John Farrell
• 75 Kevin Wickander
• 76 Greg Swindell
• 77 Mike Walker
• 78 Doug Jones
• 79 Rich Yett
• 80 Tom Candiotti
• 81 Jesse Orosco
• 82 Bud Black
• 83 Andy Allanson
• 84 Pete O'Brien
• 85 Jerry Browne
• 86 Brook Jacoby
• 87 Mark Lewis
• 88 Luis Aguayo
• 89 Cory Snyder
• 90 Oddibe McDowell
• 91 Joe Carter
• 92 Frank Tanana
• 93 Jack Morris
• 94 Doyle Alexander
• 95 Steve Searcy
• 96 Randy Bockus
• 97 Jeff M. Robinson
• 98 Mike Henneman
• 99 Paul Gibson
• 100 Frank Williams
• 101 Matt Nokes
• 102 Rico Brogna
• 103 Lou Whitaker
• 104 Al Pedrique
• 105 Alan Trammell
• 106 Chris Brown
• 107 Pat Sheridan
• 108 Chet Lemon
• 109 Keith Moreland
• 110 Mel Stottlemyre
• 111 Bret Saberhagen
• 112 Floyd Bannister
• 113 Jeff Montgomery
• 114 Steve Farr
• 115 Tom Gordon RC
• 116 Charlie Leibrandt
• 117 Mark Gubicza
• 118 Mike Macfarlane RC
• 119 Bob Boone
• 120 Kurt Stillwell
• 121 George Brett
• 122 Frank White
• 123 Kevin Seitzer
• 124 Willie Wilson
• 125 Pat Tabler
• 126 Bo Jackson
• 127 Hugh Walker
• 128 Danny Tartabull
• 129 Teddy Higuera
• 130 Don August
• 131 Juan Nieves
• 132 Mike Birkbeck
• 133 Dan Plesac
• 134 Chris Bosio
• 135 Bill Wegman
• 136 Chuck Crim
• 137 B.J. Surhoff
• 138 Joey Meyer
• 139 Dale Sveum
• 140 Paul Molitor
• 141 Jim Gantner
• 142 Gary Sheffield RC
• 143 Greg Brock
• 144 Robin Yount
• 145 Glenn Braggs
• 146 Rob Deer
• 147 Fred Toliver
• 148 Jeff Reardon
• 149 Allan Anderson
• 150 Frank Viola
• 151 Shane Rawley
• 152 Juan Berenguer
• 153 Johnny Ard
• 154 Tim Laudner
• 155 Brian Harper
• 156 Al Newman
• 157 Kent Hrbek
• 158 Gary Gaetti
• 159 Wally Backman
• 160 Gene Larkin
• 161 Greg Gagne
• 162 Kirby Puckett
• 163 Dan Gladden
• 164 Randy Bush
• 165 Dave LaPoint
• 166 Andy Hawkins
• 167 Dave Righetti
• 168 Lance McCullers
• 169 Jimmy Jones
• 170 Al Leiter
• 171 John Candelaria
• 172 Don Slaught
• 173 Jamie Quirk
• 174 Rafael Santana
• 175 Mike Pagliarulo
• 176 Don Mattingly
• 177 Ken Phelps
• 178 Steve Sax
• 179 Dave Winfield
• 180 Stan Jefferson
• 181 Rickey Henderson
• 182 Bob Brower
• 183 Roberto Kelly
• 184 Curt Young
• 185 Gene Nelson
• 186 Bob Welch
• 187 Rick Honeycutt
• 188 Dave Stewart
• 189 Mike Moore
• 190 Dennis Eckersley
• 191 Eric Plunk
• 192 Storm Davis
• 193 Terry Steinbach
• 194 Ron Hassey
• 195 Stan Royer
• 196 Walt Weiss
• 197 Mark McGwire
• 198 Carney Lansford
• 199 Glenn Hubbard
• 200 Dave Henderson
• 201 Jose Canseco
• 202 Dave Parker
• 203 Scott Bankhead
• 204 Tom Niedenfuer
• 205 Mark Langston
• 206 Erik Hanson RC
• 207 Mike Jackson
• 208 Dave Valle
• 209 Scott Bradley
• 210 Harold Reynolds
• 211 Tino Martinez
• 212 Rich Renteria
• 213 Rey Quinones
• 214 Jim Presley
• 215 Alvin Davis
• 216 Edgar Martinez
• 217 Darnell Coles
• 218 Jeffrey Leonard
• 219 Jay Buhner
• 220 Ken Griffey, Jr. RC
• 221 Drew Hall
• 222 Bobby Witt
• 223 Jamie Moyer
• 224 Charlie Hough
• 225 Nolan Ryan
• 226 Jeff Russell
• 227 Jim Sundberg
• 228 Julio Franco
• 229 Buddy Bell
• 230 Scott Fletcher
• 231 Jeff Kunkel
• 232 Steve Buechele
• 233 Monty Fariss
• 234 Rick Leach
• 235 Ruben Sierra
• 236 Cecil Espy
• 237 Rafael Palmeiro
• 238 Pete Incaviglia
• 239 Dave Stieb
• 240 Jeff Musselman
• 241 Mike Flanagan
• 242 Todd Stottlemyre RC
• 243 Jimmy Key
• 244 Tony Castillo
• 245 Alex Sanchez RC
• 246 Tom Henke
• 247 John Cerutti
• 248 Ernie Whitt
• 249 Bob Brenly
• 250 Rance Mulliniks
• 251 Kelly Gruber
• 252 Ed Sprague
• 253 Fred McGriff
• 254 Tony Fernandez
• 255 Tom Lawless
• 256 George Bell
• 257 Jesse Barfield

