Anyone who collected baseball cards is familiar with the Honus Wagner story. When the 1909 baseball card set was released Wagner demanded that his card be pulled and only 100 were made. Now only ten or so of those cards are still in existence and the card is the single most sought after by baseball card collectors. And, right now, if you're between the ages of 22-35 and you didn't collect baseball cards too, you're lying.We were all obsessed. Personally the 1989 Upper Deck set was my favorite. Primarily because up to that point the cards were all pretty crappy. Then Upper Deck came along with their tantalizing holograms, great photos, and remarkably bold decision to make Ken Griffey Jr. the first card ever issued by the company. Anyway, no matter what anyone tells you I did not spend Sunday going through my 1989 set and sigh wistfully at the Chris Sabo card. Nope, didn't happen. The winning bidder, John Rogers, has his own obsession with the Wagner card. Per Fox News:
Rogers has collected baseball cards since he was 6. When he was in the second grade, he said he cut out a copy of a Wagner card and carried it around in his pocket. "Since I was 8 years old, I've hoped and dreamed that one day I'd be able to get one," Rogers said.
Which is ironic because, like everyone else, when I was 8 years old I wanted the Honus Wagner card, the 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card, and the 1986 Michael Jordan Fleer rookie card in mint condition. Then I grew up and bought a house instead. I blame my mom. When I was eight, I told her I wanted to make a living owning a baseball card store. She shot that idea down in a hurry. "There's nothing more redneck you could ever do, Clay." Which, of course, wasn't true. Especially not in Nashville. But it impacted me. So now John Rogers is rich and got to buy the Honus Wager card because he followed his baseball card dreams and I'm writing a blog post about him. Thanks Mom, kicks dirt, thanks a lot. Arkansas man buys baseball card for $1.62 million [Fox News]