1910 Parker Brothers National-American Base Ball Game Cards Set and Checklist
‘It’s In The Details’
| Title | Parker Brothers National-American Base Ball Game Cards |
| Year | 1910 |
| Size | 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ |
| Images | Color |
| Type | Game Cards |
| Number in Set |
52 |
1910 Parker Brothers National-American Base Ball Game Cards Overview
One obscure early baseball gaming card set came from Parker Brothers around 1910. The set of cards was part of something called the National-American Base Ball game.
These were playing cards with slightly rounded corners. Similar to the Walter Mails game cards, the corners are not as round on these as they are on other sets of playing cards.
The cards do feature a batter – two of them to be exact. Half of the cards have a red background with a batter while the other half has a blue background and a batter. The player depicted, however, is only a generic one. The other side of the cards includes the action words that were used to play the game. Those words were part of a simple baseball field design with various cartoon pictures of equipment, including bats, gloves, and baseballs.
The game was packaged inside of a blue box with the name of the game as well as the Parker Brothers name. Interestingly enough, this same box design and set name was also used for the popular Nap Lajoie game cards as well. Those cards were packaged in the same type of box.
In addition, this thread has more information about the set. The cards were apparently used in later editions of the game as well, going into the 1920s. Note that the date given here of 1910 is an estimated one. Other sources have called this a 1913 set.
1910 Parker Brothers National-American Base Ball Game Cards Checklist
Despite the fact that there are 52 cards in the set, there are only two different card designs make up the checklist.
- Batter – blue background
- Batter – red background
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