Lineup Cards: History, Evolution, Collectability, etc

[DannyNoonan]

I started collecting lineup cards 10 years ago, primarily from games I attended. I wanted to learn more about them, their history, evolution, what cards have survived the years, collectability, etc., but was disappointed to find very little information about them. So, I decided to start doing it myself 4.5 years ago.

The finished product, The Lineup Card: An Illustrated History of the Baseball Collectible, will be published by McFarland Publishing on 8/9/24.

To me, lineup cards are an undervalued piece of baseball memorabilia and history. Hardly a game from Little League through MLB starts until lineup cards are exchanged at home plate, and that goes back at least a century. While many cards have been lost over the decades, some have survived to help tell baseball’s rich history. I am happy to have been able to help document their role in the game.

I spoke to a lot of experts for the book, including collectors who regularly post about lineup cards here on Net54 like Jeff, Bill, and Rick; former MLB umpires John Hirschbeck and Jim Reynolds; MLB managers/coaches Jerry Narron and Don Wakamatsu, etc. to learn about the history, usage, cool stories about cards, collectability, cards from famous games, etc. As three examples, I interview the two friends who worked together to win an auction for Boston’s 2004 World Series Game 4 dugout card…for $160k, believed to be the most anyone has ever spent on a lineup card. I spoke with a guy who ended up buying both dugout cards from Aaron Judge’s 62nd HR game, and then sold them/donated the profits to charity to honor his uncle. And John Hirschbeck shared with me that the lineup card that meant the most to him in a career that included several World Series and All-Star games was a regular season card that Jerry Narron put a picture of Hirschbeck’s recently deceased son, Michael, on.

The book is 250 pages with nearly 200 pictures of various lineup cards from 1930 to 2022. McFarland is selling the book on its website for $40, but I can sell it for $35 delivered in the lower 48. Please email me if interested: oemtom@aol.com.

I’m happy to answer any questions about the book specifically or lineup cards in general. Thank you! - Tom