I appreciate that.
Regarding lineup cards, ones from significant games are difficult to find for at least 4 reasons:
- There are so few copies in existence (even when considering the copy that each manager has the one the umpire has, and adding to that the larger ones that they post on the dugout walls, it is still a tiny total)
- Lineup cards weren't traditionally viewed as significant, and therefore were often thrown out. To this day, some managers and umpires toss their lineup cards (although I imagine they are more likely to preserve ones from more significant games)
- Even when saved, many stay in the collection of the umpire or manager for many years before they decide to part with them.
- There is generally nothing about the lineup card itself that makes it clear that it was from a significant game, outside of World Series games and the like. So at times they hide in plain site.
That said, I've collected lineup cards for years, and have been able to find/acquire some nice ones. Some came from large collections (I purchased the vast majority of umpire John Hirschbeck's personal collection, which included lineups such as Adrian Beltre's 1st career HR, Carl Yastrzemski's final career HR, Steve Carlton's final career win and others, as well as Tommy Lasorda's personal collection from the last 8-9 years of his career. That included Mike Piazza's 1st career HR, and Pedro Martinez MLB debut and 1st career win.
I've also found lineup cards on eBay that simply were not identified. I acquired Frank Thomas and Ivan Rodriguez MLB debut lineup cards in that way. 99.99% of the time, when looking up a game there is nothing of significance, but those 1 in a million are what keep me searching.
Of course, probably most common is paying market price (and sometimes overpaying in my case, since I'm a big fan of them) on the rare occasion when they turn up.
There are some really cool ones posted in this thread (some mine, some from other people). I've also included a couple of pictures here, one from Brett's 3000th hit game and the other form Ripken's.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...=lineup&page=2
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snapolit1
Interesting thoughts.
I actually don’t recall seeing a line up card for an important game at auction. What I usually see is “here’s a lineup card from the NY Mets against the Cincinnati Reds from May 19, 2020….”. A lineup card from a huge game would be pretty huge indeed.
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