TOLEDO, OHIO.- Play Ball! Baseball Cards from The Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrates Toledo's rich baseball heritage, the city's contributions to the national pastime, and the opening of Toledo's new ball park, Fifth Third Field.  Drawn from the extensive and unrivaled Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, the exhibition includes 145 baseball cards from the earliest years of their existence in the late 19th century. For Jefferson R. Burdick, baseball cards were his passion.  During his lifetime, he collected 306,353 American trade cards that were stored in 394 binders.   Mr. Burdick donated his collection to The Metropolitan Museum of Art where portions of the baseball card collection components are always on view in the American Art Collection Wing.  The Toledo Museum of Art is privileged to have a portion of this fantastic collection to display. 

From 1887, the year the first card was printed, through 1959, Mr. Burdick's collection contains virtually every baseball card printed.  Among those baseball cards to be shown in Toledo are two of Roger Bresnahan, the only Toledo native son enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  There are five players in Toledo uniform as well as some 15 others who were associated with Toledo teams.  Also featured are many of the greatest ever to play the game including Babe Ruth, Al Kaline, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Joe DiMaggio, Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, and Hank Aaron.

The skilled artistic designs on these cards range from intricate filigree to art deco to modern and reflect the era in which they were produced.  Social history can be seen with Jackie Robinson's card that symbolizes the breaking of the color barrier in baseball.  Advances in printing and technology through the years can be seen in the photography and lithography of these cards.  And local history can be revisited with the emphasis on baseball cards depicting players that wore the Toledo uniform.