CGC Cards Featured Card of the Month: 2017 Topps Chrome #169 Aaron Judge

Posted on 6/12/2024

Yankees star Aaron Judge is currently the MLB home run leader, and his dominant bat is one of the reasons New York sits atop the AL East division.

2017 Topps Chrome #169 Aaron Judge
Click images to enlarge.

Sport: Baseball

Set: 2017 Topps Chrome

Card: #169 Aaron Judge

What makes it special? Now in his 9th season in New York, Aaron Judge has become not only the face of the new age Yankees but one of the faces of the entire MLB. The towering 6'7" slugger is among baseball's most feared hitters and he already owns several team and league records at 32 years old. After making his majors debut in 2016, Judge was named the Opening Day starter in right field for his first full rookie season in 2017. It didn't take him long to show that he belonged in the big leagues, considering he made the All-Star team, won the Home Run Derby, broke the record for most home runs as a rookie and deservingly earned AL Rookie of the Year honors.

Since then, Judge has continued to rake in the awards, earning five All-Star appearances, the 2022 AL MVP, three Silver Slugger Awards and many more. He already holds several Yankees team records, including most home runs by a rookie (52), most home runs at home in a single season (33), most home runs in a single season (62), fastest to hit 60 home runs in a single season (147th game) and first to hit 3 home runs in a game twice in one season. Judge holds numerous MLB records as well, including first rookie with at least 45 home runs, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored. He also is the fastest to reach 60 career home runs (197 games), fastest to reach 250 career home runs (810 games) and is tied for the most single-season multi-home run games ever (11).

While he has plenty of individual accolades, Judge and his teammates are still searching for New York's 28th World Series title, with the championship trophy being one of the few awards missing in the All-Star's cabinet. Currently leading the AL East, and with Judge pacing to break his own home run records this season, the Yankees look in good shape to make a postseason run at another title.

Did you know? Although Aaron Judge is already known as a New York Yankees superstar, his pro career could've looked much different due to his interesting path to the majors. The California native was a three-sport star in high school, excelling at baseball, football and basketball. In fact, he set a school record for touchdowns in football and led his basketball team in points per game. That's why several Division I universities recruited Judge in football as a tight end, but he favored baseball and decided to stick with it over the other sports.

In the 2010 MLB Draft, the Oakland Athletics selected a teenaged Judge in the 31st round; however, he chose to forego the pros and instead enrolled in college to play baseball at Fresno State. He'd go on to become a freshman All-American and won the College Home Run Derby in 2012. Judge was named to the all-conference team in all three of his collegiate seasons, and MLB scouts once again took notice. Eligible for the draft once more, the Yankees selected Judge 32nd overall in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft, rewriting baseball history along the way.

Total graded by CGC Cards: There are numerous examples of Aaron Judge's rookie card from the 2017 Topps Chrome set, including several parallels in different colors. Of the base Topps Chrome #169 version, there are 139 graded examples of the standard card in the CGC Cards Population Report, as of mid-June 2024. CGC Cards has also graded seven different parallels of the same card, including the Refractor (28), Prism Refractor (19), Sepia Refractor (8), Pink Refractor (7), X-Fractor (2), Variation Refractor (2) and Negative Refractor (1) inserts.

LEFT: 2017 Topps Chrome #169 Aaron Judge - Prism Refractor
RIGHT: 2017 Topps Chrome #169 Aaron Judge - Sepia Refractor
Click images to enlarge.

CGC Cards median grade: CGC 9.5

CGC Cards highest graded: Out of 206 graded examples, there is only one standard Topps Chrome #169 card and one Refractor parallel with grades of CGC Pristine 10. There are 67 base examples graded CGC Gem Mint 10 though, as well as 33 examples of parallels graded CGC Gem Mint 10: Refractor (13), Prism Refractor (11), Sepia Refractor (3), Pink Refractor (3), X-Fractor (2) and Variation Refractor (1).

Sales highlights: An example of the base Topps Chrome #169 graded CGC Gem Mint 10 realized $115 through PWCC in August 2022 and an example of the Topps Chrome #169 Sepia Refractor parallel graded CGC 7 realized $74 through PWCC in June 2023.

CGC Cards Sports Registry: The card is part of this company set: 2017 Topps Chrome, which currently has 8 competitors. It is also part of the Judge Players Set, which has 90 competitors. Collector Pete Vamvakas has assembled a Player Set called Judge Cards that has amassed more than 17,000 points and includes the 2017 Topps Chrome #169 Aaron Judge - Pink Refractor graded CGC Gem Mint 10. Vamvakas' collection of Judge rookie cards has earned him a Best in Set Type distinction.

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