The small town of Spanish Fort, Alabama has a rich history with baseball and baseball cards dating back to the early 1900s. Located just across the bay from Mobile, Spanish Fort was a hub for amateur and semi-pro baseball during a time when the sport was exploding in popularity across America. Some of the earliest baseball cards featuring players from the Spanish Fort area date to the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In the late 1880s, regional tobacco companies and sports card publishers began producing sets of cards featuring amateur and semi-pro players from leagues around the country. Some of the earliest Spanish Fort players to appear on cards included pitcher Hugh McVay and outfielder Thomas Jefferson, who both played for the Spanish Fort Reds in the 1890s. Their tobacco era cards are now highly valuable collectors items.
As baseball grew in the early 1900s, so too did the popularity of baseball cards. Major manufacturers like American Tobacco and Joy Tin Caps began releasing sets each year with players from all levels of the sport, including many small town amateur leagues. Players from Spanish Fort regularly appeared in these early 20th century tobacco sets. Names like Earl Williams, Frank Martin, and Billy Weeks could be found amongst the cards targeted at young collectors across America.
The 1920s marked the golden age of the semi-pro and amateur baseball scene in Spanish Fort. Local industrialist and philanthropist John Henry Foster helped finance construction of Foster Field, one of the finest ballparks of its kind in the region. His Spanish Fort Merchants developed a fierce rivalry with nearby Mobile teams and regularly drew thousands of fans to games. Stars of the Merchants like catcher Luke Orso, first baseman Ike Benton, and pitcher Hank Thompson achieved local celebrity status and were highly sought after baseball cards.
As the first baseball card “bubble” popped in the late 1920s due to antitobacco laws, the Great Depression severely impacted the amateur baseball scene across the country. Spanish Fort was no exception, with Foster Field falling into disrepair and the Merchants team disbanding. Local players still appeared in sets from smaller regional publishers through the 1930s, but the limited runs meant Spanish Fort players were not nearly as widespread in collections as the previous decades.
After World War 2, interest in baseball roared back across America as the country emerged from wartime austerity. In Spanish Fort, local businessman John Hand decided to revive the town’s baseball legacy by reconstructing Foster Field and launching a new semi-pro club, the Spanish Fort Braves. Stars like the Herman brothers, Bobby and Donald, slugger Willie Sims, and pitching ace Roy Johnson achieved renown playing for the Braves throughout the 1950s. Their success helped Spanish Fort regain its status as a hotbed of amateur baseball.
The post-war era also saw a renaissance in baseball cards led by the wildly popular sets from Topps. For the first time since the 1930s, Spanish Fort players achieved nationwide exposure thanks to the mass-produced cardboard. Names like the Herman brothers, Willie Sims, and Spanish Fort natives who went on to pro careers like Jim Gentile and Sonny Siebert appeared in Topps’ flagship sets year after year, delighting collectors across America once more.
As the amateur baseball scene declined through the 1960s-70s, Spanish Fort players also disappeared from mainstream card sets. But the town’s rich history was not forgotten. In the late 1980s, regional publisher Donruss released a set focused entirely on forgotten players from small town American leagues in the early 20th century. Featuring over 20 different Spanish Fort players, it remains the most comprehensive collection of pre-war cards for the area.
Today, Spanish Fort may no longer be a hotbed of amateur baseball. But its legacy lives on through the vintage cards that collectors still seek out. Prices for the rarest 1890s issues featuring Hugh McVay or Thomas Jefferson can exceed $10,000. Even common 1950s cards of the Herman brothers routinely sell for over $100 due to the town’s passionate collector base. For those who grew up attending games at Foster Field, baseball cards remain the most accessible connection to Spanish Fort’s glorious baseball past. The cardboard memories ensure the town’s place in sports history is not forgotten.
