Wrapping Up 2024

Do you know what Rickey Henderson, Kobe Bryant, Kurt Suzuki, Charles Woodson, Barry Bonds, Doug Wilson, and Marshawn Lynch all have in common?  They all wore #24 at some point in their careers and they're all athletes I really like and collect.

That's why I'm wrapping up 2024 with a celebration of these athletes and twenty-four of their cards featuring clear shots of #24.

The cards will be presented in chronological order... so you'll see streaks of certain players.  That's because some of these players wore #24 during specific parts of their career.

For example, Barry Bonds wore #24 for most of his tenure in Pittsburgh which lasted from 1986 to 1992.  Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of quality examples of his cards featuring #24.  However I was able to dig up two of his early oddball issues with nice photos:

1987 Classic Travel Update #113

1988 Kenner SLU #NNO

Three of my all-time favorite athletes wore #24.  Rickey Henderson wore #35 his first stint in Oakland and #22 right after the Yankees traded him back.  However... he only wore #22 a minute amount of games in 1989.

1992 Donruss Elite Legends #NNO

He worked out a deal with Ron Hassey to acquire #24 (the number he wore in New York) which is the number he wore with the A's from 1989 to 1993, 1994 to 1995, and in 1998.

Charles Woodson wore #24 for the Oakland Raiders.

1998 Bowman Chrome Interstate Refractor #181

He was such a fun player to watch... that I liked him immediately after entering the NFL.  But I became an even bigger fan when he signed with the Green Bay Packers in 2006.

2000 Crown Royale Game Worn Jersey #6

Not sure why he ended up wearing #21 for the Green & Gold.  But when he returned to Oakland in 2013, he went back to #24.

Another one of my all-time favorite athletes is Kobe Bryant.  You won't see any of his early cards featured in this post though, because he wore #8 the first half of his career from 1996-97 to 2005-06.  But he switched to #24 in 2006-07:

2006-07 Finest Green Refractor #25

I acquired most of these Kobe cards during the late 2000's when they were still affordable and I was still opening basketball products.

2007-08 Bowman Draft Picks & Stars Triple Relics #BR-KB

2007-08 Fleer Feel the Game #FG-KB

2007-08 Stadium Club Beam Team Relics #BTR-KB

This one isn't valuable, but it does feature a fantastic action shot of him:

2007-08 Topps #24

Don't worry... there's more baseball coming up.  Just two more Kobe relics:

2008-09 Topps T-51 Murad Relics #T51R-KB

2008-09 Topps Treasury Relics #TTR-KB

Okay... let's transition back to baseball and another all-time favorite player of mine:

2009 Allen & Ginter Mini Printing Plate #105

Kurt Suzuki wore #24 for the Oakland A's in 2008.

2009 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relics #CC-KS

I'm not sure why he opted to switch to #8 in 2009, but that's the number he wore the majority of his tenure in Oakland.

I've always thought it was cool that Kurt and Kobe both wore #8 and #24.

Okay... one final jersey card of Kobe:

2009-10 Crown Royale King on the Court Materials #10

Okay... transitioning from the hardcourt to the gridiron, we go from The Black Mamba to Beast Mode:

2012 Topps Prolific Playmakers Autograph #PPA-ML

Marshawn Lynch started his NFL career with the Buffalo Bills where he wore #23.  However he was traded mid-season to the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 and wore #24.  That's the number he wore in high school and his freshman year at CAL.

If you're a baseball fan who patiently stuck around, here's a few more baseball cards:

2012 Topps Retired Number Patch #RN-RH

2013 Topps Five Star Autographs #FSBA-RH

2015 Gypsy Queen Autographed Relics #AR-RH

2016 Topps Tribute Ageless Accolades Autograph #AA-RH

2017 Topps Definitive Autographed Relic #DCAR-RH

I'm not sure when it happened, but sometime around 2013 or 2014... Topps started inserting a ton of Henderson on-card autographs into their products.  This flooded the market and allowed collectors like me to start adding them to my collection for $50 or less.

2017 Topps Five Star Heart of a Champion Autograph #FSHC-RH

The Hobby Boom of 2020 changed the way people collected... and drove Rickey's autograph prices through the roof.  I haven't bought a single one since.

Switching sports... here's a San Jose Sharks legend:

2019-20 UD Chronology Canvas Autographs #CA-WI

Doug Wilson only played two seasons in San Jose, but he spent sixteen seasons in the NHL.  He wore #24 the entire time.  After he retired, he would return to the organization in 2003 as their general manager where he built a perennial playoff team.

Let's wrap things up with one last Rickey:

2020 Topps 1985 Topps Baseball Relics #85R-RH

Well there you have it... twenty-four cards of seven guys who wore #24.

Now I know there are a bunch of legends like Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Miguel Cabrera, Rick Barry, and a bunch of others that I left out of this post.  But I wanted to narrow it down to guys I really, really liked to root for... and collect.

Not a fan of my selections?  Create your own list of 24 cards showing of #24.

Happy New Year and sayonara!