The Yastrzemski name has become one of the multi-generational names in baseball. Mike Yastrzemski of the Giants is the grandson of lifelong Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski. Both players got off to strong starts in their careers with lots of hype. The obvious advantage for the vintage card collectors in 2021 is that Carl’s career is already known. His Hall of Fame career was effectively just starting as Red Sox lifer Ted Williams’ career was ending.

One key question to ask is whether or not Mike Yastrzemski can end up matching, rivaling or even surpassing his grandfather’s great career. The verdict is out on that, and it’s too soon to make any judgment calls yet. So far his rookie card sales have yet to go enter the stratosphere like some of the other young players that are dominating the scene in 2020 and 2021.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative asset class. The same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds is being used to buy high-end collectibles. True sports collectors and hobbyists have a passion to own certain cards or memorabilia for quite a long time. The investor class in collectibles is solely buying an asset to sell at a later date for a profit. This keeps collectors and investors in a constant battle for who can win in auctions.

So, where does this leave Mike Yastrzemski rookie cards in relation to Carl Yastrzemski. So far the vintage collectors are winning out in high prices. That may of course change, but the elder Yaz may also have thanks to give to his grandson for a rekindled interest along with high vintage card prices in general.

Neither of the Yastrzemski players won rookie of the year. The 1961 AL rookie of the year award went to Don Schwall, who was Yaz’s Red Sox pitching teammate. Mike’s 2019 rookie season saw Pete Alonso get the rookie of the year award, and he has now already won two consecutive All-Star Home Run Derby titles.

Carl Yastrzemski’s rookie card is the 1960 Topps landscape set. His rookie card is a Rookie Star series card, before Topps showed multiple rookie players on the same card. Many collectors have  a hard time getting it in pristine condition. The 1960 card often has dark print-ink lines across the surface. Its centering can also be a challenge. And it was Topps’ first landscape set printed in 4 years.

Carl Yastrzemski’s rookie is a close tie for the Willie McCovey card of the same year but McCovey had two rookie cards in the 1960 Topps set due to the All-Star card versus a pre-rookie season for Yaz. According to the 1960 Topps back, Yaz was paid an astronomical $100,000 signing bonus at the time after being sought by every club in the MLB. His card at the time was pre-rookie with his .377 batting average after leading the Carolina League.

Yaz finished his career with a .285 batting average, with 3,419 hits and with 1,844 RBI. His slugging percentage was .462 and his home run tally was 452. Yaz also had 1,393 strike outs and 11,988 At-Bats in 23 seasons and 3,308 games. He had 1,845 walks.

McCovey finished his career with a .270 batting average, with 2,211 hits and with 1,555 RBI. His slugging percentage was .515 and where he shines was his home run tally of 521. McCovey had 1,550 strike outs and 8,197 At-Bats in 22 seasons and 2,588 games. He had 1,345 career walks.

The reason we have included McCovey within the mix is that the Yaz rookie is the most significant card from the 1960 Topps rookies. The difference is that the 1959 NL rookie of the year went to McCovey Yaz cards have sold in the highest conditions with at least three sales above the $20,000 mark — back in 2019 and 2016. Specific high-end more recent PSA 9 graded sales for the 1960 Yastrzemski rookie have been seen as follows:

• $22,622.00 through PWCC Auctions on May 31, 2021
• $27,060.00 through Goldin Auctions on May 24, 2021
• $38,400.00 through Heritage Auctions on May 10, 2021
• $35,264.40 through Memory Lane on March 20, 2021
• $34,440.00 through Goldin Auctions on January 31, 2021
• $17,220.00 through Goldin Auctions on December 13, 2020

Those prices are of course impressive, but they are far short of some of the earlier Ted Williams card prices in 2021.

San Francisco brought Mike Yastrzemski up to the majors as an outfielder rather than as a pitcher in May of 2019 and he finished with a .272 batting average, had 55 RBI and 21 home runs. While the younger Yaz had played 71 games ahead of the All-Star break in the 2021 season with a .234 batting average, he had 60 hits, 34 RBI and 12 Home runs. He played only 54 games in 2020 due to injuries but his average was a more impressive .297, with 57 hits, 35 RBI and 10 home runs. His 256 At-Bats so far in the 2021 season was versus just 192 in the injury-prone 2020 season.

Mike Yastrzemski’s top rookie card is the 2019 Topps Update #245, and an example sold for $1,000.00 back on September 20, 2020. A pre-rookie car is the 2015 Bowman Chrome Mike Yastrzemski Red Refractor Autograph. That example was apparently limited to 5 cards and it sold for $916.00 back on August 25, 2019. A Blue Refractor from the same set, limited to 150 cards, sold for $337.00 on August 28, 2020.

Various rookie examples of Mike can be purchased for well under the $1,000 level in “Buy It Now” offerings on eBay.

Willie McCovey’s #316 All-Star Rookie) card has seen the following top sales in the same PSA 9 grade in 2021 as Yaz by seller:

• 5/24/2021 for $11,685.00 (Goldin)
• 3/18/2021 for $17,400.00 (Heritage)
• 2/23/2021 for $18,520.87 (eBay/usacollector54)
• 2/15/2021 for $23,099.00 (eBay/PWCC)

McCovey’s 1960 Topps #554 All-Star card has seen only one PSA 9 sale in 2021. That was on April 15, 2021 for $1,580.00 via PWCC Auctions. PSA’s realized sale prices also showed that a PSA 10 example of this card sold for $6,766.00. That sale was back in December of 2017 and may be much less than the current prices suggest.

For card prices and collectors, Carl Yastrzemski is clearly in the lead for the current collector and investor. That can of course change. The elder Yaz was one of the most significant rookie cards of the 1960s. His cards have seen higher prices than even the Willie McCovey rookies from the same 1960 Topps set.