Mark Humphries discusses the Greatest SI Baseball Covers in this first article of a three-part series.

In sports magazine collecting, the cover is king. Unlike the case with comic books, the interior content of a vintage magazine has little effect on its value. Because of this fact, the collectability of sports magazines can be assessed in much the same way as that of their more famous cousins, baseball cards. As with “rookie cards” in card collecting, the player’s first appearance on a magazine — his “first cover” — is generally his most popular and valuable.

Baseball was by far the most popular team sport when Sports Illustrated launched in 1954, and since then baseball subjects have been featured on SI covers more than 600 times. Thus, there is no shortage of candidates for the Greatest SI Baseball Covers. But what do I mean by “Greatest”?

My assessment of SI’s covers is based primarily on the following factors:

• Cover Subject: With few exceptions (Pete Rose and Roger Maris), the players featured in this group of magazines are either top-tier Hall of Famers or on track for the Hall. Collectors also prefer single-subject items, and on our list only the Mays and Mathews issues give any attention to other players.
• Significance: Covers showing the player during either a World Series-winning season or an individually dominant or record-setting season are favored. First SI covers are heavily favored.
• Aesthetics: Sports Illustrated has featured some of the greatest baseball photography on its covers, but it has also had some clunkers.

In short, these are in my opinion the baseball SIs most likely to be encapsulated / framed and displayed with pride in a library, TV room or “man cave.” These are the issues that perform well when the questions are:

• Who cares about this cover?
• Can a baseball fan tell a compelling story about the cover?
• Would this look good on the wall?

This is NOT a list of the most valuable baseball SIs — although many of these would also be on that list — but rather a subjective rating of the most appealing and collectible magazines. In general, I did not consider the rarity or condition sensitivity of each issue as factors in the ranking, as that would inevitably lead to a much duller list of the toughest early issues.

Finally, keep in mind that these issues are primarily collectible in newsstand form, as opposed to subscription copies. Subscription copies (i.e., those with mailing labels, either glued on or printed directly on the magazine) are widely available on eBay and are generally ignored by serious collectors, who prefer the purer look and much greater difficulty of the newsstand versions. Beware of examples in which the label has been removed, even if it was done “cleanly.” Experienced collectors make identification of the tell-tale signs of an altered subscription copy their first order of business when examining a magazine.

1. Mickey Mantle 6/18/56 “The Year of the Slugger” 
The most collected athlete in history, Mantle appears at the peak of his powers (Mantle won the Triple Crown in ’56) in a classic portrait that captures his visage in more detail than any baseball card ever could. Mantle did appear on Time (1951) and Sport (1953) magazine covers earlier in his career, but this magazine is his best. This is one of Mickey’s greatest collectibles, and it will eventually be priced accordingly.

2. Ken Griffey 5/7/90 “The Natural” 
Never was a Sports Illustrated more aptly headlined than this one, and few are more attractive overall. “Seattle’s 20-Year-Old Wonder” appears in a full-size shot as he leaves the batter’s box, perhaps following one of the sophomore’s 22 home runs in ‘90. In large script, the cover proclaims Griffey “The Natural,” a designation which would prove more meaningful than anyone could have imagined as Griffey’s career proceeded in brilliant fashion through the Steroid Era. As the reputations of McGwire, Sosa, Bonds and a host of other home-run heroes fell to evidence of performance enhancement, Griffey was the biggest name left untouched by scandal. With over 600 home runs, ten Gold Gloves and a certain first-ballot induction into the Hall of Fame, Griffey will remain a legendary figure to fans who want to focus on what was right with baseball in the ‘90s.

3. Nolan Ryan 6/16/75 “The Great Nolan Ryan” 
Koufax and Ryan are the most collected pitchers of the SI era, and this beautiful cover catches Nolan in action at the time of his 4th no-hitter, which tied him with Sandy Koufax for the all-time record. Ryan would go on to record three more no-no’s, for a total of seven, which along with his 5,714 career strikeouts are records that are likely to stand the test of time. The cover dramatically captures the most famous power pitcher of all time.

4. Roger Maris 10/2/61 “World Series Preview” 
This has been one of the most popular baseball covers since it was published, but the feats of McGwire and Bonds threatened to dim its significance. Now that their 70- and 73-homer seasons are tainted by steroids, this issue gleams once again. Here we have a New York Yankee breaking the most famous record in sports, in a World Series-winning season. The photo is a terrific shot of the sinewy Maris using all his strength to coax another homer out of his 197-pound frame. Inside, the great Roger Kahn reports on the pressure Maris faces as he strives to write his name above Ruth’s in the record book.

5. Ted Williams 8/1/55 “Conversation Piece” 
Ted appeared on six SI covers during his lifetime, but this is by far the best. Since the others feature Ted out of uniform, or in his post-playing days or sharing the cover with other players, the ‘55 looks especially frame-worthy in comparison. Ted was past his prime by 1955, so the 36-year-old hit “only” .356, with more home runs (28) than strikeouts (24). Williams was, along with Babe Ruth, one of the two greatest hitters in baseball history. This cover features him in the on-deck circle, ready to torment another pitcher.

