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Baseball lineup cards are hard to find, but a growing niche among memorabilia collectors
(NOTE: Excerpts from this article were taken from the author’s recently published book “The Lineup Card, An Illustrated History of the Baseball Collectible,” published by McFarland Publishing, 2024).
Hidden gems, card displays, chasing free lineup cards, and the future of physical lineup cards were the topics most mentioned in an informal survey of collectors and sports memorabilia executives regarding the current state of the baseball lineup card market.
Baseball lineup cards will always be a niche in the baseball memorabilia world due to the low quantity of high-end cards, particularly vintage cards. But for some collectors, that only adds to their appeal as a collectible.
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“A big part of the charm of the lineup card is the scarcity,” said Andy Strasberg, a baseball author, memorabilia collector and former San Diego Padres’ executive. “Do the math: 162 games x 30 teams = 4,860, divided by 2 = 2,430 sets of two original cards that only the ump has and currently is his property.”
Of course, now one base umpire also typically holds a pair of batting order cards, and there are also dugout and bullpen lineup cards, but Strasberg’s point still holds true: there are only a few thousand lineup cards available per season, and milestones only occur in a handful of those games.
Go back to the 20th century, before Major League Baseball and its teams started to market and sell lineup cards, and the lack of cards is far more pronounced as most ended up in the trash after a game.
Take Rick Levy, a sports memorabilia collector with a penchant for the Dodgers, particularly Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson.
“I collect a broad spectrum of things that are vintage,” Levy explained. “The lineup cards are kind of a neat fit. I have picked them up where I can.”
The problem, Levy has found, is there aren’t many on the market.
“I have only seen one Dodger lineup card for sale recently, and was fortunate to pick it up,” Levy said. “They are the home plate umpire's lineup cards for both teams from Sal Maglie's [1956] no-hitter as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, versus the Phillies.
“I’d love to find more of them, they’re just hard to find,” he said.
Bill Haelig, a Baltimore Orioles and Cal Ripken Jr. fan, concurs. Haelig has several notable Orioles and Ripken Jr. lineup cards in his collection, including carbon copies of the batting order cards from Ripken’s historic 2,131st consecutive game played. But despite “scouring eBay pretty regularly,” he has only bought three lineup cards since 2020:
• The Yankees dugout card from the 25th anniversary of Ripken Jr.’s 2,131st consecutive game in 2020.
• The Twins dugout card from Ripken Jr.’s 3,000th hit game.
• The Texas Rangers dugout card from a 2022 game at Camden Yards where his son played the National Anthem on his saxophone before the game.
“I matted it and framed it, along with the game ticket and pictures of him performing, and gave that to him as a birthday gift the next year,” Haelig said.
He has seen a handful of Orioles and Ripken-related cards for sale, but nothing he considered to be truly historic.
“Lineup cards are scarce in the auction market, and Heritage only sells a handful per year at auction,” said Chris Ivy, director of auctions at Heritage Auctions.
That said, Heritage sold a 1990 Seattle Mariners dugout card for $93,000 in 2023. The Sept. 14 game featured Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. hitting back-to-back home runs, the only father-son duo to do so.
Nik Key, owner/operator of Game 7 Authentics, hasn’t seen much change in the lineup card market the last few years, “unless it involves Shohei [Ohtani] somehow.”
What are people looking for when they buy lineup cards?
“Some want to buy every card I had of their team, some just want certain dates, and some just want some that have a certain player involved,” Key said.
Not surprisingly, three of the seven most expensive lineup cards for sale on eBay in early October 2024 included Ohtani, and ranged in price from $9,500 to $49,500 for the card from his first home run with the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this year.
While those prices are probably not realistic, a card from a 2022 game in which Ohtani both pitched and hit sold for $1,800 on eBay this summer.
FREE LINEUP CARDS
A subset of lineup card collectors asks a manager, coach or umpire for their lineup cards after a game, rather than buying cards from teams or otherwise.
While not new, asking for free lineup cards after games has grown in popularity, particularly thanks to lineup card chasers showing off their scores on social media.
