Pete Frates, the man behind the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, gets his own Topps baseball cards

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

Employees of Topps took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on Thursday in New York City and the former college baseball player who inspired the viral video movement as part of his own battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis now has something he never had before.

He has a few Topps baseball cards.

Pete Frates, the former Boston College captain, now appears on five new wall art offerings from Topps — cards featuring photos of Frates from his playing days and designs from the Topps archives.

“Topps is honored to take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness and money for ALS charities,” reads the description in the store. “All proceeds will be donated by Topps to fund ALS research to find a cure for this disease. #StrikeoutALS.”

The 29-year-old who is an admitted Red Sox fan played four seasons for the Eagles, hitting .227 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI in 148 games. He went undrafted after his college days ended in 2007 and in 2012 was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Since then, he’s worked to bring attention to the fight against the disease, though he has lost the ability to speak as it has robbed him of many abilities. As a part of this battle, the Ice Bucket Challenge was born.

Topps’ five-card set is available two ways — single cards that are 10- by- 14-inch cardboard creations or a set of five 5-by-7s. The larger cards are $19.99 apiece, while the set is $24.99. They are available on Topps.com.

The cards feature designs from 1958, 1963, 1975, 1985 and 1987.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

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