James Wood grew up collecting baseball cards. Now, at only 23 years old, Wood is the cover athlete of the 2025 Topps Chrome Update Series, which hits stores Dec. 10.
After sharing the cover three times, this marks the first time Wood is featured solo on a Topps box.
Within the set is Wood’s MLB Debut Patch autograph card, along with the Debut Patch of Wood’s teammate Dylan Crews, and Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Roki Sasaki, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, Cam Smith, Drake Baldwin and Matt Shaw.
MLB.com spoke to Wood about the exclusive honor of being the cover athlete of the 2025 Topps Chrome Update Series, his memories of card collecting and the example he hopes to set in this role.
MLB.com: With cards gaining so much popularity in recent years with younger fans, what does it mean to now be essentially a baseball card icon for the next generation?
JW: “I think it’s definitely cool. I think whenever I can kind of see myself as a kid, like getting into something that I’ll be a part of now, I feel like it always seems extra cool, because I feel like that’s a big part of what makes you fall in love with baseball. Being able to be a part of the next generation and how they grow up and fall in love with the game is, I think, definitely something special to be a part of.”
MLB.com: What is the significance of being a cover athlete to you?
JW: I feel like for me [with] cover athletes, I always think [NBA] 2K and all that. I always remember my favorite 2K games: 2K14 I always associate with LeBron [James], and Paul George, 2K17. So I feel like, from my perspective, I don’t really know how it is with cards, but I feel like that’s kind of what you associate with whatever you’re about to get into, which I think is pretty cool, especially with how popular … trading cards have gotten recently.
MLB.com: What do you think the reaction is going to be like among your teammates — like Brady [House], Drew [Millas], everyone who’s so into card collecting — now that you’re this guy?
JW: Maybe I’ll open a box of them or something. I know those two especially will be pretty pumped about it.
MLB.com: You also had the Debut Patch. What do you remember about that?
JW: I remember Chris Johnson, our [assistant] hitting coach, and his son are big into it, too. So he was always asking me, “When’s the debut patch coming out?” When I finally got to sign it, I just remember he was mad at me because I didn’t text him to come over and take a look at it. (Laughs) So, whenever I’m signing a cool card now, I make sure to send them a picture.
MLB.com: You mentioned that you collected baseball cards growing up. So let’s turn back the clock a little bit. How many baseball cards do you think you collected?
JW: I don’t know, but I just remember I had a binder that was probably like this thick (gestures), and you just flipped through all the pages. I couldn’t tell you how many I had, but I mean, it was a little bit of everything. It was some football, some baseball. Honestly, not that many basketball, mostly just football and baseball. But I feel like I had a decent collection.
MLB.com: What was your favorite card that you had back then?
JW: I got really into playing [MLB: The Show] a few years ago because I always had an Xbox, and it was always on PlayStation. It just came over to Xbox. But there’s a Jorge Posada card that was like a throwback of that card on The Show, and I had that card in person. So I’ll probably say that one.
MLB.com: If you could have any card of any baseball player from any era, which one would you like to collect?
JW: I feel like a Willie Mays card would go cool, like a rookie Willie Mays card. … I feel like cards were super rare back then. And unless you’re going way back to Babe Ruth — which, I don’t even know if they had cards back then. I could be wrong, but I feel like he was the best player, in my opinion, from that era. He’s probably one of my favorite players from that era.
What about a player growing up in the era that you watched? Whose card would you like from that?
JW: It might have been a little bit before; it was probably like when I was a little kid. I feel like I never see any Barry Bonds cards. I feel like that would be cool. … I feel like when I started swinging a bat, I was trying to hit like Barry Bonds. So, I think that’s probably the main reason.
MLB.com: And how about somebody who’s currently playing?
JW: I think Mike Trout would be cool, too. Shohei [Ohtani] and Aaron Judge, those guys are killing it right now, but I think Mike Trout was the guy for a while. Obviously, he’s still doing it. But some of the seasons he put up, especially early on in his career, I feel like those were ridiculous, even seeing what guys are doing today.
MLB.com: In five, 10, 15, 20 years, some baseball player could be having this same conversation and saying, All I really want is that James Wood card. What is that like to think about?
JW: It’s pretty cool. I think I’m still kind of getting used to that, because I’ll meet some high school kids or some college kids and whatnot, and they’ll be like, “I love playing with your card in The Show.” I think that alone is pretty cool, too. So, I think the fact that there’s people out there that would want to go out and collect my card is a pretty cool honor.
MLB.com: You’ve done a lot of community outreach, connecting with younger players. What kind of example do you hope this sets for those kids?
JW: Talking to them, I hope it felt like being a Major Leaguer and getting to pro ball doesn’t seem like this super-far-fetched thing. I feel like I’m kind of just like them. I went through the same things they’re going through when I was their age. I hope it feels like the big leaguers are more human to them, not as like superstars that are like celebrities, almost.
MLB.com: What are you going to do with your cards?
JW: I don’t know. I’ve got to get one. I feel like I’ve never gotten myself yet. So maybe I’ve got to open more packs. Maybe I’ll try and find that binder and I’ll put it in that binder once I find it.
