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davidcyclebackSean, for something to be a baseball card it has to have been sold or used commercially. For example,
your 1959 Topps card was sold commercially in a wax pack with gum at a store. Some kid probably forked
over his allowance in 1959 to get your card. Other baseball cards were used for advertising and have
ads printed on them. The Peck & Snyder cards have ads for Peck & Snyder sporting goods and
were given out as ads for the company.
The photo you linked to is a fine and early baseball photograph, but probably was not sold
in a store or used for advertising. Thus, it doesn't count as a baseball card.
The earliest known baseball cards were the Peck & Snyder cards, with the 1868 Peck & Snyder Brooklyn
Atlantics being the first in the set.
One of the Peck & Snyder cards is of James Creighton, who is pictured in the photo
you linked to. He's the guy third from the left, and he was the first big baseball star.