The history of baseball cards in Alabama spans over 100 years, dating back to the late 19th century when the earliest baseball cards first began appearing. Some of the earliest baseball cards produced featured star players from Alabama who made it to the major leagues.
While most early baseball cards from the late 1800s were regionally produced and focused on specific teams or areas, the earliest reference to baseball cards connected to Alabama comes from an 1887 Old Judge tobacco card serial set that featured several future Hall of Famers including Monte Ward who was born in Selma, AL in 1860. Ward would go on to have a successful career as a pitcher and manager in the majors.
In the early 1900s, the modern baseball card era began with the larger national production and distribution of sets by companies like American Tobacco, McConnell Candy Company, and Bicycle/Playball. During this time, some of the first Alabama natives to appear on baseball cards included players such as Artie McGovern of Birmingham who had cards in 1911 Bicycle and 1915 Sweet Caporal sets during his time with the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves in the 1910s.
Another notable early Alabama-connected baseball card was an 1911 Turkey Red Cabinet card featuring Willie “Pud” Foster of Demopolis. Foster was a star player and pitcher in the Negro Leagues during the first two decades of the 1900s and his card captured him during his playing days for the Leland Giants. It’s regarded as one of the key early cards showing an African-American ballplayer prior to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.
In the 1920s and 30s, several Birmingham Barons players who found their way to MLB rosters had cards produced of them as well. Stars like Schoolboy Rowe, Dixie Walker, and Vern Kennedy all appeared on cards during this period as members of the top White Sox and Tigers farm team located in Alabama. The Barons also drew some of the state’s first African-American fans as they fielded one of the top Black baseball teams outside the Negro Leagues for a period.
The post-World War II era saw a boom in mass-produced baseball card sets that coincided with new televised national exposure of Major League games. Sets by Bowman, Topps, and others featured many future Hall of Fame players and some with Alabama roots began finding wider distribution at shops, candy stores, and filling stations across the state.
Stars like Billy Williams who was born in Whistler and grew up in nearby Prichard had prominent rookie cards in the 1959 Topps set during his decade-long All-Star career with the Cubs. Joe Morgan, a native of Bonham who attended Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery, came out with Topps and other cards in the late 1960s as his career took off with the Reds and Astros.
Through the 1960s and 70s, baseball card collecting became an extremely popular hobby among children and young adults across Alabama. Stores offered wax pack promotions and local card shows sprang up in cities drawing collectors of all ages. Many lifelong collections were started during this golden age for the hobby in the state.
In the 1980s, stars with Alabama ties like RandyMVandy of Haleyville and Bobby Bonds’ son Barry who attended McAdory High continued having popular rookie cards produced. The era also saw challenges to the sports card monopolies and the rise of independent regional sets focused on Southern teams and players including some featuring standouts from SEC college programs within the state like Alabama and Auburn.
The 90s brought new fronts of competition and innovation to the trading card market. Tech changes allowed for odder shaped and insert cards within sets. Alabama natives like Chad Kilgore of Pinckard had conventional rookie cards in 1992 Leaf and Score issues after being drafted. Others gained notoriety more off the field like Mark “The Bird” Fidrych who was born in Northport and known for his eccentric antics on the mound.
In the modern era, stars coming out of colleges across Alabama are still having rookie cards made, but the independent scene has also flourished with many small companies spotlighting top state amateur and legends series releases. Digital technology continues bringing new collectors worldwide. While the industry faces challenges, baseball card collecting remains both a popular connection to Alabama’s rich baseball roots and thriving nostalgia-based hobby today.
From the earliest tobacco issues to today’s digital platforms, baseball cards have woven themselves into the sports fabric of Alabama for over a century. The hobby isn’t going anywhere and will likely continue on spotlighting the state’s baseball heritage and players for generations more through cards.
