Mission to Own Every Pujols Rookie Card
Before Albert Pujols even made his MLB debut, card collector Jeremy Lawson was already on his radar.
Growing up in Kansas, Lawson caught a glimpse of the future Hall of Famer in 1999 when he played one season at Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City. Later that year, the St. Louis Cardinals drafted Pujols in the 13th round.
Pujols got his shot in the big leagues on Opening Day in 2001. With Mark McGwire retiring at the end of that season, Lawson knew Pujols would become the Cardinals’ next first baseman.
That year, Lawson started collecting Pujols rookie cards. Eventually, Lawson made it his mission to collect all 197 of Pujols rookie cards. Now 23 years later, the 51-year-old is just eight cards shy of completing the project.
It’s been a fascinating journey for Lawson to get to this point. He purchased most of the Pujols cards early this century, which has been a key to the collection.
About 10 years ago, Lawson discovered a complete list of all of Pujols’ rookie cards on Beckett’s website and started checking off the cards he owned. Lawson realized he already had a large percentage of the cards and sought to continue pursuing the project.
“I said, ‘OK, I’ve got a shot at this,’” Lawson said. “But I know I’ll never find the five rarest ones.”
Paring Down the List
Lawson owns all seven Bowman and 21 of 22 Topps cards released during Pujols’ rookie season.
The lone Topps card that has escaped Lawson’s grasp all these years is the 2001 Topps Gallery Press Plates. There are just four plates—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black—thus, there are four cards.
“I’ve never heard anyone ever pulling them,” Lawson said. “They had four printing plates, so I have never ever seen a picture of one to even tell you what they look like.”
Lawson’s favorite cards in his Pujols rookie card collection are the 2001 Bowman Chrome Refractor Autographs. He owns two — graded PSA 9 and 8 — of the 500 produced. Those cards weren’t available in packs, only through redemption.
“That Bowman Chrome card is just sick,” Lawson said. “I was so ecstatic when I got those about 10 years ago.”
Another favorite of Lawson’s is Pujols’ 2001 Topps Chrome Holofoil Rainbow Retrofractor. Lawson purchased the card about 15 years ago and has it in a BGS 9.5, which has a population count of just four.
Lawson owns two other big Bowman and Topps rookie cards: a 2001 Topps Finest Autographs and a 2001 Bowman Autographs; both cards are graded 9.5 with a 10 autograph. Lawson also has a pair of 2001 Topps Reserve Rookie Autographs: one in a BGS 9.5 and 10 autograph, and the other in a BGS 9.
The Never-Ending Quest
Lawson, who lives in Navarre, Florida, finds the majority of his Pujols cards on eBay. He will contact some collectors he knows to see if they have any of his missing cards. Lawson also hits up Facebook groups and Reddit forums.
Since Lawson needs just eight cards to finish his Pujols rookie card collection, it’s getting tougher and tougher to track down — or afford — the cards he needs.
Just getting down to single digits is an enormous accomplishment.
“I thought, ‘Man, this is hard,’” Lawson said. “It will never happen because I can’t afford those high-end cards. I’m a small collector. I’m frugal on the money, and I was very good at buying and wheeling and dealing, either catching guys that wanted to pay their bills or needed some cash because COVID was kicking their butt. I was an essential worker, so I was always working during that time.”
Even though he has 189 of the 197 cards, it can be a little discouraging for Lawson. He knows he will never be able to fully complete the project. Lawson has heard that one of Pujols’ 1-of-1 cards is deep in a collector’s safe and probably will never see the light of day. There is also another card numbered to five that has been difficult to track down.
“I think it’s going to be exciting just to see them all,” Lawson said. “Just being able to see those last two that I’ve never seen.”
