Sports Card Acronyms & Abbreviations Guide (2024)

Common hobby abbreviations and acronyms that are seen in price guides, message boards, books and magazine articles are found below.

A

• A: The American Card Catalog designation for tobacco albums
• AL: American League
• ALCS: American League Championship Series
• AS: All-Star card
• ATG: All-Time Greats
• ATL: All-Time Leaders
• AW: Award Winner

B

• B: The American Card Catalog designation for blankets / rugs
• BC: Bonus Card
• BF: Bright Futures
• BL: Blue Letters

C

• C: The American Card Catalog designation for Canadian issued tobacco cards
• CC: Curtain Call
• CG: Cornerstones of the Game
• CL: Checklist card
• CO: Coach
• COMM: Commissioner
• COOP: Cooperstown
• COR: Corrected Card
• CP: Changing Places
• CT: Cooperstown
• CY: Cy Young Award

D

• D: The American Card Catalog designation for bakery / bread cards
• DD: Decade of Dominance
• DK: Diamond Kings. A popular insert card originally produced by Donruss using the art of legendary artist Dick Perez.
• DL: Division Leaders
• DP: Double Print
• DT: Dream Team

E

• E: The American Card Catalog designation for caramel / candy cards
• ERR: Error card

F

• F: The American Card Catalog designation for ice cream & dairy issued cards
• FC: Fan Club
• FDC: First Donruss Card
• FDP: First or First-Round Draft Pick
• FF: Future Foundation
• FF: Fleer Future
• FP: Franchise Player
• FR: Franchise
• FS: Father/son card
• FS: Future Star
• FTC: First Topps Card
• FY: First Year

G

• G: The American Card Catalog designation for banners / labels
• GG: Gold Glove Award
• GG: Griffey Gallery (Upper Deck)
• GL: Green Letters
• GM: Golden Moments
• GOTG: Greats of the Game

H

• H: The American Card Catalog designation for advertising / trade cards
• HG: Heroes of the Game
• HH: Hometown Heroes
• HL: Highlight card
• HOR: A trading card that has a horizontal orientation as compared to the more common vertical orientation
• HRD: Home Run Derby

I

• IA: In Action card. A popular Topps insert card from the 1970s and early 1980s.
• IF: Infielder

J

• J: The American Card Catalog designation for soda company issued cards
• JBR: Catalog designation for Japanese bromide cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
• JCM: Catalog designation for Japanese menko cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
• JDM: Catalog designation for Japanese die-cut menko cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
• JF: Catalog designation for Japanese gum / candy cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
• JGA: Catalog designation for Japanese game cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
• JK: Catalog designation for Japanese karuta cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
• JRM: Catalog designation for Japanese round menko cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.

L

• L: The American Card Catalog designation for cards made of leather
• LL: League Leaders
• LUM: Lumberjack

M

• M: The American Card Catalog designation for newspaper / publication issued cards
• MB: Master Blasters
• MEM: Memorial card
• MG: Manager
• MI: Maximum Impact
• ML: Major League
• MLP: Major League Prospects
• MM: Memorable Moments or Magic Moments
• MOG: Measure of Greatness

N

• N: The American Card Catalog designation for 19th century cards. The original ACC had no letter for 19th century card set but a catalog number without a letter prefix was confusing.
• NAU: No autograph on card
• NG: Next Game
• NH: No-Hitter
• NL: National League
• NLCS: National League Championship Series
• NNOF: No name on front
• NOF: Name on Front
• NT: Now and Then

O

• OF: Outfield or Outfielder
• OJ Cards: Old Judge Cards
• OLY: Olympics Card
• OPC: O-Pee-Chee

P

• P1: First Printing
• P2: Second Printing
• P3: Third Printing
• P: The American Card Catalog designation for pins / buttons
• P: Pitcher or pitching pose
• PC: The American Card Catalog designation for postcards
• PF: Profiles
• PG: Postseason Glory
• PP: Power Passion, Power Play
• PR: Printed name on back
• PRES: President
• PROS: Prospects
• PS: Pace Setters
• PSH: Post Season Highlights
• PT: Power tools
• PV: Pro Visions
• PVC: Polyvinyl chloride. A substance used to make inferior trading card protection products.

Q

• Q: The American Card Catalog designation for stereoscope issues

R

• R: The American Card Catalog designation for gum cards beginning in the 1930s
• RB: Record Breaker
• RT: Round Trippers
• ROY: Rookie of the Year
• RP: Relief Pitcher
• RR: Rated Rookies (Donruss, Panini)
• RTC: Rookie True Colors

S

• S: The American Card Catalog designation for silks and stamps
• SA: Super Action card
• SB: Stolen Bases
• SCR: Script name on back
• SF: Starflics
• SG: Spirit of the Game
• SH: Season Highlights
• STP: Star Power

T

• T: The American Card Catalog designation for 20th century tobacco cards
• TBC: Turn Back The Clock
• TC: Team Checklist
• TL: Team Leaders
• TP: Triple Print. A card printed in 3x the quantity than those of other card in the same set.
• TR: Trade reference on card
• TR: Prefix associated with the card number on Topps Traded sets
• TS: Team Stars

U

• U: The American Card Catalog designation for matchbooks / miscellaneous. U is a catch-all in the ACC.
• UER: Uncorrected Error
• UH: Prefix associated with the card number on Topps Update and Highlights baseball card sets.
• UMP: Umpire
• USA: Team USA trading card
• UWS: United We Stand

V

• V: The American Card Catalog designation for non-US, non-tobacco issued cards

W

• W: The American Card Catalog designation for strip cards / exhibits
• WC: What’s the Call?
• WG: The American Card Catalog designation for game cards
• WL: White Letters on front
• WS: World Series card
• WS: World Stage (Upper Deck)

Y

• Y: The American Card Catalog designation for awards / merits
• YL: Yellow letters
• YR: Year of the Record (Upper Deck)
• YT: Yellow team name

Z

• Z: The American Card Catalog designation for paper dolls