Definition

Noun: A small, collectible card, typically made of cardboard, that features a picture of a baseball player on one side and statistical information or biographical details about that player's career on the other. These cards are produced as part of a series and are traditionally included in packages of chewing gum or candy, serving as both a promotional item and a collectible for the sport of baseball.

Usage

The term "baseball card" is used to refer to the individual card itself. It is a count noun. - You collect, trade, buy, sell, or own a baseball card or baseball cards. - You can describe a card as a valuable baseball card, a rare baseball card, or a vintage baseball card.

Examples

• His most prized possession was a baseball card of Babe Ruth from 1933.
• The shop specializes in buying and selling rare basebaseball cards.
• As a child, he would ride his bike to the store to buy a pack of gum hoping to find a new baseball card inside.

Advanced Usage

• "To be in mint condition": A phrase often used in the context of collecting to describe a baseball card that is in perfect, undamaged state, as if it just came from the pack. This significantly increases its value.
  • The 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card is worth a fortune if it's in mint condition.
• "Rookie card": A specific type of baseball card that features a player during his first official season in the major leagues. These are often highly sought after by collectors.
  • Investors are always looking for the rookie baseball card of a future Hall of Famer.

Variants and Related Words

• Trading card (n): The broader category to which baseball cards belong. It includes cards featuring athletes from other sports, characters from movies or comics, and other subjects.
  • Baseball cards are a popular type of sports trading card.
• Card collecting (n): The hobby of accumulating and organizing cards, including baseball cards.
  • Card collecting requires knowledge and patience.

Synonyms

• Sports card: A more general term that can refer to a trading card for any sport.
• Collector's card: Emphasizes the item's role as an object for collection rather than its specific baseball content.

Related Phrases

• To complete a set: A common goal in collecting where one acquires every baseball card issued in a particular year or series.
  • It took him ten years to complete the 1975 Topps baseball card set.
• Pack fresh: Describes a baseball card that has just been removed from its original packaging and has not been handled.
  • The cards he pulled from the box were all pack fresh.

Noun

1. a trading card with a picture of a baseball player and information about his playing record