What is Pack Night?

A highlight of this year's Hot Stove Weekend in Cooperstown is Pack Night. From 6-10 PM, we’ll all get together for pizza and beer and Pack Night.

So, what is Pack Night?

Good question.

Created by a group of Chicago friends/SABR members, Pack Night is one of the great inventions in recent hobby history. A small band of pals get together with unopened boxes of baseball card packs, mostly from the 1980’s and 1990’s, and split them equally, trading, sharing, and gabbing about cards and baseball for hours. And, it can’t be mentioned too often, there’s pizza and beer.

The generous spirit of Pack Night is what makes it special – Dodger collectors get Dodger cards, Cub collectors get Cub cards, set builders are helped to build sets. It’s simply joyful. And there’s pizza and beer.

From its Chicago origins, Pack Night has hit the road. We’ve had a few in Cooperstown. (Here’s a pic of the first one in 2023).

An innovation of the Cooperstown Pack Night is the free stuff. Quite organically, people brought things from their own collections that they didn’t want any more. There was a lot of excitement in both getting rid of stuff and getting new stuff. I went home with a bag of RC Cola cans that I didn’t have.

Here are a few helpful hints for Pack Night:

·         Unopened boxes can be easily found on eBay, at various price points. You can bring whatever you like.

·         While a box of 36 packs is ideal, let’s agree that you need to bring at least 20 packs to participate.

·         If you’re undecided about participating, or want to wait until you get to Cooperstown, you can visit Yastrzemski Sports on Main St. for boxes old and new. Yaz Sports is the go-to card shop in Cooperstown.

·         Other Cooperstown stores: Pioneer Sports Card, and Dave and Adam’s Topps store. These are also on Main St.

·         For the free table, bring whatever you’d like. Some stuff will get taken, other stuff won’t. You may go home with more than you came with!

·         If you’re a ticket holder who wants to come to Pack Night, but not partake in the cards, you’re still invited for pizza and beer.

We’ll have a great time! Can’t wait to see you all.