Former Baseball Player Admits His Mistake Led to Baseball Card Scandal
Twenty years ago, Bill Ripken, the brother of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and a member of baseball's first family, created a media frenzy when his baseball card was found to have an obscene slogan printed on it. Now,In an interview with CNBC's Darren Rovell, Ripken admits to his role in one of sports memorabilia collecting's biggest scandals. After years of denials and statements that the episode was the result of a prank, Ripken has admitted that it was his mistake that caused all of the controversy.
The year was 1989, and the Fleer Card Company (as well as peers like Topps and Upper Deck) had released its annual set of baseball trading cards. Among them was a Baltimore Orioles rookie Billy Ripken, who played second base alongside his brother, All-Star shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. Their father, Cal Sr., managed the Orioles, making for an interesting baseball story.
Billy had only an average rookie season, so his 1989 rookie cards weren't in high demand by collectors. Fleer's 1989 Billy Ripken card got little attention, until someone noticed that in Ripken's picture, an obscenity ("F*** Face") was visible on the bottom "knob" of his bat. By the time Fleer caught the mistake, hundreds, if not thousands of cards had been printed (even today, no one knows for sure). The scandal made national news, and everyone was looking to deflect blame.
Ripken had long denied any role in the controversy, claiming the bat wasn't his or even that he was the target of a prank by teammates who wrote the words on a bat they knew he was using. At the time, Ripken was able to deflect some of the blame and criticism over the scandal, but he now admits the whole situation was his fault. He had written the ill-fated words on his batting practice bat (to distinguish it from game bats) and happened to grab it when a Fleer photographer came calling.
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