When a Baseball Card Makes National News

It made every newspaper from Key West to Kauai on Tuesday. It generated a frenzy that outdid even last year's Alex Gordon rookie mania. It also made some very fortunate eBay sellers a LOT of money. Behold the power of the media.

Keith Olbermann made a quick reference to something strange on the 2007 Topps Derek Jeter baseball card last week when he opened the first box on his MSNBC show, Countdown. It was kind of a quiet little joke on a radio station here and there. But it wasn't until a piece written on SportsCollectorsDaily.com, published Monday, got into the hands of some very popular, very hip news link sites like Deadspin and Fark.com that the story grew legs.

The New York Daily News found it and put the story on the front page Tuesday. From there, it's a very short leap to the national wires which meant every TV and radio station in the world had access to it. And on a slow news day, it was golden. A quirky collectible, a famous and popular athlete and a little mystery all made for an irresistible piece. By late Tuesday night, there were over 300 different news stories appearing in mainstream media outlets.

The CBS affiliate in New York ran a piece on it during their newscast including man-on-the-street interviews.

The result? Demand. BIG demand. Misguided or not, at least that's what eBay sellers who had the card listed on Tuesday found out. As news of the card spread throughout every TV and radio morning show, every newspaper and internet message board, prices skyrocketed.

The card, which had been selling for a dollar or two last weekend, jumped over $100, then $200, then $300. Some sold for nearly $400. It's true, apparently, that there are a lot of people out there with lots of money and limited brainpower. It's likely most of the sales were to novices, not collectors. Card enthusiasts knew the story too well to be taken in. But those who had their '07 boxes already sorted were doing a bang-up business. 10-count lots of Jeters sold as high as $799 on eBay, apparently to legitimate buyers. 12-box cases went for $800. A 'copper' insert version of the card, one of 56, sold for $500.