Twenty years after his rookie card helped introduce a promising newcomer to the world of baseball cards, Ken Griffey Jr. is returning to the place his career started. Fittingly, Upper Deck is celebrating Junior's return to Seattle with several special cards.

The 1989 Upper Deck Baseball set was the company's first, and it helped change the hobby forever by upping the ante on the quality of cards and packaging. Griffey's rookie card (No. 1 in the set) caught fire as the then-teenaged phenom hit the big leagues in a textbook case of perfect timing.

Now that Griffey is a Mariner again, Upper Deck is paying its respects with a pair of cards that will be available over the next few weeks. The card pictured here is a short-printed insert that can be found in packs of 2009 UD Piece of History Baseball, which is set to go live in early April. A second card will be part of a promotion at participating hobby stores that will take place just before Opening Day.

With another round of fortuitous timing taking place, don't be surprised if Upper Deck has more Griffey-related goodies in store as the homecoming season progresses.

• Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card Checklist

Image courtesy of and copyright Upper Deck.

Perish the thought. SA-GE plans on releasing its first series of draft pick cards in March, and Donruss, Topps and Upper Deck will all be cranking up the presses just a few weeks after that.

It is a tad early to do a top 10 list of rookies to collect this year as I did for 2008 and 2007, simply because the NFL Draft plays such a big part in helping to shape that list. The opportunity for early playing time and the market a rookie ends up in both play big parts in his collectibility.

Still, it's not out of the question to point out some names to watch now that the scouting combine is underway. Quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez will try to emulate Matt Ryan, with intriguing and athletic Pat White also turning a lot of heads in Indianapolis.

There doesn't appear to be an Adrian Peterson in this year's crop of running backs, but there is depth led by the likes of Chris "Beanie" Wells and Knowshon Moreno. All-everything (but currently injured) Michael Crabtree, lightning-fast Darrius Heyward-Bey and super playmaker Percy Harvin are at the front of a speedy group of receivers, and linebacker Aaron Curry is talented enough to be the No. 1 overall pick.

There's no guarantee this season's top rookie will come from this group of names, but they're a good starting point to have in mind when opening packs of new football cards in the next few months.

Just because one person completed Upper Deck's mammoth Yankee Stadium Legacy set didn't mean others stopped trying.

Upper Deck announced yesterday that a second person, Chuck Sauter of Pensacola, Florida, has finished putting together the 6,661-card insert set that commemorates every game ever played in the old Yankee Stadium. He follows Tommy Baxter of Little Rock, Arkansas, who pulled off the feat last November.

Sauter's story is interesting because he is a lifelong Baltimore Orioles fan who originally intended only to collect cards of the games that featured his favorite team. He eventually decided to tackle the whole thing, but it does drive home the point that there are a lot of different ways to appreciate the set without trying to accumulate all of the cards.

Sauter will receive the same prize package as Baxter, which includes a trip to New York to see the Yankees in their new home and a chance to meet Derek Jeter. That leaves three sets of prizes left for anyone else who's still thinking about taking on the Yankee Stadium Legacy challenge.

The U.S. got a National Baseball Card Day in 2008, so it's only fitting that Canada gets a National Hockey Card Day, right?

On February 21, Canadian collectors will be able to visit their local hobby shop, Walmart, Toys 'R' Us or London Drugs to pick up a free five-card pack of hockey cards from a 15-card National Hockey Card Day set produced by Upper Deck. You can see the Sidney Crosby card right here; other players on the checklist include Gordie Howe, Jarome Iginla and Steven Stamkos.

To get more details and find participating locations close to you, visit the NHCD page on Upper Deck's site.

Meanwhile, In The Game has announced the results of its contest that allowed collectors to have the ultimate power of choice over the cards they'd like to see. Hockey enthusiasts got to vote from among eight different significant years in the sports' history, with In The Game producing a new set based around the winning year.

And the winner is... 1972 - the year the WHA was born and the Summit Series took place - with 1980 and the Miracle on Ice finishing second. Keep an eye on In The Game's site, as the company will unveil details on the 1972-themed set on March 1.

Image courtesy of and copyright Upper Deck.