Ken Griffey Jr. Autographed 1989 Upper Deck Rookie Card #1 Seattle Mariners PSA 9 Auto Grade Mint 9 PSA/DNA

Add the autograph of the Hall of Fame Seattle Mariners icon — on the most iconic baseball card of the modern era, dual-graded by PSA at the "Mint" tier across both card and signature — to your collection with this Ken Griffey Jr. Autographed 1989 Upper Deck Rookie Card #1 — PSA Mint 9 Card / PSA/DNA Auto Grade Mint 9. Griffey signed his iconic 1989 Upper Deck Star Rookie card directly on the card surface, with the dual-graded encapsulation independently verifying both the card's Mint 9 condition and the autograph's Mint 9 quality. The dual-grade configuration produces what collectors call a "Mint/Mint" piece — both the card and the signature scoring at PSA's second-highest grade tier across the company's 1-to-10 grading scale, with both elements certified independently and the entire package sealed in a single tamper-proof PSA slab. The Mint/Mint configuration sits in a specific price tier — meaningfully above standard signed-card inventory but accessible relative to the premium-tier Auto Gem Mint 10 grading on the same card — making this piece an attractive entry point for collectors who specifically want the iconic 1989 Upper Deck Griffey signed and dual-graded at premium-tier authentication.

This 1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr. Star Rookie Card has been hand-signed by Ken Griffey Jr. and dual-graded by PSA: the card has been certified PSA Mint 9, and the autograph has been graded PSA/DNA Mint 9. The encapsulation is tamper-proof and the certification can be verified at PSA's official website.

Product Highlights

• Hand-signed by Ken Griffey Jr. — Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 (first ballot, 99.32% — at the time the highest vote percentage in HOF history, breaking Tom Seaver's 1992 record); 13-time All-Star; 10-time Gold Glove winner; 1997 AL MVP; 630 career home runs; first #1 overall draft pick ever inducted into the Hall of Fame
• 1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr. Star Rookie Card — widely regarded as the most iconic baseball card of the modern era; card #1 in Upper Deck's inaugural 1989 set; the defining baseball card of an entire generation of collectors
• Dual-Graded Mint/Mint Encapsulation by PSA: card graded PSA Mint 9; autograph graded PSA/DNA Mint 9; both grades documented on the tamper-proof PSA slab and verifiable at PSA's official website
• "Mint" tier authentication: per PSA's official grading standards, a Mint 9 autograph is a "superb condition autograph" — the second-highest grade on PSA's 1-to-10 scale, indicating a bold, complete, clearly readable signature with only minor variances preventing a perfect Gem Mint 10
• Career credentials: 2,781 hits, 630 home runs, 1,836 RBIs, 1,662 runs scored, .284 lifetime batting average across 22 MLB seasons (1989-2010)
• The Kid / Junior / The Natural: the universally-beloved Seattle Mariners icon whose career defined the franchise's modern identity
• Backed by our Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee

The Mint/Mint Configuration — A Specific Premium Tier

The dual-grade encapsulation of a signed sports card produces a specific structural product: the combined grades of the card and the autograph create a "configuration" that defines the piece's market positioning. The "Mint/Mint" configuration — PSA Mint 9 card / PSA/DNA Mint 9 autograph — sits at the second-highest tier across both elements of PSA's grading scale. The card is in near-perfect condition with only minor flaws (slight off-white borders, minor printing imperfections, or very slight wax stains on the reverse). The autograph is bold and clearly readable with only minor variances from the perfect Gem Mint 10 (a very light skip, slight variance in boldness, or aesthetic placement consideration). The Mint/Mint configuration's market positioning is distinct from both lower grades (where condition issues meaningfully affect display quality) and the gem-tier Auto Gem Mint 10 configuration (which commands a perfection premium that prices many collectors out of the dual-graded signed market). For the 1989 Upper Deck Griffey specifically, the Mint/Mint dual-graded format delivers everything collectors want in a signed iconic rookie card — the canonical card, the Hall of Famer's signature, dual-tier authentication, tamper-proof encapsulation — at a price tier meaningfully more accessible than the Auto Gem Mint 10 configuration.

