Akil Baddoo Baseball Card Basics
A week into the 2021 MLB season and it’s already time to go monster box digging. Akil Baddoo baseball cards are matching his play — coming out of nowhere to grab plenty of attention.
It have hadn’t heard of Baddoo until very recently, it’s perfectly understandable. Some baseball prospects have years of build up on a variety of lists and in the hobby. Others are Rule 5 castaways who arrive on the MLB scene with little fanfare.
Baddoo was definitely the latter. But now that he’s found a way to the majors, his impact has been immediate.
Originally taken as a supplemental second round pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2016, Baddoo’s first couple of years in the minors didn’t show a lot of flash. Tommy John forced the outfielder to miss most of 2019.
Detroit saw something in Baddoo and took him in the Rule 5 Draft in December, 2020.
He made his debut for the Tigers on April 4, proceeding to hit a home run on the first pitch he saw. The next day, it was a grand slam. But Baddoo’s clutch dramatics still weren’t done. On April 6, his third game, the 22-year-old won it for Detroit with a walk-off single.
At this point, the sample size is still very small and collectors should do their homework before throwing down large amounts of money on Baddoo’s cards, but the outfielder is quickly making a name for himself — even if for a short time.
Like virtually every modern players, the outfielder’s first cards are either minor league or prospect releases. Although not officially announced, Akil Baddoo Rookie Cards should start appearing in products later in 2021.
Here’s a look at some of the top Akil Baddoo cards that are out there.
Key Early Akil Baddoo Baseball Cards
The following is are highlights from early Akil Baddoo baseball cards. It’s not a comprehensive list. A full checklist of all Baddoo’s cards can be found in the Beckett database.
2017 Topps Heritage Minors Akil Baddoo #6
Baddoo’s first cards arrived in 2017. Both are Topps minor league releases that have fairly basic themes but different approaches. The 2017 Topps Heritage Minors Akil Baddoo is a throwback to the 1968 Topps design. The old-school look transfers to the card stock feel as well.
Besides a handful of traditional color-based parallels, there’s a No First Name version. Although not numbered, it’s tough to pull. They average one every other box and the checklist covers the entire 200-card base set.
Parallels: No First Name, Blue (/99), Green (/50), Gray (/25), Orange (1/1)
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2017 Topps Pro Debut Akil Baddoo #168
From the nostalgic to the modern, the 2017 Topps Pro Debut Akil Baddoo takes the flagship MLB design and gives it the MiLB twist. Not a lot stands out about this card but it was Baddoo’s first to the market.
Parallels: Green (/99), Orange (/25), Red (/10), Black (1/1)
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2018 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs Akil Baddoo #BCPA-AB
For those looking for the best Akil Baddoo card, his 2018 Bowman Chrome autograph is going to be the consensus pick. Of his early cards, it’s also going to be the most expensive.
Bowman Chrome continues to be king for modern players and their first cards. Usually, there’s a regular Chrome Prospect card to go with it that doesn’t have a signature. That’s not the case with Baddoo, though. If you’re looking for his 1st Bowman Chome card, the autograph and its many Refractors are the only option.
Parallels: Refractors (/499), Purple Refractors (/250), Blue Refractors (/150), Blue Mojo Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Green Atomic Refractors (/99), Gold Refractors (/50), Gold Shimmer Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Orange Wave Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5), Black Mojo Refractors (1/1), Superfractors (1/1)
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2018 Cedar Rapids Kernels Choice Akil Baddoo #1
While 2017 Topps Heritage Minors and Pro Debut enjoyed national releases, the 2018 Cedar Rapids Kernals Choice AKil Baddoo is a more traditional minor league card made primarily for the local market. Although not exceptionally rare, there aren’t a lot of dealers that specialize in these types of cards.
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2018 Elite Extra Edition Autographs Akil Baddoo #88
An alternative to the most costly Bowman Chrome autograph, the Elite Extra Edition Akil Baddoo autograph is done with foil stock. The outfielder also has a regular base card in the prospect-focused set as well as separate OptiChrome Signatures and Future Threads Silhouette Autographs cards in the product.
Parallels: Status Die-Cut Red (/75), Aspirations Purple (/50), Aspirations Blue (/25), Emerald (/25), Status Die-Cut Emerald (/25), Aspirations Tie-Dye (/10), Tie-Dye (/10), Status Die-Cut Tie-Dye (/5), Aspirations Gold (1/1), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1), Status Die-Cut Gold (1/1)
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2018 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Prospect Ticket Autographs Akil Baddoo #18
Another early release from Panini, this one takes the familiar ticket-themed approach that Contenders is known for.
Parallels: Draft (/99), Cracked Ice (/23), Playoff (/15), Championship (1/1), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)
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2019 Bowman Sterling Prospect Autographs Akil Baddoo #BSPA-AB
It might not have the prestige of Bowman Chrome or even being among his first autographs, but the 2019 Bowman Sterling Akil Baddoo is on-card and it’s part of an MLB release. Another big plus for many is that it’s significantly cheaper than the Bowman Chrome autograph.
Parallels: Refractors (/150), Wave Refractors (/125), Speckle Refractors (/99), Orange Refractors (/75), Gold Refractors (/50), Blue Refractors (/25), Atomic Refractors (/10), Red Refractors (/5), Superfractors (1/1)
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2021 Topps Now Akil Baddoo #25
Within a day of Baddoo hitting a homer in his first MLB at bat, Topps made his first Tigers card available. Sold of the Topps website for just 24 hours, it sold 4,182 copies. An autographed version of the card was also sold that has 99 copies as well as five parallels numbered to 49 or less.
As Baddoo continued to pile up the heroics in the following days, he got more cards in 2021 Topps Now.
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