The Summer of 1990 started out as normal for the small town of Springfield. The sun was shining, kids were playing outside, and everyone was gearing up for another baseball season. Little did they know that this summer would bring about one of the strangest phenomena the town had ever seen – the attack of the baseball cards.
It all started on a warm June afternoon. 10-year-old Timmy Johnson was in his room going through his collection of baseball cards, as he did just about every day. He had hundreds of cards organized in plastic sleeves and binders. As he was admiring his prized Mike Schmidt rookie card, something strange began to happen. The card started vibrating violently in its sleeve. Timmy tried to remove it but it was stuck fast. Suddenly, the card ripped itself free and launched out of the sleeve, flying straight at Timmy’s face. He screamed and ducked just in time to avoid being hit. The card smashed into the wall and fell to the floor.
Timmy was bewildered. He carefully picked the card up, but it was completely unharmed. He chalked it up to a weird fluke and continued looking through his collection. But then another card, this time a Nolan Ryan, started shaking and launched itself at Timmy too. He narrowly dodged it. One by one, each of the cards in his room started vibrating and flying around, attacking Timmy. He scrambled under his bed to take shelter as the cards ricocheted off the walls and furniture. After several minutes, the attack suddenly stopped. When Timmy emerged, his room was a mess but miraculously he was uninjured.
Word of Timmy’s strange encounter quickly spread around town. At first everyone thought it must have been his imagination. But later that day, similar attacks started being reported all over Springfield. Susan Wilson said she was sitting on her porch when a Roberto Clemente card flew by and slapped her across the face, leaving a red mark. The Thompson twins were playing catch in their backyard when a flock of cards descended on them, pelting them relentlessly. Even adults weren’t safe – local shopkeeper Ed Johnson said he was rearranging merchandise in his store when a swarm of at least 50 cards burst through the front door and chased him around, knocking merchandise off the shelves.
By nightfall, nearly every household in Springfield had experienced some form of attack. People’s baseball card collections, long stored away in attics and basements, had come to life and were on the rampage. No one knew what was causing it or how to stop it. The town went into a panic. Parents kept their kids indoors while card-wielding mobs roamed the streets. Stores sold out of gloves, goggles, and baseball bats as people armed themselves for protection. The local Little League game had to be cancelled after the field was overrun by a horde of flying Topps and Fleer cards.
The following morning, scientists from a nearby university were called in to investigate. They examined cards that had been collected from attack sites but could find no explanation. The cardboard and ink showed no abnormal properties. They hypothesized that some unknown energy wave must be animating the cards, but had no idea where it was coming from. In the meantime, the attacks showed no signs of stopping. Public places like the library and diner had to board up their windows after repeated assaults. The high school principal even closed the school for a few days, deeming it too dangerous for students.
As the weekend approached with still no solution, tensions in Springfield were rising to a boiling point. Residents were living in a state of constant fear, barricaded inside with whatever defenses they could muster. Then late Saturday night, the strangest thing of all occurred. Timmy Johnson, who had been largely confined to his home since his initial encounter, snuck outside to get a better look at the night sky. As he gazed up at the stars, he noticed a peculiar bright light moving among them. It was glowing different colors and seemed to be pulsing in a rhythmic pattern.
Timmy called out to get his parents’ attention. They came running and also saw the anomaly. Just then, a baseball card zoomed towards them out of the darkness. Timmy’s father swatted it away with a broom they had been using for protection. But as the card tumbled end-over-end to the ground, it too was pulsing with the same strange multicolored light. Timmy realized with a shock – the light in the sky and the energy animating the cards were one and the same! He shouted up to the glowing object, “Please stop this, we don’t know what we did!” As if in response, the light immediately changed course and shot off into space, disappearing from view.
In that instant, the card attacks ceased. An eerie calm fell over Springfield once more. The scientists were dumbfounded by Timmy’s discovery but had no better explanation for the bizarre events. To this day, no one knows for certain what visited the town that summer or what its purpose was. The baseball cards never flew again after that night. While the memory still sends chills down residents’ spines, life has mostly returned to normal. But the people of Springfield will never forget the summer they lived in fear of a simple pack of trading cards gone rogue. It remains one of the strangest unsolved mysteries in the town’s history.
