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In the Big Inning: 1869-1900 (Part III)
5 April 2007
Sports have always been a popular way to pass the time. And although there has been a number of different sports since the dawn of civilization, baseball has played the most influential role in the origin of the American sports card hobby.When the National Association of Baseball Players (NABP) was formed in 1858, little did the world know that this would be the beginning of the Major Leagues, and a great sport that will last forever. Formed from layman baseball players on 25 teams from cities located throughout the Northeast, baseball soon became a household word. Not to say football, hockey, basketball, and racing haven’t played their roles; just that is was baseball that was the most popular sport in America when sports cards were being introduced during the late 1800s.
As more and more of America’s larger cities sponsored qualified teams, adults followed the game more seriously. In the mean time, kids not within the immediate zone of professional teams fabricated their joy of the sport from almost anything imaginable. Sandlots, as they called them, were beaten down in abandoned fields, backyards, and cow pastures all across America. Since real baseballs were hard to come by, stuffed socks, a bag of beans, and even cow patties were used for balls. A stick was used as a bat. And bags of dirt were carefully placed to represent bases.Only those who lived in America’s most popular cities, or people with money to spare could afford to attend major sporting events. As a result, many fans simly were unable to appreciate a glimpse of a professional baseball game. And kids, who were excited the most about baseball, usually were the last to see or hear news about their favorite teams. They had no idea how players ranked or how their teams were doing.With few professional teams peppering the nation, the number of games played each season was minimal as well. And if a fan lived more than walking distance from the diamond, he could enjoy the sport only through an inconvenient week-old newspaper. Unlike today, there were no televisions or radios to promote the game. It’s clear that only those who lived near teams - primarily within the larger cities - were able to enjoy a game of professional baseball.Where distance was a barrier to the sport, the baseball card could help fill that void. Here is how Ron Erbe and Keith Mitchell describe baseball cards in their book, The American Premium Guide to Baseball Cards:
“Baseball cards . . . are photographs, facsimiles, or pictures of baseball players printed or mounted on somewhat stiff paper or cardboard. They are commonly found in varying sizes, usually smaller than postcards, and may or may not have the player’s statistics listed on the back of the card. Beyond these similarities their common characteristics begin to differ. Some were issued nationally and some regionally, as advertising gimmicks or prizes for purchasing certain items. In more recent years the product has become incidental to the acquisition of the cards themselves and the trend now is to eliminate the advertised product entirely.”
Frank Slocum, author of Classic Baseball Cards: The Golden Years wrote:
“It is, or course impossible to pinpoint any single factor as being the most important in the phenomenal growth of baseball in this country, other than the basic makeup of the game itself. However, it is a lot easier to pinpoint the most overlooked factor in that growth, which has to be the baseball card. While the popular legend of what the American boy carried in his pockets mentions marbles, slingshots and jackknives, the truth is that the most prevalent item for most of the past centruy, was likely to be the baseball card.”
Erbe comments on how he feels that baseball cards and the sport of baseball, invented in 1839, went hand in hand during the late 19th centruy . . . “A hidden purpose has also been served; that of promoting baseball itself! The cards and collectibles have been instrumental in helping to educate America’s youth and instilling within them the love of baseball.”
Erbe also said, “Baseball cards were purely American in origin.”
This, however is not entirely true. While baseball is purely American in origin, trade cards are not. As stated earlier, few collectors are aware that prior to the birth of any sports cards in America, our English friends across the Atlantic had been distributing similar cards representing a diverse assortment of sports and events for several hundred years.In part of the “Big Inning” you’ll discover the huge impact the cigarette industry had on the trading card industry.
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