Over the past several years, I’ve been fortunate to have acquired a significant number of grail cards of Jose Canseco – most of them in multiples.  The one thing that has always escaped me was a game-used jersey.  They never seem to pop up, and when they do, they typically tend to not be the real-deal, or have super weak provenance.

Jose Canseco game-used photo-matched jerseys are exceptionally rare. In fact, the last photo-match jersey I can remember of Jose coming up for auction was nearly a decade ago – a 1993 Texas Rangers gamer that ended up highly likely being the jersey he wore when the ball bounced off his head for a home run, as well as the pitching mishap.  The buyer? Panini.  That’s right – if you have a Panini Rangers jersey card of Jose, you more than likely have a piece of that jersey! 

Here is text straight from Heritage Auctions, the Auction House that sold the Rangers jersey: 

According to Resolution Photomatching’s research: “The photomatch was made to Getty Image #82977809. We confirmed that the photo was taken at Milwaukee County Stadium, which would pinpoint the probable dates that the photo could have been taken to 4/23/1993, 4/24/1993, or 4/25/1993, as those were the only dates of games that the Rangers played in Milwaukee in 1993.” The firm was unable to photomatch the jersey to Canseco’s infamous three day stretch, but it is highly probable he wore this road jersey during the games. Teams usually wore two sets of jerseys a season. Given the fact Canseco was gone for the year after his ill-timed pitching debut, it is likely this jersey saw those two games.

Here are a few of mine with pieces of that infamous jersey:

Cards are cool and all (heck, they are my favorite!)  But could you imagine cutting up a jersey like that?  If I were the owner, I certainly would not have (and I’m sure you probably find that hard to believe!)  But since I was not the owner, I’m very thankful Panini did chop it up to put in cards so we could own part of one of the most infamous stories in all of baseball history.

Panini got their shot at a photo-matched jersey, and nearly a decade later, it was my turn! 

Recently, another photo-matched game-used jersey of Jose came up for auction, and it was quite unique.  A “00” 1998 Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training gamer! 

Now, let me sit back and tell you a bit about this “00” business for a sec and contextualize it.  

The Summer of ’98

It was 1998 – the year I graduated high school, and the year I started working full-time (at a place I absolutely loathed.)  I was tasked day in and day out to analyze fifty year old Russian oil well logs – and I didn’t know Russian! 

I was NOT into baseball or cards, and hadn’t been for a few years at that point.  The transition from kid to adult was an incredibly tumultuous leap for me, but finding baseball breadcrumbs from my childhood throughout the years helped me along.  In 1997, I heard Jose was going back to the A’s.  While I wasn’t following along all that closely, I was ecstatic.  

When I heard he didn’t have so hot of a year and was going to another team the next year (Toronto) I was disappointed.  

To make matters worse, I found out that he had to wear a jersey that had double zeroes?  That can’t be good.  What the heck is that all about? That’s not a hero’s number.  33 is.  

As the year continued, like the rest of America, I kept an eye on the fantastic home run race put on by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.  More importantly to me, however, was the resurgence of my childhood hero.  Jose ended up hitting more home runs in ’98 (46) than any other year he had played – and, according to Jose – he did it without steroids. 

Thankfully, Jose wasn’t stuck with 00 for the season. After Spring Training, he ended up with 44 and eventually back to 33.  

While one may think a spring training gamer to be of lesser quality than an in-season gamer, this one is a magnificent exception, one I prefer over 99% of all other gamers out there, because it holds all kinds of secrets.   

The jersey was conclusively photo-matched to February 26, 1998, the Blue Jays’ first exhibition game of spring training in Dunedin, Florida.  This jersey was there with him the very first day of his trip to reinventing himself.  Newspapers during this time are particularly interesting.  Prior to his arrival, writers were not short on criticism of him.  After that first game, when they got to really take a look at him, newspapers across America flooded him with praise.  It was a very noticeable pivot from talking about someone who is injury prone and was once linked to Madonna, to a player who could hit and run very well.   

