Upper Deck had a good run in baseball, releasing flagship sets from 1989 until 2010. Obviously that first release was a home run, as it featured the iconic Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card.

By the time the 2000s rolled around, Upper Deck was big into relic cards. Memorabilia cards were found in basically every product the company released. Back then, those were a big chase.

2002 Upper Deck Baseball was split into two different release. Series 1 featured a lengthy, 500-card base set, while Series 2 was trimmed down to just 245 base cards. There were three different inserts to chase, Superstar Summit, Chasing History, and Return of the Ace, all with the same pack odds.

2002 Upper Deck Baseball featured more than ten different relic sets between Series 1 and 2. Unfortunately, there were no big name Rookie Cards to find. 

2002 Upper Deck Series 2 Baseball Box Break

Cards per pack: 8
Packs per box: 24
Price paid: $50

Shop for 2002 Upper Deck Series 2 Baseball boxes on eBay.

First up, a box topper pack that contained two UD-Plus cards, both numbered to 1125.

Troy Glaus (0575/1125) & Roger Clemens (0647/1125)

Not a bad start.

Pack 1 highlights:

Roberto Alomar CL, Rondell White, Pedro Martinez & Vinny Castilla

Pedro finished second in the AL Cy Young voting following the 2002 season. Barry Zito edged him out, mostly because he started five more games than Pedro did. Pedro led the AL in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts. 

Pack 2:

J.D. Drew

Pack 3:

Brady Anderson & Jose Valverde RC

Valverde finished a 12 year career with a very respectable 3.27 ERA. He also saved 288 games. 

Pack 4:

Edgardo Alfonzo & Curt Schilling

Pack 5:

Fernando Tatis, Shawn Green CL, Frank Thomas & Richie Sexson

Tatis hit a career high 34 long balls during the 1999 season. His second highest season total? Just 18. 

Pack 6:

Juan Gonzalez, Barry Bonds CL & Brian Roberts

Pack 7:

Roger Clemens, David Justice, Josh Beckett & Shawn Green

David Justice was traded twice in a week’s span during the 2001-2002 offseason. The Yankees sent him across town for Robin Ventura. The Mets then sent him to Oakland in exchange for Mark Guthrie and Tyler Yates. 

Pack 8:

Tim Salmon, Miguel Tejada, Pat Burrell, Curt Schilling CL & Jason Kendall

Pack 9:

Delino DeShields, Tim Hudson & Matt Williams

DeShields led the league in strikeouts in 1991, with 151. This season, 25 players struck out more than that. 

Pack 10:

Lance Berkman, Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome & Denny Neagle. How could I not share this Denny shot?

Pack 11:

Garret Anderson about to cherry bomb the ball, Sammy Sosa, Robin Ventura, Mike Cameron & Ivan Rodriguez Superstar Summit (1 in every 11 packs)

Robin Ventura made his second (and final) All-Star team in 2002. He finished the season with 27 home runs and 93 RBI for the Yankees. 

Pack 12:

Brian Jordan & Albert Pujols

Pack 13:

Magglio Ordonez, Jason Giambi CL & Pedro Martinez Return of the Ace (1:11 packs)

How good was Magglio Ordonez? He finished his 15-year career with an .871 OPS. That would have been good enough for 12th in the majors this season, right behind Mookie Betts. 

Pack 14:

Larry Walker CL, Mark Grace & Adam Dunn

Pack 15:

Bernie Williams, Barry Larkin & Andruw Jones

Andruw Jones won his fifth straight Gold Glove in 2002. He did so while also hitting 35 home runs. He would go on to win 10 straight Gold Gloves in Atlanta.

Pack 16:

Chuck Knoblauch, Bret Boone & Alex Rodriguez The People’s Choice Jersey Relic (1:24 packs)

Pack 17:

Winter hat-wearing Bruce Chen & Greg Maddux Chasing History (1:11 packs)

Bruce Chen isn’t exactly a household name. He did pitch a long time, though, appearing in 400 major league games over 17 seasons. 

Pack 18:

Tom Glavine, Johnny Damon & Javier Lopez

Pack 19:

Omar Vizquel, Reggie Sanders, Ichiro Suzuki CL, Randy Johnson & Curt Schilling Return of the Ace (1:11 packs)

Reggie Sanders was no slouch. His .830 career OPS would have been good enough to be in the top 25 this season. 

Pack 20:

Jason Giambi & Larry Walker

Pack 21:

Ichiro Suzuki, Tino Martinez, Carlos Beltran & Derek Jeter CL

Ichiro burst onto the scene in 2001. He also cleaned up during awards season. He won the AL Rookie of the Year, AL MVP, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger awards during his first season in the majors. 

Pack 22:

Tony Clark & Darin Erstad

Pack 23:

Moises Alou, Jamie Moyer, Reed Johnson RC, Barry Bonds & Fred McGriff Chasing History (1:11 packs)

Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff was winding down an amazing career by the early 2000s. His .886 career OPS would have ranked him right between Nolan Arenado and Rafael Devers this season. That’s not bad company.

Pack 24:

Another funky Denny

Lastly, the Carlos Beltran card back. 

Not a bad rip. I got everything I should expect to find in a single box. The three insert sets all have equal pack odds, with no other tough inserts to chase besides the relics. It is a nice looking base set as well, but I feel like it’s still missing something. Maybe a parallel set of some kind would have made this one more exciting.

Shop for 2002 Upper Deck Baseball on:

• Beckett Marketplace
• eBay

Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.