Sabrina B.

Former Major Leaguer Dmitri Young has shown that collecting baseball cards isn’t only for kids.  But unlike most kids, Young kept his in tip-top condition and was able to profit from pieces of cardboard with depictions of players of years past and present.  He sold his rather impressive collection, comprised solely of rookie cards, in an online auction that ended over the weekend.  A flurry of last-minute online bidding pushed the grand total accumulated from the sale to $2,461,032.

Nearly 500 of Young’s rookie baseball cards — all graded 10 gem mint, or perfect condition, by Professional Sports Authenticator — were put up for sale by SCP Auctions, a California-based firm.

The biggest cash cows were:

  • The only 1955 Roberto Clemente Topps ever graded 10 gem mint — $432,690.
  • One of only two 1954 Hank Aaron Topps ever graded 10 gem mint — $357,594.
  • The only 1963 Pete Rose Topps ever graded 10 gem mint — $157,365.
  • A 1954 Ernie Banks Topps — $142,836.
  • A 1948 Stan Musial Bowman — $129,850.
  • The only 1969 Reggie Jackson Topps ever graded 10 gem mint — $115,242.
  • A 1954 Al Kaline Topps card sold for $88,688, which was among the highest in Young’s collection.
According to The Detroit News, Young’s collection of rookie cards, which took him plenty of years and cash (nearly $5 million) to put together, was considered perhaps the best of its kind in the world.
Following the sale, Young said that collecting cards was a hobby and stress reliever for him while he played ball.  He said that he isn’t in hard times so much so that he’s selling off all of his memorabilia.  Young said that the only ring he earned during his Major League career, a 2006 American League champions ring, won’t be going anywhere.
Perhaps the most interesting piece of memorabilia that Young has was purchased from a former teammate and is a big league piece in Tigers history.  Young owns the bat that his good friend Robert Fick used when he had the final hit in Tiger Stadium history in 1999.  Fick crushed a grand slam over the right field roof.  The slam was the stadium’s11,111th home run.
In case you might be interested in owning that piece, stay tuned.  Young said, “I would like to do a live auction amongst the great people of Michigan who want a piece of Tiger Stadium history.”
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