Select any of the years below to view a collection of PSA 9 (mint condition) rookie cards from the 2010s and 2020s.
The 2010s were a decade of huge revenue growth for Major League Baseball, but it was also marked by significant changes in how the game was played and by storm clouds gathering on the horizon when the decade ended.
The 2010s was the decade during which analytics took over in Major League Baseball. All teams created departments dedicated to the advanced analysis not only of statistics but of all sorts of newly available data gathered through systems such as Statcast, which provided extremely detailed information on all movements on the field, be they of players or of the ball. This data was used to change tactics, for example the boom in usage of defensive shifts or the growing popularity of bullpen games, as well as the approach by batters who were all about getting a better launch angle and higher exit velocity on batted balls, or pitchers whose mantra was velocity and spin rates. Not everyone was comfortable with this evolution, as it meant a boom in the so-called Three True Outcomes (strikeouts, walks and homers) and a decline in batted balls, baserunning and fielding plays. Combined with a deliberate approach by many teams of taking pitches in order to increase the opposing starter's pitch count, and the multiplication of pitching changes, this made for a slow-paced and sometimes boring game. Some were decrying the end of baseball as we knew it and its inevitable decay as a spectator sport, but no one was really sure how to address pace of play issues, as the steps taken, such as limiting mound visits and making the intentional walk automatic, seemed to have little or no effect. In fact, allowing the widespread use of instant replay had as much negative impact on game duration as any gains from these measures. Thus, as the decade ended, much more radical measures were being contemplated, including rules to change the composition of rosters in an attempt to curb the proliferation of nameless relief pitchers shuttling between the back of the bullpen and AAA; limits on pitching changes; limits on defensive shifts; the possible introduction of "robot umpires" to call balls and strikes; tinkering with some of the distances on the field, etc.
When the decade ended, many observers noted that it had been the first since the 1910s in which the New York Yankees had not appeared in a World Series. This was a sign of increased parity on the field, as the San Francisco Giants won their first three titles since moving to the West Coast at the end of the 1950s, the Chicago Cubs ended a historic drought of over a century by winning the World Series in 2016, both the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals won their first-ever championships, and teams like the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates ended long postseason droughts while the Texas Rangers reached the World Series for the first time. The 2016 World Series, which featured an epic showdown between the Cubs and Cleveland Indians, the two teams with the longest championship droughts at the time, was the highlight of the decade, but there were a number of other exciting postseason series throughout the decade.
The biggest stars in the majors included Mike Trout, Adrian Beltre, Miguel Cabrera, Bryce Harper, José Altuve, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Stephen Strasburg. Among the outstanding individual accomplishments was Cabrera achieving the first Triple Crown in over four decades in 2012. Mariano Rivera set the all-time record for saves with 645 when he retired in 2013, and then became the first player to be elected unanimously to the Hall of Fame in 2019. Trout won three MVP Awards in addition to being the Rookie of the Year and Pete Alonso ended the decade by setting a new record for most homers by a rookie; in previous years, both Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger had also put up huge home run seasons as rookies. In terms of career milestones, five players joined the 3000 hit club - Derek Jeter, Beltre, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro Suzuki - but only two made it to 500 home runs - Pujols and David Ortiz. On the pitching side, no one made it into the hallowed circle of 300-game winners, and we had to wait until the final year of the decade, 2019, to see CC Sabathia and Verlander record their 3000th strikeout.
The most significant scandal of the decade was the one connected with Biogenesis Laboratories, a Miami, FL-based enterprise whose main side-business was procuring PEDs to various professional athletes. After the story was revealed by the Miami New Times in early 2013, MLB had no choice but to investigate and take some sweeping penalties for athletes caught in the net. The most prominent figures were Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, although there were numerous others, including minor leaguers. Rodriguez was suspended for a full season in what marked the beginning of the end for him, and others also got lengthy penalties, although some were able to return for the postseason after serving out their suspension. This did not go down well with fans, and the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program was later amended to ensure that anyone testing positive for a PED during the season would automatically be ineligible for that year's postseason games. The other scandals revolved around cases of domestic violence. Baseball finally began to take the issue seriously, and a number of athletes were suspended for long stretches as a result of investigations into allegations of domestic violence, including Aroldis Chapman, Addison Russell and Roberto Osuna. At the very end of the decade, in the fall of 2019, it was revealed that MLB was investigating the Houston Astros for having set up an illegal system to steal their opponents' signs during their 2017 championship season, an investigation later extended to the 2018 Red Sox. As the investigation corroborated the allegations, harsh punishments were handed, including a fine, the loss of draft picks, and the suspension of executives who allowed the scheme to be implemented.
Click here to review the rest of the Baseball Reference summary of the 2010s.
2010 San Francisco Giants
2011 St. Louis Cardinals
2012 San Francisco Giants
2013 Boston Red Sox
2014 San Francisco Giants
2015 Kansas City Royals
2016 Chicago Cubs
2017 Houston Astros
2018 Boston Red Sox
2019 Washington Nationals
2020 Los Angeles Dodgers
2021 Atlanta Braves
2022 Houston Astros
2023 Texas Rangers
2024 Los Angeles Dodgers
