I've found other articles about our early baseball cards, not all with happy endings. Here is another from 1887, third paragraph mentions the baseball pictures (likely Old Judge cards). Children buying and smoking cigarettes was a widespread issue that would be addressed over the ensuing years with legislation at city, state, and eventually Federal level.
By all accounts, collecting these early cigarette inserts was immediate, primarily by the boys and those assembling scrap books (often adult females - with a stronger interest in the actress and many other non-sport subjects).