U.S. Presidents and Baseball

 

In this collection, I try to find one card of each U.S. President since around the beginning of baseball (1850) doing something related to baseball. Not an easy task for early Presidents; whereas for the 20th and 21st centuries I have found cards of most Presidents throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of a game.

Between Millard Fillmore (1850 - 1853) and William McKinley (1897 - 1901), the only card I can find (or afford) of a President with any reference to baseball is the Abraham Lincoln card shown within this post. However; during my search for said cards I came across the 1888 W. Duke Sons and Co. card shown below.

According to Pre-War Cards.com, Duke Sons & Company produced a variety of comical baseball and non-sports issues in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Among them was the 1888 N154 Presidential baseball card set. Very rare and expensive (PSA, SGC, and Beckett have combined to grade fewer than 100 of them in all), the highlights are the oversized heads of presidential candidates on the bodies of female baseball players. 

Image of 1888 W. Duke Sons and Co. Presidential Baseball (N154), Card #NNO Grover Cleveland / Benjamin Harrison variation. Photo courtesy of TCDb.

U.S. President No. 13.
1956 Bowman U.S Presidents Collector Series, Card #16.

U.S. President No. 14.
1992 Starline Americana, Card #48.

U.S. President No. 15.
1992 Starline Americana, Card #49.

U.S. President No. 16.
“Support Disabled American Veterans” Card by Dave Stewart, Card #NNO.
Lincoln reportedly played baseball on the White House lawn (Ken Burns Baseball).

U.S. President No. 17.
2004 Topps Presidential Pastime, Card #PP17.
In 1867, Johnson attended a pro contest (Burns).

U.S. President No. 18.
1992 Starline Americana, Card #61.
Grant, out of office, saw a game at the Polo Grounds in 1883 (Burns).

U.S. President No. 19.
1992 Starline Americana, Card #74.

U.S. President No. 20.
1956 Bowman U.S Presidents Collector Series, Card #23.

U.S. President No. 21.
2004 Topps Presidential Pastime, Card #PP21.
Arthur reportedly greeted N.L. teams (Burns).

U.S. President No. 22 and 24.
1992 Starline Americana, Card #64.
Cleveland also reportedly greeted N.L. teams (Burns).

U.S. President No. 23.
1992 Starline Americana, Card #62.
In 1892, Harrison saw a big league game (Burns).

U.S. President No. 25.
2002 Topps American Pie, Card #132.

Finally some more cards with baseball visuals...

U.S. President No. 26.
Theodore Roosevelt in 1995 Phil Rizzuto's Baseball "The National Pastime" Baseball Cards by Comic Images, Card #62.

U.S. President No. 27.
William Howard Taft, 2010 Topps History of the Game, Card #HOTG6.
In 1920, Taft became the first sitting U.S. President to throw out the ceremonial pitch on Opening Day.

U.S. President No. 28.
1994 Upper Deck Ken Burns Baseball, Card #21.

U.S. President No. 29.
1994 Upper Deck Ken Burns Baseball, Card #36.

U.S. President No. 30.
2004 Topps Presidential Pastime, Card #PP29.

U.S. President No. 31.
2004 Topps Presidential Pastime, Card #PP30.

U.S. President No. 32.
1994 Upper Deck Ken Burns Baseball, Card #47.

U.S. President No. 33.
1994 Upper Deck Ken Burns Baseball, Card #56.

U.S. President No. 34.
1994 Upper Deck Ken Burns Baseball, Card #59.

U.S. President No. 35.
1994 Upper Deck Ken Burns Baseball, Card #65.

U.S. President No. 36.
2004 Topps Presidential Pastime, Card #PP35.

U.S. President No. 37.
2011 Topps Opening Day Presidential First Pitch, Card #PFP-5.

U.S. President No. 38.
2004 Topps Presidential Pastime, Card #PP37.

U.S. President No. 39.
Panini Americana Heroes & Legends, Card #39.

U.S. President No. 40.
1992 Tuff Stuff Presidential Pitches, Card #8.

U.S. President No. 41.
George H.W. Bush, Bob Lemke Art Card, Card #NNO.

U.S. President No. 42.
2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces, Card #76.

U.S. President No. 43.
Art Card.
 Bush headed an investment group that owned the Texas Rangers.

U.S. President No. 44.
2011 Topps Presidential First Pitch, Card #PFP-10.

U.S. President No. 45.
Art Card, Card #NNO.

U.S. President No. 46.
2020 Topps Now, Card #10.
Biden is a Syracuse University College of Law Alum.

My favorite card from this set: Honest Abe Lincoln with a bat in his hands. Boy, I'd really love to see an original of one of those 1888 W. Duke & Sons cards! 

What's your favorite?

Thanks for stopping by.

CinciCuse Bill