Fathers & Sons

This three-card subset features prominent multi-generational baseball families. The design is evocative of the 1955 Bowman set -- but with a 1989-style TV set.

• 258 Roberto Alomar / Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• 259 Ken Griffey, Sr. / Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 260 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Cal Ripken, Sr.

National League

• 261 Mel Stottlemyre
• 262 Zane Smith
• 263 Charlie Puleo
• 264 Derek Lilliquist RC
• 265 Paul Assenmacher
• 266 John Smoltz RC
• 267 Tom Glavine
• 268 Steve Avery
• 269 Pete Smith
• 270 Jody Davis
• 271 Bruce Benedict
• 272 Andres Thomas
• 273 Gerald Perry
• 274 Ron Gant
• 275 Darrell Evans
• 276 Dale Murphy
• 277 Dion James
• 278 Lonnie Smith
• 279 Geronimo Berroa
• 280 Steve Wilson RC
• 281 Rick Sutcliffe
• 282 Kevin Coffman
• 283 Mitch Williams
• 284 Greg Maddux
• 285 Paul Kilgus
• 286 Mike Harkey RC
• 287 Lloyd McClendon
• 288 Damon Berryhill RC
• 289 Ty Griffin
• 290 Ryne Sandberg
• 291 Mark Grace
• 292 Curt Wilkerson
• 293 Vance Law
• 294 Shawon Dunston
• 295 Jerome Walton RC
• 296 Mitch Webster
• 297 Dwight Smith RC
• 298 Andre Dawson
• 299 Jeff Sellers
• 300 Jose Rijo
• 301 John Franco
• 302 Rick Mahler
• 303 Ron Robinson
• 304 Danny Jackson
• 305 Rob Dibble RC
• 306 Tom Browning
• 307 Bo Diaz
• 308 Manny Trillo
• 309 Chris Sabo RC
• 310 Ron Oester
• 311 Barry Larkin
• 312 Todd Benzinger
• 313 Paul O'Neill
• 314 Kal Daniels
• 315 Joel Youngblood
• 316 Eric Davis
• 317 Dave Smith
• 318 Mark Portugal
• 319 Brian Meyer
• 320 Jim Deshaies
• 321 Juan Agosto
• 322 Mike Scott
• 323 Rick Rhoden
• 324 Jim Clancy
• 325 Larry Andersen
• 326 Alex Trevino
• 327 Alan Ashby
• 328 Craig Reynolds
• 329 Bill Doran
• 330 Rafael Ramirez
• 331 Glenn Davis
• 332 Willie Ansley
• 333 Gerald Young
• 334 Cameron Drew
• 335 Jay Howell
• 336 Tim Belcher
• 337 Fernando Valenzuela
• 338 Ricky Horton
• 339 Tim Leary
• 340 Bill Bene
• 341 Orel Hershiser
• 342 Mike Scioscia
• 343 Rick Dempsey
• 344 Willie Randolph
• 345 Alfredo Griffin
• 346 Eddie Murray
• 347 Mickey Hatcher
• 348 Mike Sharperson
• 349 John Shelby
• 350 Mike Marshall
• 351 Kirk Gibson
• 352 Mike Davis
• 353 Bryn Smith
• 354 Pascual Perez
• 355 Kevin Gross
• 356 Andy McGaffigan
• 357 Brian Holman RC
• 358 Dave Wainhouse
• 359 Dennis Martinez
• 360 Tim Burke
• 361 Nelson Santovenia
• 362 Tim Wallach
• 363 Spike Owen
• 364 Rex Hudler
• 365 Andres Galarraga
• 366 Otis Nixon
• 367 Hubie Brooks
• 368 Mike Aldrete
• 369 Tim Raines
• 370 Dave Martinez
• 371 Bob Ojeda
• 372 Ron Darling
• 373 Wally Whitehurst
• 374 Randy Myers
• 375 David Cone
• 376 Dwight Gooden
• 377 Sid Fernandez
• 378 Dave Proctor
• 379 Gary Carter
• 380 Keith Miller
• 381 Gregg Jefferies
• 382 Tim Teufel
• 383 Kevin Elster
• 384 Dave Magadan
• 385 Keith Hernandez
• 386 Mookie Wilson
• 387 Darryl Strawberry
• 388 Kevin McReynolds
• 389 Mark Carreon
• 390 Jeff Parrett
• 391 Mike Maddux
• 392 Don Carman
• 393 Bruce Ruffin
• 394 Ken Howell
• 395 Steve Bedrosian
• 396 Floyd Youmans
• 397 Larry McWilliams
• 398 Pat Combs
• 399 Steve Lake
• 400 Dickie Thon
• 401 Ricky Jordan RC
• 402 Mike Schmidt
• 403 Tom Herr
• 404 Chris James
• 405 Juan Samuel
• 406 Von Hayes
• 407 Ron Jones
• 408 Curt Ford
• 409 Bob Walk
• 410 Jeff D. Robinson
• 411 Jim Gott
• 412 Scott Medvin
• 413 John Smiley
• 414 Bob Kipper
• 415 Brian Fisher
• 416 Doug Drabek
• 417 Mike LaValliere
• 418 Ken Oberkfell
• 419 Sid Bream
• 420 Austin Manahan
• 421 Jose Lind
• 422 Bobby Bonilla
• 423 Glenn Wilson
• 424 Andy Van Slyke
• 425 Gary Redus
• 426 Barry Bonds
• 427 Don Heinkel
• 428 Ken Dayley
• 429 Todd Worrell
• 430 Brad DuVall
• 431 Jose DeLeon
• 432 Joe Magrane
• 433 John Ericks
• 434 Frank DiPino
• 435 Tony Pena
• 436 Ozzie Smith
• 437 Terry Pendleton
• 438 Jose Oquendo
• 439 Tim Jones
• 440 Pedro Guerrero
• 441 Milt Thompson
• 442 Willie McGee
• 443 Vince Coleman
• 444 Tom Brunansky
• 445 Walt Terrell
• 446 Eric Show
• 447 Mark Davis
• 448 Andy Benes
• 449 Ed Whitson
• 450 Dennis Rasmussen
• 451 Bruce Hurst
• 452 Pat Clements
• 453 Benito Santiago
• 454 Sandy Alomar, Jr. RC
• 455 Garry Templeton
• 456 Jack Clark
• 457 Tim Flannery
• 458 Roberto Alomar
• 459 Carmelo Martinez
• 460 John Kruk
• 461 Tony Gwynn
• 462 Jerald Clark
• 463 Don Robinson
• 464 Craig Lefferts
• 465 Kelly Downs
• 466 Rick Reuschel
• 467 Scott Garrelts
• 468 Wilfredo Tejada
• 469 Kirt Manwaring
• 470 Terry Kennedy
• 471 Jose Uribe
• 472 Royce Clayton
• 473 Robby Thompson
• 474 Kevin Mitchell
• 475 Ernie Riles
• 476 Will Clark
• 477 Donell Nixon
• 478 Candy Maldonado
• 479 Tracy Jones
• 480 Brett Butler