Side note: I wish I took note of this, but I think I read somewhere in a newspaper that the beginning of Canseco going to the Blue Jays had something to do with Roger Clemens’ son(s?) bringing a Canseco baseball card to the Blue Jays Owner.  

What followed was a deep dive that took me through countless Getty Images photos, hours upon hours of pouring over newspapers across North America, and a close examination of minute details from armband to batting gloves to wristbands to thread signatures. That research ultimately led me to a striking conclusion: this single jersey isn’t just photo-matched; it is baseball card matched.

 

Establishing the Anchor: February 26, 1998

February 26 matters because it is the first day Toronto appears in force in Getty’s spring training archive, and it is the day PSA used to photo-match the jersey. From that point forward, Getty documents Canseco extensively, and it is immediately clear that the PSA photo-matched jersey was rotated out after the first game Feb. 26th, as are his Louisville wristbands, never to be seen again, and are replaced with Nike wristbands.

The thread anomalies that are present in the photo-matched jersey are no longer observable beyond February 26th.  A second jersey possessing its own thread anomaly profile can be definitively observed in nearly all other Getty photographed games in Spring Training.  To put a fine point on it, the Getty 1998 Spring Training archive observes Jose wearing two jerseys: the first jersey, which is photo-matched on the first Spring Training game on Feb 26th, and the second jersey in every photographed game after.    

 

The Card Trail Begins

A photo-matched jersey of Jose is already incredibly rare and thrilling—but matching that same jersey to baseball cards is virtually unheard of. Think about it: even the most inconsequential card permanently immortalizes the photograph it uses, weaving it into collecting lore and scattering it across tens of thousands of collections. I’m a card guy first, but I’ve always loved game-used items. Where those two worlds collide is where dreams are made. And yet, to dream you have to sleep—something I haven’t done much of since I started researching this.  Here’s an actual photo of me over the past couple of weeks … 

After extensive research through Getty and countless Newspaper articles, I can fairly easily tell in many instances which baseball cards do NOT show him in the PSA photo-matched jersey.  Here are a few cards that utilize 1998 Spring Training photography where Jose is wearing the 2nd jersey, not the PSA photo-matched jersey.  

Naturally, my brain gravitated to the 98 Bowman.  Could that be the same jersey?  If so, then that means a few others are, too …

1998 Bowman / Collector’s Choice / Score / Studio  (Spoiler alert – these don’t match, either.) 

 

Still, this took me down an incredibly interesting and fun research ride.  One that ultimately led to disappointment, but the journey is worth noting.  

After pouring over countless newspaper articles, I was able to find some really incredible photos that were published which I had never seen before.  Talk about an inception moment! A photo that was taken of a photo taken for baseball cards.  

The photo was in a March 14th issue, and while it was nice to see, it was a little disheartening to see it having been published weeks after the PSA photo-match jersey was observed in game.  

Days later, after further research, I found this …

 

That’s right – a second photo of the same photo shoot emerged!  This time, from the Toronto Star, and dated March 1st.  This made me feel MUCH better about a pre-feb 27 photo shoot.  Still, I wanted to be certain.  I spent time looking for contact information of the credited photographers, and ultimately reached out to the Toronto Star itself. 

Much to my surprise, I received a response the same day.  The email from the Toronto Star staff stated the date of record for when the actual photo shoot occurred was just a few days BEFORE the PSA photo-match was observed … February 22nd.  

Once the Toronto Star sent me confirmation that the date the photo shoot to just a few days prior to the Spring Training opener, I thought it was highly likely they were one and the same. 

Unfortunately, as it turns out upon close examination, the jersey mesh holes do not appear to line up.  Talk about a HUGE bummer!  Months prior to obtaining this jersey, I was, however, able to land a true unicorn: The 1998 Bowman Chrome Golden Anniversary Refractor #/5. 1/1s notwithstanding, this is the rarest 90s pack pulled card of his.  

