2008 Playoff Contenders
Description
2008 Playoff Contenders is a 130-card set released February 9th, 2009. Patterned after the long-established football card brand of the same name, each 24-pack Hobby box will yield five autographs. Only 700 12-box Hobby cases were produced.
The set features players selected in the 2008 MLB Draft, and other prospects. Like all Donruss-Playoff products of the period, it is not licensed by either MLB Properties or the MLBPA, and as such, does not feature any active MLB players. All players are depicted in either airbrushed jerseys, or college jerseys.
Notable players who signed for Playoff Contenders include Buster Posey, Giancarlo ("Mike") Stanton, and Rick Porcello. Contenders also features the first three players selected in the 2008 NBA Draft (Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, and O.J. Mayo).
Distribution
24 packs per box, five cards per pack. Hobby only. 12 boxes per case. 700 cases produced.
Reviews
Insertion Ratios
| Cards | Total Cards | Numbered To | Hobby Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 130 | - | ? |
| Season Tickets | 50 | - | 4:1 |
| Autographed Rookie Tickets | 80 | varies | AU |
| Playoff Tickets | 130 | 199 | ? |
| Championship Season Tickets | 50 | one-of-one | ? |
| Championship Autographed Rookie Tickets | 80 | one-of-one | ? |
| Season Ticket Autographs | 50 | varies | AU |
| Round Numbers | 5 | 1500 | I |
| Round Numbers Gold | 5 | 250 | I |
| Round Numbers Black | 5 | 100 | I |
| Round Numbers Black Autos | 5 | 25 | AU |
| Draft Class | 5 | 1500 | I |
| Draft Class Gold | 5 | 250 | I |
| Draft Class Black | 5 | 100 | I |
| Draft Class Black Autos | 5 | 25 | AU |
| Rookie Roll Call | 5 | 1500 | I |
| Rookie Roll Call Gold | 5 | 250 | I |
| Rookie Roll Call Black | 5 | 100 | I |
| Rookie Roll Call Black Autos | 5 | 25 | AU |
| Legendary Rookies | 5 | 1500 | I |
| Legendary Rookies Gold | 5 | 250 | I |
| Legendary Rookies Black | 5 | 100 | I |
| Legendary Rookies Black Autos | 5 | 25 | AU |
AU: Odds of finding an autograph: 1:4.8/packs.
I: Odds of finding an insert: 1:3/packs.
Checklist
Promos
See 2008 Prime Cuts IV Playoff Contenders Rookies.
Base Set
Season Tickets
- 1 Aaron Shafer
- 2 Adrian Nieto
- 3 Andrew Liebel
- 4 Blake Tekotte
- 5 Brad Mills
- 6 Brandon Waring
- 7 Brett Hunter
- 8 Byron Wiley
- 9 Caleb Gindl
- 10 Carlos Peguero
- 11 Carson Blair
- 12 Charlie Blackmon
- 13 Chris Johnson
- 14 Cody Adams
- 15 Cody Satterwhite
- 16 Cole Rohrbough
- 17 Cole St. Clair
- 18 Daniel Thomas
- 19 Dennis Raben
- 20 Derek Norris
- 21 Dominic Brown
- 22 Dusty Coleman
- 23 Gerardo Parra
- 24 Greg Halman
- 25 J.P. Ramirez
- 26 James Darnell
- 27 Jason Knapp
- 28 Jay Austin
- 29 Jesus Montero
- 30 Jharmidy De Jesus
- 31 Jose Duran
- 32 Josh Vitters
- 33 Kenn Kasparek
- 34 L. J. Hoes
- 35 Logan Schafer
- 36 Matt Harrison
- 37 Matt Mitchell
- 38 Max Ramirez
- 39 Mike Cisco
- 40 Niko Vasquez
- 41 Rolando Gomez
- 42 Ryan Kalish
- 43 Stolmy Pimentel
- 44 T.J. Steele
- 45 Tim Murphy
- 46 Tony Delmonico
- 47 Tyler Ladendorf
- 48 Tyler Sample
- 49 Vance Worley
- 50 Xavier Avery
Autographed Rookie Tickets
As is custom for the football version of this brand, none of the autographs are serial-numbered. Donruss-Playoff revealed short-prints and production figures a couple of weeks after Playoff Contenders' release.
