Tyger Allen Photo-Matches the Fronts of Baseball Cards
Tyger Allen might have a future as a forensic investigator.
These days, instead of diving into the science of solving a crime, the 28-year-old is using in-depth research methods to trace the exact moment a photo of an athlete was captured that would then be used on the front of a baseball card.
Allen’s passion project started in early 2023. While scrolling Twitter, he saw Boston Red Sox infielder Xander Bogaerts’ 2014 Topps rookie card. In the background of the Bogaerts image, Allen noticed that the Green Monster was displaying the AL East standings.
“I was like, ‘I’m pretty sure I can figure out what game it was based on the standings,’” Allen said. “So, I found out what day it was, and there were three instances where the shortstop made a play to second. I found the entirety of the game on YouTube and then used Baseball Reference to find every time it was shortstop to second baseball. Watching the video, I found that it was an Ichiro hit to Bogaerts, who flipped it to the second baseman. They tried to turn two, and Ichiro beat it out.”
Allen thought it was cool that he could figure out the precise moment the photo was snapped. He shared the discovery with his family, who loved it. Upon posting it on social media platforms, it attracted immense interest.
“That video got a couple thousand views. I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it again,’” said Allen, who lives in Kansas City. “So, I did it with another card. On the second card, I started getting requests. People wanted to see their favorite card featured, so I made it a whole series.”
Plenty of requests that come Allen’s way are exciting images. They aren’t the run-of-the-mill picture of a player with a bat on his shoulder.
“It’s the action shots that drive the views,” said Allen, whose day job is working at CollX as director of content marketing. “I find that it’s pretty interesting; it’s not necessarily even the player. There’s a Shohei Ohtani rookie card that I did, and that got maybe 6,000 views. But then I do an Austin Hedges — he’s diving, throwing to first base, trying to get the runner out — and that one gets tens of thousands of views.”
Once Allen figures out the origin of a card image, he puts together a video showing his steps. He’ll then post the video on Instagram and TikTok under his TA24 Cards accounts.
“The videos are so fun,” Collx CEO Ted Mann said. “We started calling it ‘Card Forensics.’ It’s like a forensic investigation into what happened.”
Allen’s Favorite Cards
Since starting his project, Allen figures he’s photo-matched about 150 cards in the last year and a half. He tries to conquer two cards a week and post videos.
It typically takes Allen about an hour to figure out an image’s origin and another hour or two to construct a video.
One of Allen’s favorite cards he has done is Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh’s 2023 Topps. With a runner coming home, Raleigh is anticipating getting hit and braces to make the tag.
“Raleigh commented on that one, which is super cool,” Allen said. “That stuck out for me.”
Around Thanksgiving last year, Allen’s videos weren’t reaching a sizable audience, so he thought about ending the project. However, a video about Colorado Rockies’ Ryan McMahon‘s 2023 Topps card of him throwing parallel to the ground raised interest again. To date, that video has amassed just shy of 1.8 million views.
“Ryan McMahon is not your huge player. He’s an All-Star but not a huge player,” Allen said. “That’s the card that brings me back into it and keeps me going, and I’m glad it did.”
Allen’s Most Difficult Card
Not every image is a slam dunk where Allen can pinpoint the precise moment it happened. Sometimes, he has to utilize every available clue.
That’s what it took to figure out New York Mets’ David Wright’s 2016 Topps card. An extremely tight shot of Wright at the plate, Allen needed 10 hours to lock down the shot.
“I figured it out because the fan behind him is leaning over the railing, and he has a drink in his hand,” Allen said. “He’s the leadoff hitter in an inning, and they do a big, wide shot as they come back from commercial break. There’s a fan that grabs something and leans over.”
If that television camera person had not made that pan, Allen would not have been able to identify the moment.
“We all think it’s the story behind the card that makes card collecting so fun,” Mann said. “The neat part is Tyger’s found a way almost to give any card a story. It doesn’t have to be that the Menendez brothers are in the front row. There’s a play, a game, and something happened that made this cool.”
It’s the challenge that makes it fun. Allen has a great grasp of what he’s doing and knows where to look for help. And a little luck never hurts. “Some people may look at it and say, ‘Oh, you can just find the answer on Getty or another photo website.’ And the truth is, you can. But to me, it’s about doing it,” Allen said. “It’s a puzzle. It’s just fun for me to do, and it’s fun for me to share.”
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