Checklists

• 481 Checklist 1-121
• 482 Checklist 122-242
• 483 Checklist 243-363
• 484 Checklist 364-484

Parallels

Tiffany

Like other Topps sets of the era, a high-end Tiffany version was also produced. Available exclusively through Hobby dealers, only 6000 sets were produced. Unlike the standard factory sets, the Tiffany sets also include the eleven-card Reprint inserts (see below).

According to the site tiffanycards.com, sets with serial numbers above 6000 have been spotted.

Inserts

Reprints

This eleven-card set features reproductions of classic-era Bowman cards. The backs of the cards have information on a contest where winners could win the actual card depicted on the front, or the grand prize of a complete 1953 Bowman Color set. All eleven cards were also included in the Bowman Tiffany set.

• Richie Ashburn
• Yogi Berra
• Whitey Ford
• Gil Hodges
• Mickey Mantle
• Mickey Mantle
• Willie Mays
• Satchel Paige
• Jackie Robinson
• Duke Snider
• Ted Williams

Bowman
Classic Era: 1948 - 1949 - 1950 - 1951 - 1952 - 1953 (black & white, color) - 1954 - 1955
Junk Wax Era: 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993
Post-Strike Era: 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009
Exclusive License Era: 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022
Fanatics Era: 2023 - 2024
Bowman Update Sets
Draft Picks & Prospects: 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013
Draft: 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024
Bowman Parallel Brands
Chrome: 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024
Chrome Mini: 2013 - 2014 - 2017
Chrome Mega Box: 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024
Sapphire Chrome: 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024
Other Bowman Sets:Bowman AFLAC - Bowman Under Armour