Baseball cards celebrate America's pastime

Whether you're a fan of Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Cal Ripken Jr. or Ken Griffey Jr., chances are you remember opening your first pack of baseball cards.

Collecting and trading baseball cards have been part of the national pastime for more than a century. While the thrill of opening a pack of cards has stayed the same, many fans will say that modern capabilities make baseball cards the coolest pieces of "art" money can buy.

Baseball fans, young and old, paid homage to baseball cards when Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association presented National Baseball Card Day.

With the support of card companies Topps and Upper Deck, card collectors celebrated the thrill of baseball card collecting on March 29 when they received free packs of 2008 trading cards at participating hobby shops and Toys "R" Us stores.

National Baseball Card Day brought together generations of fans as they built new memories, interacted with collectors in their area and found fun and unique ways to connect with their favorite players.

In an effort to help kids and other fans make the most out of their collections, here are some tips to get started:

•Collect favorite players.

•Start a team collection with the players on favorite teams. Set aside the starters and place them in the batting order while watching the game.

•Trade with friends to swap doubles and find cards that fit with a personal collection.

•Collect cards by type of photograph, such as a "perfect swing," or those that share your first or last name.

•Show them off.

To find out more information about National Baseball Card Day, visit www.mlb.com.

This story provided by North American Precis Syndicate Inc.