- 51 Aaron Cunningham AU 283
- 52 Alex Buchholz AU
- 53 Allan Dykstra AU
- 54 Andrew Cashner AU 216
- 55 Andrew Walker AU 288
- 56 Angel Morales AU
- 57 Angel Villalona AU
- 58 Anthony Hewitt AU
- 59 Brad Hand AU 274
- 60 Brad Holt AU 236
- 61 Brandon Crawford AU 339
- 62 Bryan Price AU 165
- 63 Buster Posey AU
- 64 Carlos Gutierrez AU 87
- 65 Chase D'Arnaud AU 304
- 66 Chris Davis AU
- 67 Chris Hicks AU 230
- 68 Christian Friedrich AU
- 69 Clark Murphy AU
- 70 Cord Phelps AU 244
- 71 Curtis Petersen AU 244
- 72 Daniel Cortes AU 292
- 73 Daniel Schlereth AU 317
- 74 Danny Carroll AU
- 75 Danny Espinosa AU 395
- 76 Dayan Viciedo AU 395
- 77 Derek Holland AU
- 78 Derrick Rose AU BK 88
- 79 Devaris Gordon AU
- 80 Engel Beltre AU
- 81 Evan Frederickson AU 177
- 82 Gordon Beckham AU
- 83 Greg Veloz AU 339
- 84 Ike Davis AU
- 85 Isaac Galloway AU
- 86 Jared Bolden AU
- 87 Jarek Cunningham AU 229
- 88 Jhoulys Chacin AU
- 89 Jon Jay AU
- 90 Jordan Danks AU 354
- 91 Josh Lindblom AU 288
- 92 Juan Carlos Sulbaran AU
- 93 Juan Ramirez AU 267
- 94 Justin Parker AU 229
- 95 Kirk Nieuwenhuis AU
- 96 Pat Venditte AU
- 97 Lance Lynn AU
- 98 Logan Forsythe AU 262
- 99 Logan Morrison AU 314
- 100 Marcus Lemon AU
- 101 Mark Sobolewski AU 277
- 102 Mat Gamel AU
- 103 Michael Beasley AU BK 88
- 104 Michael Kohn AU
- 105 Michael Taylor AU 362
- 106 Michel Inoa AU
- 107 Mike Jones AU
- 108 Mike Montgomery AU
- 109 Mike Stanton AU 149
- 110 Neftali Feliz AU 246
- 111 Neftali Soto AU 249
- 112 O.J. Mayo AU BK 88
- 113 Pedro Baez AU
- 114 Petey Paramore AU
- 115 Rafael Rodriguez AU
- 116 Rashun Dixon AU
- 117 Rick Porcello AU
- 118 Robbie Grossman AU 227
- 119 Roger Kieschnick AU 289
- 120 Ryan Perry AU
- 121 Shane Peterson AU 399
- 122 Shooter Hunt AU 52
- 123 Trey Haley AU 309
- 124 Tyler Chatwood AU
- 125 Tyson Ross AU
- 126 Wilin Rosario AU
- 127 Wilmer Flores AU 75
- 128 Yamaico Navarro AU
- 129 Zach Collier AU 200
- 130 Zach Putnam AU
Parallels
All 130 base cards are available in the following parallels.
- Playoff Tickets (serial-numbered to 199 copies; ALL cards UNAUTOGRAPHED)
- Championship Tickets (one-of-one; Season Tickets unautographed, Rookie Tickets autographed)
Season Ticket Autographs
Season Ticket Autographs is an autographed parallel of the 50-card Season Ticket subset (cards #1-#50). Like with the base set Autographed Rookie Tickets, none of the cards are serial-numbered, but Donruss-Playoff revealed production figures for some cards about a month after Playoff Contenders' release. No more than 299 copies of any card were produced.