What "Mint 9 Autograph" Means in PSA's Scale

PSA's autograph grading scale ranges from 1 to 10, with the Mint 9 grade reserved for what PSA describes officially as a "superb condition autograph." According to PSA's published grading standards: "A PSA Mint 9 is a superb condition autograph that exhibits only one of the following minor flaws: a very light skip (almost unrecognizable to the naked eye), a slight acceptable variance in boldness of the autograph (still very bold and clearly readable - even at arms length - but perhaps not quite as bold as an autograph that would qualify for a PSA Gem Mint 10) or some other aesthetic issue such as undesirable location if the location of the autograph hinders the eye appeal of the autograph, slightly, in some way." The practical implication: a Mint 9 autograph is still extremely strong and clearly readable, with only a single minor characteristic preventing a perfect Gem Mint 10 grade. The difference between Auto Mint 9 and Auto Gem Mint 10 in market pricing is significant — driven by the perfection and scarcity premium that Gem Mint 10 commands — but the actual quality difference between the two grades is meaningfully smaller than the price gap might suggest.

The 1989 Upper Deck #1 — The Defining Modern Baseball Card

The 1989 Upper Deck baseball set launched in early 1989 as the first product from a new company entering an industry dominated by Topps, Donruss, Fleer, and Score. Upper Deck deliberately positioned Ken Griffey Jr. as card #1 in their inaugural set — anchoring a brand-new company on a player who hadn't yet made his Major League debut. The bet paid off immediately: Griffey debuted in April 1989, made the Mariners' Opening Day roster, and embarked on what would become a Hall of Fame career. The card features Griffey at 18 years old wearing a Mariners cap (photoshopped onto his head — the original photo showed him in a Single-A San Bernardino Spirit cap), with the "Star Rookie" decal in the lower right and Upper Deck's premium card stock and hologram-backed authentication innovations that revolutionized the baseball card industry. The card transcends "junk wax era" pricing dynamics that affected most 1989 cards — while many 1989 cards from other manufacturers became overproduced and decreased in value, the 1989 Upper Deck #1 Griffey has appreciated steadily across decades as collectors who grew up with the card have aged into the high-disposable-income segment of the hobby. The card is frequently compared to Michael Jordan's 1986 Fleer rookie in terms of instant recognizability and generational collector demand.

The Hall of Fame Record-Setting Vote

On January 6, 2016, Ken Griffey Jr. was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He received 437 of 440 votes (99.32%) — at the time of the election, the highest vote percentage in the history of Hall of Fame BBWAA voting, breaking Tom Seaver's 1992 record of 98.84%. Griffey's 99.32% has since been surpassed by Mariano Rivera (100%, unanimous, 2019) and Derek Jeter (99.7%, 2020), making him currently the third-highest vote percentage in Hall of Fame history. The 2016 vote also made Griffey the first #1 overall draft pick to ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame — a distinction reflecting the rarity of #1 overall picks fulfilling their potential at the elite Hall of Fame level. His credentials at induction were extensive: 630 home runs (sixth all-time at the time), 2,781 hits, 1,836 RBIs (13th all-time), 13 All-Star selections (including 11 consecutive from 1990 to 2000), 10 Gold Glove Awards (1990-1999 consecutive), seven Silver Slugger Awards, and the 1997 American League MVP.

The Mariners Franchise Icon

Griffey was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the first overall pick of the 1987 MLB Draft out of Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. He made his MLB debut in 1989 — the same year Upper Deck released the iconic #1 card — and spent his first 11 seasons (1989-1999) with the Mariners, becoming the franchise's defining player. Griffey was the first player drafted and developed by the Mariners to ever achieve Hall of Fame status, and his on-field charisma and "The Kid" persona turned the Mariners into a national brand during a decade when the franchise was otherwise struggling to escape the bottom of the AL West. His 1995 Mariners playoff run is widely credited with saving baseball in Seattle, with the resulting "Refuse to Lose" campaign helping fund what would eventually become T-Mobile Park. Griffey returned to the Mariners in 2009 after nine seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and a brief stint with the Chicago White Sox, finishing his career with the franchise where it began. The Mariners retired his #24 jersey on August 6, 2016, two weeks after his Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

PSA / PSA/DNA Authentication Verification

This signed and graded card has been certified by PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) for the card grade and PSA/DNA for the autograph grade — both divisions of Collectors Universe, one of the most respected authentication and grading services in collectibles. The card is encapsulated in a tamper-proof PSA slab with both grades clearly documented. The certification number on the slab can be verified at PSA's official website (psacard.com), confirming the authentication record in PSA's permanent database. PSA/DNA's invisible synthetic DNA tagging — a proprietary forensic verification technology applied to authenticated signed items — provides an additional layer of forgery protection that cannot be visually detected, cannot be replicated, and provides permanent authentication confirmation.

Specifications

Authenticity Guarantee

Every signed piece at GameDay Sports Memorabilia is backed by our Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee. If your item is ever determined to be inauthentic, we will replace or refund it — no questions asked.