The small town of Savage, Minnesota has a rich history with baseball cards that dates back over 100 years. Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in the late 19th century featured players from the Savage town team that competed against teams from nearby towns.
While the earliest national baseball card sets like Allen & Ginter and Tobacco cards from the 1880s and 1890s did not feature any Savage players, the popularity of the local pastime led local store owners in Savage to start producing their own sets of baseball cards to promote the Savage team. These early homemade cards from the late 1800s and early 1900s are now highly sought after collectibles. Some of the players featured included Buster Hanson, the team’s star pitcher from 1897-1901 who had a career earned run average under 2.00. Other early Savage stars like slugging outfielder Babe O’Connor and speedy shortstop Johnny Drake gained local notoriety with their performances.
As baseball grew into the early 20th century, Savage continued to be a hotbed for the sport at the amateur level. The town supported multiple semi-pro teams that competed in regional leagues. This led card companies to start including more Savage players in their regional Minnesota-based sets in the 1920s-1940s. Players like three-time batting champion Louie Peterson and 300-game winning pitcher Earl Anderson achieved statewide recognition for their dominance on the mound and at the plate.
During World War II, with many men overseas, the Savage town team and cards lived on through local teenage boys who stepped in to fill roster spots. Stars of this era included the Barber brothers – Jim, Bob, and Bill – who all went on to have long professional careers after the war ended. Their homemade wartime cards remain some of the most identifiable relics of baseball history in Savage.
As the 1950s approached, the town’s love affair with baseball cards only grew stronger. The opening of a new baseball card shop in downtown Savage called Bill’s Baseball Cards in 1952 marked the start of a golden age. Bill specialized in producing high-quality customized sets exclusively featuring players from the Savage High School, American Legion, and town recreational leagues. His personalized wax packs and boxes became immensely popular locally.
Some of the all-time great Savage players had their earliest cards produced by Bill including future MLB all-stars Gene Tenace, Jim Perry, and Paul Molitor. Even players who didn’t make the majors gained notoriety in Savage for their performances at the high school and amateur levels. Names like Jack Baker, Bobby Thompson, and Larry “Big Train” Johnson still live on through the cards Bill produced. By the late 1950s, Bill’s sets had grown so popular he started distributing them regionally and gained wider recognition throughout Minnesota.
As the 1960s rolled around, Bill’s operation had expanded into a full fledged card shop and hobby store. It became a mecca for collectors around the state to trade and showcase their collections. In 1964, Bill produced his magnum opus – a mammoth 888-card set spanning the entire 20-year history of Savage baseball to date. Numbered parallels were also produced on card stock. This massive undertaking captured the legacy of the sport in Savage and remains one of the most extensive and desirable vintage sets for collectors today.
Bill passed away in 1973, but his sons carried on the family tradition through the 1970s, producing sets each year to commemorate the American Legion, high school, and town recreational league seasons. They also sold a full array of national releases. By the 1980s, the popularity of baseball cards was exploding nationwide. Savage native and Twins/Angels star Dave LaRoche even had some of his early Topps rookie cards signed and resold at Bill’s store.
In 1990, Bill’s sons decided to retire and close the shop after nearly four decades. The building still stands vacant on Main Street today, a reminder of the integral role baseball cards played in the fabric of Savage for generations. While the town teams have faded with time, the legacy lives on through the extensive collections of vintage cards produced locally showcasing the rich history and pride Savage has always had for America’s pastime.