- 1 Aaron Shafer 35
- 2 Adrian Nieto 299
- 3 Andrew Liebel 141
- 4 Blake Tekotte 299
- 5 Brad Mills 127
- 6 Brandon Waring 149
- 7 Brett Hunter 121
- 8 Byron Wiley 299
- 9 Caleb Gindl 134
- 10 Carlos Peguero 72
- 11 Carson Blair 299
- 12 Charlie Blackmon 299
- 13 Chris Johnson 299
- 14 Cody Adams 299
- 15 Cody Satterwhite 90
- 16 Cole Rohrbough 299
- 17 Cole St. Clair 299
- 18 Daniel Thomas 299
- 19 Dennis Raben 38
- 20 Derek Norris 39
- 21 Dominic Brown 98
- 22 Dusty Coleman 299
- 23 Gerardo Parra 299
- 24 Greg Halman 88
- 25 J.P. Ramirez 299
- 26 James Darnell 299
- 27 Jason Knapp 124
- 28 Jay Austin 299
- 29 Jesus Montero 39
- 30 Jharmidy De Jesus 53
- 31 Jose Duran 299
- 32 Josh Vitters 299
- 33 Kenn Kasparek 299
- 34 L. J. Hoes 299
- 35 Logan Schafer 299
- 36 Matt Harrison 114
- 37 Matt Mitchell 299
- 38 Max Ramirez 39
- 39 Mike Cisco 123
- 40 Niko Vasquez 299
- 41 Rolando Gomez 113
- 42 Ryan Kalish 55
- 43 Stolmy Pimentel 39
- 44 T.J. Steele 299
- 45 Tim Murphy 55
- 46 Tony Delmonico 299
- 47 Tyler Ladendorf 299
- 48 Tyler Sample 299
- 49 Vance Worley 299
- 50 Xavier Avery 299
Inserts
All four inserts are serial-numbered to 1500 copies and available in the following parallels.
- Gold (serial-numbered to 250 copies)
- Black (serial-numbered to 100 copies)
- Black Auto (autographed and serial-numbered to 25 copies)
Round Numbers
- 1 Buster Posey / Gordon Beckham
- 2 Daniel Schlereth / Ryan Perry
- 3 Allan Dykstra / Anthony Hewitt
- 4 Tyler Chatwood / Tyson Ross
- 5 Brandon Crawford / Chase D'Arnaud
Draft Class
- 1 Ike Davis / Kirk Nieuwenhuis
- 2 Curtis Petersen / Issac Galloway
- 3 Lance Lynn / Jon Jay
- 4 Chris Davis / Clark Murphy
- 5 Trey Haley / Zack Putnam
Rookie Roll Call
- 1 Mat Gamel
- 2 Michel Inoa
- 3 Rafael Rodriguez
- 4 Isaac Galloway
- 5 Angel Villalona
Legendary Rookies
- 1 Willie Mays
- 2 Pete Rose
- 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- 4 Mike Schmidt
- 5 Robin Yount
Autographs
Black Box Autographs
These cards were available in "Black Boxes" that were distributed to attendees of the 2009 Hawaii Trade Conference. Such boxes also contained autographs and printing plates from a wide variety of 2008-09 Donruss-Playoff baseball, football, and non-sport products.
Each card is embossed with a special "BLACK BOX EXCLUSIVE" stamp on the front, and is serial-numbered on the back to the figures listed below.
NOTE: This checklist is woefully incomplete. Any help in compiling a proper checklist would be greatly appreciated.
- 77 Derek Holland 4
- 96 Pat Venditte 2
- 110 Neftali Feliz 3
| Panini Contenders |
|---|
| Playoff Contenders Era: |
| Panini Contenders Era: |