Originally published on Oct. 25, 2025, The Collectors series shines a spotlight on distinctive collections and the individuals who curate them. Do you know someone deserving of recognition in this series? Nominate a collector by emailing Kelly.Provost@cbc.ca
Former Canadian professional baseball players affectionately refer to Kelly Sage as “the Canadian card guy.”
For many of these athletes, the resident of Saskatoon has become their go-to person for acquiring their own baseball cards.
With a collection totaling around 50,000 cards, Sage estimates possessing between 30,000 and 35,000 distinct cards featuring Canadian players.
His passion for collecting baseball cards dates back to the early 1970s when, at the age of five or six, he began in the small town of Cardale, Manitoba.
“The very first card I remember from my initial pack was one of Bob Bailey from the Montreal Expos,” he recalled. “I still have that card.”
After taking a break from collecting due to the ease of obtaining complete sets, Sage reignited his hobby one day by purchasing baseball card packs at a gas station for nostalgic reasons. Among them were cards featuring Canadian players.
“This sparked my curiosity about how many Canadians have reached this level,” he explained. “That’s when I began focusing on collecting cards of Canadian-born players.”
“It intrigued me more because there are fewer of them, they are less recognized, and witnessing fellow countrymen playing America’s favorite pastime was fascinating.”
Sage’s involvement evolved to sending cards to retired major leaguers for their autographs.
It came to his attention that many of these players did not possess their own cards.
On one occasion, he tracked down the autograph of former major league pitcher Denis Boucher, who had previously played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos and was lodging at a Saskatoon hotel.</p