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Below are some tidbits on baseball and sportscard collecting along with a listing of the All-Time and Active Leaders in a selected statistical cateogry. Visit our web site for more info on vintage and current baseball, football, basketball, hockey, sports and non-sport cards and card collecting.

Q7: What are some additional useful to know baseball card collecting terms ? (part 3) High Numbers - vintage cards were issued in the ‘50s-‘70s in a series. During the baseball season, the largest number of cards were made. As the schedule progressed into September, when there would be less interest in baseball cards , Topps for one, specifically decreased production and hence much less product was available. As a result, a scarcity-factor was created and a premium holds for these first type of "short-printed" cards. Inserts - special randomly-inserted cards which are not part of the regular set. Many modern inserts are sequentially-numbered and rarer than the card sets into which they are inserted. O-Pee-Chee / OPC - a subsidiary of Topps, this card issue was produced specifically for distribution in Canada. Promotional Card - generally referred to as cards issued to show what the product will look like on release and intended to help spur future sales. Often called a "promo" card. Reprint - cards issued to reproduce the originals. With the current trend of vintage reprints, the new versions have a distinguishing characteristic evidenced by numbering. Restored - a card or piece of memorabilia which someone has tried to return to a "like-new" condition. A restored card is considered to be of very little value. Rookie Card - any league-licensed, widely distributed card to feature a player in his first year of trading cards. Series - a group of cards within an issue deliberately split up by the manufacturer to distribute at different times of the year. (i.e.- vintage 1st series cards 1-100 were released in April and 2nd series cards 101-200 were released in July, etc.). Short Print (SP) - a card printed to a lesser quantity than other cards in a set. Many recent short prints are also individually & serially-numbered. Tobacco Cards (T1) Starting approximately in 1886, sportscards, mostly baseball cards, were often included with tobacco products, for promotional purposes and also because the card reinforced the packaging and protected cigarettes from damage. These sports cards are referred to as tobacco cards in the baseball card hobby. Over the next few years many different companies produced baseball cards. Tobacco cards soon started to disappear as the American Tobacco Company tried to develop a monopoly by buying out other companies. They were reintroduced in the 1900s, as American Tobacco came under pressure from antitrust action and Turkish competition. The most famous and most expensive, baseball card is the rare T206 Honus Wagner. The card exists in very limited quantities compared to others of its type because Wagner forced the card to be removed from printing. It is widely (and incorrectly) believed that Wagner did so because he refused to promote tobacco, but the true explanation lies in a dispute over compensation. Soon other companies also began producing baseball and football cards. Sports magazines such as The Sporting News were early entries to the market. Candy manufacturers soon joined the fray and reflected a shift toward a younger target audience for cards. Caramel companies were particularly active and baseball cards were one of the first prizes to be included in Cracker Jacks. World War I soon suppressed baseball card production.

***  BATTING AVERAGE  -  ALL-TIME Leaders  ***
Active Players - "+" BOLD in CAPS with AGE
Rank Player              Batting Average
 1.  Ty Cobb HOF            .3664
 2.  Rogers Hornsby HOF     .3585
 3.  Joe Jackson            .3558
 4.  Lefty O'Doul           .3493
 5.  Ed Delahanty HOF       .3459
 6.  Tris Speaker HOF       .3447
 7.  Ted Williams HOF       .3444
 8.  Billy Hamilton HOF     .3443
 9.  Dan Brouthers HOF      .3421
     Babe Ruth HOF          .3421
11.  Dave Orr               .3420
12.  Harry Heilmann HOF     .3416
13.  Pete Browning          .3415
14.  Willie Keeler HOF      .3413
15.  Bill Terry HOF         .3412
16.  George Sisler HOF      .3402
17.  Lou Gehrig HOF         .3401
18.  Jake Stenzel           .3386
19.  Jesse Burkett HOF      .3384
20.  Tony Gwynn             .3382
21.  Nap Lajoie HOF         .3381
22.+ TODD HELTON (31)       .3366
23.  Riggs Stephenson       .3361
24.  Al Simmons HOF         .3342
25.  John McGraw HOF        .3336
26.  Eddie Collins HOF      .3332
     Paul Waner HOF         .3332
28.  Cap Anson HOF          .3326
     Mike Donlin            .3326
30.+ ALBERT PUJOLS (25)     .3324
31.+ ICHIRO SUZUKI (31)     .3323
32.  Stan Musial HOF        .3308
33.  Sam Thompson HOF       .3307
34.  Bill Lange             .3302
35.  Heinie Manush HOF      .3298
36.  Wade Boggs HOF         .3279
37.  Rod Carew HOF          .3278
38.  Honus Wagner HOF       .3274
39.  Tip O'Neill            .3257
40.  Bob Fothergill         .3255
41.  Jimmie Foxx HOF        .3253
42.  Earle Combs HOF        .3248
43.  Joe DiMaggio HOF       .3246
44.  Babe Herman            .3245
45.  Hugh Duffy HOF         .3241
46.+ VLADAMIR GUERRERO (29) .3240
47.  Joe Medwick HOF        .3236
48.  Edd Roush HOF          .3227
49.  Sam Rice HOF           .3223
50.  Ross Youngs HOF        .3222
51.  Kiki Cuyler HOF        .3210
52.  Charlie Gehringer HOF  .3204
53.  Chuck Klein HOF        .3201
54.+ NOMAR GARCIAPARRA (31) .3197
55.  Mickey Cochrane HOF    .3196
     Pie Traynor HOF        .3196
57.  Ken Williams           .3192
58.  Kirby Puckett HOF      .3181
59.  Earl Averill HOF       .3178
60.  Arky Vaughan HOF       .3176
61.  Bill Everitt           .3174
62.  Roberto Clemente HOF   .3173
     Joe Harris             .3173
64.  Chick Hafey HOF        .3170
65.  Joe Kelley HOF         .3169
66.  Zack Wheat HOF         .3167
67.  Roger Connor HOF       .3165
68.  Lloyd Waner HOF        .3164
69.  Frankie Frisch HOF     .3161
70.  Goose Goslin HOF       .3160
71.  Lew Fonseca            .3158
72.  George Van Haltren     .3157
73.  Bibb Falk              .3145
74.  Cecil Travis           .3142
75.+ DEREK JETER (31)       .3139
76.+ MANNY RAMIREZ (33)     .3137
77.  Hank Greenberg HOF     .3135
78.  Jack Fournier          .3132
79.  Elmer Flick HOF        .3130
80.  Ed Morgan              .3128
81.  Larry Walker           .3127
82.  Bill Dickey HOF        .3125
83.  Dale Mitchell          .3123
84.  Johnny Mize HOF        .3121
     Joe Sewell HOF         .3121
86.  Fred Clarke HOF        .3119
     Deacon White           .3119
88.  Barney McCosky         .3118
89.  Edgar Martinez         .3115
90.  Johnny Hodapp          .3114
     Hughie Jennings HOF    .3114
     Freddie Lindstrom HOF  .3114
93.  Bing Miller            .3113
     Jackie Robinson HOF    .3113
95.  Baby Doll Jacobson     .3112
     Taffy Wright           .3112
97.+ MIKE PIAZZA (36)       .3110
     Rip Radcliff           .3110
99.  Bug Holliday           .3109
100. Ginger Beaumont        .3108
   
