Is it even summer without a trip to the ballpark? Whether at a neighborhood Little League field or a big-league stadium, there’s just something about a baseball game that makes you slow down and enjoy the day. Baseball has long been a summertime tradition for players and fans alike, which might explain why old gloves, bats, bobbleheads, and team photos still spark such nostalgia today. And, as it turns out, all that old gear and memorabilia may be worth more than just its sentimental value. So before you clean out the attic, take a closer look at those old boxes—there just might be a home run of a find hiding inside.
Pocket Paper Baseball Schedules
Introduced in the 1920s, paper pocket baseball schedules were handed out at ballparks and distributed by local businesses as promotional giveaways. Often printed in small regional runs, examples from the 1940s through the 1970s are prized today for their bold graphics and references to team names from bygone eras.
What It’s Worth: Most sell for $5 to $75, depending on age, condition, and uniqueness of design. Schedules tied to memorable seasons, such as the Mets’ 1969 World Series run, or depicting star players can bring well over $100.
Wood Baseball Bats
Though modern baseball traces its roots back to 1845, standardized bat dimensions—no more than 2½ inches in diameter and 42 inches in length—weren’t codified until 1869. Examples made of ash, maple, and birch from storied brands such as Hillerich & Bradsby’s Louisville Slugger, Adirondack, and Spalding are especially sought after.
What It’s Worth: For collectors, bats from the early 1900s through the 1960s represent a sweet spot, typically selling for $50 to $800 or more. Value tends to rise with age, authenticated game use, and endorsements from Hall of Fame players such as Ernie Banks (bottom center).
Umpire Indicators
Umpire indicators—pocket-size thumb-turn tools used by officials to track balls, strikes, and outs—first appeared in the 1870s and were commonly made of celluloid (center) before metal and plastic versions became standard. Even more collectible, though, are paper promotional score counters (Sen Sen, left center) that fans used to follow games from the stands before scorecards were available.
What It’s Worth: Today most vintage indicators sell for $10 to $50. Depending on age and rarity of design, paper promotional score counters can cost $50 to $300 apiece.
Early Mascot-Headed Bobbleheads
“Nodder” figurines can be traced back to 17th-century China, but the baseball bobblehead tradition began in 1960, when Major League Baseball commissioned papier-mâché versions to represent the teams as stadium giveaways. (While the uniforms varied, all the figures had similar cherubic, wide-eyed faces.)
What It’s Worth: Though generally less valuable than later bobbleheads modeled after star players, these early examples remain prized for their nostalgic charm and typically sell for $60 to $300 apiece depending on team, condition, and rarity of design.
Baseball Gloves
Though there were earlier innovations (an 1877 padded glove by A.G. Spalding, for example), leather fielding gloves for baseball players weren’t common until the 1890s. One caveat for collectors: Markings in pen or marker, often added by the original owner, can detract from a glove’s value.
What It’s Worth: Today vintage gloves are prized for their wide variety of shapes, colors, and styles, and values typically range from $50 to $1,000, with higher prices tied to age, condition, and rarity of make and model.
Team Photographs
Vintage baseball photographs became a serious—and lucrative—collecting category after a landmark 1996 Christie’s auction of Baseball magazine’s photo archive, followed by the 2005 book A Portrait of Baseball Photography, which established a grading system based on original negatives and print dates. Collectors are especially drawn to images of historically significant teams.
What It’s Worth: Panoramic team portraits offer an accessible entry point, with prices ranging from $15 for small circa-1960s snapshots to several hundred dollars for larger framed examples from the turn of the 20th century.
Uniforms
Beginning in 1910, the minor league Birmingham Barons baseball team began playing at the newly built Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, which is now the oldest professional ballpark in the country. (Rickwood saw some of the best baseball players ever, including more than 175 Hall of Famers!) Appraiser Marsha Dixey of Heritage Auctions consulted with colleague Tony Giese and shares that this wool flannel uniform belonged to Birmingham Barons player Eddie Wells, No. 6, a southpaw who pitched for the team in 1928—even pitching a shutout against the Houston Buffaloes—moving there after playing for the Detroit Tigers. He then went on to play for the New York Yankees.
What It’s Worth: This jersey is worth $3,000 and the cap alone is valued at $500.
Cracker Jack Collectibles
Prizes first appeared in boxes of this caramel-coated popcorn treat in 1912 and, over the years, included patriotic trinkets like the 1930s tin litho whistle pictured. For collectors, baseball cards issued in 1914–15 are among the most valuable (in good condition, single cards can sell for well over $1,000!), while die-cast charms and figures manufactured by Dowst (the maker of the first metal Monopoly tokens) are sold for around $5 each. Physical prizes were discontinued in 2016 and replaced with stickers with codes to play classic games online.
What It’s Worth: From around $5 apiece up to more than $1,000 for rare baseball cards from 1914–15.
Start Your Collection!
The following dealers generously loaned pieces to be photographed for this story:
