2003 Upper Deck Play Ball
Description
2003 Upper Deck Play Ball is a 104-card set released in February, 2003. The base set was designed to evoke the 1941 Play Ball set.
The set consists of two, 15-card, short-printed subsets: Summer of '41 (cards #74-88) and Ted Williams Tribute (#89-103). Card #104 was added late in the production run, but was not SPed.
Distribution
Boxes contain 24 packs, 5 cards per pack
Reviews
Insertion Ratios
| Cards | Total Cards | Numbered To | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 104 | - | ? |
| short set | 74 | - | ? |
| Ted Williams Tribute | 15 | - | 1:24 |
| Summer of '41 | 15 | - | 1:24 |
| Red Backs short set | 74 | - | one-per-pack |
| Red Backs SPs | 30 | - | 1:96 |
| 1941 Series | 104 | - | 1:2 |
| Original Artwork Redemptions | 90 | one-of-one | ? |
| 1941 Play Ball Reprints | 25 | - | 1:2 |
| Yankee Clipper 1941 Hitting Streak, Games 1-41 | 41 | - | 1:12 |
| Yankee Clipper 1941 Hitting Streak, Games 42-56 cards | 15 | - | 1:24 |
| Play Ball Jerseys Tier 1 | 21 | - | 1:82 |
| Play Ball Jerseys Tier 1 Gold | 21 | 25 | ? |
| Play Ball Jerseys Tier 2 | 21 | 150 | ? |
| Play Ball Jerseys Tier 2 Signatures | 12 | 50 | ? |
| Play Ball Jerseys Tier 2 Arod | 1 | 285 | ? |
Checklist
Promos
Tuff Stuff Promos
Randomly inserted into issues of Tuff Stuff magazine, was a 2003 Upper Deck Play Ball promo card. The Tuff Stuff promos parallel the first 73 cards in the base set and have "UD PROMO" stamped in foil on the front.
Hawaii Trade Conference
A 10-card set was distributed to attendees of the February, 2003 Kit Young Hawaii Trade Show.
- KY1 Sammy Sosa
- KY2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- KY3 Jason Giambi
- KY4 Ichiro
- KY5 Mark McGwire
- KY6 Troy Glaus
- KY7 Derek Jeter
- KY8 Barry Bonds
- KY9 Alex Rodriguez
- KY10 Nomar Garciaparra
Autographs
Randomly distributed into Hawaii sets were one of four autographs. It is believed that less than 50 McGwire and Sosa autographs were issued.
- IS Ichiro
- JG Jason Giambi
- MM Mark McGwire
- SS Sammy Sosa
Base Set
- 1 Troy Glaus
- 2 Darin Erstad
- 3 Randy Johnson
- 4 Luis Gonzalez
- 5 Curt Schilling
- 6 Tom Glavine
- 7 Chipper Jones
- 8 Greg Maddux
- 9 Andruw Jones
- 10 Pedro Martinez
- 11 Manny Ramirez
- 12 Nomar Garciaparra
- 13 Billy Williams
- 14 Sammy Sosa
- 15 Kerry Wood
- 16 Mark Prior
- 17 Ernie Banks
- 18 Frank Thomas
- 19 Joe Morgan
- 20 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 21 Adam Dunn
- 22 Jim Thome
- 23 Todd Helton
- 24 Larry Walker
- 25 Lance Berkman
- 26 Roy Oswalt
- 27 Jeff Bagwell
- 28 Nolan Ryan
- 29 Mike Sweeney
- 30 Shawn Green
- 31 Hideo Nomo
- 32 Kazuhisa Ishii
- 33 Richie Sexson
- 34 Robin Yount
- 35 Harmon Killebrew
- 36 Torii Hunter
- 37 Vladimir Guerrero
- 38 Roberto Alomar
- 39 Mike Piazza
- 40 Tom Seaver
- 41 Phil Rizzuto
- 42 Yogi Berra
- 43 Mike Mussina
- 44 Roger Clemens
- 45 Derek Jeter
- 46 Jason Giambi
- 47 Bernie Williams
- 48 Alfonso Soriano
- 49 Catfish Hunter
- 50 Barry Zito
- 51 Eric Chavez
- 52 Tim Hudson
- 53 Rollie Fingers
- 54 Miguel Tejada
- 55 Pat Burrell
- 56 Brian Giles
- 57 Willie Stargell
- 58 Phil Nevin
- 59 Orlando Cepeda
- 60 Barry Bonds
- 61 Jeff Kent
- 62 Willie McCovey
- 63 Ichiro
- 64 Stan Musial
- 65 Albert Pujols
- 66 J.D. Drew
- 67 Scott Rolen
- 68 Mark McGwire
- 69 Alex Rodriguez
- 70 Juan Gonzalez
- 71 Ivan Rodriguez
- 72 Rafael Palmeiro
- 73 Carlos Delgado
- 74 Ted Williams S41
- 75 Hank Greenberg S41
- 76 Joe DiMaggio S41
- 77 Lefty Gomez S41
- 78 Tommy Henrich S41
- 79 Pee Wee Reese S41
- 80 Mel Ott S41
- 81 Carl Hubbell S41
- 82 Jimmie Foxx S41
- 83 Joe Cronin S41
- 84 Charlie Gehringer S41
- 85 Frank Hayes S41
- 86 Babe Dahlgren S41
- 87 Dolph Camilli S41
- 88 Johnny VanderMeer S41
- 89 Ted Williams TRIB
- 90 Ted Williams TRIB
- 91 Ted Williams TRIB
- 92 Ted Williams TRIB
- 93 Ted Williams TRIB
- 94 Ted Williams TRIB
- 95 Ted Williams TRIB
- 96 Ted Williams TRIB
- 97 Ted Williams TRIB
- 98 Ted Williams TRIB
- 99 Ted Williams TRIB
- 100 Ted Williams TRIB
- 101 Ted Williams TRIB
- 102 Ted Williams TRIB
- 103 Ted Williams TRIB
- 104 Hideki Matsui RC
Parallels
Red Backs
Inserted into each pack is a Red Back parallel, in which the text on the back is printed in red ink -- as opposed to black on the base cards. The 30 cards that were short-printed in the base set (#74-#103) were also SPed in this set.
1941 Series
1941 Series partially-parallels the first 73 cards of the base set, in the 2 1/4" X 3 1/8" size of the original 1941 Play Ball set.
Original Artwork Redemptions
Randomly inserted into packs were 90 one-of-one redemption cards good for the artwork used to create the cards in the Upper Deck Play Ball set. Each card has long since expired.
Inserts
1941 Reprints
This 25-card set features reprints from the original 1941 Play Ball set, in the original 2 1/4" X 3 1/8" size.
- R1 Ted Williams
- R2 Hank Greenberg
- R3 Joe DiMaggio
- R4 Lefty Gomez
- R5 Tommy Henrich
- R6 Pee Wee Reese
- R7 Mel Ott
- R8 Carl Hubbell
- R9 Jimmie Foxx
- R10 Joe Cronin
- R11 Charley Gehringer
- R12 Frank Hayes
- R13 Babe Dahlgren
- R14 Dolph Camilli
- R15 Johnny VanderMeer
- R16 Bucky Walters
- R17 Red Ruffing
- R18 Charlie Keller
- R19 Bob Johnson
- R20 Dutch Leonard
- R21 Barney McCosky
- R24 Bobby Doerr
- R25 Bill Dickey
- R22 Soupy Campbell
- R23 Stormy Weatherly