6. Hank Aaron 4/15/74 “715” 
This is the last of three Aaron SI covers during his playing career, and by far the most significant. Headlined simply “715,” it shows Aaron addressing the crowd’s cheers and holding aloft the ball that broke Babe Ruth’s fabled career home-run record. The attractiveness of this issue, like the Maris cover, has increased in recent years as the accomplishments of the Steroid Era have proven illusory. Aaron remains one of the most noble of baseball’s heroes, a great hitter and paragon of consistency who got the most out of his talent. Keep in mind that Aaron’s conquest of Ruth’s record was a big event in American history, and therefore many collectors put away newsstand editions of this issue. So, it isn’t particularly rare, but this issue’s significance and aesthetic appeal make it a true collectible.

7. Pete Rose 5/27/68  “The Reds’ Brash Pete Rose” 
One could choose a later Rose cover, during the Big Red Machine years. The ‘74 Baseball Preview is nice, and in 1975 Rose was selected as Sportsman of the Year for leading the Reds to their first of two consecutive World Series titles. But the ‘68 captures the frenetic activity of the young “Charlie Hustle” with a main picture of Rose below four smaller pics of the Reds’ star in action. Nicely designed and his first cover, this issue is the most collectible of Rose’s many SI cover appearances.

8. Roberto Clemente 7/3/67
Clemente won four batting titles and 12 Gold Glove awards, recorded 3,000 hits and was the 1966 NL MVP and the 1971 World Series MVP. He died tragically at the age of 38, and he has been one of the most collected athletes ever since. His entire career (1955-1973) was played within the Sports Illustrated era, yet he appeared on only one SI cover during his playing days. By comparison with his peers, Mantle had eight covers while active, Mays six and Aaron three. The case of Clemente points out an important difference between trading cards and magazines; with magazines, the supply of available covers may have a big impact on value. Simply stated, if you want a Clemente SI, this is the only one available —and it is almost nonexistent as a newsstand edition, much less in Mint condition. One could almost argue that this is the most desirable baseball SI of all time, considering Clemente’s huge following among collectors, the complete absence of any alternative SI and the attractive picture of Roberto completing his swing and watching the ball in flight. Alas, this cover also features a dreadfully amateurish layout; it looks as if SI delegated the design to summer interns. The four brightly-colored bars to the right of Clemente’s picture serve little purpose other than to diminish the size and impact of the photo. The result is the sole SI cover of an extremely popular player in a decidedly mediocre presentation. That equals #8 on this list.

9. Eddie Mathews 8/16/54
As the first issue of Sports Illustrated, this magazine is well-known among collectors. It features one of the greatest third basemen in history during his prime; Mathews was 22 years old in ‘54 and on his way to his second consecutive 40 HR season. So why isn’t it ranked higher? Two reasons: supply and attractiveness. SI’s first issue is widely available in Mint condition because the publisher stored 1,000 extra copies in a warehouse before reselling them to the public in the 1990s as collectors’ items. They were available for $199−$249, and most of these copies were well-preserved over the succeeding years, so that today it is not at all difficult to pick up a crisp copy on eBay. Because of this, the oldest SI of all is literally more common than some newsstand issues from 2009! Also, the cover photo is frankly quite lackluster. It’s essentially a shot of Milwaukee’s stadium, with a faceless Mathews occupying a small piece of the picture. I don’t know exactly what SI was trying to communicate with this choice for its first cover, but for me it doesn’t work.

10. Derek Jeter 10/23/00 “Subway Series” 
Many other players of his era have more home runs, and a few have better defensive skills and higher batting averages. But Jeter is the most popular and most collected baseball player of his generation because he’s a winner, a great teammate and never an embarrassment. This cover catches him at the conclusion of a remarkable stretch in Yankees’ history: The team had won the last two World Series and was about to make it four in five years by defeating the cross-town Mets. Adding to the attractiveness of this magazine is the fact that it is a regional issue, distributed only in New York and surrounding areas in two versions. The alternate cover shows Mike Piazza of the Mets.

Mark Humphries has been reading Sports Illustrated since 1977, when a neighbor began giving him second-hand copies to the sports-obsessed 10-year old. When the 1978 Swimsuit Issue arrived, the content was first screened by his mother. Mark survived the trauma of viewing Cheryl Tiegs in her famous fishnet suit and later became a subscriber and collector of SI. In 2002, following the lead of CGC in comics, he created and marketed the first capsule for graded magazines. Today, Mark's mother, Joan, manages an eBay store ("cgcmags") which offers the largest selection of Sports Illustrated newsstand copies (including many CGC-graded pieces). Mark is the former vice president, corporate development, of Collectors Universe Inc. He holds a B.A. in history and an M.S. in industrial engineering from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. in finance from Wharton. Mark welcomes your comments and criticisms of his list at sportsnewsstand@yahoo.com. Click here to view Joan’s Mint Magazines.

This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.