A Baseball Card Collector Opens His First Pack in Nearly 30 Years

Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I recall receiving information about life in what would now be considered as primitive means. We went to the library to research term papers and history essays. The news came on at 6pm and that is how we found out about local, national, and world events and happenings. The newspaper was delivered every Sunday and was readily available daily if you were so inclined. We read books, listen to vinyl records then cassettes, we asked our fathers and mothers and uncles and aunts about the world and how it worked. And for the baseball fan, well sports fan, you had trading cards.

What did the baseball trading card do for the sports fan? Everything and so much more. Stats, you want stats, you got them. Home runs, strikeouts, steals, wins, ERA, saves, and so much more. Action photo, check. Where did they grow up, check. Where did they play minor league baseball, what was their journey like, what cities did they play in before getting to the Washington Senators? The trading card filled in all the gaps and provided the sports fan with the ultimate weapon – information. Sure, we had magazines and live broadcasts of Major League baseball games that we could get information from. But this was a tangible item that you held in your hand, stored in a book protected by a vinyl sheet, and had access to 24/7/365 to now call your own.

For me, I collected baseball cards right there in downtown Wickford, Rhode Island at a place called Earnshaw’s Drug Store. It was a short ride down Ten Rod Road on my bike, and I made it as often as I could afford to. The cards were right there at the counter. Packs were cheap, plus they had a stick of gum inside. I paid with my allowance money, then busted out of the store, over to the marina, ripped open the pack, inhaled the gum, and poured through the 10 or so cards in the pack to see who I was lucky enough to now gain information on. Fun times doesn’t begin to tell you how fun those times were.

I’ll skip the entire story but I stopped collecting baseball cards as I grew older and picked up some other habits, hobbies, and fun time options. When I would come home from college, I would stay at my mother’s home, where she kept my baseball cards stored away in my closet. I was revisit them from time to time, but never really had the urge to get back into collecting. In a way, I wanted the cards to stay where they were so I could relive in some way the age I was and feeling I got from those cards. It wasn’t until my late 40s that I actually went through them and took a shoebox out of my mom’s house. Mostly because she was cleaning house and wanted them out, so I obliged. And I have to tell you, having them in my office to look at and reference has been really fun and recently inspired me to do something I haven’t done in about 30 or more years. Go buy a pack of baseball cards.

I don’t know the first thing about baseball collecting in 2025. I picked up a pack at a local store for about $12, a Topps Heritage pack with about 35 cards. Same size as my older Topps cards. Cardstock is a bit heavier. The stats are represented horizontally on the older cards, vertically on the newer cards. Not sure if that is a uniform change, doesn’t really matter, just an observation. The background colors on the new cards made it a bit more difficult to read the stats, but then again my vision isn’t so great these days. Also, there appears to be a glossy film on the cards that makes it a bit harder to read the stats. I liked that the newer cards still have the quirky cartoons with the fun facts, like the old cards. Here is a side by side comparison of two cards from two different eras:

Personally, I think it is super cool that baseball trading cards are now popular again. I remember going to depressing baseball card shows roughly 10 years ago, seeing a lot of sad faces due to lack of interest. Baseball stats are easy to find, there are billions of websites that you can look up the stats for Triston Casas or Francisco Alvarez as soon as you are done reading this blog. But, you want to know something cool – I can tell you everything those sites can tell you (for the most part) right now because I am now the proud of owner of a 2024 Boston Red Sox Triston Casas #352 Topps Baseball card. Check it out!!!

His birthday is January 15th. He is from Miami, Florida. He plays 1st base. He has played for just about every level of Boston Red Sox teams from Salem to Greenville to Worcester to the big club. And I am so hoping he has a bounce back 2025 season and stays healthy. Great player and I have his baseball card. Very cool.

So, will I continue to collect baseball cards? Probably not as avidly as I did when I was a teenager prior to obtaining my driver’s license. However, now that I know they are relatively inexpensive to acquire and still give me that baseball spark even as I settle into my 50s – perhaps I will dabble here and there. I still have my favorite cards in a shoebox that I look at from time to time. And I will add these 35 to my collection for future viewing. One last note, and a question for you…My top 3 favorite baseball cards in my collection are: