Sunsets, Cigarettes, and Hendrix Highlight Seattle's Very First Baseball Cards
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Today all eyes are on the Big Dumper, J-Rod, and Randy Arozarena, but collectors and baseball fans alike know that Seattle's illustrious baseball history, not to mention its baseball card history, dates back to well before 2025. In fact, one of the Hobby's most iconic cards just happens to be a Seattle Mariner and dates all the way back to 1989. (Sorry if that made you feel old.)
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Two decades before Griffey, there were also cards of major leaguers, only they weren't Mariners at all. They were from the short-lived Seattle Pilots franchise that played one season only in the Pacific Northwest before financial struggles turned them into the Milwaukee Brewers. Their cards can be found in both the 1969 and 1970 Topps sets.
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While Seattle had no major league teams prior to the Pilots in 1969, that's not to say that there weren't Seattle baseball cards. In truth, the history of Seattle baseball cards goes back more than a century to a 1909-1911 tobacco card set known officially as T212 Obak and affectionately as the "West Coast Monster."
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Though the T212 Obak set made its debut in 1909, there were no Seattle cards that year as the set focused exclusively on the Pacific Coast League of which Seattle was not (yet) a member. In 1910, the set branched out to include the far more obscure Northwestern League, and along with it, 16 members of the Seattle Giants.
These cards are as visually stunning as they are hard to find, with populations only a tiny fraction of their T206 counterparts. As the last place Giants lacked any superstar players in 1910, collectors looking to add an O.G. Seattle baseball card to their collections might gravitate toward distinctive visual elements such as pine trees and sunsets, as can be found on the 1910 card of Jimmy Johnston.
Of course, aficionados of Seattle's storied musical scene, not to mention more "experienced" collectors, will be more drawn toward Hendrix, even if the Hendrix in question is Rhoddy rather than Jimi. (No word on if he performed the National Anthem before games.)
The T212 Obak set returned in 1911 with a dozen more Seattle players. Here are two that highlight the Emerald City for its tremendous Arts scene, that is if the Arts in question are Messrs. Bues and Butler!
Then again, many Seattleites insist that the pairing they enjoy the most with their Hendrix is Weed...Fred Weed, that is!
Either way, Seattle baseball has come a long way since the halcyon days of the T212 Obak set with this year's team oh so close to a World Series. With good reason, Mariners fans are positively achin' for a title...or is that Akin?
The good news for the Seattle faithful is their 2025 team definitely has the heart and the hunger, not to mention the drive and the Dumper. Really the only question, should the M's down Toronto and take on the Dodgers or Brewers, is, "Do they have the Skeels?" At least 114 years ago, the answer was most definitely yes!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.