Donruss sells Ruth’s jersey strips with baseball cards

George Steinbrenner’s Evil Empire minions are playing in the Fall Classic once again. But… George Steinbrenner’s Evil Empire minions are playing in the Fall Classic once again. But with a travel break in the World Series on Monday, it wasn’t Jason Giambi or Derek Jeter making headlines for the Yankees.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ It was Babe Ruth.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Baseball card company Donruss, which purchased an authentic 1925 Ruth pinstripe jersey last year at an auction for $264,210, proceeded to cut the jersey yesterday, so that one-by-one inch slices of the garment could be randomly placed in baseball card packs.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The jersey is believed to be one of only three Ruth pinstripes in existence, but according to ESPN.com, that doesn’t make much difference to Donruss president Bill Dully.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There’s always going to be controversy,’ Dully said. ‘But something like this is just the reality of the free market and the reality of capitalism.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ And the reality of a world gone money crazy.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ As someone who has worked at a museum and cares about historic preservation, I find this decision by Donruss completely outrageous. That jersey’s historic value is priceless, and chances are that, if it had been professionally appraised, its value would have been more than $264,210.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ It should have been donated to a museum, cataloged, and displayed for generations of baseball fans and historians to enjoy. Instead, it has been destroyed and can never be regained, and for what? A promotional scheme to sell baseball cards.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The value of baseball cards has steadily dropped since the early ’90s. High prices for packs, increased production costs, and a huge drop in the popularity of baseball have all been contributing factors. Baseball card companies have scrambled to try and recoup the losses, delving into other sports memorabilia markets, such as autographs and game-worn material.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Donruss has previously cut jerseys of Jim Brown and Red Grange as part of the ‘sliced jersey’ trend, and it seems like they will stop at nothing to make a buck in a dwindling market.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Ruth is by no means the greatest baseball player ever, but he is not only one of baseball’s largest icons, but also one of the 20th century’s largest icons. Open up a high school American history book, and chances are you’ll see a picture of the Sultan of Swat in the roaring ’20s chapter. One hundred forty years from now, that pinstripe jersey that Donruss bought and cut like it was a thrift-store purchase would have been as valuable to a museum as one of Ulysses S. Grant’s Civil War uniforms are now.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ And where will the trend stop? Why don’t we just cut up a Dwight Eisenhower uniform and put it in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ DVDs. Or saw apart the Mona Lisa and put it up on eBay.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Major League Baseball is a game that embraces its history, and in the last three years, it’s seen one of its greatest superstars get cryogenically frozen by his greedy stepson, and another have his jersey posthumously trimmed.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ While the Ted Williams freezing situation was out of Major League Baseball’s hands, the Ruth jersey controversy was not. Baseball should have stepped up and purchased Ruth’s jersey before the slime balls at Donruss did.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Then it would be in a museum right now instead of in a factory next to a Rob Mackowiak glossy.

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Michael Cunningham is a columnist for The Pitt News. If you want to put something in baseball card packs, stick with bubblegum.