I suppose the actual Grail Bowman card itself is a nice consolation prize.  Plus, it was fun to uncover some neat new photos behind the scenes of my latest cardboard grail, and the process of research was rewarding.  While the match to the Bowman didn’t go my way, guess what? 

Some did.

And some are huge. 

And multiples at that.  The following cards depict my jersey, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars

This one wasn’t too terribly difficult to match, as it utilizes photographs (front and back) available on Getty dated to the exact game the PSA photo-match was taken from.  Here is the card laid over the photograph from Feb 26.  

1998 Pinnacle Certified

Rarely do we have a forensic slam dunk straight for a card, but here it is.  PSA literally photo-matched the jersey using the photo this exact card.  I have a crazy story about the card itself too.  Remind me to tell you about it later.  Here’s the card laid over the PSA photo-match photograph.

 

1998 Skybox Circa Thunder 

The 1998 Circa Thunder card depicts Jose in his 00 spring training jersey, and show the exact same armband, wristbands and batting gloves documented only to have been worn only with the PSA photo-matched jersey on the very first Spring Training game on Feb. 26.  The same combo of armband, wristbands and batting gloves are not used again after this exact game, making for the perfect lock.

1998 E-X 2001

In addition to the utilization of the same wristband/batting glove combo only seen with my photo-matched jersey, this card is particularly fun and interesting.  A close examination of the EX-2001 card in hand reveals thread anomalies that are identical to those used by the PSA photo-match are shown on the card. Combined with the identical equipment configuration, this places the EX-2001 photograph squarely on February 26th.

A Matter of Grail Proportions #GrailMatched

That’s not where the significance ends.  While having a photo-matched jersey matched to not one, but several cards is grail-status alone, having the photo-matched jersey matched to several grail-cards brings it to a whole new level, and that’s what makes this jersey one of the most exciting Canseco jerseys to have ever come to market.  Let me explain …

You see, the 1998 Pinnacle Certified Mirror Red isn’t just beautiful; it is a prototype that was never released.  (Psst … if you see a mirror blue or gold, let me know!) 

The 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars card has a sought after parallel, called Longevity.  Numbered to just 50 copies, it isn’t grail status, but is a tough card and utilizes my favorite photograph of the bunch!

1998 Skybox Circa Thunder has a super rare parallel, called Super Rave.  Limited to just 25 copies, the Super Raves are *highly* sought after by collectors.

The 1998 EX-2001 isn’t merely a cool card; it has two parallels that are true grails in every sense of the meaning.  Aside from being two of the most beautiful parallels ever, they are also two of my favorite cards, and routinely make the top of the list for virtually any collector who’s favorite player is in the set. 

If this jersey was merely photo-matched to a single forgettable base card, I’d be over the moon about it.  But to have it depicted on not one, but several grails? How does it get any better than that for a cardboard crack addict?  It is fun to think that nearly every serious Canseco collector likely has a photo of this jersey on one of their baseball cards. 

I didn’t even know such a piece existed, nor did I even think to keep an eye out for something like this, but the convergence of the Blue Jays jersey, Spring Training, the 00 number and the PSA photo-match offered me just enough thread (pun intended) to pull for many hours.  And many hours, it took. Like … many, many.  But when the stakes are this high, and you sense there are huge secrets to be uncovered, you dig and dig and dig until you find the answer, whether it is the answer you are looking for or not.    

So that’s the story of my game-used jersey. A jersey bearing the number “00” — a number I once saw as a teenager as a kind of slight — ultimately marked the beginning of my childhood hero reinventing himself. In Toronto, Canseco went on to hit more home runs that season than in any other year of his career, doing so cleanly, without the use of steroids, and writing a captivating chapter of his legacy—one that is now preserved across several of his most coveted baseball cards while wearing my jersey.