*** BATTING AVERAGE  -  Active Leaders  ***
Rank Player (age)        Batting Average
 1.  Todd Helton (31)       .3366
 2.  Albert Pujols (25)     .3324
 3.  Ichiro Suzuki (31)     .3323
 4.  Vladimir Guerrero (29) .3240
 5.  Nomar Garciaparra (31) .3197
 6.  Derek Jeter (31)       .3139
 7.  Manny Ramirez (33)     .3137
 8.  Mike Piazza (36)       .3110
 9.  Frank Thomas (37)      .3071
10.  Alex Rodriguez (29)    .3069
11.  Magglio Ordonez (31)   .3062
12.  Sean Casey (30)        .3050
13.  Juan Pierre (27)       .3049
14.  Ivan Rodriguez (33)    .3042
15.  Mike Sweeney (31)      .3040
16.  Chipper Jones (33)     .3031
17.  Bobby Abreu (31)       .3029
18.  Jose Vidro (30)        .3021
19.  Jason Kendall (31)     .3019
20.  Lance Berkman (29)     .3018
21.  Moises Alou (38)       .3010
22.  Mark Loretta (33)      .3006
23.  Placido Polanco (29)   .3005
24.  Barry Bonds (40)       .3000
25.  Shannon Stewart (31)   .2996
26.  Julio Franco (46)      .2993
27.  Brian Giles (34)       .2992
28.  Kenny Lofton (38)      .2991
29.  Garret Anderson (33)   .2980
30.  Bernie Williams (36)   .2978

1956 Topps Pins In addition to their regular issue 1956 Topps baseball card set, which in my opinion, was Topps' nicest regular issue set, Topps released a special pin set. This was the first pins ever issued by Topps. Few issues can compare to the 1956 Topps Pins set. The colorful and attractive 1-1/8" diameter pins, just like baseball cards from the era, were packaged with bubble gum. The pins featured a full color photo of the player with a pin clasp on the reverse. Interestingly, some images for the pin set are the same as those on the regular 1956 Topps cards. Even if you don't want to collect the set, if you collect 1956 Topps cards than YOU MUST add at least one 1956 Topps Pin to your collection. The 1956 Topps Pins set features most of the eras Hall-of-Famers including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Ernie Banks, Duke Snider, Al Kaline, Yogi Berra, Eddie Mathews and also includes some super tough scarcities such as Chuck Stobbs, Hector Lopez and Chuck Diering. There is not firm opinion as to which of the 3 scarce short prints are the toughest to find. In the end, collectors in the day preferred their cards to pins and Topps cut back the 1956 Topps Pin set issue from a planned 90 pins to just 60.

1977 Topps CLOTH STICKERS One of the few Topps specialty issues of the late 1970's, the set contained 55 cloth stickers of the top players of 1977 along with 18 puzzle cards which joined together to form photos of the 1976 American League or 1976 National League All-Star teams. Very attractive visually, these cloth stickers/cards were a separate Topps test issue and sold in their own packs. Each pack contained 2 stickers and 1 checklist puzzle piece. According to S.C.D., player photos on the front are identical to their 1977 regular cards but the backs are different. The regulation card size 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" stickers have a paper backing which lists the player's career highlights and could easily be removed to allow the cloth to be adhered to a jacket, notebook, etc. TOP STARS: Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Bench, Robin Yount, Lou Brock & more! The 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers set also has a scarcer Mark Fidrych ROOKIE card !!!

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