Lori and her little brother Jayden were huge fans of baseball. Every Saturday afternoon they would watch baseball games together while eating popcorn and doing their homework. Their favorite team was the New York Yankees. Lori, who was 12 years old, dreamed of one day becoming a baseball scout while Jayden, who was 8, wanted to be a professional baseball player when he grew up.
Both Lori and Jayden enjoyed collecting baseball cards as a hobby. They loved learning about the different players, comparing stats, and hoping to find rare or valuable cards in packs. For his birthday last month, Jayden’s grandparents had given him $20 to buy some packs of baseball cards at the local sporting goods store. He decided to save up the money so he and Lori could go shopping together this weekend.
After finishing their chores around the house on Saturday morning, Lori and Jayden asked their parents if they could go to the store. “Of course you can go, as long as you’re back before the big game starts at 1 o’clock,” their mom replied. The siblings got on their bikes excitedly and pedaled the 5 blocks to the store.
When they arrived, they made a beeline for the baseball card aisle. There were racks filled with various trading card products from the top manufacturers – Topps, Bowman, Panini, etc. Jayden took the $20 out of his pocket and said to Lori “I have enough money for 6 packs. Which ones should we get?” Lori studied the options carefully.
She noticed there were packs from this current year’s Topps series 1 release, as well as some “blaster” boxes which contained 10 packs for around $20. After thinking it over, she said “I think we should get 6 individual packs so we have a chance to open more cards total. Let’s get 3 packs each of the Topps series 1 packs since those will have current MLB players.” Jayden agreed with her choice and they each grabbed 3 packs.
Excited to get started, Lori and Jayden found an empty spot on a shelf to sit down and open their packs. Lori went first, carefully tearing into the cardboard and plastic wrapping of her first pack. “Ok, let’s see what players we get!” she said enthusiastically. Jayden watched eagerly as she flipped through the cards one by one.
The first few were of less notable players like a relief pitcher for the Royals or a backup catcher for the Rangers. But suddenly Lori gasped “No way! I got a Fernando Tatis Jr. rookie card!” She showed Jayden the shiny green bordered card of the young Padres star, who was amongst the best players in baseball the past couple seasons. “That’s so cool, he’s gonna be a superstar. Great pull sis!” Jayden said happily for her. Lori carefully slipped the prized rookie into a protective sleeve.
She finished opening that pack without any other standouts. Then she tore into the second one. This time she pulled a base card of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, which she was pleased with. The third pack held a variety of role players and prospects but nothing too exciting. It was now Jayden’s turn. He slowly opened the plastic on his first pack, even more cautious than his big sister.
The first card he revealed was a star shortstop for the Dodgers. “Wow, I got a Trea Turner!” He said in amazement. While not a rookie, Trea was a perennial All-Star who helped lead LA to a championship last season. Jayden was thrilled with his pull. He kept flipping through and found another decent pull of Reds ace Luis Castillo. But the remaining few cards were minor leaguers and depth pieces.
Undaunted, Jayden moved on to his next pack. After getting partway through, his eyes widened. “Lori, is this guy good?” He asked. She took a look at the card. “No way!! You pulled a Soto rookie!” Sure enough, it was the prized first Topps card of Nationals outfielder Juan Soto from 2018, when he was just a teenager breaking into the big leagues. “Jayden that card is worth so much money, you gotta put it in a sleeve right away!” Lori told him firmly. He did so with the utmost care, his hands shaking in excitement.
By now both kids were on a roll, having gotten some sought-after young stars and rookies. They ripped into their last packs with greater intensity than before. Unfortunately neither ended up with any more hugely valuable hits. But they did each pull an assortment of current and future MLB contributors that added to their growing collections. Once they had looked through all the cards, they put them into protective pages in their binders to properly store them.
On the bike ride home, Lori and Jayden couldn’t stop talking about their lucky day at the card shop. They were thrilled with the awesome players they now owned cards of, especially the big rookies. When they told their parents about their pools over a snack, even mom and dad were impressed. Both kids knew they would treasure those packs and the memories made opening them for a long time to come. It had been one of the most fun Saturdays Lori and Jayden had spent bonding over their shared love of America’s pastime.
