Baseball cards have long been a popular collectible item across the United States. As America’s pastime, baseball has captured fans’ imaginations for over a century through its players and their accomplishments on the field as depicted through photographs on cardboard stock. In Lexington, Kentucky, a city with a rich baseball history and fanbase, collecting and trading baseball cards has been a treasured hobby for generations of locals.
Lexington is located in the heart of Bluegrass country in central Kentucky. The city is perhaps best known as the home to thoroughbred horse farms and the host of the Kentucky Derby, but baseball has deep roots here as well. Minor league baseball was played in Lexington as early as the 1890s. The Lexington Colts were a prominent minor league team in the early 20th century that featured future major leaguers like Lou Gehrig and Jim Bottomley. Lexington was also home to the Lexington Legends, a Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros, from 1993 until 2015.
With professional baseball so integral to the local sports culture for over a century, it’s no surprise that baseball cards found a devoted following in Lexington. Some of the earliest collectors started amassing cards in the late 1950s and 1960s as the modern baseball card boom began. Icons of the era like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax were highly coveted. Young fans would swap, buy, and sell duplicates from their wax packs at school or local card shops.
One of the first dedicated baseball card stores in Lexington was Bob’s Sportscards, which opened in 1974. Bob’s helped grow the local collecting community by hosting card shows and swap meets. It gave collectors a central place to meet, trade with one another, and stay up-to-date on the latest releases and most valuable cards. Bob’s Sportscards was instrumental in turning baseball cards into a true hobby and economy in Lexington for decades.
As the value of vintage cards rose sharply beginning in the 1980s, new businesses emerged to cater to collectors. Card Shops opened in 1985 and became another popular destination for traders. Meanwhile, the baseball card collecting craze of the late 80s, driven by stars like Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire, brought a new generation of young fans into the hobby. Vintage cards from the 50s and 60s also achieved record prices that grabbed the attention of investors beyond hardcore collectors.
By the 1990s, Lexington had developed into a true hotbed for the baseball card trade. Large card shows drew hundreds of vendors and collectors from across Kentucky and nearby states. Some of the biggest names in the industry like Brian Seigel, Jeff Shepard, and Jeff Albert would even make personal appearances at Lexington card shows. The rise of the internet in the 90s allowed Lexington collectors to easily buy, sell, and trade cards online with a massive new customer base.
Two major independent card shops, Kentucky Baseball Cards and Stadium Card Shop, opened their doors in Lexington in the 2000s and helped the local scene thrive into the new millennium. Both shops hosted frequent card shows and buyer events that kept the community active. They also educated new collectors, provided grading and authentication services, and worked to preserve the history of the hobby. Today, these shops continue playing an important role alongside the growing online marketplace to support the vibrant baseball card culture in Lexington.
While the popularity of sports cards has fluctuated over the decades, Lexington remains a hotbed of collecting activity. The city’s deep roots in baseball and generations of devoted collectors have cemented it as a true epicenter for the hobby. Whether hunting vintage gems or chasing the latest rookie stars, baseball card enthusiasts in Lexington proudly carry on their time-honored tradition. And through their collections, local fans preserve not just memories of the game but memories of growing up with the cards themselves in America’s horse capital.