The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, they were led by Fresno (CA) High School alumnus and player/manager Frank Chance, now best remembered by the “Tinker to Evers to Chance” refrain from the poem, “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.” The 
trading cards of Chance, fellow Baseball Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Bobby Cox, and other 20th century Major League Baseball players with local ties will be exhibited at Fresno State’s Henry Madden Library from April 1 to May 30.
The display of more than 380 baseball cards will be the inaugural exhibition of the Fresno-based American Baseball Card Museum. The museum is a new nonprofit organization to “promote and facilitate the study and appreciation of American culture, history and art through baseball cards.” The museum’s strategy is to build its collection via tax-deducible card donations from aging collectors.
The exhibition includes more than 35 of Chance’s tobacco and candy cards from the beginning o
f the 20th century. There will be cards from the T206 set, American Caramel, T205, Goudey Gum, Sporting News, Play Ball, Bazooka, Mecca, Turkey Red, Hassan, National Chicle, Red Heart, Signal Gas, Zeenut, Bowman, Kellogg and nearly every Topps set from its initial one in 1951 through 1999.
The show will feature augmented reality technology to enhance the visitors’ experience. A supplemental app, created by University of Iowa professor Kevin Ripka, will allow users to interact with the cards and virtually flip them over in their display cases. The free app also serves as a virtual exhibition for those who can’t be at the show.
A special version of the app will also be featured in a Madden Library kiosk to give visitors a sense of the cards’ tactility. These augmented reality cards, when viewed through the kiosk iPad, will allow a user to interact with them as if they were handling the real thing.
The public is invited to an American Baseball Card Museum opening reception at 6 p.m. Friday, April 8, at the Madden Library. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is free.
For more information, visit www.library.fresnostate.edu.
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