Racism in Baseball Card Collecting: Fact or Fiction?

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the impact (if any) of a player's race/ethnicity on the value of his rookie baseball card. Data on the race/ethnicity of 29 (17 white and 12 nonwhite) members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the value of their rookie baseball card were obtained from three sources. The principal finding of the study is that race/ethnicity and the value of a player's rookie baseball card are not related. The paper concludes with an explanation for the finding and recommendations for future research.