Evan Parker has always been a collector. Like a lot of us, he started with sports cards as a kid, but he collects what interests him. Besides sports cards that could mean watches, memorabilia or who knows what. He has a sports journalism background a

Baseball writers, like political commentators, are supposed to be neutral. But all of us were fans growing up and most still remain partial to particular players or teams. For me, I’ve been an ardent admirer of Henry Louis Aaron since I started watch

Another baseball season is in full swing. Once again, there are plenty of exciting prospects and rookies that can potentially make a name for themselves over the course of the year. The player who garnered the most attention in baseball circles enter

It is the second week of March and I am off to Tampa, Fla. for some much-needed warm weather and plenty of baseball, a trip I look forward to every year. Here are some of my observations from a few days roaming around Spring Training in the Bay area.

In the background of Dan Quisenberry’s 1988 Fleer baseball card, looking over the great relief pitcher’s shoulder, is a man in a red shirt and sunglasses. Here is a guy, it would seem, who got to be on a baseball card simply by being at the right pla

My grandpa, John Wallace Thompson, was a big, strapping man who looked a bit like Ted Williams. He didn’t hit like Williams, but he could swing the bat better than most, they say. He and his brothers played ball in cow pastures and makeshift fields d

Mike Rozanc ponders the question for a moment. What are the absolute favorite things in his collection? The first answer is easy—the jersey and pants Willie Stargell wore during the 1973 season. They’re displayed on a mannequin, right next to the bri

To commemorate March Madness, Topps launched a new Bowman U NOW card set on March 18 in partnership with the NCAA and select student-athletes. Bowman U NOW March Madness features 20 Topps athletes in the Men’s and Women’s NCAA tournaments, including

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part 2 of a two-part series on new card shops in the hobby.) Fanatics took the hobby by storm in late 2021 when it acquired the official licenses for MLB, NFL and NBA cards, along with acquiring Topps and PWCC Marketplace. F

I’ve gotten to know Chris Carlin for some years now. From the onset I knew he was a person who loved and cared about the hobby. Full of energy and oozing with passion, Chris was the front man for Upper Deck when I first met him, a role he served for

There has always been a myriad of reasons to visit Europe’s biggest cities. From sightseeing to museums to restaurants, places like London and Paris are on many travelers’ bucket lists. Add card shows to that long list of reasons to visit Europe this

Imagine Mr. Rockie Todd Helton, one of the greatest Colorado Rockies players of all time, in a Boston Red Sox uniform. That almost happened before the start of the 2007 season. But the proposed trade—which would have sent Beantown’s Mike Lowell, Juli

Of all the Major League Baseball players whose career took place after World War II, Wade Boggs currently owns the highest lifetime batting average (.328 or .3278) of any living player with at least 1,000 at-bats and 1,000 games. Boggs, Hall of Fam

Former Chicago Bears great Steve McMichael was widely known as one of the toughest players in the NFL. A two-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro, McMichael played in a franchise-record 191 consecutive games for Chicago from 1981-93 and anchored the

If Joe Mauer didn’t make it in pro baseball, he had a backup plan—pro football. But when the Minnesota Twins made Mauer the No. 1 pick in the 2001 MLB Draft and he started playing in the Twins’ minor league system, it became clear that no Plan B was