The Brewers' early 'secret sauce'? A shared love of trading cards

PHOENIX – Drew Rom is a 26-year-old left-hander who signed a Minor League deal with the Brewers in December. Players in his position naturally feel some anxiety reporting to a new team, especially a team like the Brewers, populated by so many players returning from a record-setting season in 2025.

Rom quickly found a way to connect.

“It was the first conversation. Like, ‘What do you do in your free time?’” Rom said. “As soon as card collecting came up – bam.”

He was in. Baseball cards, football cards, hockey, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and beyond, they all have their fans among the big kids wearing Brewers uniforms these days. There are players like Rom and Brice Turang who rekindled their interest while chasing their own rookie cards, and others like Trevor Megill and Jared Koenig for whom the endeavor is part hobby, part investment.

Second-year starter Jacob Misiorowski may be the Brewers’ most prominent collector after making headlines last season for pulling an ultra-rare card of his own, then ripping an even more valuable Pokémon card akin to a Honus Wagner for baseball card enthusiasts.

Misiorowski visited kids at a card shop in downtown Phoenix called RIP Valley following Saturday’s 9-6 loss to the Guardians in Milwaukee’s’ Cactus League opener. It was one of more than 800 venues across the country hosting Fanatics Collectibles’ Topps Rip Night events on Saturday, with participation from more than 100 athletes including Misiorowski, Angels superstar Mike Trout and the D-backs’ Corbin Carroll at shops in the Phoenix area.

For Misiorowski, it’s a chance to channel his inner child.

“It’s the best when you get the little kids who are into it,” he said. “It just gives me a thing I can talk to those kids about.”

Misiorowski collected cards as a kid, mostly Kansas City Royals stars of the day like Lorenzo Cain, Zack Greinke and Alex Gordon. He got the itch again in 2020, starting with Pokémon cards, and now spends an hour or so a day scrolling eBay looking for cards to add to his collection.

“It’s great for Miz because he doesn’t know anybody in the league,” joked Megill.

“It’s true,” Koenig said.

During his rookie season, Misiorowski was part of a group with Megill, Koenig, Rhys Hoskins and others who planned ahead for road trips in order to visit as many card shops in as many cities as possible.

“I think it’s really fun to get out into different cities and see what they’ve got,” Misiorowski said. “Like in Kansas City, they’re really big with the Royals and you’ll find a lot of Bobby Witt [Jr.]s and Jac Caglianones. But then you come down to Arizona and it’s a mixed bunch. One shop might have nothing but Shoheis [Ohtani], and one has nothing but Diamondbacks, then another has everything. It’s kind of fun.”

Rom will fit right in. A Cincinnati native, his collecting started with Topps giveaway packs at Reds games, and grew when he explored the vintage collections of his dad and some family friends.

“People are going through their closets and attics nowadays and discovering gold mines,” Rom said. “I’ve been doing it for 3-4 years pretty seriously, but I’ve always been nervous or awkward to ask for autographs from some of the ‘big’ guys.

“They said in this clubhouse, so many dudes are so into it that guys are willing to sign whatever you’ve got.”

Collectively, they’ve got some cool stuff. Ask each player his most prized card and the answers run the gamut, from Brock Wilken’s own one of one, dual-autographed card with Reds prospect Rhett Lowder, to catching prospect Matt Wood’s Bo Nix rookie card, to Rom’s Victor Wembanyama.

Pose the question to Koenig, and he reaches in his locker to pull out a black case filled with rare cards. He never played hockey, but loves the sport and has gravitated toward hockey cards because of their clean look and relative affordability. His favorite, secured safely in an All Touch case, is a signed Macklin Celebrini, the young star for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks who is enjoying a breakout performance at the Winter Olympics.

“Cards are something for all of us to talk about every day aside from the usual stuff,” said Koenig, whose locker is between Misiorowski and Megill in the Brewers’ trading card row. “It’s a bonding thing for us.”

If these Brewers continue having Major League success, perhaps their penchant for collecting will grow. Megill has been telling teammates about his growing interest in collecting cars and rare watches.

“There’s money to be made, sure,” said Rom. “But more than anything, it’s just a hobby for a bunch of guys, and the biggest thing I’ve noticed so far is how welcoming everybody is. Everyone says [the Brewers] have the secret sauce. So far, it’s been incredible.”