Baseball cards on a belt? Anything goes for passionate collector Strahm

PHILADELPHIA – Matt Strahm's passion for baseball cards just might get him into Cooperstown, N.Y.

Everybody knows Strahm loves cards. He might have close to a million at home. He famously collects rookie cards (many signed) of players who have homered against him in the big leagues. But Strahm’s enthusiasm goes beyond his massive collection.

He also hosts the TV show “The Card Life,” which debuted in June 2021. It is the first nationally aired TV show dedicated to the sports card hobby. Each episode airs an average of 415 times every month on 26 regional sports networks across the country, more than any single episode of any single show (sports or non-sports).

Strahm’s passion explains how he got a couple baseball-card belts made for him for the All-Star Game last month in Texas. He wore one belt for the Home Run Derby. He wore the other for the Midsummer Classic.

There is a chance one of them might end up at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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“I might be sending it there,” Strahm said recently. “Not 100 percent sure, but they reached out, asking about it. My brother asked me, ‘Are you going to give it to them?’ I said, ‘It’s probably my only way in there. Of course I’m going to give it to them. If they want it, I’d love to display it.’”

Strahm knew he could get baseball-card belts made because he previously featured the work of Card Belts owner Will Elmore on “The Card Life.”

They were a smash hit in Texas.

“The one I wore in the game, it’s parallels of all the same card,” Strahm said, referring to rarer version of the base cards typically found in packs. “He went all the way down to the Independence Day parallel, which is numbered to 76. So, there’s only 76 made. Now there’s only 75 out there because one of them is on my belt.”

Even cooler, Topps released a baseball card of Strahm’s card belt as part of its Topps Now Series.

“I put in an order of 100,” Strahm said.

They sold 1,843 overall.

“It’s pretty cool,” Strahm said. “Now I need a belt of the belt card.”

(It was the third time Strahm has been featured on a Topps Now Series card. After he recorded the final out of Game 4 of the 2023 NLDS, Topps put him on two cards.)

• 'An adrenaline rush': Inside Strahm's love for baseball cards

Strahm got choked up early last month when he learned he made his first NL All-Star team. It was mentioned afterward that he would be featured on an NL All-Star card.

It was something he could’ve only dreamed of just a few months earlier.

Now, it’s reality.

“It’s surreal,” Strahm said. “I mean, still I’m playing baseball and opening baseball cards as my moonlighting job.”

So, why does Strahm love baseball cards so much? He grew up in North Dakota and collected cards until he turned 11 or 12. He started collecting again with his brother in 2018.

“I opened up one box, and it was like I was 12 again,” he said. “Now, I have a spare bedroom full of them. I don’t go out to buy individual cards. I call myself a packrat. I enjoy the product releases, every month, every year. I enjoy just getting the box, and whatever I open, that’s my collection.

"I’m not looking to sell, trade or buy. I look at my collection as a hobby for me, and hopefully one day it’ll be an inheritance for my daughter. And if she doesn’t like baseball cards, I hope she sells them and does something she likes. We all have those relatives who are hoarders, and they’re like, ‘What are we going to do when we get all that crap?’ I don’t want my daughter to think that.”

The fact everybody knows Strahm loves cards makes him the guy everybody asks about cards.

Strahm never seems to mind the questions.

“Collect what you love,” he said. “Don’t chase the dollar sign. That just takes the fun out of it. I got more hyped about a 2019 Tim Hill base card because he’s my best friend and I played with him. On YouTube, in the comments, people were like, ‘You got more hyped about the Tim Hill than the [Fernando] Tatis Jr.’ I’m like, 'Well, Tim Hill eats dinner at my house three nights a week in the offseason. It’s kind of cool.'

“My teammates will say, ‘I have a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. What’s it worth?’ I’m like, ‘Well, dude, sit down and grab a chair. I can explain this to you.’ But again, I’m not into this for the value of the card as much as I am into it for, like, the sport of collecting. And the chase. There’s just something about getting a box and looking for that top rookie, and then hitting the autograph of that top rookie. It’s just an adrenaline rush.”