Some of the rarest and most sought-after baseball cards feature players from the University of Iowa Hawkeyes baseball teams of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this era before the professional game had truly taken hold across America, many elite amateur and college teams produced their own baseball cards as a means of promotion. Few such college baseball card sets have survived to the present day, making examples from the University of Iowa’s sports history enormously valuable to collectors.
One of the earliest known sets of Hawkeye baseball cards was produced around 1886-1887 and pictures the Iowa squad that won the inaugural Missouri Valley Conference championship in 1887. Only an estimated 20-30 examples from this seminal set are believed to still exist today, scattered among private collections. The cards measure approximately 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches and feature individual black and white photolithograph portraits of each player posed statically in their striped Iowa uniforms. On the reverse of each card is a brief listing of the player’s name, position, hometown and stats from the 1887 season.
Among the rarest cards from this pioneering Iowa set are those depicting team captain Andrew “Fuzzy” Thompson and future Major Leaguer Frank “Kid” Elberfeld. Thompson led the 1887 Hawkeyes to their Missouri Valley title with a team-best .348 batting average from his shortstop position. His card is among the most coveted finds for collectors of early Iowa athletics memorabilia. Elberfeld went on to play 13 seasons in the National League as an infielder, spending his career with the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds and New York Highlanders between 1899-1912. His rookie card depicting him as a talented freshman on the 1887 Iowa squad is one of the earliest college cards for a future big leaguer.
Another legendary set of Hawkeye baseball cards was printed in Burlington, Iowa in 1895-1896 and pictures the teams from those two seasons, known as some of the finest in Iowa history. Produced by the Burlington based Smith Bros. Lithograph Co., these early tobacco era cards stands as among the earliest statewide college sports issues. Measuring a standard size of 2.5 inches by 1.5 inches, the 125 known cards from the Smith Bros. issues showcase individual portraits on the front with player names and no stats. The backgrounds vary between red, blue and grey.
Of particular note from the Smith Bros. issues are the rarer cards showing future Major Leaguers Jack Balliett and Harry Steinfeldt in their Hawkeye uniforms. Balliett had a stellar career as an outfielder and first baseman, playing over a decade in the bigs between 1898-1909 with star turns for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Beaneaters and Chicago White Stockings. His Iowa rookie card has a blue background. Steinfeldt enjoyed a reliable 11-year career in the National League primarily as a third baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs between 1903-1914. His distinctive Hawkeye card stands out with a rare red backdrop.
The rarest individual piece from the entire 1895-1896 Smith Bros. set is generally agreed to be the solo gray card of Hawkeye shortstop and cleanup hitter Monte Cross. In his two seasons at Iowa, Cross blasted an astounding .464 batting average and set numerous power records that stood for decades. After leaving Iowa, Cross was unable to continue his amateur baseball career due to family commitments. As such, his solitary Iowa baseball card stands as the sole surviving documentation of his all-time great college career. Less than a dozen graded examples are known to exist today, making an high-grade Cross among the most valuable collectibles from the state’s sporting history.
Two other seminal early sets featuring Iowa baseballers were printed around the turn of the 20th century. The first comes from an unconfirmed Des Moines publisher around 1900-1901 and pictures that season’s Hawkeye squad, which included future Major Leaguer Eddie Grant. Far fewer than 50 cards are accounted for from this sparse set. The other dates to 1903 and is one of the earliest examples of a full individual team issue, picturing all 15 members of that year’s Iowa baseball team in crisp chromolithographic style. What sets this 1903 Hawkeye set apart is the rarity of finding them in high grades, with intact surfaces a near-impossibility due to the fragile early printing techniques.
Throughout the rest of the 1900s decade, multiple semipro baseball teams based in towns like Burlington, Des Moines and Davenport began producing their own locally-distributed baseball cards as well. Discovered examples frequently picture future Major Leaguers who spent time in the Iowa amateur ranks before breaking into the pros. Notable among these finds are cards from the 1903 Beavers of Burlington issue showing a teenaged Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander in his earliest known portrait. Alexander would go on to become one of the game’s all-time great pitchers, winning 373 career games primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1911-1930.
The surviving early hand-produced college and semipro baseball cards originating from Iowa during the sport’s formative amateur era stand among the most rare and desirable collectibles for historians and vintage card aficionados today. Picturing legendary figures who were just starting their playing careers in the Hawkeye State, these fragile cardboard relics provide a captivating glimpse into the roots of baseball in the Midwest before the rise of professional scouting and minor league development systems. With so few surviving in high grades, examples from sets featuring the University of Iowa, Burlington Beavers and other local teams continue to excite collectors whenever they emerge from old attics, basements or family collections after over a century.
