MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- For the last 19 years, Gregg Forwerck has lived a high-profile dream but has worked in anonymity. In fact, since 1989 you might have seen his pictures on thousands of baseball cards, but never his name.

Forwerck - a photographer for the Topps Chewing Gum Co. - is an unsung hero of the Major League spring training facilities and ballparks around the nation.

Armed with a digital camera attached to a 34-pound 400mm lens at metro Phoenix's spring training facilities and ballparks, Forwerck takes the pictures of baseball players that appear on baseball cards.

"Every day I wake up, I can't believe I'm doing this," said Forwerck, 48, of Indian Trail, N.C., who also is the team photographer for the Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League. "Whenever I'm taking pictures and see a kid getting a player to autograph a card or poster of a picture I took, it's an honor."

Forwerck estimates in the time he's worked for Topps, about 10,000 pictures he has taken have appeared on the cardboard slabs collected by fans all over the world. Topps, based in New York, began printing baseball cards in 1951 - when then-Topps President Sy Berger thought of the idea to boost the sales of Bazooka bubble gum.

During this year's spring training season in Arizona, Forwerck projects he'll take pictures of 700 baseball players that will appear on cards within the next two months and in December when special sets are issued.

"I call this my prison term in paradise," Forwerck said of spring training. "I've worked every day since arriving here on Feb. 19."

He starts his day with a list from a team, works down the list off the jersey numbers and once he completes the list, he moves on to another team.

"I never get to know the names because I'm mostly thinking about the numbers," Forwerck said.

Growing up in his native Kalkaska, Mich., Forwerck used to ride his Schwinn Stingray bicycle to a neighborhood grocery store called Glen's Market to buy packs of baseball cards for a nickel.

"I traded a lot of Mickey Mantles for Al Kalines," Forwerck said. "The Tigers were on their way to winning the World Series in 1968. I used to go over to my friend, Jim's house, and we'd look through all of his baseball cards he kept in a shoebox. Jim always had more cards than me, but when I would look at them, I'd think, 'Whoever took that picture had to meet the player.' I always thought it would be neat to take pictures of professional athletes. It's all about getting closer to the game."

After Forwerck graduated from Northwood University in Michigan with a major in marketing and a minor in accounting, he managed a couple of pizzerias and worked in fast food before persistence with a former Topps photo director helped land him the job.

Forwerck is quick to remember how Barry Bonds, a photography buff himself, accommodated him for a photo shoot by staying nearly two hours longer than he said he would.

Forwerck is proud of the image he caught of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan stepping out of the dugout to tip his cap to the crowd after the final victory of his career at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland in 1993.

"I get goose bumps every time I look at that picture," Forwerck said. "Nolan Ryan epitomized the word legend. Who knew that it would be his last victory? When he tipped his cap, he was standing right in front of me."

Forwerck said he also is proud of a photograph he snapped of former St. Louis Cardinals infielder Mark McGwire making a diving catch at first base that was printed on his 1999 Topps card.

At his home, Forwerck said he has 100,000 cards and some of his work displayed around his house. He said his three children sometimes argue over who is going to get his prized possessions someday. However, Forwerck's son, Jake, 13, is the only one who has acquired his father's love for sports photography.

"My goal is to someday be in the stands watching my son work taking pictures of players while I'm eating my nachos," Forwerck said.

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Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune, http://www.eastvalleytribune.com

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