Reese Osterberg, who is 9-years-old, has a habit of watching baseball games on TV, and whipping out her binder of baseball cards and starts lining them up, reorganizing specific cards to be sitting where the real players are positioned on the diamond.

When she's not home going through her baseball cards, Reese is on the diamond with her team, The Pirates.

The Osterbergs home in Pine Ridge was placed under an evacuation order because of the Creek Fire that was moving to their neighborhood. Reese grabbed her glove, but left her binder of cards behind. When they were able to return to their home, it had burned to the ground. Reese asked her mother, “Mom, did Dad get my baseball cards?" Amy had to answer no, breaking her own heart surely as much as Reese's heart was broken.

Trying to make the situation better, Reese's uncle ran to the closest hobby store and picked up a pack of cards and a binder for her and her sister, but it didn't quite compare to the 200 cards she had accumulated over 3 years.

Reese's collection started with a couple of packs she got in her Easter basket, which led to bundles from her grandparents for different occasions, and even three cards of Buster Posey, her all-time favorite.

She took to action, writing Posey looking for the hopes of a replacement.

Amy Osterberg
Amy Osterberg
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This struck a chord with CalFire/Fresno County Fire, who shared a post asking for donations of baseball cards for Reese and her teammates.

There were some donations here and there, until KMJ, a local radio station, covered the story, leading to a listener contacting the Osterbergs to make a donation.

“I got to thinking about what I have out here in the garage,” collector Kevin Ashford told NBC Bay Area. “I thought, you know what, rather than sell these on eBay, I’m just going to donate them. I’m gonna donate them all and put a smile on a little girl’s face.”

Kevin donated 25,000 baseball cards to the drive.

“My intention is just to make a little girl happy,” Ashford said.

The Osterbergs are hoping to host a socially distanced pizza and baseball card party to show off and spread the wealth of cards.

“It would be fun for them to do after everything that’s happened,” Amy said. “I know for Reese, she’s super excited about sharing all of them."

Of course Reese is going to keep some for herself of course.

Read more at Mercury News

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