George Brett (born 1953) was the third baseman for the Kansas City Royals from 1973 to 1993.
He finished his career with 3,154 hits, 317 home runs, and 1,596 runs batted in with a .305 batting average. Brett joins the esteemed company of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial as the only MLB players in history to have 3,000 hits and 300 home runs with a .300 batting average.
These statistics led to 13 All Star Games, the 1980 AL MVP, a Gold Glove Award in 1985, three Silver Slugger Awards, and three AL batting titles.
Brett was readily inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 with 98.2% of the vote of the first ballot. Additionally, the Kansas City Royals retired his jersey and inducted him into their respective Hall.
Born in Glen Dale, West Virginia, Brett was the youngest of four sons. He and his brothers were all taken by baseball, and they had different levels of success. While Brett was eventually inducted into the Hall, his brother Ken had a decent career as a pitcher in MLB, and his brothers John and Bobby were in the minors but were never promoted.
As the youngest with three brothers playing professional baseball, Brett was determined to follow his brothers. After graduating high school, he was selected by Kansas City in the second round of the 1971 draft.
Brett moved through the minors with consistency. He started off as a shortstop until someone made the correct decision to move him to third
base. He would stay at third for over a decade.
On August 2, 1973, he debuted for the Royals, and he appeared in 13 games that season.
Brett broke through in 1974, and he won the starting third base job. He struggled with major league pitching early on, but he turned it on after the All Star break. He finished his rookie season with a .282 batting average.
By 1975 he had passed .300, and by 1976 he won his first AL batting title. The batting title was between four players in 1976, and the title came down to the last game of the season.
The contenders were Brett, his teammate Hal McRae, and Minnesota Twins teammates Rod Carew and Lyman Bostock. The Twins played the Royals on the last game of the season, and the batting title was up in the air between the four players.
Brett went 2 for 4 and sealed the title. After six consecutive games with at least three hits, Brett appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for a feature. He also made his first All Star Game, and he finished second in MVP voting.
Brett developed as a power hitter, continued to hit .300, perform well in the postseason, and finish as a top candidate for MVP in 1976.
His peak came in 1980 when he won the AL MVP. Though he finished the season with a .390, he was a national sensation as he chased the .400, which had not been done since Ted Williams in 1941.
He started the year slow, but he hit .459 in June, July, and August. Baseball fans were in a frenzy as his average hit .403 with five weeks left in the season. Yet, he dipped in September.
Brett finished with an on-base percentage of .454 and slugging percentage of .664. He had one of the best hitting seasons in decades before or since.
Brett continued to be a deadly asset for the Royals for years. The Royals won the 1985 World Series behind Brett’s hard work.
His last spark came in 1990. He had a terrible start to the season, and he almost retired in the middle of the year. He stuck it out, and he won the batting title that year. He is the only player in MLB history to win the batting title in three different decades.
Brett retired in 1993, and he has stayed active with the Kansas City Royals. Below are a few of the best cards that represent George Brett.
1975 Topps George Brett Rookie Card
There are 660 cards of standard size (2 ½” x 3 ½”) in this set, and Brett’s card sits at #228. Brett is the major key to this set.
For reference, PSA has over 300,000 cards registered from this set, and well over 10,000 copies are Brett copies.
The price of Brett’s rookie card has skyrocketed in since 2020. While a Gem Mint copy sold for $11,596 in 2012, copies have sold for $117,000 in December of 2020 and $186,000 in February of 2021.
Mint copies sold for around $2,000 for years, and they have since spiked to over $5,000.
On a budget of $1,000, a PSA 8 is possible.
1975 Topps Mini George Brett Rookie Card
Topps released these cards as a test product in 1975, and they only appeared in Michigan and the West Coast. Each card measures at 2 ¼” x 3 ⅛”. There are 660 cards in the set, and every card is identical to the standard issue except for the size.
110,000 copies are registered from this set with PSA, and nearly 3,000 copies are Brett copies.
This is a rookie card of secondary importance, but the Topps brand lends it a high value. Gem Mint copies have sold for around $20,000 since 2017, but there are no recent sales found.
Mint copies sold for around $1,000 for several years, but they seem to have risen since 2020 to about $2,000.
1976 Topps George Brett
There are 660 cards of standard size. Brett sits at #19.
There are over 150,000 cards from this set registered with PSA. Close to 3,000 copies are Brett copies.
The sophomore release of Brett stays expensive. Mint copies have sold for $3,000 to $5,000 for the last few years.
1977 Topps George Brett
There are 660 cards of standard size in this set, and Brett sits at #231.
About 750 copies are Brett copies of the 100,000 cards registered with PSA.
Prices fall off fairly dramatically as you progress in Brett’s career. Even Gem Mint copies can be purchased for $1000.
Conclusion
Brett’s rookie cards are great cards, though they are expensive in high grade. As you move on in his career, his cards become exceedingly affordable.
George Brett is a surefire Hall of Famer. He has the stats, the stories, and the grit. When he was inducted, only Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Ty Cobb had a higher voting percentage than him. Brett is one of the greatest players of his generation, and the greatest hero of the Kansas City Royals.