$100 Miami Marlins Baseball Card Starter Kit – One-Sheet Collections

For many, nostalgia remains the driving force behind baseball card collecting, and that’s how I arrived at the idea of One-Sheet Collections.

It’s a simple concept with infinite possibilities.

Take a single nine-pocket sheet and a reasonable $100 budget, and build a nine-card collection with a unifying theme.

We’re just kicking off a new team-specific theme to the One-Sheet Collections series. We’ve already covered the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays and Colorado Rockies, and now it’s on to the Florida/Miami Marlins as we work our way chronologically through MLB franchise history.

The Marlins are still a relatively new team compared to most of the league, with their first season coming in 1993. However, they have won two World Series titles in 1997 and 2003. Ahead I’ve selected nine cards that represent a good starter collection for any Marlins fan who is just diving into card collecting.

1993 Finest #54 Jeff Conine ($2.50)

Affectionately known as “Mr. Marlin,” even before he hung up his spikes, Jeff Conine ranks among the franchise’s all-time leaders in games played (1,014, second), hits (1,005, third), home runs (120, eighth) and RBI (553, third). He is also the only player to appear on both the 1997 and 2003 World Series teams.

The ground-breaking 1993 Finest set was released the same year as the Marlins first season, and the Conine card is a perfect way to kick off this collection.

1994 Donruss Diamond Kings #DK25 Gary Sheffield ($1)

Midway through their inaugural season, the Marlins traded a package of three young players that included future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Gary Sheffield, giving the fledgling franchise its first true star. He went on to hit 122 of his 509 career home runs over six seasons in a Marlins uniform.

Sheffield has a variety of 1990s inserts worth exploring. I’ve chosen his 1994 Diamond Kings card to represent him in this Marlins collection.

1998 Ultra Gold Medallion #32G Kevin Brown ($1.50)

At his peak, Kevin Brown was one of the best pitchers in baseball. He was a bona fide ace in his two seasons with the Marlins in 1996 (17-11, 1.89 ERA, 233.0 IP) and 1997 (16-8, 2.69 ERA, 237.1 IP) before he was traded to the San Diego Padres for a young Derrek Lee.

Brown threw the second no-hitter in Marlins franchise history on June 10, 1997, against the San Francisco Giants, and the moments following the final out were captured on his 1998 Ultra card. I’ve gone with the Gold Medallion parallel here, which were found one-per-pack.

1999 Fleer Tradition Update #U122 Josh Beckett RC ($10)

The No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 MLB draft out of Spring High School in Texas, Josh Beckett was the No. 1 prospect in baseball at the start of the 2002 season. The following year he helped lead the Marlins to an unlikely title, winning World Series MVP honors after he threw a five-hit shutout against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in the Game 6 clincher.

He only has two Rookie Cards, as he was included in the 1999 Fleer Tradition Update and 1999 Ultimate Victory sets shortly after he was drafted.

2003 Topps Traded #T126 Miguel Cabrera ($5)

Miguel Cabrera made his MLB debut shortly after his 20th birthday in 2003, and by season’s end he was the starting left fielder and cleanup hitter on a World Series winner. He immediately developed into a perennial All-Star, hitting .313/.388/.542 with 138 home runs and 523 RBI in five seasons before he was traded to the Detroit Tigers.

His 2000 Topps Traded rookie exceeds my $100 budget on its own, so I’ve instead gone with his second Topps release in the 2003 Topps Traded set, which came after he made his MLB debut. It’s an affordable early card of a future Hall of Famer with some room to grow.

2004 Topps Autographs #DW Dontrelle Willis B2 ($10)

With a quirky wind-up and an infectious personality, Dontrelle Willis took the baseball world by storm in 2003 when he went 14-6 with a 3.30 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 160.2 innings to win NL Rookie of the Year honors. Two years later, he finished 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA to finish runner-up in NL Cy Young voting. He too was eventually part of the deal that sent Miguel Cabrera to the Detroit Tigers.

Willis had a short peak before he was derailed by injuries, and his cards are extremely affordable as a result. There are a number of different autographs from his early years with the Marlins that can be scooped up for $10 or less.

2010 Topps Update #US50A Mike Stanton RC ($20)

The Marlins all-time leader in WAR (35.7), home runs (267) and RBI (672), there’s a strong case to be made that Giancarlo Stanton is the greatest player in franchise history. The Marlins signed him to a 13-year, $325 million extension following the 2014 season, but he played just three years of that contract in Miami, capping off his Marlins career with a 59-homer, 132-RBI performance in 2017 to win NL MVP before he was traded to the Yankees.

He played under the name Mike Stanton for the first two seasons of his MLB career and that’s how it reads on his Rookie Cards, including his Topps flagship rookie in the 2010 Topps Update set.

2011 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospect Autographs #JF Jose Fernandez ($25)

Jose Fernandez had his life tragically cut short in a boating accident at the end of the 2016 season at the age of 24. The flame-throwing right-hander won 2013 NL Rookie of the Year honors at the age of 20 when he went 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 172.2 innings, and he was a two-time All-Star in four MLB seasons.

His cards are all extremely affordable, with his 1st Bowman autograph checking in with a $25 price tag. That 25 percent of our budget, but it’s money well spent to add his most sought after card to this Marlins collection.

2021 Topps Chrome Sapphire #538 Jazz Chisholm ($12)

The current face of the franchise for the Marlins, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. earned his first All-Star selection this year after hitting .254/.325/.535 with 14 home runs and 12 steals during the first half.

His cards are still very much on the rise and now is a great time to scoop up any of his early options, including the great looking Topps Chrome Sapphire rookie.

Total: $87.00