There is a lot of stuff out there…
If you are here, you already know a few things about the Baltimore Orioles.
Baseball statistics are cool. They make watching the game more interesting. The Sunday paper sports section used to be my first stop before I went to church. Those stats told stories. They’re still there, even with the 24-hour availability of information at anyone’s fingertips.
Those stats also used to be on the backs of most baseball cards. Collecting your favorite team and players became a learning experience for kids without them even realizing it. Various skills were sharpened by checking out the back of a baseball card. Reading, math, geography; baseball cards still contain stats.
But the cards themselves have become a huge investment opportunity for those same kids that used to collect them for fun. That is neither good nor bad. It just is that nature of changing times and a competition for screen time, clicks and, ultimately, money.
Do you know how many eBay listings there are for Baltimore Orioles-related items? Care to guess? You might be wondering why anyone would even ponder such a thing. Well, I was pondering, and now I know.
Currently, as I type, there are 512,219 Baltimore Orioles items listed. Don’t believe me? The proof is right this way. That number will change before I finish typing this article and before you even finish reading it. The beauty of the internet, am I right?
Items range in price from $0.01 for a 1995 Fleer Ultra Power Plus Gold Medallion Rafael Palmeiro sports card (with free shipping) to $58,888.88 for a 2019 Bowman Chrome Black Wave Refractor Auto Gunnar Henderson 1/1 sports card ($100 shipping is extra), with a Beckett Grading Service (BGS) 9.5 (this card is🔥, by the way!) Although a nice-looking card, the seller will never sell it for what he had listed. But it’s still a free country, so we wish them the best of luck!
Gunnar Henderson 1/1)
As you can imagine, between these two items lies an amazing array of… stuff. The list is not endless; it just seems that way.
Price Guides & Publications
Sealed Trading Card Packs
Sealed Trading Card Boxes
Sealed Trading Card Cases
Sports Trading Card NFTs
Sports Trading Cards
Storage & Display Supplies
Trading Card Singles
Trading Card Lots
Trading Card Sets
Uncut Trading Card Sheets
Trading Card Box & Case Breaks
Wrappers & Empty Card Boxes
The rabbit hole you can go down is deep. There are so many sites for collectors to visit, it would take way too long to attempt to put together a comprehensive list.
eBay is the big dog, for sure. Another popular stop for sports card enthusiasts, Beckett Collectibles, LLC, is a mainly sports-related site that includes a long list of Orioles items available. That number sits at 133,254 using the search term ‘Baltimore Orioles’. Thankfully, the Beckett site limits itself to tracking sports cards and sports-related memorabilia, with a foray into Pokémon thrown in for good measure.
So, why is this information so important that you’re reading an article about it? It’s simple. While the baseball card has changed immensely from the first sets, it remains a source of cool in a world that competes for the coolest of everything.
Baseball fans can still pick up a card with their favorite team or player and learn something they didn’t know 30 seconds prior. The baseball card still holds a shred of nostalgia for those new to collecting. It still creates a link between parent and child that can last a lifetime.
This 2.5” by 3.5” piece of cardboard (6.4 cm by 8.9 cm for our friends that use that other measuring system) will always be a link back to memories for anyone that picks one up and stares at it like it’s the best thing since whatever that game was they were playing on their phone/tablet/computer. Because it is.
What’s your take on baseball cards? Do you collect, or do you just admire from afar? We want to know! Let us know in the comments, and be sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter! And, make sure to use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content to show your Birdland swag!
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