BASEBALL CARDS ASHEVILLE

Baseball cards have a long history in Asheville, North Carolina stretching back over a century. Some of the earliest baseball cards produced featured players from the minor league teams that called Asheville home in the early 1900s. While the hobby of collecting baseball cards exploded in popularity across the United States in the post-World War II era, Asheville developed its own vibrant baseball card collecting community that continues today.

One of the first minor league franchises to play in Asheville was the Tourists, who took the field in 1904 as members of the South Atlantic League. In their early seasons, the Tourists featured future Major League stars like Home Run Baker and Eddie Plank. Starting in the late 1910s, companies like American Caramel began producing baseball cards featuring players from the lower minor leagues. This included Tourists players, making them some of the first athletes from Asheville depicted on baseball cards.

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Through the 1920s and 1930s, the Tourists and later the Robins continued stocking their rosters with talented but inexperienced players sent down from the big leagues to refine their skills. Names like Bill Dickey, Ted Kluszewski, and Early Wynn got their professional starts in Asheville before going on to Cooperstown-worthy MLB careers. As baseball card production expanded during the 1930s to prominently feature minor leaguers, Asheville players remained prominently represented in sets from companies like Goudey and Play Ball.

After World War II, the baseball card collecting phenomenon took off across the United States as never before. Produced on a mass scale by Topps, Bowman, and other manufacturers, cards were eagerly sought by children and adults alike. The reborn Tourists, now a Dodgers’ farm team, and later incarnations like the A’s and Twins affiliates based in Asheville in the 1950s-60s gave local fans players to root for and collect. Stars of that era like Don Drysdale, Tony Oliva, and Bert Blyleven had their earliest cardboard representations while suiting up for Asheville.

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Card collecting became a hugely popular pastime in the Asheville area through the 1960s and beyond. Local card shops like George’s Cigars & Sportscards and later Sports Cards Etc. sprang up to meet demand. These shops sponsored annual baseball card shows that drew collectors from across western North Carolina and beyond. Major figures in the regional and national hobby like card author George Vrechek got their starts attending and vending at Asheville shows. Today’s largest annual Asheville card show, held each February, continues to be one of the premier such events in the Southeast.

While minor league baseball has had some gaps in Asheville over the decades, the city’s connection to cards remained strong. The history of players who passed through the area on their way to MLB stardom is preserved in millions of cards collected locally and traded nationwide. Even without a pro team based in town since the early 1990s, Asheville remains home to one of North Carolina’s most vibrant baseball card collecting communities. Local shops like The Baseball Card Store provide a gathering place for fans, and annual shows keep interest high. Over a century after the first Asheville players appeared on cards, the connection between the city and America’s pastime on cardboard lives on.

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