Baseball fans have voted for the next player to be on Card No. 1 for 2017 Topps® Baseball.
Chicago Cubs World Series Champion and National League Most Valuable Player Kris Bryant will grace Card No. 1.
“It’s a huge honor with Card No. 1 depicting legends before me,” Bryant said. “It’s very humbling and nice to know it came from the fans.”
Bryant has earned a number of accolades in his young baseball career. In 2015, he won the NL Rookie of the Year and took the MVP crown just a year later. The two-time All-Star put up impressive numbers including 30 home runs, 102 RBI, a league-leading 121 runs scored, and a .292 batting average last season.
“Kris Bryant is an outstanding player with an infectious personality,” said David Leiner, General Manager and Vice President of Topps North American Sports & Entertainment. “He’s done so much in his career and has created fans throughout baseball regardless of team loyalties. He’s the perfect pick for Card No. 1 for 2017 Topps Baseball.”
Bryant’s card will appear in 2017 Topps Baseball Series 1 when it goes on sale on February 1st. Also, included in this product are special cards depicting on-air personalities from the MLB Network, including Hall of Famer John Smoltz, hosts Greg Amsinger and Lauren Shehadi, and former players Harold Reynolds, Sean Casey and more. The first 10 cards of this 29-card set will appear in 2017 Topps Baseball Series 1 and the rest within the June release of 2017 Topps Baseball Series 2 and the October release of 2017 Topps Baseball Update.
Bryant joins a long list of great players who have been represented on the first Topps card of the year from Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams to Mike Piazza and Derek Jeter.
The one-week online vote occurred in October of last year where fans chose from a list of 16 nominees on Topps.com. Topps started the Vote for Card No. 1 in 2016 when Angels outfielder Mike Trout earned the honor in the inaugural vote.
Topps celebrates the return of the baseball season with release of 2017 Topps Baseball Series 1 on February 1st. Baseball fans can find the newest Topps baseball product in hobby shops, mass retailers and at Topps.com.