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The first recorded baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ in 1846 between the NYC Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and the New York Baseball Club (the Knickerbockers lost). By 1858, the National Association of Base Ball Players was formed, consisting of around 30 small teams. After the Civil War, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first professional fully-paid team.
Over the next hundred years, a number of leagues emerged, including the National Association, American League, National League, Federal League, and Continental (items from defunct leagues are highly sought after today)...
Baseball cards are widely collected today. The earliest incarnations (1840s) were cardboard-backed photos of local players and teams, which came in cabinet card size and the smaller carte-de-visite size. Commercial baseball cards emerged in the late 1860s when a sporting goods dealer called Peck & Snyder printed cards with an ad on one side and a baseball player on the other. Within a few years, cards began appearing in packages of Old Judge tobacco and other tobacco, candy and chewing gum brands.
Other promotional items such as baseball programs became popular in the 1890s. Advertisers bought space on these score cards, and cards from famous games (e.g. the World Series) are highly sought-after. Other collectible promotional items include gloves, statuettes, plaques, posters, and pins.
And of course, there's a huge market for authentic baseball memorabilia linked to specific players, including greats such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, and Willie Mays. They produced plenty of signed baseballs, bats, gloves, photos, and other autographs. But be careful, as fake sports memorabilia is a lucrative business.
See all 57 Baseball Memorabilia events
I played baseball, basketball, and ran track from the time I was eight years old all the way through high school. L… [more]
I started collecting in 1986. If you’re in Boston and you’re a baseball fan, the Red Sox may take over your life. T… [more]
The Baseball Hall of Fame officially opened in 1939, so we’re coming up on our 70th anniversary. If you include bas… [more]
Dave Campbell contacted me after reading a post on The Baseball Card blog. He's been collecting baseball cards non-… [more]
Check out this well-organized collection of 500 sets of baseball cards, each over 50 years old. Browsable by type a… [read review or visit site]
Ben Henry's lively vintage baseball card blog, started in January 2006, offers hundreds of great posts on (and pict… [read review or visit site]
Dave Campbell's in-depth blog on old baseball (and some football) cards lives up to it's motto: 'do cards, not drug… [read review or visit site]
Roll up your socks for this Library of Congress collection showcasing hundreds of players on colorful early basebal… [read review or visit site]
A home run for baseball collectors, this site features in-depth special exhibits ranging from a baseball uniforms d… [read review or visit site]
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New York City homicide detectives who follow a trail of stolen baseball memorabilia to a kidnapping case involving a drug kingpin (Guillermo DÃaz)...Read more
Foley's is home of the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame and features one of the country's most extensive public displays of baseball memorabilia outside...Read more
The baseball collection -- which also includes T-shirts, sweats and hoodies but no lingerie -- is available in more than 100 Victoria's Secret stores...Read more
But they'd have to find it first Mario Tama, Getty Images A 1927 baseball autographed by Babe Ruth is seen at a Sotheby's preview of a baseball memorabilia...Read more
Vintage's baseball team will count heavily on Alex Sasloff, shown here getting a hit against Benicia. Jorgen Gulliksen/Register With nine Vintage baseball...Read more
Jorgen Gulliksen/Register Robby Rivera had a good feeling when he took the mound for the Vintage baseball team Wednesday. “I felt real good today because it...Read more
By VIN MANNIX - vmannix@bradenton.com Chuck Jewett's baseball memorabilia collection grew in the most serendipitous ways over the past 30 years...Read more
during a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory — where baseball memorabilia mixes with a close-up look at how the famed bats are crafted...Read more
