Ever Wanted to See a Babe Ruth Bat Plate Card?
Today's hobby is one where we often get wrapped up in the latest releases. But sometimes there's treasure to be found in the stuff that's been sitting around. For Larry Franco of LiveCaseBreak.com, that's exactly what happened with a recent box of 2008 Topps Sterling Baseball when he landed a Babe Ruth book card that had both a game-used bat plate and a uniform.
The card is a one-of-one with the bat plate on one side and Ruth's image and the uniform on the other. The plate comes from the bat's barrel and has "Babe Ruth" engraved in it. The window for the uniform is cut out to read ".342," Ruth's career batting average.
"As I opened it, I could not believe what I saw," said Franco. "I had to close it and open it again to make sure I wasn't dreaming."
The card was pulled during a high-end group break. Six participants were included in the case break, including Franco who is part of the company. Participants drafted players beforehand. 2008 Topps Sterling Baseball focuses on 38 players. After the picks were determined randomly, Franco ended up with the first pick. He went with Ruth, the set's headliner, although he admits to being a little reluctant to do so.
"Right after the random, I considered trading the pick because, as a die-hard Red Sox fan, I really did not want to take Babe Ruth. But, I decided it was probably the best idea to stick with it," Franco said.
He said a Ruth-themed box popped up with on the fourth box. Player boxes mean all the cards are from the specified player. Franco initially set it aside and considered selling it sealed. The fifth box resulted in a Jackie Robinson themed-box. It was then that Franco and the collector who landed the Robinson box decided to bust both.
The Robinson box yielded a Robinson relic numbered to 10.
Franco plans to sell the card and reinvest in LiveCaseBreak. It's currently listed on eBay with a $29,999.99 price tag, although, he's also accepting offers.
You can watch the break below:
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therealist
a dealer hits the ruth card.
makes me not want to bust boxes.