J. Rodriguez new cover star of Topps Series One

Seattle Mariners center fielder and reigning American League Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez is the cover star of the 2023 Topps Series One, The Topps Company and its parent company, Fanatics, Inc., announced Tuesday.

The cards will be available beginning Wednesday.

“I never even thought it was going to be possible that I was going to be on a baseball card [growing up in the Dominican Republic],” Rodriguez told ESPN. “I never thought I would be on the cover [of a] box of baseball cards — but thanks to God and all the blessings, we were able to get here.”

Last season, Rodriguez posted a WAR of 6.2, tied with Johnny Pesky (1942) for the third highest by an AL rookie, behind only Ted Williams (6.6 in 1939) and Ichiro Suzuki (7.7 in 2001).

“Every year, there’s a new crop of who you’re chasing in card collecting and Julio was who you were chasing, have been chasing for the last year,” said Noah Garden, the chief revenue officer at Major League Baseball. “The strategy is to find who the world thinks is the chase card and then who has the success on the field to follow up — and he fits both better probably than anybody we’ve had.”

Rodriguez is the face of Topps’ first integrated campaign for its flagship product. Topps is also expanding on its existing partnership with Little League to strengthen the relationship with youth baseball and will distribute packs of Series One across select and to-be-named Little League markets.

“When Rob Manfred became commissioner, one of the biggest initiatives was getting more kids to play this game, whether it’s Play Ball or other investments inside and outside this country,” Garden said. “When you see young players breaking through, each one of them has such a unique story, and it’s on us to make sure that gets out. You go back, it’s probably two or three years, we had upwards of 20 some-odd kids under 25 in the All-Star Game. Our players are spending less time in the minor leagues and coming up so quick — it’s exciting and the talent is just insane.”

Rodriguez, 22, is one example of that. He played just 213 minor league games — skipping Triple-A ball altogether — before becoming the third-youngest player in the majors last year.

Growing up in Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic, Rodriguez said the only card he ever owned was of fellow Dominican star Pedro Martinez when he pitched for the New York Mets.

“I don’t know how it got to my house or where it’s at right now, but I remember that card pretty well,” Rodriguez said.

He called his face potentially being a kid’s introduction to baseball amazing, if not surreal.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Rodriguez said. “Motivating new fans, getting new kids into baseball, showing them that it’s possible — it’s a good feeling, motivating the generation that’s coming behind.”

Led by Rodriguez, the Mariners ended a 21-season playoff drought in 2022. For Rodriguez, though, simply making it isn’t enough.

“The goal is [to] go further, harder, keep building,” he said. “You’re just trying to be better all the time, reaching new heights. I want to always keep all my tools because that’s the best way that I can help my team win.”

Garden, a self-professed collector since age 7 — “I’ve never sold a card,” he said, laughing — reiterated that, while the hobby is a hobby, collecting is important to baseball itself, too.

“It’s an important piece of the puzzle: Giving fans every possible ability to show their fandom, pride in their favorite players, is always going to be beneficial for the sport,” he said.

Rodriguez, for his part, said baseball “means everything.” Just last month, the Mariners star donated an ambulance to Loma de Cabrera’s civil defense headquarters and sent toys and baseball equipment for local kids. In August, Rodriguez signed a 12-year guaranteed extension that could max out as the most expensive ($470 million) in major league history.

“[Baseball] opened the door for me and my family,” Rodriguez said. “It was an opportunity for me, for us. That was the way out. I was able to provide for my family and my whole community because of [it]. So I would say baseball means everything.”