Social media is how Cincinnati area fan Shaun Meiners first found out about it in 2022. Not only does he appreciate the story the cards tell, but also the fun of him and his sons chasing cards together.
“There is a bit of an adrenaline rush when you successfully obtain a lineup card,” he said.
Todd Osborne is one of the veterans, chasing cards after college, minor and major league games since 1997. He has seen the competition to get cards grow after games, and some that are in it for a potential payday rather than the collectible itself.
“It is getting harder and harder to get lineup cards these days,” Osborne said. “People of all ages are asking for them to sell, making it harder for true collectors to get them for their personal collections.”
And while the vast majority of cards given away after games are worth little, if anything, there is the occasional milestone card that is given away, including the St. Louis bullpen card from Albert Pujols last Major League home run game in 2022 that was given to a fan after the game.
TELLING A STORY
Whether you buy or get a milestone or notable card for free, you are likely going to want to display it, like Haelig did with the card he bought from the game his son played the National Anthem at.
“I think the charm [of lineup cards] is more of the display,” Key said. “They display great and really tell a story.”
Generally speaking, that means framing the card, possibly with other items from the game, such as pictures and tickets.
Levy likes to combine multiple items from a game or event into a single framed display, and does it himself.
“I buy the frames and museum quality acrylic and do all my own matting,” Levy said.
For Sandy Koufax’s perfect game, Levy framed the Cubs’ dugout lineup card with a full game ticket, a vinyl recording of Vin Scully’s call of the last inning of the game, and four news service bulletins from the game.
For those not as skilled as Levy, there are companies like 5280 Custom Framing in Denver to help with the framing.
“We do a lot of lineup card framing for Rockies players and other members of the organization,” said Jarrod Perrott, owner of 5280. “[Rockies manager Bud] Black brought this tradition with him from San Diego as a nice thing to do for players.”
Aside from the Rockies, Perrott said 5280 has done projects for memorabilia collectors, including a son who framed a card from the last Yankees game he and his mother watched before she passed away, and a woman who framed a couple of lineup cards for her son.
“I would say there is an increased demand for framed lineup cards as they're unique in the sense that they might commemorate a significant date to certain people,” Perrott said.
Pricing for a relatively basic framed lineup card starts at about $125, according to Perrott.
“To make it look really nice you could be in the $200 to $300 range as there are different frame, glass, and matting options, which vary in price.”
Whether doing it yourself or hiring someone to do it for you, Perrott suggests that lineup cards be framed with acid-free materials and UV glass to protect the card.
FUTURE OF LINEUP CARDS
The pregame lineup card exchange has long been one of baseball’s most cherished traditions, from Little League through Major League Baseball.
But can physical lineup cards survive in what is rapidly becoming a digital world?
Other professional leagues, including the NHL and NBA, got rid of their versions of printed lineup cards in favor of digital lineup submissions during COVID. And physical tickets have largely disappeared for all sporting events, including baseball.
“While the game of baseball has the most robust history and the powers that be preferring to hang on to the traditions of the game, I do suspect that lineup cards will eventually go the way of physical game tickets to ultimately become digital,” Ivy said.
“With all the notations that must be kept by the umps, I’m confident that somewhere someone is creating a hand-held device that will eliminate the need for printed cards and written notations,” Strasberg said. “Eventually, when the umpire’s union can successfully negotiate, a fifth umpire will be added to the four on-field umps and they will be sequestered on-site keeping track of everything.”
Key agrees with Ivy and Strasberg, but sees a small silver lining for lineup card collectors.
“I think eventually physical paper lineup cards will be obsolete and everything will be done electronically, making the old-school physical cards more sought after,” he said.
LINEUP CARD SALES
(Notable sales since 2021)
Ken Griffey Jr. & Sr. Back-to-Back HRs: $93,000
Sal Maglie No-Hitter (umpire cards): $847.20
Aaron Judge HR #62: $12,530
Last Cleveland Indians Dugout Card: $5,000
2022 Shohei Ohtani Dugout Card (pitching/hitting): $1,800
2001 World Series (NYY-Arizona) Dugout Card: $1,195
